Partnership

FEMA, FLASH & USAA Join Forces for National Preparedness Month

September is National Preparedness Month (NPM), a month-long campaign designed to create a national dialogue on disaster preparedness. Led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and supported by thousands of organizations across the country, this year is about turning awareness into action.

FLASH is supporting the NPM “Be a Hero” theme by launching a joint Pinterest Campaign with Legacy Partner USAA.  The campaign features fun super hero graphics tagged with preparedness and mitigation messages. Additionally, cast members at StormStruck: A Tale of Two Homes® located at the INNOVENTIONS Attraction at Epcot®  will distribute “Be a StormStruck Hero” stickers and remind guests about NPM throughout the month.

If you are part of the Pinterest community, please join us in pinning and sharing these collectible pins to celebrate NPM. Get involved and join the NPM community by visiting ready.gov today.

StormStruck Hosts Heroes of the Disaster Safety Movement

On August 1, FLASH and University of Florida’s Forrest J. Masters Ph.D., P.E. hosted famed social psychology researchers Roxane Cohen Silver, Ph.D. and Baruch Fischhoff , Ph.D. along with partners from Kohler, WeatherPredict Consulting, Inc. and USAA at StormStruck to tour and explore collaboration opportunities.

On August 16, RenaissanceRe hosted members of the North Florida CPCU Society Chapter for a tour of the StormStruck experience. After the tour, FLASH President and CEO Leslie Chapman-Henderson spoke to the group and detailed how StormStruck evolved from an idea to reality, answered questions and thanked them for their continued support of the disaster safety movement. “Thank you so much for speaking to our CPCU chapters at StormStruck Friday,” said Liz Reynolds, State Affairs Manager – Southeast Region - NAMIC. “We had a wonderful time visiting the exhibit and hearing you tell the story of how it came to be.”

Outreach

Voting Ends September 6 – Send American Red Cross, Insurance Information Institute, National Weather Service & FLASH to SXSW2014

Advance the disaster safety movement by voting for the American Red Cross, Insurance Information Institute, National Weather Service and FLASH to take the stage during the 2014 South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conferences & Festivals in Austin, TX. If elected, the partners will showcase how technologies are creating innovative, engaging multimedia and mobile experiences to improve disaster preparedness and mitigation. We need your vote to make it happen.

Here’s How To Vote:

1. Click here to sign up
2. Click here again and search for “A Perfect Storm” panel
3. Click the thumbs up button to vote (should turn green)

How To Get Other’s To Vote:

1. Share and like our FLASH Facebook post
2. Retweet our get out and vote request @federalalliance

"South by Southwest broadly is about bringing people from a wide array of business and creative disciplines together to figure out the future …” – Wired Magazine

National Hurricane Center & FLASH Host Satellite Media Tour on Hurricane Flood Preparedness

On August 14, National Hurricane Center Director Dr. Rick Knabb and Leslie Chapman-Henderson co-hosted a satellite media tour from the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The duo offered five reminders for flood preparedness to help raise awareness of risks, mitigation options and the need for flood insurance.

"We tell people, pretend it's coming this weekend and see what happens," Knabb told New Orleans - WVUE-TV FOX viewers. “Another priority is finding out if you live in an evacuation zone and if so, where would you go, and how would you get there if told to evacuate."

Reaching 36.4 million viewers, media coverage included Accuweather, The Weather Channel, and Telemundo as well as local stations throughout the Eastern Seaboard and the Gulf Coast.

Share additional videos, photos and flooding tips by posting the Multimedia News Release on your channels.

Leadership

Texas Insurance Commissioner to Open State Collaborative Meeting

Texas Insurance Commissioner Julia Rathgeber will serve as the opening speaker at the Texas State Collaborative meeting on Thursday, September 26 in Austin. The collaborative is made up of public, private and nonprofit stakeholders working together to raise awareness of better building practices. If you are interested in attending or want more information, contact Barbara Harrison, barbara@flash.org.

Education

FLASH Expands Free Library with Bilingual Earthquake Mitigation Videos

The new Earthquake - Prepare Your Contents/Secure Your Space videos are now available in the FLASH DIY animation library. Developed in partnership with FEMA, the videos are available in both English and Spanish and teach consumers how to secure home contents in three steps – Look Up, Look Around and Look Down. Recently, partners at the Great Southeast Shakeout shared the videos and linked to the FLASH Youtube channel while inviting everyone to join the Shakeout and be a part of the largest earthquake drill in U.S. history.

Tools of the Mitigation Trade

Mitigation on the Move

Disaster safety organizations now have a place to share their resources, carry on a discussion and post their events. Mitigationmovement.org is live and many organizations are already taking advantage of a vast library of resources. Want to know when the FLASH Annual Conference and other stakeholder events are taking place? Check out the event calendar and be sure to post your organization’s events while you’re there. If you have any questions while browsing the site, contact Eric Vaughn at eric@flash.org today.

On the Horizon

Don’t Miss Out - Early Registration Ends September 20

Early registration for the 2013 FLASH Annual Conference: Mitigation - 360° ends September 20, so register today to take advantage of the discount. Space is limited to 200 attendees for this must-attend event at the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel, November 20-22 in Lake Buena Vista, FL.   

Attendees will explore best practices, reflect on lessons learned and discover innovations from disaster safety leaders from across the country. Visit flashannualconference.org to register, view speaker lineup and make your hotel reservations. Need a government rate reservation? Email sarah@flash.org.