CARRI News

Some Gulfport city officials, freshly installed just a few short weeks prior to Hurricane Katrina, were still very much learning their roles as city leaders when disaster struck.  Since Gulfport had been under the threat of hurricanes many times in the past, it had a well-developed pre-hurricane routine in place.  Fortunately, though, Gulfport had not faced catastrophic destruction since Hurricane Camille in 1968, almost 36 years to the date.

As the Community and Regional Resilience Initiative (CARRI)-Gulfport team interviewed city leaders and workers a little more than two years after Katrina hit, it became evident that Gulfport has learned many lessons about the importance of resilience to the well-being of a community not just in times of tragedy, but also during moments of calm.

The following represents some lessons learned the hard way:

• Leadership that produces results.  No matter how bad the situation, it is important to show immediate progress (however small).  Little things such as opening a playground can do a tremendous amount to boost staff and community morale.
• Patience.  Building resilient communities and regions is a long-term process and there will be numerous hurdles and challenges. 
• Responsibility.  Resilience starts with the individual, with families and with the community.  Encourage people to take action in terms of how they prepare for, respond to and recover from events.  It was stressed repeatedly that the public should take action and not wait for government.
• Self-sufficiency.  A city must work with surrounding communities but it should plan to be self-sufficient in the event of a catastrophic incident.  A city should be able to sustain itself (“essential” personnel and their families) for 7 days if not longer in the event of an emergency.
• Preparedness.  A city needs a comprehensive, flexible and scalable plan.  It needs to know what it will do if certain departments cannot fulfill their missions. 
• Communication.  A city must be able to communicate at all levels of response and recovery.  By coordinating efforts early, the recovery phase can be much shorter.
• Relationships.  Before a catastrophic event strikes, a city needs to develop strong, trusted relationships of all types (among city departments, sectors of the community, vendors of essential services that are outside the potential impact zone, etc.).  People who know and trust one another and know what each institution can bring to the table work better together under difficult circumstances. 
• Love of your community.  Communities that have a strong “sense of place” have the drive to rebuild after a catastrophic event.
• Citizen input.  Citizens need to have substantial input into community decisions as preparations and rebuilding occur. 
• Equity.  Resilience is about building a stronger society.  It isn’t just about putting back what was lost; it is about giving more people in the community a stake in its future.
• Keep your eyes on the prize.  Plan for the future of your community as you recover.

As the CARRI-Gulfport team moves forward to assist in developing a more resilient community now and in the future, the strong and determined spirit of the Gulfport community provides important motivation for our work.  The many new friends we have made amongst those who dealt with what is now simply called “Katrina” join us in this important endeavor with the tenacity of a community determined to be reborn into a new, better prepared Gulf Coast.

All admit that the challenges ahead are difficult.  From managing the huge numbers of volunteers, to assuring the continuation of essential services, to refurbishing a sorely stressed infrastructure, Gulfport certainly has its hands full.  Yet, Gulfport is determined not to just rebuild, but to remold into a new model for others to follow.

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CARRI Presents to Commander’s Lunch in Charleston

CARRI Announcement

February 12, 2008 

CARRI Director Warren Edwards spoke last month at the Charleston, South Carolina Metro Chamber of Commerce’s “Commander’s Lunch.”

The “Commander’s Lunch" is a quarterly event hosted by the Chamber of Commerce that brings together all of the local military commanders and the Chamber’s leadership.  During that luncheon, speakers are able share significant events, projects and accomplishments within the Charleston military community.

Edwards' presentation focused around the business community and emphasized what an important role businesses play in helping a community or region achieve resilience.  The military employs a large number of citizens, both uniformed and civilians, in the Charleston region and are a vital part of the local economy.  The US Navy alone is the largest employer in the region.

“CARRI appreciates the support of the Charleston Metro Chamber,” said Edwards.  “As the oldest Chamber of Commerce in the United States, we appreciate their role as a business advocate and for inviting us to speak at this very important luncheon.”

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Partner Community Briefs

Memphis, Tennessee Urban Area

The CARRI-Memphis Urban Area (MUA) and the CARRI-MUA Advisory group joined with the University of Memphis’ Center for Earthquake Research and Information and the West Tennessee Seismic Safety commission in hosting a community resilience summit on February 11.

The 80 summit attendees responded to a community call for local groups to meet and share their missions and visions of a resilient community and region.  The event promoted outreach to and inclusion of non-traditional partners and was enthusiastically received.  

Lessons learned from the recent tornado event in Shelby County and much of the Mid-South are being compiled as they may reveal insights into the current state of resilience not only in the Memphis community, but in the West Tennessee region.

Research activities involve outreach to partners, completion of a household preparedness study, and the beginning phases of a social vulnerability and sheltering needs assessment in collaboration with the West Tennessee Seismic Safety Commission.

Charleston, South Carolina

The Charleston-CARRI Team participated in the “Homeland Security Innovation Conference” presented by ThinkTEC at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems (SPAWAR) Center in North Charleston.

The focus of the conference was “Current Challenges and Real Time Solutions in Resiliency”. The CARRI-Charleston team participated heavily during the second day of the conference when the conference focused on resilience with session topics including “Resilience and Economic Recovery for Disasters,” “Resiliency Challenges” and “Resiliency Solutions”.

Warren Edwards, CARRI Director, presented the status of CARRI during this session and the Charleston-CARRI team had a display and answered several questions regarding CARRI during the entire conference.

Look for a more in depth story on the ThinkTEC conference in next month’s newsletter.

Gulfport, Mississippi

The CARRI-Gulfport team has prioritized its agenda for the next six months.  During this period, the CARRI-Gulfport team will focus on working with the community to identify a set of key resilience focus areas for future action.  To accomplish this, the team will continue to: collect and organize community lessons and assessments from Hurricane Katrina; meet with key stakeholders; and convene an advisory group of community leaders to help guide CARRI-Gulfport direction and validate the team’s findings. 

The team met with key leaders in government, the private sector and non-government organizations (NGOs) on January 28-30 and on February 18-21.  Through these meetings, the team has received enthusiastic support for CARRI and agreement from a diverse group of leaders to serve on the Advisory Group.  

Many stories and insights were collected from the meetings held in January and February.   These stories and insights suggests the following:  1)  many Gulfport area citizens have deep family roots and a strong sense of community;  2) people care deeply about the safety of their pets during disaster;  3) affordable insurance and housing are key elements in rebuilding Gulfport;  4) caring for the mental health of citizens is a critical recovery issue;  5) daycare services are critical in the aftermath of disaster; 6) those who survive and remain strong after the storm are typically those who fared well before the storm, while those who were impoverished before the storm are even more disadvantaged after the storm;  7) disparities among socio-economic groups present serious issues; 8) a community that knows its focal points will be more resilient before, during and after disasters.

The CARRI-Gulfport Research team at University of Southern Mississippi continues to make progress in building the annotated bibliography by summarizing open source information on Katrina.  This information will serve well in retelling the Gulf Coast story and building the case for resilience indicators – those factors that significantly enhance community and regional resilience and those that negatively impact it.

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