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Welcome
Dear Friends:
Welcome to the first edition of the Community and Regional Resilience Initiative's (CARRI) newsletter.
CARRI is a new program whose mission is to develop a process by which communities and regions can become more resilient and be better
prepared to withstand the effects of natural and man-made disasters.
The goal of CARRI is to help develop and then share the critical
path that any community or region should take to strengthen its ability to prepare for, respond to, and rapidly recover from significant man-made or
natural disasters with minimal downtime to basic community, government and business services.
When a community is truly resilient, it
should be able to avoid the cascading system failures to help minimize any disaster's disruption to everyday life and the local economy. A
resilient community is not only prepared to help prevent or minimize the loss or damage to life, property and the environment, but it also has the
ability to quickly return citizens to work, reopen schools and businesses, and restore other essential services needed for a full and swift economic
recovery.
Currently, CARRI is working with our partner communities to better define community resilience, identify best practices and test their
emerging resilience framework. Using that input, CARRI will develop a community resilience framework that will define a process that communities can
work through to become more resilient. This newsletter will keep you updated on the current actions of CARRI in our partner
communities and showcase our progress as we work to build resilient communities and regions into a resilient nation.
Warren C. Edwards
Director, CARRI
Oak Ridge
National Laboratory
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CARRI Names First Two Partner Communities
CARRI Press
Release
Leaders from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Community and Regional Resilience Initiative (CARRI) announced today that
Gulfport, Mississippi and Shelby County, Tennessee will be the first two partner communities to participate in the CARRI project.
Warren
Edwards, CARRI director, said the decision to approach Gulfport and Shelby County about becoming the first "partner communities" was
strategic since both cities are susceptible to both natural and man-made disasters.
"Shelby County is particularly vulnerable to
earthquakes because of its proximity to the New Madrid fault line," Edwards said. "And, of course, Gulfport is currently in the process of
recovering from Hurricane Katrina and trying to rebuild itself with a strong commitment to becoming an even more resilient community in the event of
future storms."
Edwards said that he hopes one of the results of CARRI will be to help communities move beyond their reliance on government
and first responders and to draw on all of the resources within a community: business, education, and civic resources, to quickly get the right
resources to the right people as efficiently and quickly as possible in the event of a disaster.
A third partner community on the
eastern seaboard is expected to be named in the near future.
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ORNL to Examine Shelby
County's Emergency Preparation
The Oak Ridger, AP
Report
August 7, 2007
Shelby County is one of three U.S. communities to be studied to see how
quickly it can return to normal after a disaster.
The study, which also includes Gulfport, Miss. and a yet-to-be named
Southeastern city, will be conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Community and Regional Resilience Initiative.
"This gives us an outside set of eyes that can look into how prepared we
are and help us establish milestones and baselines," said Ted Fox, Shelby County's public works director.
The county was chosen because of the potential that a massive earthquake could hit it. Commissioner Mike Ritz said he hopes the study will offer solutions to what he sees
to be the county's greatest shortfall - communication.
"Quite frankly, to me the most important thing is to ensure that everybody
who needs to talk to each other can, and we don't have that right now," Ritz said.
If a disaster like the Minneapolis bridge collapse were to happen in
Memphis, he said the substandard communication system between the county and West Memphis could pose the greatest hurdle. For instance, Ritz said if the Mississippi River bridge falls due to an earthquake,
use of cellular phones will be disrupted.
"We need to develop methods for communicating that don't involve towers,"
he said.
Fox said the study will also look at the economic impact a disaster would
have on area schools and businesses.
"It will provide Memphis with an opportunity to set the
pace and become a leader in resiliency that can be used as a template by other large municipalities," he said.
http://www.oakridger.com/stories/080707/new_189465714.shtml
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Gulfport Named As Part of Disaster
Study
WDAM News, Laurel- Hattiesburg, MS, AP Report
September 6, 2007
The city of Gulfport is one of three U.S. communities selected as part of a new study to see how
quickly they can recover from a disaster.
The study will be conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Community and Regional Resilience Initiative.
Officials say the goal is to test community resilience and to develop a quick recovery plan.
Shelby County, Tennessee, is the second test community. The third has not been named. The study is funded mostly
through federal grants from the Department of Homeland Security and is expected to begin this fall. Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr says the study
gives the city access to national and international researchers and practitioners.
http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=7034260&nav=menu123_2_34
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October 3
Partner Community Executive Level Meeting, Gulfport, MS
October 11
CARRI will participate in a community
resilience discussion event with the Department of Homeland Security and ASIS International
October 24
Partner Community Executive Level Meeting, Memphis, TN November
19
CARRI will be presenting at the Tennessee Valley Corridor's Southeast Partnership Event in Greenville, SC. For
more information, click here
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Agencies Revamped Plans Using Katrina's Lessons
By Chris Joyner, The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson,
MS
August 26, 2007
Response to a future storm should be improved because Katrina served as a giant classroom for disaster
training.
Click here for full story
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Emergency Communications
System in Works
Associated Press
August 30, 2007
An executive order signed by Gov. Phil
Bredesen on Wednesday establishes a board that will aid in creating a statewide communications system to be used during disasters and in times when
public safety is threatened.
Click here for full
story
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'Be Ready!' for Disasters, SC Ads Urge
Associated Press
September 13, 2007
South Carolina kicked off a new advertising campaign asking residents to be prepared in case a
hurricane or other disaster strikes.
Click here for full
story
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October 2-
4
Symposium V
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Click here for details
October
7- 10
International City/County Management Association (ICMA)
Annual Conference
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Click here for
details
October 30- 31
Corporate Security, Business Continuity and Crisis Management Conference
New York, New York
Click here for
details |
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Community and Regional Resilience
Initiative
National Security Directorate
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P. O. Box 2008
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6252 |
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