Maryland Emergency Management Agency Camp Fretterd Military Reservation 5401 Rue Saint Lo Drive Reisterstown, Maryland 21136 410-517-3600 877-MEMA-USA HYPERLINK "http://www.mema.state.md.us" WWW.MEMA.STATE.MD.US Executive Director: Richard Muth Director of Operations: Melvin Blizzard Director of Administration: Erin Easton Report to the Maryland State Firemen s Association February 27 and 28 2010 The Maryland Emergency Management Agency
MEMA Mission To protect the lives, property and environment of citizens by providing the emergency management leadership and coordination of response and support agencies throughout a comprehensive all hazards approach. MEMA Vision We will be the most effective emergency management agency in the country, integrating and coordinating services and resources for the safety and welfare of the public. MEMA Values The values for the Maryland Emergency Management Agency are: Professionalism Integrity Compassion Teamwork Creativity MEMA Staff Changes MEMA Executive Director s Update To the MSFA February 27-28, 2010 Hired: Rainer Dombrowsky Natural Hazard Planner Kate Hession, E&T NCR Administrator Resigned/Retired: None Change: Kelly McGuire, Southern MD Regional Administrator ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ MEMA Administrative Directorate Grants Management Applications for the FFY 10 Port Security, EOC Construction & Interoperable Emergency Communications Grants were submitted for DHS review prior to the February19, 2010 deadline. Input from local jurisdictions is currently being gathered to support Maryland s application for FFY 10 Homeland Security Grant Program. Unlike previous years, Maryland has received pre-notice of its award which totals $15,819,538. This marks a 9% decrease from the FY 09 SHSP award.
Information Technology Enhancements continue to provide a GIS mapping solution to our Local, State and Federal Partners. There are numerous viewers available to improve the display of GIS data. WebEOC improvements for data exchange and interoperability with Local, State, and Federal partners continue. We currently share information with Virginia (VDEM and NOVA) and DC as well with Local Jurisdictions in Maryland that have acquired their own WebEOC. Local and State Agencies continue to update their FEMA 120 and Maryland specific resources. Continue to improve our radio communications capabilities through MESIN, CMARC, and WAGON. Further improvements are being achieved through various federal programs. MEMA Administration MEMA continues to work with the Military Department on FY 2011 budget planning and state wide budget cuts. MEMA is currently accepting applications for the Lower Eastern Shore Regional Administrator. The application period closes March 9th. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ MEMA Operations Directorate Operations On January 26, 2010, MEMA participated in FEMA s Peach Bottom Nuclear Power Plant full-scale graded exercise. Joint Information Center out of sequence play will be conducted in June 2010. MEMA fully activated to Level 3 on December 18-20, 2009 and again from February 5 th -12, 2010 for several significant snowstorms which impacted all 26 Maryland jurisdictions. A Presidential declaration was recently issued for the December 09 storm. MEMA and state leaders are pursuing a Presidential declaration for the February 2010 blizzard. MEMA is conducting after action meetings interviewing local and state partners in the various jurisdictions to assess and evaluate the state s response to the blizzard of February 2010. Special Projects and Planning Participation in National Plan Review
Successful completion of power plant exercise and plan updates Working on review and comment on National Long Term Recovery Framework Continuing to monitor current legislative session Regional Administrator Program There have been some personnel changes in the Regional Program. The new Southern Maryland Regional Administrator is Kelly McGuire; many of you may know her as she has worked at MEMA for several years and has an impressive knowledge of programs and organizational issues. Skip Mahan retired as the Lower Eastern Shore Regional Administrator on Dec 31, 2009 and his position is now advertised as open with a closing date of March 9, 2010. The job announcement was sent to several MSFA members. For any additional info, contact Erica Mowbray. Several of the Regional Administrators were recently deployed to local jurisdictions and to the SEOC for storm related incidents. As most of you know, the latest Winter Storms have kept MEMA, our partners and all local jurisdictions extremely active. At this time, the Regional Administrators are scheduling Regional Winter Storm After Action Conferences and Regional Training & Exercise Planning Workshops in coordination with local EMAs. Regional Program personnel have been involved in local training and exercise activities, as well as numerous special projects including those related to statewide planning initiatives and the Governor's Core Goals. ESF9 news During the recent SEOC activations due to storms, ESF9 needs were consistently monitored. Fire Desk was staffed to support operations and coordinate with partners from local jurisdictions, MSP, NRP, and others as necessary. ESF9 was implemented during the activation for Search and Rescue Ops for an incident where drifting snow caused numerous motorists to become stranded for a several-hour time period in Frederick Co. There is currently an After Action in progress for that incident. Regarding the ESF9 document, MSFA representatives met with MEMA planner, Jane Thursby, in mid-february to review some additional MSFA requests for modifications. Jane reported a successful meeting and will provide the most updated revision at her earliest convenience. Erica Mowbray remains the ESF9/SAR POC for MEMA and can be reached at HYPERLINK "mailto:emowbray@mema.state.md.us" emowbray@mema.state.md.us. Exercise and Training MEMA is currently engaged in regional Training & Exercise Planning Workshops across the State. This process assists MEMA in developing its
training and exercise schedule. Local Emergency Managers are being encouraged to include their respective Fire and Law Enforcement agencies in these meetings. MEMA recently partnered with Louisiana State University which is the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training under DHS. They offer no cost training including WMD, Terrorism, and Biological events. These course offerings will begin appearing shortly on our training calendar and presented regionally. Upcoming training is listed below. WebEOC User and Refresher courses are offered monthly Disaster Management for Water/Wastewater Utilities March 9&10 Ocean City Maryland Advanced Incident Management/Unified Command March 9&10 Sykesville Md. ICS 400 March 13 & 14 Cambridge Md. ICS 300 March 17-19 Ocean City Md. Operational Value of Threat, Risk, and Vulnerability Assessment March 23-25 Ocean City Jail Evacuation, Implementation and Planning March 23 Cumberland HURREVAC April 12 Reisterstown Critical Employee Emergency Planning April 14 Sykesville Md. ICS 400 April 20-21 Ocean City Threat and Risk Assessment May 25 &26 Sykesville Creating Vigilant, Prepared and Resilient Communities for Homeland Security May 25 & 26 Sykesville MEMA utilizes the Maryland Exercise and Training Integration Committee to encourage participation from local jurisdictions and other state agencies in the development of both the exercise calendar and training program. The MSFA Training Committee has been offered a seat on this committee. Continuing NIMS ICS courses remain available through Charlie Simpson who can be contacted at HYPERLINK "mailto:csimpson@mema.state.md.us" csimpson@mema.state.md.us or 410-517-5193 Mitigation and Recovery All 2010 Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Grant Applications have been submitted by the State to FEMA. The applications include nine mitigation planning applications for approximately $370,000 and one mitigation project application for approximately $1.8 Million. The project application is for the hardening of a community building against high winds so that it can be used as a hurricane shelter of last resort. It is anticipated that FEMA will announce their decision for funding in March or April of 2010. Two Legislative Pre-Disaster Mitigation grants have been earmarked for the State of Maryland. These include a $650,00 grant to retrofit a police station in Rockville, and $1million for an alert and warning system. MEMA mitigation staff is currently working with FEMA to ensure that these projects meet FEMA s eligibility requirements.
Public Assistance and Individual Assistance: Individual Assistance Completed a review of the Maryland State Administrative Plan (SAP) for possible changes to Other Needs Assistance (ONA) and the Individuals and Households Program (IHP); Administrative updates/changes made to SAP ONA IHP, approved by Director Richard Muth, forwarded to FEMA for approval; Received approved SAP OHA IHP from FEMA Region III HQ in early January; G288: Local Volunteer Donations Management Course was presented on December 7-8, 2009, in cooperation with MEMA Exercise & Training and Citizens Corp Administrator. The two-day course provided county emergency management personnel and voluntary agency representatives with a knowledge base and skills components to develop and execute an effective volunteer and donations management annex for county emergency operations plans. The course; The Faith-Based/Community Organizations (FBCO) Conference, Faithful Readiness: Communities United to Prevent, Respond to and Recover from Disaster, is scheduled for March 4, 2010, at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center, 201 Waterfront Street, National Harbor, MD. MEMA representatives from Individual Assistance, Citizens Corp/ Volunteer & Donations Management, and Exercise & Training, working with partners from MD VOAD and Lutheran Disaster Services will present a workshop geared toward FBCO members that are not yet affiliated with a disaster recovery group. Registration information is available through MEMA s website, HYPERLINK "http://www.mema.state.md.us" www.mema.state.md.us. HYPERLINK "http://www.mema.state.md.us/calendar/view_event.asp? CalendarID=11410" Faithful Readiness: Communities United to Prevent, Respond to and Recover from Disaster Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center 201 Waterfront Street National Harbor, Maryland 20745 Individual Assistance (IA) Program is working in conjunction with MEMA s efforts to support local jurisdictions with disaster assistance. Local jurisdictions have been given guidance and tools to report damages sustained as a direct result of the back-to-back snow storms affecting Maryland in early February. Local emergency management offices will then submit their findings to MEMA for review. Most IA damages reported, as of February 22, 2010, have been covered by homeowner s or renter s insurance (individuals and households), or
business insurance (property, liability, loss of income or records). IA disaster assistance supports uninsured losses in the form of grants/loans for homeowner s and renters; and low-interest loans for businesses from the Small Business Administration, provided the losses meet established criteria. Specific questions regarding the IA Program may be referred to: Cyndie Spindler, MEMA Disaster Individual Assistance Officer, (410) 517-3607, HYPERLINK "mailto:cspindler@mema.state.md.us" cspindler@mema.state.md.us. Agricultural/farming losses as a result of the back-to-back snow storms are coordinated through the Maryland Department of Farm Service Agency (FSA). Local FSA offices collect damage information from local jurisdictions, which are then forwarded to the Maryland Department of Farm Service Agency (FSA) for consideration in making a request for a major disaster declaration to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Detailed information may be obtained through the MD Department of Farm Service Agency: HYPERLINK "http://www.fsa.usda.gov/ FSA/stateoffapp?mystate=md&area=home&subject=landing&topic=landing" http://www.fsa.usda.gov/fsa/stateoffapp? mystate=md&area=home&subject=landing&topic=landing. Additional guidance may be obtained from Steve Malan, Maryland Department of Agriculture, (410) 841-5920, HYPERLINK "mailto:malansc@mda.state.md.us" malansc@mda.state.md.us. Active State and Local firefighters, law enforcement personnel, emergency medical personnel, emergency managers and other first responders who have significant responsibility for providing specialized response during weapons of mass destruction (WMD) incidents may be interested in taking the Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings (IRTB) Course at New Mexico Tech Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center. The course is supported through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Grants and Training and is designed to provide technical operational level training for first responders: HYPERLINK "http://www.emrtc.nmt.edu/training/irtb.php" http:// www.emrtc.nmt.edu/training/irtb.php. Arrangements can be made through the Maryland Point of Contact: Robin Hill, Maryland Emergency Management Agency, (410) 517-3612, HYPERLINK "mailto:rhill@mema.state.md.us" rhill@mema.state.md.us. Public Assistance MEMA Public Assistance continues close out activities for the Disaster 1652 - The Floods of June 2006.
Maryland Joint Operations Center (MJOC) The MJOC provides dispatch and communications services to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Maryland Department of Environment, and the Maryland Department of Agriculture to facilitate twenty-four hour emergency response operations. Additionally, the MJOC now serves as the Maryland Occupational Safety & Health s (MOSH) call center for after hours notifications. It is expected that this will eventually become a 24 hour service in the next few months. Calls processed for the year: OSFM - 1,392; MDE - 1,800; MDA - 2; MOSH 1 For the first time, outside of a planned training event, the Maryland Joint Operations Center was able to communicate via two-way radio on the CMARC, 800mHZ radio system with two Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawks during the recent snowstorm as they conducted flyovers of Frederick County searching for stranded motorists. The guardsmen in the air were able to provide the Governor with a real time update via radio of the situation. The MJOC now also disseminates the SILVER alerts at the request of the Maryland State Police. Similar to an AMBER alert, a Silver alert deals with persons who are over the age of 60 and have cognitive impairment. News Events Visit MEMA s website at HYPERLINK "http://www.mema.state.md.us" www.mema.state.md.us, for all the latest highlights, events and local profiles including winter storm related information.