media strategies

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This assignment should be between 400 and 450 words. (The List of References should not be included in the word count.)

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Introduction

Tornadoes are a violently rotating column of air that originates from a thunderstorm and has the capability to cause great damages such as human death, destruction of housing and property, critical infrastructures, and loss of economic opportunities. Although the paths of most tornadoes are narrow and their duration relatively brief, they can be incredibly destructive with wind velocities reaching as high as 250 miles per hour. The emergency preparedness plan of a small community should include mitigation strategies that would enable key stakeholders to provide the necessary technical and advisory assistance to reduce the adverse effect of a natural disaster such as tornadoes on the socioeconomic lives of its residents. Also, the plan must identify funding sources and solutions to overcome the obstacles to access them.

Brief Information about Swan Town

Swan Town is located in a rural area in the State of Ohio and covers 22.32 square miles. It is bordered on the north by the Pork District line, south by the Town of Duck, West by the Town of Snail, and to the east by the Westminster County. The town is noted for its tourist attractions, a river that flooded annually and has an annual population of approximately 4500 that consist mostly of the elderly and immigrant with limited English language proficiency. A large chemical plant is the town’s main industry while a small airport, freight railway line, hospital, police and fire departments are its primary infrastructures and institutions.

Swan Town’s Emergency Mitigation Strategy

The emergency preparedness plan of a tornado prone area should contain practical measures that factor the income levels of its residents into building a resilient community (Godschalk, 2003, p. 137). The strategies in this plan for consideration by the town’s council include the construction of safe rooms in residential homes, community shelters, and schools across the town. Such safe rooms are needed to provide protection for residents regardless of their location during the occurrence of a disaster. According to Haddow, Bullock & Coppola (2014), the potential for debris to injure people while moving from their homes to designated shelter during a tornado makes safe rooms the most appropriate protection against loss of lives (p. 83). Also, the high potential of a hazardous chemical spill during the disaster makes the mitigation strategy the most ideal to address this problem.

Two Funding Sources for Swan Town’s Emergency Mitigation Strategy

The classification of Swan Town as a high-risk tornado area makes it a prime candidate to utilize the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) of the County and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) of the town’s Department of Housing. These two sources of funding will come handy in the construction of safe rooms in all its residential homes. According to Lindsay and Murray (2010), HMGP is a fund designed to help local communities reduce the adverse effect of a presidentially declared disaster (p. 22). They noted that CDBG is specifically intended to overcome the obstacles to local mitigation efforts by providing funds for property acquisition and relocation (p.22).

Key Participants and Stakeholders Associated with Funding Sources

The key participants and stakeholders in the HMGP funding and implementation process are the residents of the town, the town council, the state emergency management agency, the public works division, the private sector, and the homebuilders association of the state. Meanwhile, those involved in utilizing CDBG funding include all above-listed stakeholders and the state Division of Department of Housing and Urban Development. One of the finance and budgeting goals and objectives of the mitigation strategy of this plan is the provision $2,000 rebate to residents as part of the incentive to make them build safe rooms in accordance with local building codes and FEMA guidelines. Also, there is funding for those that require the acquisition of properties in areas that are less prone to disasters. According to Li et al. (2009), the primary purposes of these measures is the equitable distribution of the over $12million budgeted for HMGP and increasing the positive impact of CDBG implementation on the lives of its beneficiaries (p. 44). Also, the smooth execution of the disaster management is expected to serve as one of the benchmarks for federal funding programs (p. 44).

Appropriateness of Funding Sources for Identified Mitigation Efforts

The report of the Building Performance Assessment Team (BPAT) of FEMA (as cited in McEntire, 2014) was deployed to assess the damage caused by the 70 tornadoes that hit Oklahoma and Kansas in 1999 (p. 272). BPAT concluded (as cited in McEntire, 2014) that the most appropriate hazard mitigation tool during any tornado event is the use of specifically designed tornado shelters (p. 272). The expert opinions expressed is one of the evidence of the appropriateness of this funding source. The fact that one of the regulations governing the disbursement of HMGP funds mandates the agency provide the necessary resources for plans deemed appropriate is additional support for this source of funding.Also, as a public-private partnership initiative, its key participants and stakeholders ensure that it is not only properly managed but given adequate financial resources. Jha (2010) has described the success of an HMGP initiative that might hold lessons for Swan Town. He has noted that “the successful implementation of pilot programs for the construction of over 6,000 safe rooms in Oklahoma homes and 34 safe rooms in Wichita County, Kansas, makes the HMGP an attractive initiative for donor agencies and private organizations” (p. 62). Meanwhile, the factor responsible for the suitability of the CDBG as a funding source for Swan Town’s “safe room” mitigation strategy is its ease of access.

Two Key Challenges to Accessing Funding for Mitigation Efforts and Strategy for Addressing these Challenges

One of the key challenges of accessing the funding programs discussed in the previous section of this plan is the timing as well as the nature of the approach taken by the relevant government agencies to considering the planning and implementation of mitigation strategies. According to Clement, Belin, Bean, Boling and Lyons(2014), this is a major limitation that must be addressed during the planning stages of the development of the emergency preparedness program. They state that disaster management experts agree that a key strategy to overcoming this bureaucratic obstacle is to conduct to education sessions for all stakeholders on the documentation needs and processing time for each phase of the process. Clement et al (2014) also noted that an additional challenge is an issue of the alignment of FEMA guidelines with local standards for construction of safe rooms (p. 5). The recommended approach to addressing the challenges mentioned above is the inauguration of a local committee whose primary responsibility would be the liaison between residents and the National Storm Shelters Association (NSSA). Local committee will assist with methods that can be used to fulfill the requirements of the Association and FEMA promptly.

Conclusion

The availability of the required financial resources is the critical success factor of executing the mitigation strategies in an emergency preparedness plan. Also, it is necessary to coordinate the efforts of all stakeholders involved in alleviating the pains and sufferings of the people resulting from physical injuries, death, loss of loved ones, and destruction to their homes and possible source of livelihood. The detailed nature of Swan Town’s plan to prepare and respond to tornadoes makes it imperative for the major participants in the funding process to ensure that victims that have complied with its requirements access HMGP and CDBG funds unhindered. Finally, creating bureaucratic obstacles in the name of regulations is akin to worsening their situation. (1,220 words).

References

Clement, J. P., Belin, A., Bean, M. J., Boling, T. A., & Lyons, J. R. (2014). A strategy for improving the mitigation policies and practices of the Department of the Interior. A report to the Secretary of the Interior from the Energy and Climate Change Task Force, Washington, DC , 5-9. Retrieved from https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/migrated/n…

Godschalk, D. R. (2003). Urban hazard mitigation: Creating resilient cities. Natural Hazards Review, 4(3), p. 137. http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1527-6988(2003)4:3(136).

Haddow, G. D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2014). Introduction to emergency management (5th ed.). Waltham, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Jha, A. K. (2010). Safer homes, stronger communities: a handbook for reconstructing after natural disasters. World Bank Publications, p. 62. Retrieved from https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/2…

Li, H., Apostolakis, G. E., Gifun, J., Van Schalkwyk, W., Leite, S., & Barber, D. (2009). Ranking the risks from multiple hazards in a small community. Risk Analysis, 29(3), 44. DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2008.01164.x

Lindsay, B. R., & Murray, J., (2010, January 26). Disaster relief funding and emergency supplemental appropriations: R40708. Congressional Research Service: Report, p. 22. Retrieved from https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40708.pdf

McEntire, D. A. (2014). Disaster response and recovery: Strategies and tactics for resilience. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

The media strategies assignment below is for the fictitious community above in bold.

Application Assignment: Media Strategies

Communications are critical to emergency management operations. An effective disaster communications strategy has to be in place. The mission of an effective disaster communications strategy is to provide accurate information that is timely. There is also the challenge of developing an effective emergency management media strategy that embraces new forms of media. These new forms of media have changed the way disaster information is shared with the public.

For this assignment, review the media National Emergency Communications Plan. Consider a media strategy for your Final Project and how you might apply this strategy to different audiences.

The assignment: (2–3 pages)

  • Submit your media strategy for the fictitious community. (SWAN TOWN)
  • Explain how your media strategy incorporates different audiences.
  • Explain how your media strategy meets the mission and assumptions of effective disaster communications.

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are to provide a reference list for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.

Assignment should be 400 to 450 ( 2 to 3 pages) words with at least five references…. MULTIPLE USE OF INTEXT CITATION AND PAGE NUMBER…TRY TO USE THE ASSIGNMENT READINGS IF POSSIBLE.

It is important that you cover all the topics identified in the assignment. Covering the topic does not mean mentioning the topic BUT presenting an explanation from the context of ethics and the readings for this class

To get maximum points you need to follow the requirements listed for this assignments 1) look at the page limits 2) review and follow APA rules 3) create subheadings to identify the key sections you are presenting and 4) Free from typographical and sentence construction errors.

REMEMBER IN APA FORMAT JOURNAL TITLES AND VOLUME NUMBERS ARE ITALICIZED.

Readings

  • Haddow, G. D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2014). Introduction to emergency management (5th ed.). Waltham, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
    • Chapter 5, “The Disciplines of Emergency Management: Communications”

Media

 
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