"Be prepared" [FEMA Head]

2012 Hurricane season begins June first. Any federal government agency that will be on call to respond in case of major storms or other natural disaster touched the mainland is the Federal Emergency Management Agency, better known as FEMA. Craig Fugate has office administrator since May 2009. Weather.com spoke with Mr. Fugate on various issues including how to respond to the disaster FEMA, Homeland Security, the role of Social Media and what citizens can and should do to protect themselves and their property in the event of natural disasters.What are the major challenges facing today's FEMA?People should be prepared. The biggest challenge in any disaster is the tendency of people to think that others will come to their rescue when the reality is time and time again we see the closest rescue is your neighbor. So people are not prepared, not prepared and not be able to help each other, it's probably our biggest challenge. As we continue to handle all the problems we face in government, I think it always comes back to the people need to understand they are part of a team and they have a role and we will focus on our work. But we will not succeed if people are not ready.Is the biggest misconception people have about what FEMA is doing or not doing?I think one is that they think FEMA responds to all disasters and that we always provide assistance. The answer is "no." FEMA programs are designed to provide assistance at a very high level that the President will declare when it was clearly beyond the ability of the state. You may have disastrous side side by side in many countries and some will be announced and some are not and people will ask "Why do not I get the declared country?" It is always based on it could exceed the ability of the state. So, sometimes I think, what happens is, people think that the declaration of the President to validate that it is bad. We will - we should not put people in situations where their homes or loss of life was not terrible. That is not to be confused with it can exceed the ability of the state.National Preparedness report out last week. What are some key findings related to events like Hurricane Katrina?I think we've seen across the country we have to build more capacity in the response phase of the search and rescue, communications, ability is much more in the initial impacts. But we also recognize that some of the new emerging threats are still areas we need to work on such as cyber threats and how that really affects local and state governments and what they should do to prepare against the threat.Play VideoOverlayDoes FEMA storm damage repair?In the AutoplayOffHow does FEMA determine when to step in and respond to natural disasters?The decision was always based on the governor's request to help the President requested. But we also learned from Katrina that when it's bad, we do not need to wait until the assessment is completed. So we will use that information, sometimes we even going to use Social Media to make a decision about getting things ready and move closer to the state. But help is always under the leadership of the governor and the governor's request that the President determines whether or not the guarantee that assistance.You mention Social Media. It was about at the time of Hurricane Katrina. How phenomenon that helped transform what is FEMA?I think for this administration has been a real challenge. We've been real good in broadcasting information out. But we never really good to understand how people take that information, whether they use it also did not we do a good job listening to people. I think Social Media has a dynamic there that is something we must learn how to do better. That is, we say we want you to do this as the action happens, but we can watch people when they communicate back to us and go, "Well, maybe we do not do a good job here, or maybe they do not understand" and we need re-emphasize that.But others, listen to what people say to us. Often they are the best information out of the disaster area, well before any official statements appear. And even though you may have bad people out there putting bad information we, the common assumption that we find a valid, if you are the sourcing of information and the truth will be known to the public often know better what is happening in the first hours of a events that even the official channels.Can you cite an example where Social Media help FEMA?I think it might be a real good case study is only one example is the Joplin (Missouri). We're tracking that day. We know we have the potential for severe weather outbreak. But when starting out from the original report in the Joplin Social Media is much more active, because again it is natural. Local responders are responding to the initial impact. They do not always have time to say and count, "How bad is it."Then the initial reports, balanced against the reported tornado actually begin to paint a picture that is far greater than you would assume because the state has not asked for help, they can still react. So long before this governor (insert name here) has put in a formal request we have started to move such assistance. And again, you might be talking about the clock, but it is very important in this type of event to get there as fast as we can.Hurricane season is almost here (June 1). What can people do to protect themselves and their property before this disaster of a disaster or other type of home?Know the risks and then take steps to ensure they have insurance to cover such risks and again, that homeowners policies do not provide flood protection. That is a separate policy you should buy. Number one we hear from people is "I was told I did not need flood insurance, or I do not live in a flood zone." You're not in an area that required compulsory purchase. That does not mean you will not flood and no flood insurance policy you are the owner of the house (the policy) will not close and I've seen people completely destroyed by three or four feet of water in their homes, they do not have flood insurance.The next step is to see how your home was designed and built, and (ask yourself) "Is there anything I can do to make it better, especially (against) the wind and other hazards.The last thing is, when there is a storm, do not take your tape and tape your windows. This is one of the biggest myths. Short shutters or heavy duty tape up all the plywood will do is make a mess and give a false sense of security and that adds to the problem. People think that will protect the glass against the wind. How good is that going to protect against the waste that can fly at 70 mph hit it? Do not tape your windows, shutter or board. Do not tape, it will not save anything and it may be wasting your time.

from Weather.com