Key Questions for Local Officials, Non-Profit Group and Citizens
Below are a series of questions for citizen journalists to ask government officials, key
non-profit groups and residents about future storm readiness, post-Sandy planning,
and community resilience, among other important topics. These questions were put
together with the assistance of South Orange Mayor Alex Torpey and other local
government experts. It draws on research conducted by the RAND Corporation and
others on key factors that contribute to communities better withstanding disasters and
recovering quicker.
Emergency/Disaster Basics

Is your town’s Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) up to date and fully approved?
These docs don't provide an incredible amount of timely practical help, who
can look through a 400 page document during an emergency, but aside from
codifying best practices and containing some truly important information, they
are pre-qualifiers for a number of different grants and funding sources for
emergency preparedness efforts.

When was the last time your town held either a tabletop or full scale exercise?
Are community groups and other key stakeholders included in the exercises?

Does your municipality use GIS to keep track of storm related expenses and
damages? (GIS is geographic information system)There are systems that can
take zoning maps, and utility maps, etc and overlay data to show you what's
happening in an emergency, or to plan for capital, but to be able to use those
things you have to have points of data geo-located. Storm drains, gaslights,
streetlights things of that nature can be mapped electronically if newer
technology is used to catalog where they are.

Is your town’s emergency communications plan redundant? Are there multiple
ways of getting timely information out to residents? For example, South Orange
does emergency phone notifications via text and voice to home and cell
phones (as many as they can collect info for) email, social media,
neighborhood groups, city website and radio plans. Is there a subscription
service for people to sign up for "push notifications"? (Nixle, Everbridge, United
Alert)

Does your town have a non-emergency number that people can call during
emergencies to get important information, but aren't calling to report an
emergency?

Who is the designated Office of Emergency Management (OEM) Coordinator?
What is their background/training?

Are there regular meetings of your town’s Local Emergency Planning Council
(LEPC)? This is usually department heads of a municipal government and any
local partners; for example in South Orange it always includes Seton Hall.

Does your town have a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program
to assist your professional rescuers? How well trained and representative of the
community is the CERT Team?

What methods/platforms does your town use to recall employees (police, fire,
EMS, DPW, etc)?

Does your town conduct the appropriate after-action review of your response to
any major emergency, drill, or even minor storm or emergency? Does this
review include feedback from the community including key non-profits and
churches?

Does your town have critical facilities and functions with redundant power
supplies, including back-up generators? How often are the back-up generators
tested? How long can they last for?

Have you mapped out your response to the critical facilities in your jurisdiction,
such as: chemical/industrial plants, gas stations, senior homes, hospitals, schools?

Has your town partnered with any other neighboring agencies, or the
county/state/federal government on any programs or policies in the area of
emergency response?

Does your town have pre-existing arrangements with local media to provide
information and updates?

Are families and individuals in your town encouraged and reminded to exercise
responsibility in a disaster by having an individual family plan that identifies in
advance where reunification will take place in the case of evacuation and by
becoming first responders assisting neighbors?
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Social Connectedness/Public-Private Partnerships
Research shows more socially connected communities with active and plugged in
non-profit groups where people know their neighbors withstand storms better and
recover quicker.

Has your town built public/private partnerships for better emergency response,
including using local houses of worship, schools, YMCA’s and Boys and Girls
Clubs, among other organizations as staging locations, or shelters?

Does your town have community leaders (houses of worship, neighborhood
associations, neighborhood watch, PTA/school groups, etc) signed up in the
alert system and educated about where to find important information to pass
along to their own communities? Are they encouraged to do regular education
about emergency response to their members or constituencies? Do they?

Are community groups, interested citizens and other stakeholders proactively
included in emergency response planning or recovery planning? If so, how and
whom?

Are at-risk populations in your town, such as seniors and low income residents
and the groups that serve them included in emergency planning and response
efforts? If so how and whom?

Are their provisions made for communicating in all aspects of this area with nonEnglish speaking residents?

What is the level of community buy-in and awareness of emergency plans? (Ask
key non-profit leaders and citizens)

Does your town have Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with any nonprofits or community groups to assist in recovery services in the case of future
storms? If not, has the town considered doing this?
Post -Sandy Planning

Has your municipality applied or received a Post-Sandy Assistance Grant which
funds the hiring of a certified planner to “address conditions created or
exacerbated by the storm, identify approaches to rebuilding that will be more
resistant to damage from future storm events and encourage sustainable
economic growth”? If received, are town organizations and residents going to
be included in this process? If so, how?
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
Is your municipality participating in any regional planning efforts?

Are their plans or discussions underway in your municipality to update the master
plan and/or change any of the zoning requirements in anticipation for more
intense future storms?

Are the ‘lessons of Sandy’ being factored into any redevelopment efforts?

Are the plans to upgrade vulnerable infrastructure in anticipation of future
storms?

How are individuals as well as the town as a whole doing in accessing federal
dollars targeted for recovery and rebuilding from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency?

How are people in your town, if eligible, doing in accessing Community
Development Block Grant Funds for rebuilding from the following programs
targeted to assist mainly to low and moderate income families: The Fund for
Restoration of Multifamily Housing (FRM), Fund for Restoration of Multifamily
Housing - Public Housing Authority Set-Aside Program (FRM-PHA) and Sandy
Special Needs Housing Fund (SSNHF)?
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