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Disaster Recovery Group Hosts First Public Forum |
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by Mickey McCarter
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Thursday, 05 November 2009 |
DHS, HUD call upon stakeholders in New Orleans for recommendations
The departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) hosted the first public meeting of their Long-Term Disaster Recovery Working Group Wednesday in New Orleans, La., to begin the development of a national disaster recovery framework.
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, along with representatives from about 20 federal offices, joined the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the Louisiana Recovery Authority, and the City of New Orleans at the University of New Orleans to discuss 16 specific topic areas.
Questions debated by the government officials at the form ranged from the roles of federal, state and local governments in disaster recovery to unmet needs in recovery to best practices for incorporating public input into recovery efforts.
Napolitano called the public forum a useful means of strengthening the ongoing recovery of the Gulf Coast region, which is still rebuilding more than four years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
"We have made great progress rebuilding the Gulf Coast since January-cutting through red tape, expediting public assistance and reinvigorating relationships with state and local governments and the private sector. I look forward to working with Secretary Donovan and our partners across the federal government to build on this progress and find new ways to strengthen our disaster recovery programs," Napolitano said in a statement.
Napolitano did not personally attend the forum but rather appeared at the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday.
Donovan, whose department has been working with DHS on the specific issue of temporary housing options for displaced victims of catastrophic disasters, noted the experiences of state and local leaders in Louisiana were invaluable to informing the establishment of a recovery framework.
"It is vital to our success that disaster recovery professionals and stakeholders provide their input as we move forward to improve disaster recovery efforts across the country. No communities have more to share on disaster recovery than the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast so it is fitting that our first Stakeholder Forum engages leaders from these communities. These forums aim to give everyone involved in disaster recovery a voice in shaping how we respond, and then rebuild and revitalize communities in the wake of disaster," Donovan said in a statement.
DHS and HHS will use the input collected at a total of five public forums hosted by the Long-Term Disaster Recovery Working Group to steer improvements in disaster recovery operations and eventually to develop the National Disaster Recovery Framework--a companion to the National Response Framework.
The departments will hold the four additional public forums at various locations throughout the month of November: New York City, Nov. 10; Los Angeles, Nov. 17; Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 19; and Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 23.
The Long-Term Disaster Recovery Working Group also officially launched its Web site Oct. 28 at DisasterRecoveryWorkingGroup.gov to solicit comments from recovery stakeholders and members of the public on recommendations to improve national disaster recovery efforts.
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Mickey McCarter |
| About the author: |
| eNewsletter Editor/Senior Washington Correspondent,
is a journalist with more than a decade of experience in reporting
on
military affairs and information technology.
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