Region III News
Regional Activities
Region III DAD Director Announced
Jack Schuback has been named the Director of Region III’s Disaster Assistance Division (DAD) and will assume his duties on November 23. Formerly the Individual Assistance Branch Chief, Mr. Schuback will bring to his new position a wealth of disaster knowledge and experience. Often assigned as a Federal Coordinating Officer (FCO) prior to the establishment of the FCO cadre, he has performed key roles in more than 100 disaster operations. His extensive experience in Disaster Housing operations includes the 1993 Midwest Floods, Hurricane Marilyn in the Virgin Islands in 1995, the 1996 Pennsylvania flooding, Hurricane Floyd in 1999, Hurricane Isabel in 2003, and many more. He is the lead FEMA official for the Joint Housing Solutions Group and the interim Director of the National Disaster Housing Task Force.
New Region III DOD Director Announced
Edward Smith has been appointed to the position of Disaster Operations Division (DOD) Director and will assume his duties on September 28. In his previous position, he served as a federal coordinating officer (FCO), leading disaster response and recovery operations. He served as the deputy FCO for floods in Ohio and Washington, ice storms in Iowa and Nebraska, and as the FCO for a severe winter storm in Wisconsin and floods in West Virginia. During the Hurricane Ike response in 2008, he led the Houston/Harris County Area Field Office as the director, later becoming the chief of staff for the disaster.
Private Sector Forum Held
On September 17, 2009, FEMA Region III held its first Private Sector Forum in Philadelphia. The forum focused on the restoration of power and telecommunications to critical infrastructure after a disaster. Without these two pieces in place, most homes, businesses and critical infrastructure are dead in the water. Traditionally, the private sector has been seen as a vendor rather than a partner in emergency management. The private sector provides many services, often faster and more cost effectively than the government.
More than 70 people from around the region attended, representing federal, state, local and private sector stakeholders. Some of the stakeholders represented were Dominion Power, Verizon, T-Mobile, PECO, Sunoco, Philadelphia Gas Works, Virginia Tech University, Philadelphia University, Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Maryland Emergency Management Agency, West Virginia Military Affairs and Public Safety, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and many more. The panel discussion between private sector companies and the state, local and federal government provided many best practices and areas for improvement.
The power and telecommunications associations throughout the region were a best practice identified during the forum. Through these associations, the private sector has developed memorandums of agreement in order to bring in outside companies to help during times of disaster. Forum attendees agreed on the need for more opportunities to gather and discuss different areas of private/public partnerships within emergency management.
Last Modified: Thursday, 19-Nov-2009 15:23:17 EST