FEMA: Week in Review Louisiana Recovery Office New Orleans, LA   Calendar  
Jan. 19: Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMS) for Vermillion Parish went into effect. Jan. 19-22: National Association of Counties Symposium:  Strengthening County, State & Federal Partnerships for Disaster Recovery and for Safely Lowering Jail and Prison Populations Feb. 18: DFIRMS for Calcasieu and Concordia parishes go into effect. March 3: DFIRMS for Vernon Parish go into effect. March 17: DFIRMS for Allen Parish go into effect.  
January 15 to January 21, 2011  
Announcements  
Increasing National Resilience to Hazards and Disasters Workshop The National Academy of Sciences held a workshop in New Orleans this week on Increasing National Resilience to Hazards and Disasters. The workshop is part of an ongoing project sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal agencies. After gathering information from local officials, emergency management leaders and the community, the committee will use the information in its study on increasing resilience to extreme events. Plaquemines Parish School Board Superintendent Blogs about Schools In case you missed it, FEMA Headquarters recently posted a blog on recovery progress for Plaquemines Parish schools. The post was from FEMA’s first guest contributor, Plaquemines Parish School Board Superintendent Denis Rousselle. Read the blog and comment on it by visiting http://blog.fema.gov. Team Approach Conference for Families in Need A Team Approach Conference was held at the Louisiana Recovery Office in New Orleans this week to address avenues for helping the remaining 492 households living in FEMA temporary housing units. Of the 92,000 Louisiana families that once sheltered in travel trailers, mobile homes and park models following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, nearly all of them have rebuilt their homes or found alternate housing. However, the remaining families require additional resources to assist with their transition.   Hosted by FEMA in partnership with the State of Louisiana, the conference served to discuss and help establish permanent or longer-term housing plans for these families. The round-table discussion focused on identifying and matching unmet needs with available local, state or federal resources to assist the temporary housing unit residents achieve more permanent housing. Plaquemines Parish Learning Center Region 6 Administrator Tony Russell (second from left) addresses attendees at the Team Approach Conference.  

 
National Emergency Management Association Mid-Year Conference The National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) mid-year conference will be held March 20-25, 2011 in Alexandria, Va. Sessions include Strengthening  Community Engagement In Preparedness, A Paradigm Shift in Catastrophic Disaster Planning, Resilience Efforts Nationally and Social Media for Emergency Management. The registration period is now open. For more information about NEMA and the Mid-Year Conference, visit http://www.nemaweb.org/ Housing Update:  Katrina/Rita: 492 occupied units Gustav/Ike: 167 occupied units  
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first  responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.