Hurricane Preparedness & Response for Florida Public Libraries
Improving Florida Public Library Utilization in Community Hurricane Response
Service Role
Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) offers community a DRC whether a FEMA designated DRC; a state, county or municipal DRC, a Point of distribution (POD) of aid, or simply a place for neighbors to make sense and provide each other aid. Best practices include:
A FEMA Disaster Recovery Center
- FEMA. About DRCs. Retrieved March 22, 2009 from http://www.fema.gov/disaster-recovery-centers
- Background: Florida. Department of Community Affairs. Division of Emergency Management. Bureau of Recovery And Mitigation. Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Disaster Recovery Center Coordinator. http://www.floridadisaster.org/brm/SOPs/drccoord.pdf
- Facilities requirements
- Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. (2009, February 20). Libraries as DRCs sparks national interest. http://mblc.state.ma.us/mblc/news/
releases/past-releases/2009/nr090220.php?current=yes
State, County, or Municipal DRC
- Public libraries may serve as state, county or municipal DRCs separate from or in addition to serving as a FEMA DRC. Work with emergency management and local government;
- Public libraries may help pre-organize residents visits to DRCs by helping residents to identify benefit eligibility, filing online (or paper) applications and assembling needed documentation.
Point of Distribution (POD)
- Review FEMA NIMS training IS-26 Guides to Points of Distribution (POD).
http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is26.asp - Public libraries are good POD locations because their locations are well known in the community.
- Distributions may include (Army/FEMA) blue tarps, hot meals, sand, ice, etc. In some cases distribution points can be pre-arranged through county emergency management.
- Miami-Dade Public Library will manage a regional POD and in return the county will assign public library staff only to public libraries in an emergency. For basic POD policies and procedures see Miami-Dade Public Library. (2008, July 15). Hurricane policy and procedures. Section “F” . Point of Distribution site. (see page 22).
Neighborhood DRC
The public library can serve as a neighborhood place to come together and:
- Make sense of what just happened; and
- Offer aid to one another formally and informally.
DRC Best Resources