Disaster Preparedness for Libraries: Home

FEMA's mission is to support citizens and first responders to prepare for, protect against, respond to and recover from hazards and emergencies. The site has information FOR ALL--individuals, families, schools, libraries, businesses, governmental agencies. 

Find regional offices (SOUTH CAROLINA IS REGION IV). The site has several visual materials, such as videos and photos, that can be incorporated into a webpage or program.

• CALpreservation
  ​CALpreservation.org has a comprehensive Disaster Plan workbook and Template that can assist libraries in preparing their own manuals.
• dPlan Disaster Preparedness Resources and Training
  Has a tool for creating an online plan. You must register to use, but then you can return to your project as needed. Also has excellent links for preparing a plan and finding help through various agencies and organizations.

• Scenarios and Emergency Levels
  Colorful chart identifying destructive factors and the responses needed. This chart is a tool to help an institution validate its emergency response plan against the wide variety of factors, and combinations of factors, that may occur in an emergency.
• Planning Tool
  This planning tool complements the chart.
• Hurricane Katrina Oral Histories
  The event is long-past, but conservators developed successful procedures for response and recovery. This webpage has webcasts of interviews with the recovery volunteers.

Disaster Information Page
Plenty of excellent links here (a good page to bookmark!) including:

• Family Emergency Plans
• Pets
• Rebuilding Resources
  This page includes links to FEMA resources for those looking to rebuild after a disaster.
• NOAA Weather Radio
  SCEMD recommends having a NOAA certified tone-alert weather radio with a back up power supply (batteries or hand crank).  You want to make sure your NOAA weather radio is programmable for your area so you get the most up to date information about a potential emergency.  Use these links for more about NOAA weather radio, including instructions on how to program one for your area.

Also, at this site are guides for hurricanes, earthquakes, and severe winter weather specific to South Carolina, and more.  Of course, they link to other agencies that partner in assistance.