DHSEM Update: November 4

Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Update:  November 4

Information included in this update:

• Volunteer Agency Liaison New to the Office of Emergency Management
• MAC13 Dispatch Center/Coordination Call
• Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control Stakeholder Meeting
• Job Announcement
• Educational Resources
• Addressing Responders' Emotional Health
• Community Risk Reduction Training
• Association of Contingency Planners Hosting a Lesson Learned Forum after Colorado Floods
• Flood Information and Update
• Training Course Information
• An Introduction to Social Media for Organizations who want to be more Involved.
• FEMA Training Opportunities
• DHSEM Training Opportunities

Road Openings will Enable Hundreds of New FEMA Inspections

Once residents are able to return home they need to call FEMA to schedule their housing inspections

Once their flood-impacted homes become accessible by regular (not off-road) vehicle, residents should schedule their FEMA housing inspection.

After access is made, residents should contact FEMA at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) to schedule FEMA inspections.

Inspection access means that the FEMA inspector can drive all the way to the home in an ordinary car. That includes being able to drive across any bridges used to reach the dwelling prior to the flood.

A FEMA housing inspection is the next step in determining what assistance can be provided to residents who have been prevented from returning home.

FEMA housing inspectors prominently wear photo identification. Beware of imposters.

Register with FEMA by phone, 800-621-3362, from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., MST, seven days a week. Multilingual phone operators are available on the FEMA helpline. Choose Option 2 for Spanish and Option 3 for other languages. People who have a speech disability or are deaf or hard of hearing may call (TTY) 800-462-7585; users of 711 or Video Relay Service can call 800-621-3362.

Register online: DisasterAssistance.gov. Register by Web-enabled device, tablet or smartphone: type m.fema.gov in the browser.

U.S. 36 between Lyons and Estes Park opens ahead of schedule

Gov. John Hickenlooper today announced that the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the National Guard completely reopened U.S. 36 between Lyons and Estes Park nearly one month ahead of the earlier anticipated Dec. 1 opening.

“Less than two months ago, this highway and surrounding communities suffered tremendous devastation following the floods,” Hickenlooper said. “Through hard work, partnerships among CDOT and the National Guard and amazing support from local communities, we can now celebrate the opening of this critical highway as we continue to reconnect and rebuild communities.”

To complete the temporary repairs along the 17-mile stretch of U.S. 36, crews utilized more than 75 pieces of equipment, hauled 34,200 cubic yards of fill, removed 1,155 feet of guardrail, placed more than 2,100 cubic yards of asphalt and reused 12,690 cubic yards of existing material.

“Returning access to our communities is so rewarding,” said Brig. Gen. Peter Byrne, commander of the Colorado National Guard’s Joint Task Force – Centennial. “This effort has been a hallmark of partnership, from the direction of CDOT, to the cooperation of our neighboring states which provided additional National Guard engineers. I am so proud of my team and our partners, but mostly of the resilience of our Colorado communities.”

While U.S. 36 is completely open to traffic and will be plowed throughout the winter, the repairs are temporary and the speed limit will be reduced. CDOT will move forward on design of the final repairs this winter with work beginning spring 2014.

FEMA Registration Deadline Extended for Disaster Survivors in Colorado

At the request of the state of Colorado, FEMA has approved an extension for storm and flooding survivors to register for federal disaster assistance.

The new registration deadline is November 30, 2013, which is also the new deadline to complete and return low-interest U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loan applications.

Survivors who register may be eligible for federal grants to help cover various disaster-related expenses, including rent, essential home repairs, personal property losses and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance.

The extension is for all 11 Colorado counties designated for federal Individual Assistance: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Clear Creek, El Paso, Fremont, Jefferson, Larimer, Logan, Morgan and Weld.

People living in these counties who sustained losses due to storms and flooding should register with FEMA even if they have insurance. Applying by the deadline may help survivors avoid a funding shortfall if they later find that they are underinsured or have additional damages.

Under the SBA disaster loan program, homeowners may be eligible for as much as $200,000 in loans to repair or replace their storm-damaged primary residence. Homeowners and renters may be eligible for as much as $40,000 for replacement of personal property. Businesses and private nonprofits may be eligible to borrow as much as $2 million to repair or replace storm-damaged property.

Register with FEMA by phone, 800-621-3362, from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., MST, seven days a week. Multilingual phone operators are available on the FEMA helpline. Choose Option 2 for Spanish and Option 3 for other languages. People who have a speech disability or are deaf or hard of hearing may call (TTY) 800-462-7585; users of 711 or Video Relay Service can call 800-621-3362.

Register online at: DisasterAssistance.gov. Register by Web-enabled device, tablet or smartphone: type m.fema.gov in the browser.

New Volunteer Agency Liaison Announced

Please help welcome Robyn Knappe, the new Volunteer Agency Liaison to the Colorado Office of Emergency Management. This is a new position created due to the 2013 Colorado Flooding.  Knappe  transfers from the Office of Preparedness' Training and Exercise Section. She will be assigned to the Mitigation and Recovery Section effective Friday, November 1.

Knappe will initially split her time between Training and Exercise and Volunteer Agency Liaison until a replacement can be hired within the Training and Exercise Section of the Office of Preparedness. We are excited to keep Knappe in the Division and continue to have her experience in the State Emergency Operation Center and working with volunteer agencies.