Research and build infrastructure to preserve life in mass during natural disasters.
The following action steps are written in SMART Goal format. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Community members are encouraged to utilize this page to determine if their local community could benefit from implementing these action steps. Consider these as guidelines for further discussion in the direction of tax dollars to provide ideal environments for children and citizens. Take your community’s resources, economic and social strengths, and crime rates over the last 25-50 years into consideration.
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Action Steps at the Town Hall Level:
Provide Disaster Preparedness Resources
- Specific: Distribute disaster preparedness kits and conduct workshops for 500 households.
- Measurable: Reach 500 households within 1 year.
- Achievable: Partner with local emergency management agencies and nonprofits to provide kits and training.
- Relevant: Providing resources and raising awareness and disaster readiness address the safety need for protection from natural disasters.
- Time-Bound: Distribute the first 250 kits within 6 months and all 500 kits within 12 months. Conduct workshops on a monthly basis within 3 months.
Establish A “Disaster Preparedness Committee”
- Specific: Conduct a town-wide risk analysis of climate/disaster threats using GIS mapping and climate models, then research infrastructure that would reduce disruption to daily life in the event of imminent natural disasters and provide shelter/safety to citizens affected by said disasters.
- Measurable: Identify 100% of at-risk neighborhoods and critical infrastructure within 1 year, then publish a public “Resilience Report” with 10 or more priority action items.
- Achievable: Partner with FEMA, universities, and insurance companies for funding, technology, and data.
- Relevant: A research committee ties infrastructure planning together with localized risks.
- Time-Bound: Complete the risk assessment within 12 months and update it every 3 years.
Build Disaster-Proof Shelters
- Specific: Construct 3 multi-hazard community shelters rated to withstand the toughest disasters prevalent to the community (hurricanes, wildfires, snowstorms, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc.).
- Measurable: Shelters must have capacity for 1,000 people each, as well as backup power and enough water to supply inhabitants for at least 72 hours.
- Achievable: Use FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grants and municipal bonds to fund planning and construction.
- Relevant: 3 shelters capable of holding 3,000 people would address the 60% of Americans unprepared for disasters.
- Time-Bound: Break ground on the first shelter in 18 months and complete all 3 shelters within 5 years.
Incorporate AI Into Alert Networks
- Specific: Deploy IoT sensors with AI forecasting.
- Measurable: Reduce warning time for disasters by 50% and achieve 95% resident enrollment in emergency alerts via app/text message within 2 years.
- Achievable: Partner with tech firms for predictive modeling.
- Relevant: Early warnings improved with AI can reduce deaths by 30% according to research conducted by UNDRR.
- Time-Bound: Install 50 sensors within the first year and achieve full network operation within 3 years.
Stockpile Critical Resources
- Specific: Create stockpiles of food, water, and medical supplies for 14-day outages that can be distributed to citizens.
- Measurable: Store 1 gallon of water and 2,000 calories of food per person at 10 or more secure locations. Ensure 100% of fire and police stations are equipped with backup generators.
- Achievable: Phase in stockpiles using DHS Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grants.
- Relevant: Stockpiles of resources that are packaged for distribution prevent post-disaster scarcity.
- Time-Bound: Within 1 year accumulate 25% of stockpiles and reach 100% by the fourth year.
Upgrade Roads & Bridges
- Specific: Upgrade roads and bridges to withstand disasters.
- Measurable: Retrofit 5 critical bridges to survive floods by 2030 and acquire 10 high-water rescue vehicles for fire departments.
- Achievable: Use USDOT PROTECT Program funds for climate-resilient transit.
- Relevant: Reinforced roads and bridges as well as availability of amphibious evacuation vehicles will address the 25% of disaster deaths that involve transportation failures according to research published by NHTSA.
- Time-Bound: Start engineering reviews in 6 months and complete 1 bridge per year.
Conduct Mass Survival Drills
- Specific: Conduct biannual disaster simulations for 10% of residents.
- Measurable: Train 5,000 people annually via schools and workplaces on how to facilitate disaster response to cut emergency response time by 20% after 3 drills.
- Achievable: Collaborate with Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT).
- Relevant: Increasing the number of trained individuals in the community will ensure 50% higher survival rates according to research published by WHO.
- Time-Bound: Conduct the first drill within 9 months and evaluate improvements annually.
Enforce Mandatory Resilience Standards
- Specific: Pass a building code requiring all new construction to meet Fortified Home or LEED Resilient Design Standards.
- Measurable: Achieve 100% of compliance for permits issued after 2026 and reduce disaster insurance claims by 40% in 10 years.
- Achievable: Model standards after Florida’s hurricane codes, Japan’s earthquake standards, or any other leading country or state’s standards aligned to protection from the natural disaster(s) prevalent in your community.
- Relevant: Resilient buildings will reduce disruptions to daily life after natural disasters and they also save $10 per $1 invested according to NIST.
- Time-Bound: Draft code in 12 months and achieve full enforcement in 3 years.
Action Steps at the School Level:
Launch Food Preservation Projects
- Specific: Incorporate a hands-on food preservation unit into science and/or home economic curriculum for one year of elementary, middle, and high school.
- Measurable: 80% or more students successfully employ a technique to preserve food for at least 6 months.
- Achievable: Use science department budget and/or fundraising to attain equipment for food preservation projects.
- Relevant: In the event of a natural disaster, the ability to continuously find and preserve food will prove to be especially helpful for the health and well being of those who have lost access to their homes.
- Time-Bound: Relevant team leads and curriculum developers must decide the grades of implementation, develop the unit, and fold it into the curriculum for the school year over the course of the summer, then launch the adjacent academic year.
Establish a Disaster Resilience Club
- Specific: Establish a Disaster Resilience Lab where students can research, design, and test systems and solutions to preserve life in mass in the event of a natural disaster.
- Measurable: Enroll 3 or more students in the club and prepare them to complete 1 project per academic year as well as to charter 1 or more long term projects.
- Achievable: Partner with local emergency management for relevant data and support students in attaining relevant training and education, such as that provided by NOAA’s Planet Stewards Program.
- Relevant: Involving interested students in climate change activism and preparedness supports the upbringing of the next generation of climate resilience leaders.
- Time-Bound: Recruit 3 or more students of interest and launch the lab within 1 academic year.
Disaster-Proof School Infrastructure
- Specific: Update school buildings to withstand region-specific disasters, informed by latest reports on climate changes current and upcoming.
- Measurable: Install 3 or more life-saving infrastructures.
- Achievable: Use FEMA BRIC grants for funding and partner with local universities and engineers for building and maintenance support.
- Relevant: Schools are often used as emergency shelters, and can protect students, staff, and families in the event of a disaster.
- Time-Bound: Complete a risk assessment and establish a timeline for applicable retrofits within 4 months.