VCC Magazine Spring 2018

The Devastating 2017 Hurricane Season Reminds Virginians that It’s Never Too Early to Be Prepared By Brian Moran and Jeff Stern

Secretary Megan Healy serves on Governor Northam’s Cabinet as his Chief Workforce Development Advisor. As the Commonwealth’s highest ranking workforce officer, she oversees a range of regional, state, and federal programs that connect Virginians to the skills, training, and opportunities they need to thrive in the 21st century economy . Hurricane season reminds all Virginia’s private citizens, government leaders and businesses of the dire importance to Get an Emergency Kit, Make a Plan, and Stay Informed about emerging storm threats. Brian Moran, Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security and Jeff Stern, VDEM State Coordinator. V of these deadly weather systems. We encourage citizens across the Commonwealth to recognize that storm impacts can reach from Southwest Virginia to the National Capitol Region, and from the Shenandoah Valley to the Eastern Shore. All Virginians must prepare for possible hurricane damage and threats. VDEM has published a newVirginia Hurricane Guide and corresponding digital information available at www.vaemergency.gov and in locations throughout Coastal Virginia. Tropical weather systems and hurricanes are a true threat to the safety and property of all Virginians. And these storms are very unpredictable. Experts agree 2018 will continue the busy hurricane pattern we have had in recent years, and Virginia has a history of experiencing hurricane damage. The list of recent hurricane impacts in Virginia is long. • 2016’s Hurricane Matthew defied hurricane models and left a trail of power outages, inland and coastal flooding and disrupted lives, particularly in Virginia Beach where residents are still cleaning up the damage. • Flooding associated with Hurricane Camille killed more than 100 Virginians in one night in 1969. • 2002’s Hurricane Isabel—one of the costliest disasters inVirginia’s history—was a tropical storm when it entered Virginia causing damage to 75 percent of the state. • In August 2011, Hurricane Irene left millions of dollars in property damage in Central and Coastal Virginia and caused the second- highest level of power outages in Virginia history, affecting about 2.5 million people. • In September 2011, flash flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee displaced hundreds of residents from destroyed and heavily damaged homes and caused widespread damage to public property. How You Can Prepare It’s important to know what you might need to do before, during and after a storm to protect yourself and your loved ones, your business and your community. Know your risk for inland or coastal flooding, and take steps to mitigate that risk. Obtain flood insurance, which takes 30 days to become effective. Less than 15 percent of the homes damaged by Matthew were covered by flood insurance. FEMA does not provide funding to repair homes that flooded but didn’t have insurance. Visit www.floodsmart.gov . Know your hurricane evacuation zone for both your home and your workplace by visiting www.KnowYourZoneVA.org . Have a plan that includes decisions on whether, how and where to evacuate, or how to safely shelter in place.

Virtually universal power outages. Nearly 80 percent of housing stock destroyed. Businesses and tourism attractions leveled. Hospitals and government facilities inoperable. And millions looking to government leaders for immediate lifesaving aid. While this is the nightmare scenario of many emergency managers and elected officials, in 2017 this was the reality for leaders in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Florida and Texas when multiple hurricanes pounded their region.

Once complete, our research will yield actionable insight not just into programs, but into the people who participate in them. By identifying patterns in the data, we can more effectively tailor services to meet the needs of individuals, communities, and the economy as a whole. Better information will objectively prove what we all know—that workforce development programs change lives when communities work together. If we can do that, we can equip everyVirginian with the skills they need to thrive in the 21st century. Later in May, Virginia will also kick off public outreach plans to encourage businesses and citizens to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season. In the Eastern Shore, Hampton Roads, Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck, 23 localities and partnering state agencies including the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Virginia Department of Transportation and State Police will conduct a public outreach campaign called KnowYour Zone. Launched last year along with Virginia’s new tiered evacuation plan in these localities, KnowYour Zone is an advertising and public information effort to get citizens to look up their street address at www.KnowYourZoneVA.org to find out if they are located in one of four evacuation zones—A, B, C, or D. Once citizens Know Your Zone, emergency managers can communicate directly with those citizens most at risk of impacts from storm damage including flooding, storm surge and wind impacts caused by particular storm trajectories, intensity and speeds. To learn more about these hurricane zones, visit www.KnowYourZoneVA.org . Prepare Yourself Government alone cannot protect Virginians from the impacts Building a 21st Century Workforce from page 9 While Virginia has not experienced a direct hit from a major hurricane in generations, it is not a question of if, but when, the Commonwealth will face devastation akin to these very real nightmare scenarios. For that reason, Virginia has already begun preparations for the 2018 hurricane season which runs from June 1-November 30. Practice Makes Perfect Virginia will join federal agencies including FEMA, the National Guard, US military, localities and many public- and private-sector partners in the 2018 National Level Exercise May 7-11. This massive coordinated exercise will test the ability of local, state and federal agencies to work together to respond to a major category 4 hurricane that levels a direct hit on Hampton Roads and carves a path of devastation up the Chesapeake Bay into Maryland, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania and beyond. Know Where You Are So You Know Where to Go

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