Sunday, February 12, 2012

Lessons in Community Recovery - New FEMA Report


A new FEMA Report describing principles and lessons of community recovery based on the 7 years of ESF #14 Long Term Community Recovery field work.

Businesses return to 15th Street and McFarland, Tuscaloosa

Published: Sunday, January 29, 2012 
TUSCALOOSA | In the 10 months since the April 27 tornado, destroyed businesses in Tuscaloosa have been slowly rebuilding. Some have returned to a sense of normalcy, while others have yet to begin.
During that time, business owners and city officials have come into conflict while navigating the line between the city’s vision for its future and businesses’ rebuilding needs.
While there have been disagreements between the two over the city’s plans, several business owners in the areas affected by the tornado say they are starting to work better with the city on finding a balance between compliance with new, more restrictive city regulations and returning to business as usual.
Tommy Metrock’s Boulevard Salon on McFarland Boulevard was one of the smallest businesses destroyed and is one of the smallest to return.

Design Alabama: Forward Tuscaloosa - Disaster Recovery Article

To read the Design Alabama artcile in its entirity, please click here.

DA Journal 2011 | Volume XXI | “Forward Tuscaloosa” by Jessica Armstrong
One of the worst tornado outbreaks ever to hit the United States occurred over a four-day period April 2011, causing catastrophic destruction, particularly in Alabama.  An EF-4 twister described as “very large and exceptionally destructive” struck Tuscaloosa April 27.  To devise a means of recovery, Mayor Walter Maddox formed the Rebuild Tuscaloosa Task Force, which put together the Tuscaloosa Forward Strategic Plan – a long-term vision born out of a public/private partnership and extensive citizen feedback.  Main concerns addressed by the plan are housing, improving infrastructure and economic development.  Tuscaloosa now has the opportunity to create updated land use that reflects the city’s urban core and replaces outdates codes and zoning, Maddox adds.

Podcast and Slideshow — Rebuilding Greensburg: Four Years of Progress

Greensburg, Kansas, Mayor Bob Dixson, and Stephen Hardy, senior planner with BNIM Architects in Kansas City, who prepared Greensburg’s Sustainable Comprehensive Plan following the May 2007 tornado that devastated the community, talk with Jim Schwab about the city’s four-year-old efforts to rebuild the community on green principles.

Click on the player below to listen:

Avoiding the Fate of Napoleon (Arkansas): Designing Successful Recovery Efforts

Todd Jaspers Blog:   I spent yesterday in Harrisburg, PA at the Region III National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) Stakeholder Engagement Workshop. While it was great to see so many emergency management professionals dedicated to recovery, it was also quite clear that these types of discussions about recovery are just the beginning of crucial recovery planning at every level. Collectively, we’ve spent enormous resources on response and now, with the NDRF, our focus is being re-adjusted to better understanding–and planning–recovery.

Teamwork saved Wrangler plant in Hackleburg, officials say

Published: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 12:45 PM     Updated: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 12:57 PM