The final paper will be a minimum of 8 pages (approximately 250 words per page double-spaced), not including the cover page or reference section. The final paper should touch on all of the areas listed below. Your sources should include the textbook and outside scholarly resources where appropriate.
Prompt/Scenario: (DO NOT WRITE THE SCENARIO IN YOUR PAPER)
Memphis, Tennesee sits on the New Madrid Earthquake Faultline. Memphis and its surrounding areas have been rocked by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake on a Wednesday at 10 a.m. It occurred in mid-January during an unusually cold and wet winter. The downtown has suffered extensive damage. Interstates I-40, I-240, I-22, and I-55 have been impacted. The population of the area is approximately 633,000. You are the emergency manager for Shelby County in Tennessee.
Think through and describe how your answers will look in actual practice, not just in theory. You will need to research the actual locations that have been hypothetically impacted for your final project. Your final project should demonstrate a cumulation of knowledge acquired in the course. Add hyperlinks to the paper that demonstrate large pieces of information or put it in an Appendix to your paper (not to be included in the page count).
Discussion and analyses should be in the order below and should include all of the following areas and each section should be approximately one page in length. You should find the questions listed within each section helpful.
Decision-making (1 page)
What are the agent-generated, response-generated, normalcy-generated, mitigation-generated, and preparedness-generated demands currently placed on you? How do these impact your job? Do they present difficulties for you?
What management or alternative management model will work best for you in this situation and explain why?
What types of assistance can be obtained for your community? What can you do to help your jurisdiction get federal assistance?
How can you lead your community through response and recovery operations in an effective manner? What you will need to take care of on the first day following the disaster? how will you meet the demands? who you will call upon to help you?
Hazards (1 page)
What are the hazards? Are any of the hazards related? If so, how? What are the implications of compound or na-tech hazards? What are the consequences if the hazards interact with human vulnerability? What will you need to do to respond? What considerations should be taken into account in the recovery phase?
If residents are in unsafe homes, what are the typical reasons they will not want to leave? what logic can you use to get them to evacuate? What steps can you take to make sure designated shelters will be safe for victims?
Response (1 page)
Who will be involved in your response activities? From whom would you expect from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors? What businesses will most likely be involved? How will you be able to work with them to facilitate recovery?
From whom would you expect help with sheltering, mass care, and feeding?
If electricity is out and cell towers are affected, what are your options to communicate with others?
Communication (1 page)
What concerns might you have when the media comes on the scene? What steps will you take to handle the media? What are the consequences of failing to communicate with them? How will you use the media to assist you?
How will you handle family members who are searching for loved ones who may have been affected by the earthquake?
How do you handle communication when it is likely no electricity and cell towers might be affected? What do you do for citizens that do not have advanced technology? How do you ensure equity?
Volunteers/Donations (1 page)
How will you handle spontaneous volunteers? How do you allow SAR teams to take charge when it is very likely that people on the scene will already be searching for survivors?
How will you handle unwanted or unneeded donations? How will you use the media to assist you? How can you ensure that you are not offending donors?
Damage Assessment (1 page)
What steps do you take to ensure the safety of those doing damage assessment? What should you make the damage assessment team aware of?
What types of debris will need to be removed? What will you need to be concerned with the debris that is common to this type of disaster? How will it be disposed of?
Recovery/Mitigation (1 page)
What should be considered when opening up a Disaster Recovery Center? What types of Individual Assistance and Public Assistance are available, and how do you get the help you need for your community?
What advice can you give businesses in terms of financial assistance that they may be eligible for?
What measures do you recommend to reduce the community’s vulnerability to future disasters?
Following the disaster (1 page)
How can you use the window of opportunity to promote mitigation policies when officials will be more receptive to changes following a major disaster?
In updating your emergency plan following this disaster, who should you include in this process and why? How will you conduct a hazard and vulnerability assessment to help in the event of a future disaster?
