“Beyond the Headlines: The Real Work of FEMA”

Summary

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Practical Prepping Podcast, Episode 529: “Beyond the Headlines: The Real Work of FEMA”

Hosts: Mark & Krista Lawley
Date: October 20, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode unpacks the realities of FEMA’s (Federal Emergency Management Agency) real role and function in disaster response. Steering away from sensationalism and common misconceptions, Mark and Krista focus on how a practical understanding of FEMA can enhance your family’s preparedness strategy. Their firsthand experience in disaster relief brings clarity to FEMA’s bureaucracy, highlighting the agency's actual capabilities—and its limits—so listeners can prepare more effectively for emergencies.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. FEMA’s Purpose & Public Perception

• FEMA is frequently criticized for being slow and bureaucratic (“often negative and ineffective” [01:38]), but its scope and mandate are often misunderstood.
• Myth-busting: FEMA doesn’t usually interact directly with individuals right after a disaster; instead, it supports local and state agencies.
  • Quote: “FEMA is not coming in and working specifically with individual people right after the disaster.” — Mark [03:13]
• The agency requires a presidential disaster declaration before it can step in and is primarily a coordinator and facilitator, not a first responder.

2. FEMA’s Actual Operations & Responsibilities

• Coordination role: FEMA works closely with state, tribal, territorial, and local authorities, supporting their efforts rather than superseding them.

• Key tasks:

  • Conducting damage assessments, especially on infrastructure (bridges, roads) [04:36]
  • Integrating and coordinating interagency resources
  • Providing financial support to governments for debris removal and infrastructure repairs
  • Offering technical assistance and logistics (e.g., arranging for mass shipments of water, setting up feeding and sleeping facilities for relief workers) [07:08]
  • Providing hazard mitigation grants to reduce future disaster risks (e.g., enlarging culverts, buying out properties in flood-prone zones) [15:47]

• Practical insight: Local Emergency Management Agencies (EMAs) are “responsible for the baby”; FEMA’s role is big-picture problem-solving and financial/logistical support.

  • Anecdote: Mark recounts coordinating disaster relief as a Southern Baptist volunteer in Bruton, Alabama. FEMA coordinated between agencies, provided necessary financing, arranged for resources (like a tractor trailer of water), and brought in private contractors to provide meals and accommodations for relief workers [06:37–09:41].

• Financial Assistance: FEMA pays for public costs (e.g., debris removal, restoring public infrastructure), not for individual home repairs directly [11:29].

  • Quote: “They’re not going in and removing debris from the yard... But if the homeowner could bring it to the road, they could haul it away.” — Mark [10:52]

3. FEMA Training & Involvement Opportunities

• FEMA offers preparedness training and funds training for first responders (online courses: ICS 100/200/700/800; ICS 802 for communications) [12:18].
• The agency operates through the Incident Command System, a hierarchical structure to efficiently manage disaster response.

4. Mobile Support & Hazard Mitigation

• FEMA provides mobile emergency communications (satellite uplinks, phones), power generation (large generators at staging areas), and quick deployment of resources [14:59–15:41].
• Hazard mitigation grants: For example, after floods in Birmingham’s Valley Creek, FEMA funded larger culverts and property buyouts to prevent future flooding [16:06].

5. Distribution of Resources & Points of Distribution (PODs)

• PODs are central locations, often managed with the National Guard, where essential supplies (water, food, tarps, baby formula, medical supplies) are handed out to the public [17:34–20:49].
• Notable quote: “They do provide some immediate assistance... one of the things which we’re almost all familiar with, they call it a pod.” — Mark [17:27]
• Supplies are staged and distributed in an orderly, controlled fashion. Mark and Krista describe how local contacts are key in finding suitable POD sites during emergencies [17:57–18:56].

6. Medical Support & The Strategic National Stockpile

• FEMA/broader federal response can mobilize medical supplies/vaccines/antidotes as needed, prioritizing hospitals, EMTs, and frontline providers [21:04–21:44].

7. Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) & Individual Financial Aid

• DRCs are “one stop shops” for information and assistance, housing FEMA, SBA (Small Business Administration), state/local reps, and voluntary relief groups (Red Cross, Salvation Army, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, etc.) [21:54–23:08].
• Individuals can apply there for financial aid, including SBA loans (even as individuals), and get documents submitted, referrals, and practical help [22:13–23:02].
• Moving story: Mark relays his first wife’s experience helping a woman in shock after losing her sister to a tornado:
  • “She said, honey, what year is it?” — [24:34]

8. Practical Prepping Takeaways

• Key advice:
  • Document everything (damage, expenses, property) before disaster strikes, and understand eligibility requirements for assistance [28:47–34:32]
  • Plan for the “gap”: It may take days for help to arrive (“the first 72 is on you” [29:47]); aim to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours, but ideally 2 weeks [30:19–30:30].
  • Develop realistic plans: Family communication strategies, evacuation/shelter-in-place plans, and documentation routines.
  • FEMA, Red Cross, and faith groups coordinate: Have a 72-hour kit, but also know where/how to access distribution points for additional supplies.
• Direct assistance resources:
  • DisasterAssistance.gov
  • FEMA app, helpline (1-800-621-3362), and DRC locator by texting “DRC [your zip code]” to 43362 [34:32–35:00]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “FEMA is not coming in and working specifically with individual people right after the disaster.” — Mark [03:13]
• “FEMA pays the bill and they do facilitate coordination with other agencies of the government.” — Mark [03:25]
• “If you need a tractor trailer load of water, FEMA’s your guy. Yeah. With a phone call, he can get a tractor trailer load of water delivered.” — Mark [06:58]
• “You can’t have 39 people in charge.” — Mark [14:15]
• Story: “She said, honey, what year is it?” — Mark recounting his late wife’s gentle assistance to a disaster survivor in shock [24:34]
• “You know, they say the first 72 is on you. And that really means you’ve got to be prepared for a minimum of taking care of you and yours alone for the first three days.” — Krista [29:47]
• “Document your property, your insurance, and consider flood insurance if you’re in a flood prone area.” — Mark [33:49]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Common FEMA Misconceptions: 01:34 – 03:54
• FEMA’s Coordinator Role Explained (Bruton, AL Story): 05:31 – 09:54
• Financial Assistance to Communities: 10:05 – 11:38
• FEMA Training & ICS Courses: 12:18 – 13:35
• Mobile Emergency Resources & Mitigation Funding: 14:59 – 17:26
• Points of Distribution (PODs) in Action: 17:27 – 20:49
• Disaster Recovery Centers & SBA Loans: 21:54 – 23:08; 22:13 – 23:02
• Emotional Challenges During Relief (Mark’s Story): 24:34 – 25:24
• Critical Prepping Advice & What to Document: 28:47 – 34:32
• How to Apply for FEMA Assistance: 33:49 – 35:00

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Practical Takeaways & Recommendations

• Prep for at least 72 hours of self-sufficiency; 2 weeks is even better.
• Do not assume instant aid—even after the disaster is over, it takes time for government/aid resources to be deployed.
• Leverage available FEMA training if you want to get involved in disaster relief.
• Thoroughly document your home, property, and valuables before disaster strikes—photos, lists, digital backups.
• Identify local distribution points and know how/when resources will be made available after an emergency.
• Know how to reach FEMA assistance—web, phone, text, app.

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Final Thought

FEMA’s true value lies not in individual handouts, but in its ability to marshal resources, fund critical repairs, support local agencies, and provide technical leadership in the aftermath of disaster. Understanding this lets you plan more effectively—bridging the inevitable waiting period and navigating the path to recovery with realistic expectations and strong documentation.

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For full show notes, resource links, and expanded guides, visit: practicalprepping.info/529

Transcript

[A]

You've heard the jokes, seen the criticism, and maybe even felt frustrated with FEMA. But what's the truth? Today we'll explore how understanding FEMA's work can actually help us to prepare for a disaster.

[B]

Welcome to Practical prepping. Today is October 20, 2025, and this is episode 529. This is the prepping podcast with no bunkers, no zombies and no alien invasions. Just practical prepping, where we teach everyday people how to prepare for life's emergencies. And we're here to help you get prepared. I'm Christa.

[A]

And I'm Mark. And if you'd like the expanded notes for this episode, go to practicalprepping.info 529. Now, this episode is sponsored by our book, the 31 Day Devotional for a Biblical View of Preparedness Physically and spiritually. Visit practicalprepping.info books to find this and our other books available at Amazon. Now, in this segment, we're doing an overview of fema. Remember that FEMA assistance requires a presidential declaration.

[B]

So fema, what do they really do after a disaster?

[A]

Well, let's start by acknowledging the common perceptions of fema, which are often negative and ineffective.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It's a large organization or bureaucracy. It has many levels and it takes them a while to get things in place. In my experience in the disaster relief that I've worked over the years, it takes as much as nine days for FEMA to be on site and to be operational.

[B]

That can feel like an eternity when you're in the middle or the aftermath.

[A]

Of a disaster that really can. There are some other agencies that step in, that fill that gap. And we're going to talk about that gap some in a little bit, but a lot of times the perception of FEMA is that they are negative or it's ineffective. So our goal here today is to provide a practical understanding of FEMA's actual role and how that knowledge can help with our prepping strategies.

[B]

This much I do know. After a natural disaster, FEMA coordinates the federal government's response to support the state, the tribal, the territorial, and any of the local efforts. So they come in. One of the first things they do is they conduct a damage assessment. They also support the local emergency management operations and they coordinate disaster related work of other US governmental agencies. And on all three of these points, you yourself have had personal experience?

[A]

Oh, yes. One thing to point out here is that FEMA is not coming in and working specifically with individual people right after the disaster.

[B]

And I think that's one of the largest misconceptions.

[A]

Yes. People think that FEMA should bring food to town and spread it, bring water to town, spread it. Now, they do make that available, but they're not the ones that are actually distributing it and they may not be the actual ones bringing it. A lot of times what I've explained to folks is that FEMA pays the bill and they do facilitate coordination with other agencies of the government.

[B]

Well, I think that's one of their major purposes is they're there kind of in a leadership role, but they're out there to delegate out to other agencies and other organizations to get busy and do the actual job.

[A]

In most cases, the local EMA or Emergency Management Agency, it's their baby. They're the ones responsible for it. And FEMA supports them. And they do it with damage assessments. They've got staff that conduct those assessments to help determine the extent of the disaster and the needs of the community. Now that really comes into play when you're looking at infrastructure damage.

[B]

Yeah, bridges, streets, roads.

[A]

Exactly. They're not looking at repairing houses. That's not their point.

[B]

They have to kind of look at the bigger picture.

[A]

Yeah. The things that serve the community and in their coordination, they work to integrate the interagency resources for the recovery.

[B]

Yeah, that's a lot of words. That basically means they get on board with all of those locally.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Who have some part in getting some of that infrastructure repaired because they've got to solve the big transportational problems first.

[A]

And I'll explain how that works in just a minute. But understand that they integrate those resources and they facilitate problem solving and they work to improve access to resources. Personal life story Bruton, Alabama after a tornado that had spun off of a hurricane.

[B]

Oh my word.

[A]

And it did a lot of damage in Bruton, Alabama. I went down to coordinate the disaster relief for Southern Baptists, which were doing the cooking and had cleanup and recovery crews there, chainsaw crews, things like that. So every afternoon there would be a meeting of the representatives of the various agencies. And it was in a large room. And I don't remember if it was the EMA or if it was a local school, I honestly do not remember. But the heads or the coordinators of each of these agencies would be in there, including fema, and it was being run by EMA as far as the meeting. And basically it was coming down to, what does your team need to help you tomorrow? And somebody would say, well, I really going to need a bulldozer. Well, somebody on the other room would say, well, I'VE got a bulldozer and this happens to be, you know, some other agency.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

There were times in there that FEMA would have to coordinate something that we sitting around the table could not because they have deeper pockets and more resources than what we had at the table.

[B]

And they've got the logistical know how to be able to make the best use of resources quick, fast, and in a hurry.

[A]

Yeah. And if you need a tractor trailer load of water, FEMA's your guy. Yeah. With a phone call, he can get a tractor trailer load of water delivered.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And it may come from their own warehouses, it may come from a distributor, but that person can make that happen.

[B]

Think of them as like a facilitator.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

They themselves are not passing out water bottles.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

They're making the phone call to get 1,000 people some water today.

[A]

Yes. They do provide leadership and expertise, especially when it comes to technical assistance to state and local governments.

[B]

Oh, I'm sure that they have to get busy with Internet connections and cell towers and some of the larger aspects. I look at FEMA as looking at things on almost a national scale, like the biggest picture possible to make the most impact to the greatest number of people by them being able to pay the bill and make the phone call.

[A]

Right. Now, when FEMA came to Bruton, Alabama, that was one person. One person and a credit card that.

[B]

They sent what they felt like they could get the job done.

[A]

Now, the FEMA contracts kicked in because the local EMA was just absolutely overwhelmed. Yeah. So when they kicked in the FEMA contracts, then that brought a catering unit out of Johnson City, Tennessee. They were already under contract with fema and they came in and provided feeding services to all of the workers.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

At a rate of 6,000 calories per day. Wow. I mean, it was amazing.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

They brought in sleeping trailers. Trailers, which in itself was amazing to me. You have your own little cubicle in there or your own little bunk, and you can't hear the guy four feet away snoring. How that happens?

[B]

They can't hear you snoring.

[A]

They can't hear me snoring. I was not on a CPAP at the time. I've often thought, how can we build one of those for us?

[B]

God bless those poor workers. Yeah.

[A]

Because you get a bunch of guys in there like that and there's gonna be some snoring. But you could walk down the hall of that thing and it was very dim light, and you can make it dark in your area, but it was very damn light going down the Hall. And it was cool and it was neat.

[B]

That's great. I mean, when you think about it, this place, Brewton, Alabama has just been just gut punched. Buildings are down and you've got these massive groups of people coming in to help. They've got to sleep somewhere and they've got to eat somewhere. There's not going to be any hotels or houses for them. So FEMA actually comes and they have units at the ready, but they have to be activated. And so FEMA makes that call and here they come.

[A]

Yeah, FEMA makes the phone call and these folks come showing up.

[B]

Amazing.

[A]

And many of them are private businesses that show up.

[B]

Okay, okay.

[A]

But they offer that kind of leadership and technical assistance to the state and local government.

[B]

That's amazing.

[A]

But they also provide financial assistance notice to state, tribal, territorial and local government.

[B]

Well, so what does that entail? Financial assistance to whom and in what way?

[A]

To the state, tribal, territorial and local governments. But what they're doing is the money goes to that local government and that local government is paying for the cost of debris removal.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

Or restoration of public infrastructure.

[B]

Right. That way they can go ahead and start working on it.

[A]

Exactly, okay, exactly. Or rebuilding the utility systems.

[B]

All of the things that people need to get fixed.

[A]

Yes. They're not going in and removing the debris from the yard.

[B]

Right.

[A]

We had Southern Baptist disaster relief chainsaw teams and they had a bobcat and had a claw hook on the front. Well, everything that we could take to the road, we piled it up right at the road and they would pick it up, they would come along and it was dump trucks and they had a, a loader, the knuckle boom loader that would load those trucks and they would just go down the street. They weren't allowed to remove the debris from the homeowner's property, but if the homeowner could bring it to the road, they could haul it away.

[B]

I can understand that.

[A]

And so that's what was being paid by fema.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And that money was to cover those costs.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And they can come in and do the same thing with utility systems. And having a son in law that has been working in the electrical industry for a number of years, he used to get deployed to disaster sites.

[B]

Different states.

[A]

Yeah. And so FEMA can make a phone call, probably calls Washington, Washington calls Alabama and says what can you send? Calls Mississippi, what can you send? Now they're not sending Alabama to Oregon. No, they're being Oregon to Florida.

[B]

They're going to do regional logistics.

[A]

Exactly. They'll work in the Same state to start with.

[B]

They've got to get somebody there, you know, six hours or less driving. Yeah.

[A]

And we've been driving and going to or from an area and pass half a mile long convoy of power trucks. Sure. They've got a truck in there that is pulling a trailer totally loaded with utility poles. Well, that's facilitated and oftentimes paid for by fema. They also offer training, particularly training in preparedness and they provide the funds for response personnel training throughout the United States. There's online courses available for you. I've taken a number of these. And if you want to be involved in some type of disaster relief, go to the FEMA website and it's fema.gov check out ICS 100, 200, 700 and 800.

[B]

Okay, what are those?

[A]

Those are different. The ICS, that's the command system and understanding that and that gives you actually a diploma afterwards. And with those you can get into work in disasters. And if you're in communications, go ahead and take ICS 802. That is strictly for communications.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

But it's the incident command system of how that works. Okay, you've got one person in town that is in charge of everything. Okay, that's that one person. You have to have one person that's in charge under that person. You've got other people that are in charge of other things.

[B]

Certainly.

[A]

And so it just, it works like a root system on a tree. It just spreads out, but you've got one ultimately in charge person in town. And then they're supervising like seven, which are supervising like seven, and it just goes on down like that.

[B]

You can't have 39 people in charge.

[A]

No, you cannot. But you can have a lot of people in charge of a lot of different things.

[B]

Certainly if everybody can be in charge of one smaller, you know, secondary thing.

[A]

And that's what that meeting was about. We had the people that were in charge of their bailiwick.

[B]

So they, they indicated this is what I need. And in the same room there are people said, I, I can meet that.

[A]

Need, I can meet that need.

[B]

And then that person has a need. And then the one across the room says, hey, I've got what you need.

[A]

Exactly, exactly. And we would come back and we would report what we had accomplished and what we had done and what our needs are. Now another thing that FEMA does is they can provide mobile emergency support in communications.

[B]

Oh, how do they do that?

[A]

They can provide satellite uplinks, they can come in and put computers in a center to be used they can provide telephone. Now, most of those folks are carrying a satellite phone.

[B]

I would think so.

[A]

Because they need to be able to communicate wherever they are in real time. Right. And FEMA can also provide that mobile emergency support by providing power generation at staging areas.

[B]

Oh, I see. Okay.

[A]

I mean, you're going to need some power at those staging agencies. And when they kick in that contract, they bring in generators that are owned tractor trailers.

[B]

Yeah. They got to do a big job.

[A]

Yeah. We're talking 440 volt type stuff, you know.

[B]

Right.

[A]

A lot of it. But FEMA also provides for hazard mitigation Assistance grant.

[B]

What in the world is that?

[A]

Well, that is okay. We had a flood that really damaged a lot of houses. Now, this was on the eastern side of Birmingham, Alabama.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

The question becomes, how do we keep this from happening again? Oh. So they came in and I think it's Valley Creek. And so they came in and they did a couple of things. They put in larger culverts in some areas, carry more water to carry more water. And they came in and literally bought out a few of the houses because there's just no way we're going to keep this particular house from getting.

[B]

Well, that's one thing a flood does, is it shows a community exactly where the flood plains are in your area. I mean, there's no. It's nobody's fault. It's nature. You have to know these things. But yeah, for people who have built, who obviously can't keep a home there, they've got to be able to be bought out so they can relocate. And then that floodplain might become a new lake or a new damned water source.

[A]

They could open up an area to make a reservoir to handle some of this overflow.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And this was like one of those hundred year floods.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Okay. So they figured out that some of the hazard mitigation is put in larger culverts so more water can flow through some areas. It comes to making it deeper. They're just a bunch of other things there. But they do provide some immediate assistance.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

One of the things which we're almost all familiar with, they call it a pod. It's points of distribution.

[B]

Oh, pod points of distribution.

[A]

This is where the tractor trailer of water goes.

[B]

Yeah. They've got to be able to stage their resources in a spot where they can oversee it.

[A]

And they established that point of distribution. And this is where usually the National Guard comes in to distribute the essential supplies.

[B]

I've seen that done many times.

[A]

And we did this in Pell City. Alabama, one time after the county. Well, this was after the. April 27, 2011, and we actually found where to put the distribution point because they don't know. They don't know who owns what building necessarily is.

[B]

You're talking about. FEMA doesn't.

[A]

Right. And so they tell the ema, we're going to establish a point of distribution there, find us a location. This particular county, because of the working relationship between the EMA and Aries, they turned and said, steve, find us a place. Well, Steve says the old home quarters up here is empty.

[B]

Perfect.

[A]

So they large enough to actually knew who owned the building, called him on the cell phone, said, this is what we need to do. So food was delivered there, water was delivered there, and the National Guard showed up.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

That's how that works.

[B]

All right.

[A]

And it's where you get essential supplies like water, tarps, food.

[B]

This is where, like the public. The public at large. So they know there's a central spot they can go to.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And everybody's treated fairly and there's control and.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

There's no foolishness, no stealing and hoarding going on.

[A]

I'm not going to say there wasn't any foolishness among the radio. Well, I'm talking about we had a good time.

[B]

Well, I'm talking about criminal.

[A]

None of that. None of that. But the car would pull up and there'd be a line of cars, not a long line there because they got it through pretty well. They pull up and say, well, what do you need? And they would tell them, well, we need water and we need ice and say, open your trunk. And then the sergeant would turn and holler at the guardsmen and here come a couple of cases of water and a few bags of ice to your car, and they put it in the trunk and bid you farewell and come back if you need more.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And so it was very orderly. Now, that's not always the case. Okay.

[B]

Sadly, it's not.

[A]

Understand that. Yeah, but this particular one was very, very orderly. But the purpose is to distribute those essential resources to the public, and it assures that people have access to necessities when the infrastructure is damaged or unavailable.

[B]

Okay. All right. So you've mentioned some of the things that are typically provided, like the potable water, which is often just cases of bottled water and food, I'm guessing is going to be like an mri, like a meal ready to eat, something that doesn't necessarily require heat, cooking.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

Something like that. What else do they supply?

[A]

Well, there will be a supply of tarps.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

Because after tornadoes and hurricanes, you're going to need a lot of tarps. And baby formula is a big item.

[B]

Yeah. That's something a lot of people don't have cases of.

[A]

And after seeing the price of that stuff with grandkids, I understand why. I mean, that's expensive. But a lot of times the stores or sold out or they're dead.

[B]

They can't get new in for a while.

[A]

And so FEMA does do that. They bring blankets. A lot of medical supplies come from the Strategic National Stockpile.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

Now those are not necessarily distributed to the public. Some medical supplies have to go to the nurses and doctors and the paramedics and things.

[B]

These include like prescription worthy.

[A]

They could, they could, it could be, but they do a lot of vaccines and a lot of antibiotics.

[B]

Okay. I guess depending on what the nature of disaster is.

[A]

Right. And if it's some type of a biological threat, they'll bring antidotes.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So they do do a lot of those kinds of things. Now the other thing that they do for direct assistance is they set up DRCs.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Disaster Recovery centers. And I've worked in these as well. And this is for people to access information and financial assistance.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It's a temporary office.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It's a one stop shop for information and assistance.

[B]

So I've heard about this where people need to go in if they're applying for financial aid from FEMA or if they're a business and they need a sba, either an extension or to get a loan. These are places where you can do some low interest loan and they're pretty reasonable because they understand that people are impacted. And this isn't necessarily income based.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Everybody can be affected.

[A]

And the other thing here is if you come in and get financial aid from fema, what a lot of people don't realize is that's often coming through an SBA loan even to an individual.

[B]

Is that right?

[A]

Right. But they're staffed by representatives from fema, the Small Business Administration. The sba.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It has representatives from state and local government agencies there. And you'll see a lot of volunteer organizations set up there.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

You the one in Carbon Hill, Alabama. The Red Cross was in there. The, the Salvation army was in there. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief was in there. A lot of other disaster relief organizations oftentimes volunteer. We had a table where people could sign up for debris removal. You got a tree on your house. This is where you can come and get assistance to take that tree off. I see my first wife was working in that Center. This had been a devastating tornado, and you really never know how you can touch people's lives in something like that. She was sitting there, and this lady came in to request assistance for trees down on her property. And Carla was my first wife, was talking with her. She said, the house next door was blown away. Oh, and I've got such and such trees down. And so Carla said, well, here, it's real simple. Fill this out. And it was like your name, your address, your phone number, the date and what you need. That's really what the form was. So she wrote her name on it, and then she stopped and she said, what's the date? And Carla told her the month and the day. And then she said, honey, what year is it?

[B]

Wow. That's. That's really mentally fried. Right?

[A]

And she began to talk with her, and she said, well, my sister was killed in this tornado.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

She lived next door to me, and I was looking out the window when I saw the tornado hit her house.

[B]

Man, she was still in shock.

[A]

She was totally in shock. Wow. So if you're working disaster relief, be aware that you really don't know where these people are mentally.

[B]

You've got to be very accommodating and patient and realize, just like this lady, you don't know what she's walking in with on her mind and her heart. Yeah. You can't take up all of your day, you know, trying to psychologically counsel someone. But you definitely have to have the personality to be understanding and compassionate.

[A]

Yes. And Krista knew my first wife and would tell you she's the perfect person to be sitting there talking with that person.

[B]

I can totally see that.

[A]

I make the point to just remind you that when you go into those types of situations, be sensitive to where those folks are emotionally. And if you really want to get involved in it, get with one of these organizations and deploy and work in that particular drc.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And if you're affected by a tornado or hurricane, here are some of the services that are offered at the DRC that you can apply for FEMA assistance, which Krista mentioned. You can get information on those SBA loans. You can get help submitting documents for your application. Sure, they will sit down and walk you through that. But you can learn about those other disaster assistance programs that I mentioned, such as the. The center we had in Carbon Hill, Alabama. But you can often obtain referrals to other agencies and organizations that provide assistance in what you need.

[B]

That's the thing is, you may not be aware of any of these organization and they stand ready to help.

[A]

They stand ready to help. And you may have a need that we can't feel. All your medication got blown away. I can't help you one bit. My organization cannot help you with that one bit. But if you'll go right over there to that table and you'll sit down and you'll talk to that table, they will help you get your medications replaced.

[B]

You may have to make several stops along the way.

[A]

Yes, but that's why it's beautiful that it's in one building. This was in the gym of a church.

[B]

Oh, perfect.

[A]

It was in the gym. So you've got a full size gym there.

[B]

And some people probably go into every table in the gym.

[A]

Maybe not every table, but a lot of the. Everybody has their area of expertise. Now. That table over there can help you get your medications replaced, but they can't do a thing about that tree on your house.

[B]

Right. And so you've got. Sometimes you also have to have some understanding about what the really big picture is, because I think their biggest priority is are you safe, are you uninjured, or, you know, what's the most important thing. And we can deal with trees on roofs after we make certain that we can account for everyone and that we don't have somebody still alive yet unaccounted for. We gotta find them.

[A]

That is usually done before these disaster relief agencies are getting into town. I see these agencies, they'll be set up by the second day. And in most of the disasters that I've been personally involved with, and sometimes I got there the day after they would have their search and rescue done. Now we were involved in it in St. Clair county after that, April 27, but. But before the agencies start coming in, that was out of the way.

[B]

I'm just looking at it from a prioritization standpoint.

[A]

Oh. Safety of people and recovery of bodies comes way before tree removal.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But our guys are not trained in search and. Well, there's. Some are trained in search and rescue, but that's not our primary focus.

[B]

I got you.

[A]

They do offer individual housing assistance and other needs. They can offer some unemployment assistance. Your house is fine, but your business where you work got blown away and it shut down. The practical takeaway really that I want to stress here is document everything if you're affected, document your damage, your expenses. And it really helps to document this before the need and understand your eligibility requirements, get with your insurance coverage, etc. They do make public assistance grants for state and local again for debris removal infrastructure, and that hazard Mitigation. But understanding what they actually do can significantly enhance our family's prepping efforts by allowing us to do certain things like strategically supplement our preps.

[B]

Well, you know, you've got to plan for that in between area because like you said, FEMA's assistance takes time to get mobilized. Think of it like this. When the roads are out or flooded, nobody can come in right away. So we've got to be reasonable to expect. You know, they say the first 72 is on you. And that really means you've got to be prepared for a minimum of taking care of you and yours alone for the first three days. That's not an unreasonable request.

[A]

And that's absolute minimum. We say and we teach two weeks. Yes, as a minimum. Because Covid and some other things may take longer. Yes.

[B]

As they're, you know, rolling out in terms of the effect of whatever the disaster is you've experienced.

[A]

But one of the things is to fill those gaps. But depending on your situation, you may be in a situation where you can't afford to build up 90 days worth of food or 60 days understandable. Or even two weeks worth of food for some. Okay, we understand that. Get that 72 hours covered.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And you need the water for that 72 hours. But realize that you can get more water at a distribution point.

[B]

True.

[A]

Have that first 72 hours of food covered. But realize you might be able to get more food from some other agency. Red Cross distributes food. Southern baptists prepare about 80% of that food that's distributed by the Red Cross. We've got mobile kitchens. The Salvation army does the same thing. So there are places if you can be mobile, there are places you can go and eat if you're not mobile. The Red Cross, I mean, they're doing like the mailman, they're going up and down the streets. Or a better illustration is the old popsicle man, because they might go back over the same streets two or three times. Bill that 72 hour emergency kit too. If you're in a situation where you can't afford to do all of those things right now, get that 72 hour kit done. Get that built. Develop a realistic disaster plan for you. You need a communication plan because the cell service might be unavailable. You need to create a family communication plan with an out of state contact or at least out of the area of impact. We have one in central Alabama. We live in north Alabama and we have a contact in North Carolina.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And they all, as do we have phone numbers for everybody else that we need to Contact. So we only need, if we're affected, we only need to get the word to one person.

[B]

Right.

[A]

That person will call this person.

[B]

Like a phone tree.

[A]

Like a phone tree. This one covers this side of the family and this one covers this side of the family. So everybody gets notified. And have an evacuation plan. Know what those routes and meeting points might need to be. You might not be able to return home immediately.

[B]

Yes, I have like more than one meeting point. Makes sense.

[A]

Yeah. And have a shelter in place. Plan identify the space in your house that's the safest for like a tornado. For us, we don't have a basement, but we have a closet in the middle of the house. And we just throw all the clothes out of there, grab the cats and we go in the closet. It's a little crowded in there, but it's the safest spot we have.

[B]

Well, we're not intending to stay in there very long.

[A]

No, no. But I mean, the tornado hits, that's the safest place that we could be inside this house. But document your property, your insurance, and consider flood insurance if you're in a flood prone area.

[B]

Absolutely. Very, very smart. Now, there's a way to apply for FEMA assistance and that is to go online. You can go to disasterassistance.gov and we're going to have these website links in the show notes at the end of the show. That's the FEMA app. There's also a phone number, 1-800-621-3362. I'll give you that number again. 1-800-621-3333. And this also helps you locate the disaster recovery centers that we were just speaking about. So those like the, the major meetups areas so people can get the most help in the shortest period of time.

[A]

And we'll put all of that in there.

[B]

You also want to navigate that recovery process more effectively. And documentation really is the key. And now is the time to do that. Before a disaster strikes, you want to meticulously document your belongings, the condition of your home, your expenses, your valuables. You want to do this before the disaster strikes. And if you want to make a photo record of VIN numbers and serial numbers, things like televisions, appliances, even collections. Some people have very elaborate collections of things. Try to document all of that, photograph it, list it, write out what it is, what the expected value is, and then record that onto a flash drive and then have that flash drive available so you can load that up and be able to read that out. And also here's how you can Find one of those DRCs we were talking about. You can text DRC and your zip code to this text number, 43362. Text DRC and your zip code to 43362. You could also call the FEMA helpline and that number again is 1-800-621-3362. And like Mark said, we will have all of these numbers and websites in links at the end of the show. Notes. You know we need your input. We really want to talk. We're looking for about 10 of you to join us for a quick 15 to 20 minute Zoom call. And why would we want this? Because we want to hear directly from you, the people who matter most, our readers and our listeners. And we consider you all friends. So here's what we're curious about. Who you are and what drives your interest in preparedness? What are your biggest prepping challenges? In other words, what keeps you up at night? And what topics or resources would help you the most as you build your preparedness plan? And don't worry, this is strictly for our internal use. There will be no names or locations or any personal details kept or shared. We just want to better understand your needs so that we can create even more valuable content for you.

[A]

And here's what's in it for you. You get a chance to ask us anything.

[B]

Anything.

[A]

Whether, pretty much whether it's about prepping survival strategies or gear.

[B]

Oh, I see. Anything about prepping survival strategies or yeah.

[A]

Okay, they can ask about the kids or the grandkids or the cats. Yeah, sure, any of that. So, but pretty much anything. Just ask us and you'll receive one on one coaching to help you level up your preparedness. You'll get a better podcast based on your input.

[B]

See, now that's valuable right there. And as a token of our appreciation, we will send you our popular Building first aid kits PDF at absolutely no cost. Normally that's a $12 value, so if you're interested, it's super, super easy. Just email us at inforacticalprepping.info and we will send you the scheduling link.

[A]

And your insight will help us make this community even stronger. And we can't wait to hear from you. So don't wait. Email inforacticalprepping.info today, get one of those 10 slots and let's get the conversation started.

[B]

Today's cup of coffee comes from Vicki. Vicki, we do enjoy our coffee and we really do appreciate your support of the show. And if you receive value from this podcast, would you help us by giving back a little. You can go to practical prepping.info/support. And you will find many ways, including buying us a cup of coffee, that you can support the show.

[A]

And we thank you for being here today. And as Krista always says, stuff happens. Stay prepared and we'll see you next time.