As an emergency responder tasked with assisting Louisiana during its recovery from hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike in 2009, Russell said his time spent at ground zero has helped shape his approach to emergency management as a leading official.
“That gives me a certain perspective when it comes to training, because if you're a person who came from the field, you see the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to people being prepared."
What do you see as some of the potential major disasters America faces in the 21st century? Have those dangers changed during your time with FEMA?
Well, I think there's always an evolution when it comes to disasters. And for me, I'm looking at the catastrophic. And when you look at things like the Cascadia subduction zone where we had an exercise out in California two weeks ago, and just the emissivity of that operation ... So if we're called upon to provide assistance, making sure that we're able to do that — making sure to get people there, get supples there and be able to change the outcome for people who have been impacted. So, in my mind, that's my biggest key is being able to have our training positioned to be able to have those kinds of positive outcomes.
Who know's what the (disaster) is going to be? No one ever knows. If I had a crysal ball and could predict, that would be one thing. But that's why we always have to be ready for the risk and the hazards and we have to consistently review our plans, policies and procedures and be in a position to close any gaps. Put all that together and then you have what we do in prepardness every single day.
Has the mission or scope of FEMA changed much since 9/11?
I would say this: It's more that we always want to get better no matter what we do. Our mission is always to be able to provide the support to our citizens and first responders through the entire [continuum] of the disaster process, right? And that is from protection to prevention, mitgation, response, recovery — all of that together makes up what we call preparedness. And I thnk our mission is to make sure we stay at the forefront at all times because it's evolving. No threat remains the same. It's evolving consistently and our goal is to make sure we get with our local, state, tribal and territorial partners and be able to try to identify those hazards and then be able to close any gaps in their ability to resource those. So for me, that's the constant dance that we do consistently — to have that all-hazard approach, but to focus in on the jurisdcations, specific threats and hazards.
In your experience, what are the "gaps" in preparedness many communities face?
What I've seen over my years, is that we tend in our plans to make assumptions. Like for instance, I can make an assumption that I will have five geneators over to this location to sustain the power, yet I have no way of getting from point A to point B. So in my plan, I didn't think about, 'Oh, I've got to have a vehicle to be able to drive from point A to point B.' So my plan states that it will be here, but I've not done the crosswalk to make sure it could get there. That's one example.
Another example that I do a lot, is that we say for instance, during an ice storm ... any responder knows that during an ice storm, if it's not there beforehand, it's not going anywhere. You don't move, because you can't do anything during an ice storm. So they'll say things like, we'll have food here, we'll have a shelter here. But if it's not done before the ice storm, it's not going to be done during the ice storm. So those are some of the assumptions that people will make.
And when they come here and we put them into that situation, they say, 'Oh, now I got to be more proactive.' And then they put into their plans to get set up way in advance. I know it's coming, there it is, I can never get time back. So therefore, let's move, instead of five hours in advance, let's move 15 hours in advance and get it set up for people. Because when the ice storm hits, you don't move anywhere.
What do you hope to see communities like Des Moines County gain from the training?
I am just so pleased to have your group here, and I know it's a tremendous commitment to bring folks here. But one thing that I've seen from my years, is that having a group like yours come here, where they can detach from their everyday lives and to come in this environment and really to concentrate on their craft — to me that's very, very important. And they can look at their plans, policies and procedures and they can learn it and study it in a peacetime environment.
They can make their contacts, they can look at some of the gaps and fill those gaps. And for me, my hope is that you identify the gaps while you are here and then you are able to provide ways for you to resource those gaps. And then be able to go back and perfect your plans, policies and procedures.
Also, what I like about being here ... even though all the folks are all from the same county, they probably don't all know each other. And so, being away like they are now, they're able to talk to each other. They're able to get to know each other and talk about the what-ifs — if this happened, who would I call? And now, they can go and talk to that person, without the bright lights and flares going up.
My hope is that we can push them through the training process to be able to go to the maximum, to be able to look at the plans, policies and procedures and then to say, "OK, now I'm confident." Now I know who to talk to, now I know who to call. Because sometimes, it's not what you know, it's who you know to call. It's a big difference than trying to know everything, because no one can know everything. But knowing who to call, who our resources are — to me, that's the key. When the team leaves here, I want them to be confident, No.1.
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