The International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) – Universities and Colleges Caucus conducted its annual Symposium in Orlando, Fla., this past weekend. Nearly 100 higher education emergency managers were in attendance, including a couple dozen from institutions that are in Sandy’s path.
As a service to those individuals and to other schools around the nation, the IAEM-UCC established a Sandy Higher Education Resource Center (a mini-EOC) at the conference. This provided a workspace for those emergency managers who needed to participate in conference calls, webinars, write situation reports, and coordinate with their institutions back at home. A number of subject matter experts from hurricane-prone institutions such as FSU, Miami, UCF, UWF, Tulane, UNCW, Embry-Riddle and others made themselves available to provide support and advise to those who needed it.
Through the Disaster Resilient University (DRU) Network, the center also reached out to institutions who were not in Orlando, but still wanted some support. We fielded a number of phone calls and emails from affected institutions.
While many of the affected emergency managers attempted to get early flights back home, the cancellations occurred sooner than expected. Some chose to drive the 10-14 hours back home on Sunday. A number of others are stranded in Orlando. As a continued support, the Sandy Higher Education Resource Center continues to operate at the Rosen Center hotel with resources (logistical and expertise) on site to assist those there. Remote technical assistance is still available as well.
For more information, please contact FSU Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Bujak at [email protected] or University of Miami Emergency Management Director Scott Burnotes at [email protected].
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Hurricane Sandy Info Available Here
Dave Bujak is the emergency management coordinator at Florida State University.
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