May 9, 2003May 9, 2003
University Outreach and Extension faculty in all eight regions are working with individuals, communities, businesses and farmers to recover from disastrous storms that have struck throughout the state since Sunday, May 4. Federal disaster declarations for public and individual assistance have been granted so far to 39 counties.
SW and WC Region counties were hardest hit. Camdenton, in the SC Region, also sustained significant damage. Dale Taunton, a University employee at the Southwest Center in Mount Vernon, was killed May 4, while helping people take cover at the National Guard armory in Pierce City. (See Condolences for information on services.)
Since early this week, members of the SW and WC Community Emergency Management Teams have been working with disaster organizations and the media to organize COADs (Community Organizations Active in Disaster). UO/E faculty and staff have played a key role in organizing the COADs and identifying a lead agency for the groups. UO/E will continue to provide administrative support and facilitate the groups.
"SEMA has been extremely pleased with our work," says Eric Evans, community emergency management specialist.
Through the COADs, faculty and staff are identifying the information needs of those affected and identifying or developing the necessary materials. Among those needs are materials translated into Spanish. Identified materials have been placed in the root directory of the Share Drive in a folder called #1 Disaster Preparedness. These resources are available to all county offices. Information also is available on the CEMP website (http://outreach.missouri.edu/cemp/storms.html), linked from the UO/E homepage.
UO/E also has developed lists of disaster recovery resource organizations with contact information. Staff in the SW and WC regions will be distributing these throughout the affected areas.
In southwest Missouri, UO/E is working with local newspapers to develop special sections related to disaster recovery. The Bolivar Herald-Free Press has already run a special section for people in Polk and Cedar counties. The Springfield News-Leader also is planning a special section using UO/E provided news articles.
A mail group, UM UOE CEMP, has been set up to facilitate communication among faculty and staff responding to disasters.
|
|
||
 |
Eileen Yager,
yagere@umsystem.edu |
|
|
© 1993 to 2010 Curators of the
University of Missouri, all rights reserved.
DMCA and other copyright
information |
||