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New Center for National Policy Report Warns That Much More Needs to Be Done to Address the Unique Challenges of a Hurricane Striking Amidst the Oil Spill

(Center for National Policy)

	Contact: Liz Packard CNP Communications Director (202) 682 – 1800 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 26, 2010
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(WASHINGTON, DC) August 26, 2010 -- As the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, Gulf Coast residents are facing a new type of challenge: how to prepare for and mitigate the consequences of a severe storm amidst the BP oil spill.
 
At the height of a hurricane season forecasted to be one of the most severe in several decades, the Center for National Policy released a report today that provides the federal government and BP with ten recommendations that must be implemented immediately, in advance of a storm, to protect residents, minimize the economic impacts, and ensure a safe and timely return home for evacuees.

"With the threat of a hurricane striking amidst the oil spill, residents along the Gulf Coast are facing the worst case scenario," said Stephen Flynn, President of the Center for National Policy and an expert in emergency preparedness and critical infrastructure. "The experience of Hurricane Katrina makes clear that the longer people are displaced and businesses are disrupted, the harder it is for a community to bounce back after a disaster. These recommendations are common sense but must happen now."


The report makes the following ten recommendations to prepare for a hurricane amidst the oil spill:

1. BP should financially assist NGOs providing disaster relief and social services related to the oil spill so they can also support potential hurricane victims


2. Preparations must be made now for relief distribution centers and storm shelters to be staffed with financial recovery and insurance claims personnel 



3. To avoid the post-Katrina insurance delays and confusion, carriers must clarify for  homeowners and businesses what they should expect regarding the recovery of losses 



4. The federal government must better inform local officials and emergency responders of how an integrated oil spill and hurricane response would work 



5. The President must name a special federal coordinator to resolve obstacles and streamline impediments for the federal government to support NGO recovery relief efforts


6. BP should fund hazardous materials assessment training for local Gulf Coast residents to facilitate reentry if a hurricane brings oil onshore


7. Provide small businesses with dedicated recovery assistance and resources to return and reopen


8. To address the region's growing mental health crisis, emergency resources and personnel should be deployed now


9. Evacuation plans need to be immediately updated with greater emphasis on recovery planning and the return of evacuees


10. To help get people home and recover from a storm, the federal government must support pre-disaster, aggressive case management for the most vulnerable residents

The report's recommendations arise from the findings of the delegation of experts, assembled by the Center for National Policy and the Community and Regional Resilience Institute (CARRI).  The delegation, led by Steve Flynn, Warren Edwards and Scott McCallum, traveled to New Orleans, Gulfport, and the surrounding areas from August 8th to 11th. They met with local government leaders, emergency responders, business owners, and non-profit relief organizations to better understand what the Gulf Coast region requires right now to address the unique, major challenges of this hurricane season.

A full copy of the report can be found here. Flynn, Edwards and McCallum will be discussing the report recommendations at an event on August 27 at the Newseum in Washington, DC.

Delegation Members:

Scott Bates is Vice-President and Senior Fellow for National Security at the Center for National Policy. He previously served as Senior Policy Advisor for the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee and Visiting Professor of Homeland Security at the National Defense University. Mr. Bates is the former Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia and currently Police Commissioner in his hometown of Stonington, Connecticut.

Randy Beardsworth is a former Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and currently works on a number of security issues domestically and internationally.

Harold Brooks is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter, serving six counties in the Bay Area; managing day-to-day operations of nearly 2,000 volunteers and more than 60 employees. Mr. Brooks joined the American Red Cross in 1975 and has held a number of positions during his career including director of development in the Eastern Field Office, development officer at national headquarters, manager of community services for the Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter, Red Cross liaison to the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996, as well as chief executive of the Metropolitan New Jersey Chapter. Mr. Brooks' Red Cross experience is enriched by having spent five years serving as country director for the Peace Corps in Papua New Guinea and for Africare in Kenya.

Sean Burke is Vice President and Senior Fellow at the Center for National Policy.  Mr. Burke is a former U.S. Coast Guard officer and prior to coming to CNP worked as an attorney with the Corporate Security and Emergency Management Division of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Law Department. 

Warren Edwards is the Director of the Community and Resilience Institute (CARRI) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. CARRI supports building a resilient America based on a foundation of resilient American communities. CARRI seeks to develop a practical, useful Community Resilience System that communities can use to become more resilient and be recognized for doing so.

Stephen Flynn is the President of the Center for National Policy (CNP). Prior to being chosen to lead CNP, Dr. Flynn was the senior fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.  He currently serves as a member of the bipartisan National Security Preparedness Group, co-chaired by former 9/11 commissioners, Governor Tom Kean and Congressman Lee Hamilton.  Dr. Flynn is a retired U.S. Coast Guard Commander and the author of The Edge of Disaster: Rebuilding a Resilient Nation (Random House, 2007), and America the Vulnerable (HarperCollins 2004).

Scott McCallum is the former Governor of Wisconsin and presently serves as the President and CEO of The Aidmatrix Foundation, the leading global nonprofit that uses information technology to create efficiencies between donors and those in need.

J. Bonnie Newman is the former Interim President of the University of New Hampshire. She has served as the Executive Dean at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and as Assistant to the President of the United States.  Ms. Newman's managerial experience spans the public, private and academic sectors.   

Joel Whitehead is the former Commander of the Eighth Coast Guard District headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. During his tenure as District Commander he oversaw Coast Guard responses to Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, the Tintomara oil spill in New Orleans and the I-35 Mississippi River bridge collapse in Minnesota. Presently, he is a Vice President in the National Security Sector of SRA International, Inc.