Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction 2024 held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila.

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Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Reminds 911 Community to Be Vigilant

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and NHTSA’s National 911 Program would like to remind the 911 community of the threats related to cybersecurity and to be vigilant about reducing online risks, planning for attacks and reporting cybersecurity-related incidents. 

While technical innovations, such as NG911, have improved capabilities and security for telecommunicators and providers in the field, they have also increased the risk for cyber attacks and related threats. In addition to threats that all private and public entities face, 911 centers must be prepared for possible cybersecurity attacks specific to emergency communications, such as hackers using auto-dialers to overwhelm 911 center phone lines, accessing or corrupting data. 

Here are four easy ways to help stay safe online:

  1. Use strong passwords that are long, random and unique and include all four character types (uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols)

  2. Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect online accounts, especially email, social media and financial accounts

  3. Recognize and report phishing messages asking for personal information and avoid sharing sensitive information or credentials with unknown sources

  4. Update software to ensure you have the latest security patches and updates on your devices and check for updates if automatic updates are unavailable

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agenda (CISA) has compiled a variety of data and resources to help your agency prepare for and manage cyber attacks.

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Disaster Resilience Summit 2024 Group Picture

Territorial Hazard Mitigation Council and Stakeholders
We encourage all departments and agencies to prepare their applications for the "Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC)" and "Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA)" grant funding opportunities. Please submit your list of projects that you are submitting for these funding opportunities before our meeting to ensure timely submission. Below are recorded guidance webinars for the funding opportunities.

  1. BRIC AND FMA FISCAL YEAR (FY) 2023 NOTICES OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES (NOFOS) – View At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rrhEoDy23g

  2. BRIC AND FMA FISCAL YEAR (FY) 2023 NOTICES OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES (NOFOS) FOR TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS – View at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QraKMX_x_q0

We appreciate your time, value your participation and look forward to a productive meeting. Please feel free to contact our office if you have any further questions. Thank you for your continuous support.

Best Regards,

Sandi Tonumaipea

State/Territorial Hazard Mitigation Officer

UPCOMING CALENDAR EVENTS

Nov. 5: Election Day

Nov. 11: Veteran’s Day Holiday

Nov. 28: Thanksgiving Holiday

Dec. 25: Christmas Holiday

Jan. 1: New Years Day

 
 

TCIW 3.0

Good morning, MitFLG partners –

We know it’s a very busy time of the year but wanted to flag the following opportunity on this very important topic.

In advance of the summer season and underscoring the Biden-Harris Administration’s focus on community resilience to address climate change, FEMA will host a virtual and in-person Extreme Heat Summit series focused on understanding extreme heat impacts and defining actionable ways to combat and prepare for these increasing risks across the country. Well ahead of the start to summer, January through March 2024 clocked in as the fifth-warmest start to a year in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 130-year climate record. NOAA predicts odds for above-normal temperatures across the midwestern, western and southern lower 48 states during the summer 2024 season.

In honor of Earth Month, the two-part series kicks off with a virtual summit on April 26, 2024, featuring remarks from Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and roundtable discussions examining federal, state and local initiatives to combat extreme heat risks. Speakers include representatives from the U.S. Fire Administration, the National Park Service, Occupational Health and Safety and the Department of Health & Human Services.

“Extreme heat is becoming a more aggressive threat to well-being across the country,” said Administrator Criswell. “We want to arm our emergency responders—and communities across America—with the health and safety information needed to stay healthy when the temperatures soar. Just this week, we saw temperatures in the 80s and 90s over larger parts of the country. The time to be summer ready is now.”

FEMA’s Extreme Heat Series concludes with an in-person summit hosted in Chicago on May 21, 2024. Building on the lessons learned from FEMA’s 2023 Extreme Heat Summit, this engagement is open to government leaders and resilience focused private sector, nonprofit and academic organizations. FEMA will offer opportunities for discussion, networking and cross-collaboration between all levels of government and community partners. Presentations and panel discussions will be led by subject matter experts, local emergency managers and climate resilience practitioners. Speakers will focus on raising awareness of the increasing frequency and severity of extreme heat events, highlighting mitigation best practices across the country, and discussing ways of communicating extreme heat risks and implications to communities and stakeholders.

Attendance to the virtual and in-person extreme heat summits are open to the public. Register for the April 26 virtual summit at #SummerReady Extreme Heat Summit | FEMA.gov and register for the May 21 in-person Chicago summit at cvent.me/Z8lAk3.

For questions or additional information about the Extreme Heat Summit series, please contact FEMA-extreme-heat-summit@fema.dhs.gov

To learn more about extreme heat preparedness, visit FEMA’s Ready.gov. Please feel free to forward to interested colleagues, stakeholders, and partners.  

Thank you,

Aly Briscoe

MitFLG Secretariat

We are excited to announce a significant milestone in our communications toolkit, the launch of our new MitFLG Logo! As we continue to evolve and grow as an interagency organization, we believe it's crucial to refresh our visual identity to better reflect our mission. This logo was developed with careful consideration and represents our commitment to collaboration as an interagency coordinating structure.

We will begin implementing the new logo on all of our materials, especially as we begin updating the MitFLG webpage. This new visual identity marks an exciting chapter for the MitFLG, and we appreciate your support as we continue to drive meaningful change in our communities and beyond.

Thank you all for your continued partnership!

2024 Plan to Action Workshop (P2A)

COMMUNITY UPDATES

  • AMERICAN SAMOA FINAL POST DISASTER WATERSHED PLAN

    JULY 2022 Read more

  • PIRCA REPORT CLIMATE CHANGE IN AMERICAN SAMOA

    PIRCA report on Climate Change in American Sāmoa: Indicators and Considerations for Key Sectors released on June 8th. Read more

  • NCRF Funding Opportunity 2022

    The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) will award up to $140 million in grants to create and restore natural systems to protect communities from coastal hazards like storms, sea- level changes, inundation, and coastal erosion, while also improving habitat for fish and wildlife species. NFWF gives priority to initiatives that are community-led or include direct community participation, and that help underserved populations that are disproportionately affected by climate change. The National Coastal Resilience Fund will invest in four types of projects this year:

    Community Capacity Building and Planning Site Assessment and Preliminary Design Final Design and Permitting Restoration Implementation

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  • Removal of Restrictive Drawdown

    The removal of the restrictive drawdown status on grants administered by ODAPM (Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program) effective on May 19, 2022.

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  • Memorandum for the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Maximizing Assistance to Respond to COVID-⁠19