A C K NOWL E D GM E N T S
Our thanks to the many individuals for input that guided our thinking, and for supporting our efforts throughout the course of this project.
E X E CU T I V E S UMMA R Y
Purpose of the Guide. This book documents the process we used to develop a virtual conference for low-resourced communities focusing on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. We believe this is a model other Extension teams can adapt and use.
I N T RO D U C T I ON
Louisiana is almost always affected by hurricanes, but these weather events have become more frequent and more severe in recent years. This is a consequence of global warming and how that influences water temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The effects on Louisiana’s communities have been significant. Our Extension team realized that we need to have a stronger focus on community preparedness. We’re not politicizing global warming but rather providing facts to help people prep are.
Evacuation is a luxury for many people we work with, but people need to know how to plan and build a kit to be as prepared as possible to weather the storm.
We decided to host a virtual conference to reach community audiences with education focused on emergency preparation. We wanted to empower people to make informed decisions and prioritize preparedness.
We chose the timing of our virtual conference before hurricane season, in part because the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposed moving hurricane season up two weeks because of projected activity. As of July 2021, we’d already had five named storms. We were surprised by the number of Extension educators who participated. There is value in reaching Extension professionals because they can reach their communities and help amplify our efforts. Our conference also became, in some ways, a train-the-trainer model. Natural disasters and emergencies are not cookie-cutter events; preparedness is not identical for everyone. People need knowledge and resources to make changes. Preparedness saves lives. We think that by reaching both community audiences and our Extension peers, critical information is being shared within community and personal networks.
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