Joplin Pays It Forward

Joplin, Missouri was the site of one of the deadliest tornados in U.S. history on May 22, 2011. This collection of essays by community leaders tells the story of Joplin's resilience and recovery. The men and women who led recovery efforts across every sector of the community recount what they learned in the process and the advice they would give to a leader in a similar position in another impacted community. Rich Serino, Deputy Director of FEMA, says in his foreword, "The collection of stories in Joplin Pays It Forward provides us insight into Joplin's incredible journey to rebuild in the wake of mass devastation. Among its many inspiring lessons, the stories tell us how Joplin was able to live up to its promise to re-open completely destroyed schools by the start of the school year; how Joplin worked with a state university to provide shelter, a surge medical clinic, and a volunteer coordination point; and how Joplin was able to coordinate the thousands of volunteers that flooded in to provide support. The authors of these chapters represent every facet of the community-- from state and local officials, to volunteers, to the private sector. Because this book is so crosscutting, providing diverse perspectives and aspects of Joplin's recovery, there is a lesson for everyone. Whether a novice volunteer or a veteran emergency manager, we can all learn from Joplin's experience."Jane Cage, chairman of the Joplin Citizens Advisory Team (CART), compiled and collected these essays as a way for the Joplin community to pay it forward in recognition of the almost 200,000 volunteers that came to help their city in the two years since the devastating tornado.

Post-disaster housing concerns and dilemmas are complex, global in nature, and are inextricably intertwined with social, economic, and political considerations. The multi-faceted nature of housing recovery requires a holistic approach that accounts for its numerous dimensions and contours that are best captured with multi-disciplinary, multi-scalar, and multi-hazard approaches. This book serves as a valuable resource by highlighting the key issues and challenges that need to be addressed with regard to post-disaster housing. By featuring a collection of case studies on various disasters that have occurred globally and written by scholars and practitioners from various disciplines, it highlights the rich diversity of approaches taken to solve post-disaster housing problems. Coming home after Disaster can serve as an essential reference for researchers and practitioners in disaster and emergency management, public administration, public policy, urban planning, sociology, anthropology, geography, economics, architecture, and other related social science fields. Key features in this book are: Addresses a wide range of dilemmas such as differential levels of social and physical vulnerability; problems related to land tenure, home-ownership, property rights, planning, and zoning; and political and legal challenges to housing recovery. Discusses the role played by public, private and non-governmental organizations, the informal sector, financial institutions, and insurance in rebuilding and housing recovery. Features global case studies, incorporates relevant examples and policies, and offers solutions from a range of scholars working in multiple disciplines and different countries.

U.S. Emergency Management in the 21st Century: From Disaster to Catastrophe explores a critical issue in American public policy: Are the current public sector emergency management systems sufficient to handle future disasters given the environmental and social changes underway? In this timely book, Claire B. Rubin and Susan L. Cutter focus on disaster recovery efforts, community resilience, and public policy issues of related to recent disasters and what they portend for the future. Beginning with the external societal forces influencing shifts in policy and practice, the next six chapters provide in-depth accounts of recent disasters— the Joplin, Tuscaloosa-Birmingham, and Moore tornadoes, Hurricanes Sandy, Harvey, Irma, Maria, and the California wildfires. The book concludes with a chapter on loss accounting and a summary chapter on what has gone right, what has gone wrong, and why the federal government may no longer be a reliable partner in emergency management. Accessible and clearly written by authorities in a wide-range of related fields with local experiences, this book offers a rich array of case studies and describes their significance in shifting emergency management policy and practice, in the United States during the past decade. Through a careful blending of contextual analysis and practical information, this book is essential reading for students, an interested public, and professionals alike.

In the devastation that follows a major disaster, there is a need for multiple sectors to unite and devote new resources to support the rebuilding of infrastructure, the provision of health and social services, the restoration of care delivery systems, and other critical recovery needs. In some cases, billions of dollars from public, private and charitable sources are invested to help communities recover. National rhetoric often characterizes these efforts as a "return to normal." But for many American communities, pre-disaster conditions are far from optimal. Large segments of the U.S. population suffer from preventable health problems, experience inequitable access to services, and rely on overburdened health systems. A return to pre-event conditions in such cases may be short-sighted given the high costs - both economic and social - of poor health. Instead, it is important to understand that the disaster recovery process offers a series of unique and valuable opportunities to improve on the status quo. Capitalizing on these opportunities can advance the long-term health, resilience, and sustainability of communities - thereby better preparing them for future challenges. Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters identifies and recommends recovery practices and novel programs most likely to impact overall community public health and contribute to resiliency for future incidents. This book makes the case that disaster recovery should be guided by a healthy community vision, where health considerations are integrated into all aspects of recovery planning before and after a disaster, and funding streams are leveraged in a coordinated manner and applied to health improvement priorities in order to meet human recovery needs and create healthy built and natural environments. The conceptual framework presented in Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters lays the groundwork to achieve this goal and provides operational guidance for multiple sectors involved in community planning and disaster recovery. Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters calls for actions at multiple levels to facilitate recovery strategies that optimize community health. With a shared healthy community vision, strategic planning that prioritizes health, and coordinated implementation, disaster recovery can result in a communities that are healthier, more livable places for current and future generations to grow and thrive - communities that are better prepared for future adversities.

"Containing the public messages, speeches, and statements of the President", 1956-1992.

Ragtime was an immensely popular form of music in the United States prior to World War I. Its toe–tapping style was exactly what a country like America, bursting into the 20th century full of excitement and enthusiasm, desired. Ragtime was uniquely American—just as America was unique among all the nations in the world. Scott Joplin was the King of Ragtime. His ragtime songs defined the genre and brought it into the homes of millions of people. Yet Joplin wanted more than that. He wanted to be known as a serious artist, a man whose work would elevate him along with the entire African–American community. His struggles in that regard make his life story all the more memorable.