WELCOME BACK TO DISASTER DISCOURSE MONTHLY!
Happy New Year and welcome to the first Disaster Discourse Monthly of 2022. This month, we provide updates on the COVID-19 pandemic; wildfires affecting Colorado; severe storms across the United States (US); and Hagerty’s 2021 recap.
The COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine distribution…
The US has reported that more than 66.7 million people have been infected with COVID-19; while more than 850,575 Americans have died from the virus. To date, over 75.1% of people over the age of five in the US have been vaccinated either partially or fully. Additionally, 38.7% of people who are vaccinated and eligible for a booster have gotten their booster shot. Cases in children increased throughout the month of December; the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported during the week of December 21-27, there was a 58% increase in hospitalizations of children under 18 due to COVID-19. The CDC has recommended a booster shot for all adults. Notably, this booster shot can be a different vaccine than the one received previously.
Colorado wildfires destroy over 1,000 structures and homes…
On the morning of Thursday, December 30, dry conditions, and winds in excess of 100 miles per hour (mph) facilitated the spread of the Marshall Fire in Boulder County, Colorado. According to The Weather Channel, over 30,000 residents in southern Boulder and Broomfield counties were forced to evacuate and more than 1,000 homes were destroyed in the fire. The Marshall Fire spread over nine square miles in a densely developed, primarily suburban area, including the City of Louisville and Town of Superior, Colorado. Due to the impact of the event, President Biden declared a major disaster (4634-DR-CO) which has currently activated the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Individual Assistance (IA) Program to provide assistance to individuals and households and the Public Assistance (PA) Program Category A (Debris Removal) and Category B (Emergency Work).
Ongoing extreme weather…
At least four tornadoes swarmed over a 200-mile section of the US Midwest and South on Friday, December 10, demolishing buildings and homes — leaving at least 76 people dead, according to Reuters. WLKY reported that fatalities range from people 2 months old to 98 years old. Kentucky.gov reported one tornado was on the ground for over 200 miles in the state, while more than 1,000 homes were destroyed or damaged. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) Storm Prediction Center operations chief Bill Bunting reported to The New York Times that the tornadoes moved across parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee.
Then, during the first week of the new year, a winter storm produced strong winds and significant snowfall across large portions of the US Southeast and mid-Atlantic. The storm created critical conditions across the East Coast, resulting in casualties for at least five people. Power outages also spread across the coast, with PowerOutage.US reporting Virginia experiencing 260,372 outages at the peak. Additionally, several accidents occurred on a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 95 in Virginia, south of Washington, DC. As a result, many motorists were stranded on the interstate overnight. Portions of central Virginia were hit especially hard by this storm and some rural areas suffered power loss for more than a week post-storm.
2021 recap…
Collaborating with you continues to be a privilege and we are looking forward to all that is to come this year!
Featured Grants:
Forest Service Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy
The US Forest Service supports Moving Toward Shared Stewardship Across Landscapes as part of a conceptual framework for making strategic investments across landscapes to co-manage wildfire risk and achieve positive outcomes at the most appropriate scale. Within this framework, Eastern Region Cohesive Fire Strategy Competitive Request for Applications is designed to support and carry out the goals of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (NCS) across the Midwestern and Northeastern States as well as meet the intent of the current year budget direction. These national goals are:
Restore and Maintain Landscapes: Landscapes across all jurisdictions are resilient to fire-related disturbances in accordance with management objectives.
Create Fire Adapted Communities: Human populations and infrastructure can withstand a wildfire without loss of life and property.
Improve Wildfire Response: All jurisdictions participate in making and implementing safe, effective, efficient risk-based wildfire management decisions. Learn More
- Source: Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- Funding Opportunity Number: USDA-FS-2022-COHESIVE-STRATEGY
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $4,800,000
- Award Ceiling: $300,000
- Application Due Date: January 14, 2022
- Eligible Applicants: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education; Public and State controlled institutions of higher education; Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), other than institutions of higher education; Independent school districts; State governments; Others (see text field entitled “Additional Information on Eligibility” for clarification); County governments; City or township governments; Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized); Special district governments.
Farm and Food Workers Relief Grant Program
The Farm and Food Workers Relief grant program provides financial support to eligible entities to deliver relief in the form of $600 flat-rate payments to eligible farmworkers, meatpacking workers, and grocery store workers who incurred expenses preparing for preventing exposure to, and responding to, the COVID-19 pandemic. This relief is intended to defray costs for reasonable and necessary personal, family, or living expenses such as, but not limited to: costs for personal protective equipment (PPE), expenses associated with quarantines and testing, and dependent care. Learn More
- Source: USDA – Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)
- Funding Opportunity Number: USDA-AMS-TM-FFWR-G-21-0013
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $665,000,000
- Award Ceiling: $50,000,000
- Application Due Date: February 8, 2022
- Eligible Applicants: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education; State governments; Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized); Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.
Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Pipeline Emergency Response Grant (PERG)
PERG focuses on incident response activities related to the transportation of gas or hazardous liquids by pipeline in high consequence areas. PERG funding will be awarded to eligible states to train individuals in areas with statutory responsibility to respond to pipeline incidents. Funding under this award is critical to ensuring the safe transportation of hazardous materials by training emergency responders to respond to pipeline incidents.
PHMSA’s goal is to ensure that responders who receive training under the grant will have the ability to protect nearby persons, property, and the environment from the effects of pipeline accidents or incidents involving the transportation of hazardous materials.
PHMSA requires that applicants identify specific training projects based on needs and maintain a record of the following: 1) number of persons trained, 2) course type, 3) cost of training, 4) location of training, 5) name, title and position of the trainee, and 6) a detailed accounting and description of each grant expenditure, including the amount of, and purpose for, each expenditure. PHMSA measures performance based on the projects included in the approved grant application and whether those projects fulfilled the training needs outlined in the statement of need. Learn More
- Source: Department of Transportation (DOT) – Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Admin (PHMSA)
- Funding Opportunity Number: 693JK322NF0002
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $2,500,000
- Award Ceiling: $250,000
- Application Due Date: February 23, 2022
- Eligible Applicants: State agencies
Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network Program
This funding opportunity is intended to expand public health capacity by supporting health care job development, training, and placement in rural and tribal communities. This is done through the establishment of networks to develop formal training/certification programs in the following workforce training tracks: (1) Community Health Support, (2) Health IT and/or Telehealth Technical Support, (3) Community Para-Medicine, (4) Case Management Staff and/or Respiratory Therapists. Learn More
- Source: Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)- Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA)
- Funding Opportunity Number: HRSA-22-117
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $47,895,000
- Award Ceiling: $0
- Application Due Date: March 18, 2022
- Eligible Applicants: County, city or township, state, and tribal governments, Native American Tribal organizations, and non-profits
US Platform to Measure Effectiveness of Seasonal Influenza, COVID-19 and other Respiratory Virus Vaccines for the Prevention of Acute Illness in Ambulatory Settings
The goal of this funding opportunity is to support a network of US institutions that can: (a) conduct systematic testing for laboratory-confirmed disease due to influence or SARS-COV-2, (b) obtain reliable vaccination information for enrolled patients, and (c) provide accurate estimates of the effectiveness of vaccines against respiratory viruses, including influenza and SARS-COV-2 to prevent medically attended illness in the population for who vaccination is recommended. Learn More
- Source: HHS – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – ERA
- Funding Opportunity Number: RFA-IP-22-004
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $58,000,000
- Award Ceiling: $11,600,000
- Application Due Date: February 1, 2022
- Eligible Applicants: Native American tribal organizations, County, State, city or township, and special district governments, Independent school districts, non-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, public housing authorities, and for-profit organizations
Evaluating the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic-related Food and Housing Policies and Programs on Health Outcomes in Health Disparity Populations
This funding opportunity is for applicants that will identify and evaluate the ongoing and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing specifically on governmental policy and programmatic actions that address food/nutrition security and housing security. Applications are requested to examine how these food/nutrition and housing policies and programs aimed at lessening the effects of the pandemic impacted health and health equity in individuals, families, and communities from health disparity populations. Learn More
- Source: HHS – National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Funding Opportunity Number: NOT-NR-22-004
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $6,000,000
- Award Ceiling: $500,000
- Application Due Date: April 7, 2022
- Eligible Applicants: Independent school districts, private and public institutions of higher education, Native American tribal organizations, for-profit organizations, public housing authorities, county, state and tribal governments, and non-profits
Public Health Crisis Response Cooperative Agreement
This funding opportunity seeks to enhance the nation’s ability to rapidly mobilize, surge, and response to the public health emergencies (PHEs) by establishing a roster of approved but unfunded applicants that may receive rapid funding to respond to PHEs. This opportunity is designed to collect applications prior to a PHE and applicants are encouraged to submit work plans and budgets that demonstrate their ability to respond to a PHE. COVID-19 public health response plans, such as plans are also acceptable for this purpose. Learn More
- Source: HHS – CDC – Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR)
- Funding Opportunity Number: CDC-RFA-TP22-2201
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $500,000,000
- Award Ceiling: $5,000,000
- Application Due Date: January 18, 2022
- Eligible Applicants: State, county, city or township, and tribal governments that serve a population of 400,000 or more (for tribal governments 50,000 or more)
Tracking the Burden, Distribution, and Impact of Post COVID-19 Conditions in Diverse Populations for Children, Adolescents, and Adults
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to track and investigate the burden and impact of post-COVID-19 conditions in diverse populations through surveillance and long-term follow up of cohorts in collaboration with state, academic, or health networks. Post-COVID conditions include a wide range of health consequences that occur more than four weeks after initial infection. Studies will explore risk factors and mitigating factors as they relate to development, resolution, and prevention of post-COVID-19 conditions with two components: (1) up to four surveillance sites, and (2) one coordinating center site. Learn More
- Source: HHS – CDC – National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD)
- Funding Opportunity Number: CDC-RFA-IP22-2203
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $45,000,000
- Award Ceiling: $2,000,000
- Application Due Date: February 18, 2022
- Eligible Applicants: County, city or township, state, and tribal governments, non-profits, Native American tribal organizations, private and public institutions of higher education, and public housing authorities.
Questions? We welcome your feedback.