Hurricane Season Begins June 1

:: NYDIS Co-Sponsors 2007 Hurricane Summit

On June 5, the Human Services Council of New York (HSC), New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS), and the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM) co-sponsored “Hurricane & Evacuation Planning: A Summit for NYC Religious Leaders,” a half-day event that focused on the City’s Evacuation Plan for Coastal Storms, where NYC’s Flood Zones are, and the role of religious leaders and houses of worship in readiness, response and recovery. NYC is extremely vulnerable to deadly storm surge, which could reach heights of 24-30 feet. About 1300 NYC houses of worship are located within the City’s three coastal storm flood zones. Summit attendees were provided with information on how to educate congregants about mitigation and preparedness and with tools for business continuity planning, community rebuilding and recovery planning. There were welcoming remarks from Peter Gudaitis, Executive Director of NYDIS, Michael Stoller, Executive Director of HSC, and OEM Commissioner Joseph Bruno. The City’s Coastal Storm Plan was presented to the religious leaders by Commissioner Bruno, followed by a presentation from OEM and NYDIS staff on Hurricane preparedness for houses of worship in flood zones.

Download the NYDIS Houses of Worship Hurricane Mitigation Preparedness Presentation (pdf): click here

Learn more about the NYC Coastal Storm Plan:
http://home2.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/about/planning_coastal_storm.shtml

Coastal Storm Map of the NY Bight:
http://home2.nyc.gov/html/oem/downloads/pdf/nyc_bight.pdf

Hurricane Evacuation Zone Finder:
http://gis.nyc.gov/oem/he/index.htm

Flood Recovery updates:
www.nydis.org/recovery/12.php

:: NYDIS Awarded BBB Accreditation

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) provides information on businesses and charities, resolves consumer-business marketplace disputes, and educates the public on consumer and nonprofit issues. NYDIS is pleased to participate in the BBB’s Metro NYC Seal, which indicates that NYDIS meets all 20 of the Standards of Charity Accountability program. These 20 standards evaluate charities’ financial accountability, governance and oversight, effectiveness measures, and fundraising and informational materials.

:: NYDIS Board & Staff Participate in HOPE-NY Training

On May 21 and 22, ten members of the NYDIS Board and Staff participated in the training “Enhancing Public Health Emergency Coping Skills and Risk Communication for Community and Spiritual Leaders: The Power of Care, Emotional Knowledge, and Community Networks.” The four-session training, developed by Healing and Outreach through Psychoeducation (HOPE-NY) in partnership with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), focuses on promoting resilience, communication, quality of service, and decision-maker functioning during crises. The training was hosted by the HealthCare Chaplaincy.

:: NYC 9/11 Recovery Resources Online

:: NYC 9/11 Unmet Needs Roundtable Updates

• Online 9/11 Client Inquiry Form
  To access the form, go to:
  www.nydis.org/unmetneeds/7.php

• NYC 9/11 In-Service Training for Case Workers
  In-Service Training is required for case workers who have never presented a case at the Roundtable, and is recommended as a refresher for experienced case workers who have previously presented cases. All training sessions take place at NYDIS (map).

  • Monday, July 2 – 1:00-3:30 pm
  • Monday, August 6 - 1:00-3:30 pm

• NYC 9/11 Unmet Needs Roundtable Schedule
  The NYC 9/11 Unmet Needs Roundtable brings together donors with agencies providing case management to 9/11 victims. Case Workers who would like to present a case must sign-up by Friday prior to the meeting of the Roundtable. Due to the influx of cases which need presenting, the 9/11 Unmet Needs Roundtable will be adding an additional Wednesday date each month. There will now be three meetings a month, instead of two.

  • Wednesday, June 6 - 12:30-3:30 pm
  • Thursday, June 7 – 9:30 am-12:30 pm
  • Wednesday, June 13 – 9:30 am-12:30 pm
  • Thursday, June 14 - 9:30-12:30 pm
  • Wednesday, June 20 - 9:30-12:30 pm
  • Thursday, June 21 – 9:30 am-12:30 pm
  • Wednesday, June 27 - 9:30 am-12:30 pm
  • Thursday, June 28 - 9:30 am-12:30 pm
  • Tuesday, July 3 - 9:30 am-12:30 pm

• NYC 9/11 Case Management Coordination Meetings
  NYDIS hosts monthly Case Management Coordination meetings for service providers that are assisting 9/11 recovery workers and the general 9/11-affected community. These meetings are open to representatives from any service providers that wish to coordinate and share information about their services and the community's needs.

  • Wednesday, June 6 – 9:30-11:00 am
  • Wednesday, July 25 – 3:00-5:00 pm
  • Wednesday, August 15 - 9:30-11:00 am

:: NYC Katrina Evacuee Recovery Resources Online

:: NYC Katrina Unmet Needs Roundtable

• NYC Katrina In-Service Training for Case Workers
  Case managers working with Katrina or Rita survivors are required to attend an in-service training prior to presenting at the Roundtable. The purpose of these trainings is to provide case managers with a better understanding of the workings of the Roundtable and to help increase the likelihood that a client's needs could be funded.


• NYC Katrina Unmet Needs Roundtable
  The NYC Katrina Unmet Needs Roundtable aids case managers in securing cash assistance and to share resources to best meet the unmet needs of disaster victims so that they may regain self-sufficiency and recover from the impact of a disaster. The Roundtable helps to facilitate long-term recovery by supporting clients' recovery plans. Case managers who would like to present at the NYC Katrina Unmet Needs Roundtable may submit a request the Friday prior to the Roundtable meeting.

  • Tuesday, June 19 – 2:00-5:00 pm
  • Tuesday, July 24 - 2:00-5:00 pm
  • Tuesday, August 21 - 2:00-5:00 pm
  • Tuesday, September 25 - 2:00-5:00 pm

To sign up for In-Service Training or to present a case:
Dominique Atchison, Moderator
212.669.6120
datchison@nydis.org

:: Upstate NYS 2006 Resources

Download the Hudson Valley Region Disaster Assistance Guide for Upstate NY Floods: click here

For complete information on Flooding Assistance in NY and NJ, please go to the Flood Resources section of the NYDIS website:
www.nydis.org

:: NYS & NJ 2007 Nor’easter Recovery Resources:
    www.nydis.org/recovery/13.php

:: 9/11 Workers' Compensation Registration Deadline Aug. 14

NYDIS urges 9/11 chaplains, recovery workers and volunteers to register now to protect their right to workers' compensation benefits. NYDIS and New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) in collaboration with other agencies is mounting a media campaign to inform workers throughout the country about the necessity of registering by the deadline, Tuesday, August 14, 2007.

Download the brochure (pdf): English | Español

Call for registration guidelines: 866.WTC.2556

:: WTC Registry Report Shows Impact of 9/11 Health Crisis

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Congressman Fossella released a report showing that people from all 50 states and the District of Columbia have enrolled in the WTC Health Registry, which will track changes in their physical and mental health over the next 20 years.

Read the entire report:
http://maloney.house.gov/documents/911recovery/RegistryEnrollment20070306.pdf

:: Near Misses Allowed Man with Drug Resistant TB to Fly Internationally

A series of near misses accounted for a Georgia man’s trip to Europe in which he might have exposed fellow passengers on a series of commercial flights to a rare form of tuberculosis. May 31, Andrew Speaker, an Atlanta lawyer, was detained under a federal isolation order at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, and then moved to Denver’s National Jewish Medical and Research Center for definitive treatment of his infection, an extremely drug resistant form of tuberculosis, which is often lethal. American officials and those in other countries are seeking to advise more than 100 passengers who sat closest to him on the longest flights and crew members to be tested for the infection. Health officials are also offering testing to hundreds of other passengers on the flights. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this incident has exposed many flaws that need to be fixed for future episodes; and also raised questions about how rapidly health officials could respond to a similar emergency with other deadly infectious diseases.

Read the June 1 NY Times article by Lawrence Altman:
www.nytimes.com/2007/06/01/health/01tb.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1180707063-iv5F6e7KacTruOJspFbWLw

Read the May 31 NY Times article by Lawrence Altman and John Schwartz:
www.nytimes.com/2007/05/31/us/31tb.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

• TB Incident Raises Questions about Government Response – Hearing June 6
  
  Investigations in several countries into this health incident, raises questions about balancing the rights of an individual with the needs to protect the public. Experts are questioning whether more could have been done before he ever left Atlanta. "I think this is going to be a lesson learned nationwide of the importance of local and county health departments being the front line of protection for the rest of the population," said Michael Greenberger, director of the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security. A congressional committee, the House Homeland Security Committee, announced May 29 it will hold a June 6 hearing examining health officials' response in the case.
  
  Read the May 31 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article by Alison Young and Kevin Duffy:
  www.ajc.com/health/content/health/stories/2007/05/30/0531meshcdctb.html

• HAN Alert May 29: CDC Advisory Concerns US Traveler with TB
  
  The Health Alert Network (HAN) sent out an Alert on May 29 regarding the CDC investigation of the TB incident.
  
  Download the HAN Alert: click here
  
  If healthcare providers have any concerns regarding a suspected or confirmed case related to this CDC notification, please call the NYC DOHMH Provider Access Line:
  1.866.NYC.DOH1
  
  Contact HAN:
  1.888-NYCMED9
  nycmed@health.nyc.gov
  
  For information about Tuberculosis:
  1.800.CDC.INFO
  www.cdc.gov/tb/default.htm
  
  Learn more about XBR TB and read CDC’s Letters to Healthcare Providers and Passengers:
  www.cdc.gov/tb/xdrtb/

:: Former EPA Chief Will Testify About Air at Ground Zero

Christine Todd Whitman, the former chief of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has agreed to testify before a congressional panel investigating how she and other top federal officials decided the air in lower Manhattan was safe to breathe soon after 9/11. Rep. Nadler said he would accommodate her by rescheduling the hearing that had been set for May 22. Upon her original refusal to testify Nadler said, "Our committee must have her testimony at some point, so the American people can hear her direct response to the many lingering questions."

Read Rep. Nadler’s May 18 Press Release:
www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ny08_nadler/WhitmanToTest911EPA051807.html

:: Clinton & Domenici Reintroduce Health Care Disaster Response Bill

Senators Hillary Clinton and Pete Domenici May 23 announced the reintroduction of legislation to help prepare first responders and health care professionals to effectively address mental health consequences in the wake of public health emergencies, like those created after 9/11 and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The Public Mental Health Emergency Preparedness Act of 2007 would establish the National Center for Public Mental Health Emergency Preparedness to coordinate the development and delivery of mental health services in collaboration with federal, state and local entities when the nation is confronted with public health catastrophes.

Read Senator Clinton’s Press Statement:
http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=274925&&

:: For the First Time, NYC ME Links a Death to 9/11 Dust

NYC’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, has for the first time directly linked a death to exposure to dust from 9/11. In a letter made public May 23, Dr. Hirsch said that he was certain “ beyond a reasonable doubt” that dust from the WTC contributed to the death of Felicia Dunn-Jones, 42, a civil rights lawyer who was engulfed as she ran from her office a block away. She later developed a serious cough and had trouble breathing, and she died five months after the attack. Dr. Hirsch amended her death certificate to indicate that exposure to WTC dust “was contributory to her death.” By making a formal connection between her death and her exposure to the dust, the ME’s decision could have a wide impact on how the city deals with the growing number of illnesses and deaths linked in some way to Ground Zero.

Read the May 24 NY Times article by Anthony DePalma:
www.nytimes.com/2007/05/24/nyregion/24dust.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1180011795-Bpmzdr68yLhsY7i43oF2Yg

• Maloney & Fossella Urge NYC ME to Investigate All 9/11 Responder Deaths
  
  In a press conference at Ground Zero May 25, Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Vito Fossella called on NYC’s Medical Examiner to examine the medical evidence in the deaths of Ground Zero responders who lived outside of the City to determine if their deaths can be definitively linked to exposure to WTC dust. In a letter to the ME, Dr. Charles Hirsch, Fossella, Maloney and Congressman Jerrold Nadler also called on Dr. Hirsch to meet with elected officials and family members to discuss the procedures he will be putting in place for any new cases he will review and how best to publicize the review process so that family members can access it.
  
  Read Congresswoman Maloney’s entire May 25 Press Release:
  http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1349&Itemid=61
  
  Read the May 25 Letter they sent to the NYC ME:
  http://maloney.house.gov/documents/911recovery/20070525_letter_to_MedExaminer.pdf
  
  Go to Rep. Maloney’s 9/11 Health Issues website page:
  http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_issues&task=view_issue&issue=22&parent=1&Itemid=35

• Senator Clinton Calls for Further Examination of 9/11 Responder Deaths
  
  Senator Hillary Clinton May 25 also called on the NYC Chief Medical Examiner to further examine cases of those whose death may have been attributed to exposure to the toxins at Ground Zero and Fresh Kills.
  
  Read Senator Clinton’s May 25 Statement and Metter to the ME:
  http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=275185&&

:: Governor Announces New NYS Alert System

Governor Spitzer announced May 31 two important initiatives designed to enhance the State’s ability to alert the public in emergency situations and respond after disasters. The first initiative will provide web-based emergency alerts to the public. Dubbed NY-ALERT, it will provide National Weather Service bulletins about severe weather, advisories on road closures, and other emergency response information from federal, state and local authorities. The second initiative, called NY-DELIVERS, will forge public-private partnerships to support the state’s emergency response missions. The initiative is modeled on best practices identified after Hurricane Katrina. The two initiatives are expected to be operational within 60 days.

Read the May 31 Press Release:
www.ny.gov/governor/press/0531072.html

:: New Report: DHS Immigration Policies Show No Counter-Terrorism Results

Claims of terrorism represented less than 0.01% of charges filed in recent years in immigration courts by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to a report issued May 27 by an independent research group, the Transactional Records Action Clearinghouse (TRAC), which is affiliated with Syracuse University. This comes despite the fact the Bush administration has repeatedly asserted that fighting terrorism is the central mission of DHS. TRAC analyzed millions of previously undisclosed records obtained from the immigration courts under the Freedom of Information Act. Of the 814,073 people charged by DHS in immigration courts during the past three years, 12 faced charges of terrorism.

Read the CNN story by Scott Bronstein:
www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/27/homeland.security.record/index.html

:: Katrina Homeowners Short Aid by $2.9B

In a review by contractor ICF International, the homeowner aid program for Hurricane Katrina victims, The Road Home, is $2.9 billion short of serving all eligible applicants; and the budget shortfall exceeds $4 billion if Louisiana can't come to an agreement with federal officials over the use of about $1.1 billion in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hazard mitigation funding for purchasing damaged homes to turn the properties into green space. The Louisiana Recovery Authority, which created the Road Home and set its budget, explained that the shortfall stems from three faulty assumptions when the program began last summer: more homeowners applying, higher cost to repair, and less insurance than was expected. The new ICF review estimates the Road Home will need $9.8 billion to serve 132,215 homeowners. Nearly 200 Katrina Evacuees who relocated to NYC remain in case management and despite being self-sufficient prior to the storm remain unemployed and unable to return home.

Read the Times-Picayune article:
http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/05/icf_estimates_road_home_is_29.html

Listen to NPR’s May 24 “Morning Edition” program with David Schaper:
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10372127&sc=emaf

:: TSA Tests Liquid Explosives Detectors at 6 Airports; including Newark Liberty

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been testing technology capable of screening sealed bottled liquids for explosives at six major airports: Miami International, Newark (NJ) Liberty International, Detroit Metro, Los Angeles International, Las Vegas McCarran International, and Boston Logan International. The commercially available hand-held bottled liquid scanners are being used by the US. government domestically and overseas, but this is the first time they are being used in an airport environment.

Read the TSA Press Release:
www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2007/press_release_05222007.shtm

:: DHS Needs Cooperation from Private Sector

The main information-sharing network for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN), needs more focus and cooperation from the private sector if it is to succeed as an efficient and reliable source of intelligence. HSIN links DHS with 17,500 users in state and local agencies and the private sector, but is experiencing problems that include duplication with other state and local systems, sporadic use and the lack of a clear mission, according to recent government audits. DHS is starting to make improvements to HSIN by hiring a program manager, identifying user needs, setting up an advisory committee and developing performance metrics.

Read the Washington Tech May 30 article:
http://thebreakingnews.com/showarticle.php?articleID=5441