U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FEMA.
RAMPP - Risk Assessment, Mapping, and Planning Partners. A JV of Dewberry, URS, and ESP.

New Jersey and New York City Coastal Outreach Strategy and Implementation.


The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Region II is working with Risk Assessment, Mapping,
and Planning Partners (RAMPP) to research, plan,
execute, and evaluate a comprehensive Coastal
Outreach Program for coastal New Jersey and New York
City. FEMA is collaborating closely with the State of
New Jersey and New York City Cooperating Technical
Partners to target key stakeholders, including vulnerable
communities, local planners, first responders, and
more. To widen the reach of the Program, FEMA is also
engaging non-profit organizations, academic institutions,
and other Federal agencies in its efforts.


Overview

The primary goal of the Program is to increase
public, community, county, State, and Congressional
understanding of the updated
analysis and mapping of coastal
flood risks from storm surge,
and to facilitate the reduction
and transfer of flood risk through
increasing community resilience.
Building community resilience
against hazards is not only
FEMA’s first priority, but also core to the Department
of Homeland Security’s mission of “ensuring resilience
to disasters” and the President’s national security
strategy.


The strategy for the Program is based on FEMA’s “Whole Community Approach” as was set forth its 2011-2014
Strategic Plan, which calls for innovative approaches to increase collective capacity to withstand
natural disasters. This approach requires working with partners who are active and trusted
members of the community, and aligning community needs with emergency management practices.

The following are overarching principles that guide the planning and implementation of the Program:

Increase stakeholder awareness and understanding of flood risk within New Jersey coastal counties and
New York City;
Increase awareness and understanding of the means to reduce and transfer coastal risks;
Facilitate implementation of actions within the community that reduce and transfer risk;
Provide for transparency in the scientific and methodological process used to generate the maps,to demonstrate that the associated risk information
is credible;
Foster collaboration with Congressional, State,county, and community officials by sharing accurate and timely risk information with them, and facilitating
their ability to share it with their constituents.




Program Elements

A successful Program is to be achieved through a series of key initiatives that are tied to specific outreach goals
and objectives:

Strategy development, including research, key message development, stakeholder identification,and evaluation measures;
Web-based outreach through design of a publiclyaccessible website and social media promotion;
Visual communications efforts, such as development of videos for online dissemination;
Congressional outreach to engage and inform Congress and the Executive Branch;
Media relations efforts to proactively connect with relevant media outlets;
Formation and coordination of a Coastal Outreach Advisory Team to guide the Program;
Partnership with firefighters to communicate risk and strategy with communities;
Coordination with local New Jersey museum to exhibit the science of strong storm surge;
Outreach efforts surrounding enhanced mitigation planning.


Timing

The project kicked off in September 2011 and will be
carried out through 2013.
For More Information, please contact Task Order Manager Bill McDonnell at William.McDonnell@fema.dhs.gov.