Aug 24, 2020
With the peak of hurricane and wildfire seasons upon us,
government agencies and aid organizations will need to shelter
potentially thousands of storm and fire evacuees. How will they do
it without spreading the COVID-19 virus? How will they keep key
emergency workers healthy?
In today’s episode, host Jesse Roman talks with Luke Beckman, a
director at the Red Cross Pacific Division, to learn how the
organization revamped its response plans and operations ahead of
the massive wildfires now striking Northern California (3:32).
Then, Robby Dawson talks with Anna McRay, an emergency manager in
North Carolina, about how her county prepared for and responded to
Hurricane Isaias in August (31:08).
Both McRay and Beckman share lessons learned from responding to
these incidents during the pandemic—including several new
strategies that will likely stay even after the pandemic is
over.