States Prepare Plans, Build Relationships for Unique National Exercise NLE 2011
Although 2011’s National Level Exercise (NLE) isn’t until May, participants at all levels of government have already begun preparing.
And getting ready for the drill isn’t a small task — it’s being hailed as one of the largest emergency exercises in the nation’s history and the first to turn the spotlight on a natural disaster.
NLE 2011 will exercise the response to a catastrophic earthquake on the southwestern segment of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which is located in the Southern and Midwestern regions of the U.S. What makes this scenario particularly timely is it will occur during the bicentennial anniversary of the historic New Madrid earthquakes that began Dec. 16, 1811, with a magnitude 7.7 quake. Six earthquakes followed that ranged from magnitude 6.0 to 7.7 as well as 200 moderate to large aftershocks, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The earthquake exercise will provide a means for states to test their initial incident response and recovery capabilities as well as test and validate existing plans, policies and procedures.
See States Prepare Plans, Build Relationships for Unique National Exercise, by Elaine Pittman for Emergency Management.
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Rothstein Associates is working on publishing a compilation of exercise scripts and scenarios for business continuity, disaster recovery, crisis management and emergency management.
If you are interested in contributing your favorite scripts or scenarios, contact Philip Jan Rothstein, FBCI.
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An unexercised contingency plan could be worse than no plan at all!
Be sure to read Disaster Recovery Testing: Exercising Your Contingency Plan, Philip Jan Rothstein, FBCI, Editor – the only book on this subject – for valuable tips, techniques and insights. Now only $49.00!
Tags: exercise, FEMA, National Level Exercise, NLE 2011, Testing
