Disaster Planning During a Pandemic

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.