FEMA's Project Impact program is aimed at building disaster resistant communities: Project Impact could be quickly adapted to assist communities prepare for Y2K. This multi-million dollar investment could help in preparing for and minimizing impacts of Y2K. Why isn't this national asset being used in this way??

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Project Impact is a promising program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The purpose of Project Impact programs is to build "disaster resistant communities". Some excellent guidance materials have been developed and are freely available through FEMA. The materials are filled with useful ideas. The program could be quickly adapted to serve as models to assist communities all over the country to prepare for Y2K. Project Impact is holding a Summit in Washington, DC, December 12 to December 16. Representatives of over 116 programs from throughout the nation will likely be there. Last year over 600 people attended. If last year is a guide, all of the FEMA regional directors will also be present. There were only rare mentions of Y2K at last year's Project Impact Summit. In the 14 page Summit overview for this year's meeting, not one mention is made of Y2K. Surely it will be a major embarrassment to FEMA if it turns out that FEMA never alerted its Project Impact grantees to the threats and challenges of Y2K and the need to prepare.

How ironic that those who have been participants in such a promising program have not been encouraged to redirect their efforts to preparing for Y2K. At best, they could be serving as models for organizing for community preparedness. At the very least, they could help their own community to prepare.

Information about the Summit can be found at http://www.fema.gov/impact/summit99.

In a letter from James Lee Witt quoted in the preliminary program for the Summit, he states "Together we are building safer, stronger communities before disasters strike." Why is the obvious relevance to preparing for Y2K being missed?

It would not be that hard to maximize the sunk investment that the nation has already put into the Project Impact program. What has happened to American ingenuity, creativity, and just plain commonsense?

-- Paula Gordon (pgordon@erols.com), October 24, 1999

Answers

Paula, those questions have been paramount on this Forum for almost two years now. The disconnect is hard to imagine, let alone grasp, and live through. But time now is very short -- the freight train is ferociously hurtling down the steep chasm, half-way across the bridge, some cars already jumping the tracks. TPTB have muffled the brakes and filled the passenger's ears with cotton candy.

We're FEMA-trained at the local level, and it is WE who cajoled, prodded, poked, lambasted, eMailed, and finally goaded the local EO folks into taking Y2K into account.

At NET/CERT meetings, it is the TRAINEES, the local little people, most vocal about bringing up Y2K. Until the "leaders" had met and determined a "unified spin," they were afraid to say anything. Now they have their ready platitudes designed to stifle aware thought, commentary, or action.

Why? Many several excellent conclusions throughout the archives. We hesitate to give our thoughts here and rant on your thread :-) You still have hope and the energy to keep chipping away at the granite status quo. You may be very much in demand as an expert witness.

To us, the .gov .mil .system .establishment .PTB became completely useless, irrelevant, passe by January 1998.

The only hope left for America is if c4i is correct.

We will be very happy if we are completely wrong about Y2K.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), October 24, 1999.


Amen A&L.

Never more perfectly stated.

The truest essence of us doomers.

Best of luck to you as well Dr. Gordon. We are well taken with your efforts in my house...and if TBTB are fools, take refuge in the knowledge that your efforts and commentary swung my siblings into making the personal preparations the leadership is ignoring.

-- INVAR (gundark@sw.net), October 24, 1999.


To the Top

-- Dr. Gordon has good ideas (who@will.implement them?), October 24, 1999.

Dr. Gordon,

I'm afraid you are talking to a brick, or in this case granite, wall. We all thank you for all your efforts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), October 24, 1999.


Dr. Paula Gordon is a very intelligent, courageous person. She well knows that NOBODY IN LEADERSHIP IS LISTENING. But she also knows that she can prove and document the FACT that these concerns were pointedly brought to the desk, table, and floor of discussion, and THAT NOBODY IN LEADERSHIP LISTENED OR ACTED.

Lay the groundwork, Dr. Gordon. Keep on! Build the gallows flooring. When the bottom drops 1/1/2000, TPTB will swing and be rendered dust motes of evil history.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), October 24, 1999.



But there is a group that is listening carefully, very carefully, taking notes, making plans, drilling, testing, getting ready.

Shades of The Fellowship Of The Ring.

The radical, unexpected route that in the long run, after tribulation, will save what is left of the world.

-- know about them too (go@for.the.gold), October 24, 1999.


All parts of FEMA must follow the grand plan, and advising/preparing for Y2K is not part of the grand plan. FEMA persons must follow the game plan.

Give up, Paula. Its too late.

dave

-- dave (wootendave@hotmail.com), October 24, 1999.


No! She will not give up! She is a Warrior for Righteousness, and it is not too late for her part in the Divine Plan. Paula Gordon, never get bogged by the gloom of doom. You KEEP GOING!

If you haven't already, go ASAP to a bookstore and buy The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings. Read all, in order, to the end. Starts as an intriguing child's tale and ends on a cosmic level. Very inspiring, very apropo for the Journey Upon Us.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), October 24, 1999.


Ashton and Leska:

What part of c4i's info do you feel needs to be correct? That of the military not agreeing or possibly not going along with what happening, or what?

Just curious. I've tried to keep up with their input, has there been anything recent?

Thanks.

-- mushroom (mushroom_bs_too_long@yahoo.com), October 24, 1999.


I Frodo, son of Drogo, will take the ring. Though I do not know the way.

-- mrunderhill (prancing@pony.com), October 24, 1999.


Mushroom, flesh out the first part of your supposition, think a bit, you know, you've got the dragon by the tail.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), October 24, 1999.

The Salt and light award to you Paula, Thank God for caring people like you. I wish someone like you would run for president. However we do not have any one like you running or in office that has the leadership abilities or integrity that you have. Our country is heading for trouble and they know it.

The DOD and the fed know exactly what kind of infrastructure failures we are heading for. Policy has been set for national security reasons.

They expect state sponsored conflict when the utilities go down. That's the reason for the abc nightline series on Biowar. They are holding their cards close to their chest because they are scared. Our Diplomacy is a joke.

Instead of leadership to get the people ready for a long period of disruptions they will be shocked when they the utilies go down after Christmas for uploading the new software and may not come up in some areas for weeks or months.

Instead of using this time to soften the transistion they are just fattening their wallets. Very sad.

They need to come out and tell the public that things most likely will go down and be disrupted for an unkown period of time and use someone like Walter Conkite and Actor Morgan freeman to deliever the news. First have someone like Ed yourdon explain why it is so difficult to fix date broken code quickly. then explain that trillions have already been spent to try to fix it but it is a flaw in a software foundation that took 30 years to engineer and build,and that it is pysically impossible to fix it in time. Now the nation must ready to respond to the aftermath.

An outline must be made that explains what must be done to limit environmental disaters, and military conflicts.

They got to stop promoting the nothing is going to happen line so dont worry or the masses will revolt big time when it does. They need to communicate an honest message. We have to be on the same page. We are in the end game now like it or not. They must tell their boss the american taxpaying public the facts and nothing but the facts or face a consitutional tribunal post y2k for willfull concealment of a dangerous nation threating matter (treason). Make no mistake about it that the American people will hold them accountable if the right thing is not being done to protect the interest of the people. Honest leadership is their best way to go. Watch the movie Deep Impact. This is the way it needs to be handled. This is a good model. We need to get the world leaders on the same page with this one. A town hall on y2k with the president needs to be conducted. And we need to ask him the tough questions. I hope you can make it happen or convience them to take the Deep Impact Movie approach to tell the public what to expect and prepare for.

-- y2k aware mike (y2k aware mike @ conservation . com), October 25, 1999.


If this FEMA Project Impact thing is supposed to build disaster resistant communities then what's the big deal? They told people how they think they should prepare, are you saying they should force people to prepare?

-- @ (@@@.@), October 25, 1999.

Yeah, they said "Prepare for a 3-day storm." That will take care of everything?

-- and after 3 days? (anger@envelops.America), October 25, 1999.

Project Impaction after the pitchforks have had their torch night ;^)

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), October 25, 1999.


Paula, you have been the clearest voice in this for me, a systems thinker. We nations which have "developed" have failed to pay attention to our own "achilles heel." I believe this is a global issue which has emerged from the north-south conflict, that between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in the south upon whose labor, suffering, and peasantry we have depended for our life-style. Quite likely, in my evaluation, "the meek WILL inherit the earth."

-- Larry A. Grimm (GrimmL2@home.com), October 25, 1999.

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