FEMA NLE 2011 Leaders Visit MAE Center
Participants at the October 26, 2009 FEMA - MAE Center Meeting included, from left to right, Gus Wulfkuhle (FEMA), John Aucott (FEMA), Amr Elnashai (MAE Center), Anisa Como (MAE Center), Timothy Gress (MAE Center), and Fred Kaehler (FEMA).
Representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) visited the MAE Center on October 26 to discuss ways in which the Center could support the agency’s National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE 2011). NLE is a cycle of seminars, planning events, and exercises designed to strengthen the nation’s capacity to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from All-hazards incidents, including terrorist attacks involving Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). The NLE 2011 will be the agency’s first exercise focused on a natural hazard, a catastrophic New Madrid earthquake event occurring in the middle of the country. FEMA intends to utilize the earthquake scenario that was analyzed as part of their New Madrid Catastrophic Planning Initiative (NMCPI). The MAE Center was the primary earthquake impact modeler for the planning initiative. Discussions at the October meeting were focused on how the MAE Center, and its partner Virginia Tech’s Center for Technology, Security, and Policy, could provide detailed earthquake impact results from the NMCPI project to support the NLE 2011.
Attending the meeting from FEMA were John Aucott, Exercise Program Manager, National Preparedness Director, Gus Wulfkuhle, FEMA Region 5 Operational Planner, and Fred Kaehler, FEMA Region 5. Attendees from the MAE Center included Amr Elnashai, former Director and current consultant, Timothy Gress, Managing Director, and Anisa Como, Researcher.
