Community Outreach
Risk Literacy Curriculum
We are excited to share the newly completed Risk Literacy curriculum, “Preparing for Storms in Louisiana, 2nd Edition.” The second edition is an update to the first edition based on feedback from adult education providers. The curriculum was designed in Plain Language to teach the concepts of risk as subject matter in literacy programs, as well as teach literacy through risk education.
The curriculum has multiple parts, including a student manual, facilitator’s guide, take home guide, flashcards, nonreader manual, and nonreader facilitator's guide. The student manual is the core of the curriculum, and includes five chapters on how to prepare for storms, including information on hurricanes, preparation, evacuation, returning and protection. The facilitator’s guide can be used to teach the material in the student manual and take home guide, and includes 14 lesson plans with reading comprehension strategies.
- Student Manual
- Facilitator’s Guide
- Take Home Guide (English)
- Take Home Guide (English/Spanish)
- Flashcards
- Nonreader Manual
- Nonreader Facilitators Guide
The take home guide is for student use in class as well as at home, so the students can study, review concepts and work on assignments. The English/Spanish version includes both English and Spanish. The flashcards are in Spanish on one side and in English on the other. They contain supplemental information on preparing for storms.
The nonreader manual uses the same curriculum as the student manual, but is designed for beginning readers. The nonreader facilitator's guide includes lesson plans and flashcards that coincide with the nonreader manual.
Continuity Planning for Community Organizations
Relying on national best practices and information gathered from stakeholder focus groups, the project team facilitated regional workshops throughout the State that focused on planning aspects such as mitigation, risk assessment, identification of resources, communications, and information technology. The team also held workshops for small organizations such as nonprofits, faith-based groups, and small businesses. The team produced webinars of the materials, and designed a manual that organizations can use to train themselves to be more resilient.
The manual provides materials for organizations to give their own continuity and resilience workshops. It includes background on continuity and resilience, a sample presentation, agendas and invites for workshops, as well as a sample continuity plan.
The project team also created a two part webinar to help enhance the resilience of organizations, which can be accessed on iTunesU. The webinar includes information on hazards in Louisiana, community mapping, and creating a continuity plan.
*Video: Kevin Brown, Executive Director of Trinity Christian Community, describes how the organization helped the community bounce back after the storm.
Community Rating System (CRS) User Group Support
The CRS, a voluntary program available to National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) participating communities, provides incentives for communities to go beyond the minimum floodplain management regulations established by the NFIP to minimize risk. The purpose of a CRS Users Group is to serve as a support and educational resource for local communities who participate in the CRS. UNO-CHART facilitates two separate CRS Users Groups in Louisiana; one around the Lake Pontchartrain area (FLOAT), and one in the Baton Rouge area (CRAFT). These two groups are comprised of only 16 of the 42 CRS participating communities in of Louisiana, but make up almost half of the total CRS discounts in the State, which reduced premiums for Louisiana residents by $37 million in 2013 alone! Groups are comprised of local officials who have been designated as CRS Coordinator for their communities. UNO-CHART provides support through facilitation of meetings and research. More information on the Users Groups can be found here.
If you are interested in joining a Users Group or attending one of the meetings please email chart@uno.edu.
Disaster Resistant University (DRU) 2013 Workshop
Our 2013 workshop, themed Linking Mitigation and Resilience, was a great success. The workshop included over 130 attendees representing 36 universities and colleges from across the country, plus Canada, Japan, and South Africa. Thank you to all the participants, speakers, sponsors, and volunteers for making it our best yet!
Check out ScholarWorks to view the agenda, PowerPoint presentations, presentation notes, and photos.
Repetitive Floodloss Area Analyses
As part of the Repetitive Flood Loss project, UNO-CHART completed an Area Analysis for the Cambridge Subdivision of St. John the Baptist Parish. The report details mitigation ideas for the area to help reduce flood losses. The analysis, along with other analyses, can be found at floodhelp.uno.edu.
