IEM Unscripted: DisasterSmiths™

When disaster strikes, recovery is not just about roads, bridges, and programs. It is about people. In this episode of DisasterSmiths, Chris and Diana explore the evolving role of disaster case management and why local relationships, community-based organizations, social services, nonprofits,faith-based partners, and long-term recovery groups are essential to helping survivors move from crisis to stability.
With humor, candor, and decades of recovery experience, they unpack how communities can prepare before the next disaster, build coalitions that are ready to act, and meet survivors where they are before unmet needs become long-term setbacks. From the power of local trust to the need for more recovery exercises, this conversation makes the case for disaster case management as one of recovery’s most human and impactful tools.

This episode of DisasterSmiths spotlights how resilience is built long before disaster strikes. Featuring Elizabeth Sanchey, Emergency Environmental Management Director for the Yakama Nation, and Yolanda Jackson, IEM’s Manager of Mitigation and Resilience Program, the conversation explores how FEMA’s BRIC program supported proactive wildfire mitigation efforts that helped protect homes, infrastructure, and culturally significant resources during the Slide Ranch Fire.

When disaster strikes, one federal program stands between a community and collapse — yet most leaders don't fully understand it until they desperately need it. FEMA's Public Assistance program moves billions of dollars into shatteredcommunities, but its rules, tradeoffs, and limitations can make or break a recovery. In this episode of DisasterSmiths®, two of the most experienced voices in the field pull back the curtain on how the program works and why the gap between policy and reality matters more than most people realize.
This is a rare, unfiltered conversation that goes far beyond the basics. From the impossible tension between speed and accountability, to the extraordinary challenge of applying an infrastructure-built program to a global pandemic, our guests don't shy away from the hard questions. They distinguish the fair criticisms of FEMA Public Assistance from the myths and offer the kind of high-level strategic perspective that state and local leaders rarely get to hear. If your jurisdiction has ever struggled to navigate federal recovery dollars, this episode will inform how you approach the process. 
Featured Guests
Tod Wells, Former Deputy Director, Public Assistance Division, FEMA
Howard Stronach, Senior Advisor, Recovery, IEM

You sent the alert. You issued the order. You did everything right. So why didn’t they leave?
 
In this episode of DisasterSmiths™, a local emergency manager and a resiliency officer get honest about one of the hardest problems in emergency management: the gap between the message that goes out and the decision that gets made.

They break down why fear-based messaging often backfires,how trust built on blue-sky days determines who listens when it matters most, and why the most effective evacuation order sometimes comes from the most unexpected voice. It’s a conversation about communication, community, and thedeeply human reasons people make the choices they do under pressure. Because closing that gap doesn’t start in the EOC. It starts long before the storm.

When a severe storm tears through a mountain community in Tennessee, the real work begins the moment the rain stops. In this episode of DisasterSmiths, we sit down with a mayor who experienced recovery firsthand, from the coordination, the critical decisions, and what it takes to move a community from disaster declaration to meaningful progress through FEMA’s Public Assistance program.

He’s joined by IEM subject matter experts and former FEMA officials who examine what it takes to translate federal guidance into practical results at the local level. Our guests break down how disaster funding flows, why documentation and communication are essential at every stage, and what local leaders can do to position their communities for the strongest possible recovery. This is a candid, informed conversation about what Public Assistance looks like when it’s working and what it takes to get there.