While the nation has made strides in preparing for a wide range of potential disasters, state and local officials said they feel least prepared for an emerging threat: a cyber attack.

Cybersecurity “was the single core capability where states had made the least amount of overall progress,” according to the annual National Preparedness Report released Thursday by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. Less than half of state and local officials thought their cybersecurity was sufficient, according to the survey. In particular, about two-thirds said they had not updated their cybersecurity plans in the last two years.

The report, commissioned by President Barack Obama’s administration, assessed how prepared the nation would be in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. It surveyed government agencies, companies, nonprofit groups, faith-based organizations, communities and individuals.

Read more @ huffingtonpost.com

Today, FEMA and its partners released the National Preparedness Report (NPR). The Report identifies significant progress the nation has made in areas of prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery. Overall the Report found that the nation has increased its collective preparedness, not only from external threats, but also for natural and technological hazards that face its communities.

The Report was developed to meet the requirements of Presidential Policy Directive 8/PPD-8: National Preparedness. PPD-8 is aimed at strengthening the security and resilience of the United States through systematic preparation for the threats that pose the greatest risk to the security of the Nation, including acts of terrorism, cyber attacks, pandemics, and catastrophic natural disasters.

The NPR focuses on five mission areas: Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response and Recovery, as outlined in the National Preparedness Goal released in October 2011. Within these mission areas are 31 core capabilities central to preparedness. The NPR assesses each of these 31 core capabilities. (more…)

After months of waiting, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released the much anticipated guidance for conducting “Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessments (THIRAs). The THIRA process provides a common way to more fully understand all of the risks communities face and is now required for homeland security and emergency management grantee states and Urban Areas under the UASI program. The process ties the risk of a threat or hazard to capabilities to look at gaps as part of a comprehensive preparedness cycle. (See links below.)

FEMA’s Deputy Administrator Tim Manning authored the following blog to help announce the new guidance which is formally known as Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 201. (more…)

From the FEMA Blog

FEMA and its partners are seeking your input on four working drafts of the National Planning Frameworks, and the initial draft of the Recovery Federal Interagency Operational Plan, which are part of Presidential Policy Directive 8: National Preparedness. PPD-8 is a policy directive that asks federal agencies to work with the whole community—including all levels of government, individuals and communities, businesses, nonprofit and faith-based organizations—to work together to improve national preparedness.

As an element of the implementation of PPD-8, the National Frameworks, focusing on Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response and Recovery, clearly define key preparedness roles and responsibilities for the entire community.

Through ongoing engagement efforts which include the use of our online collaboration tool, webinars and workshops, we have been able to complete working draft documents. We are currently focusing on revising the National Response Framework and developing the Prevention, Protection and Mitigation Frameworks. As each of these products are made final, federal interagency operational plans will be developed to provide guidance across the federal government to successfully implement the Frameworks.

Read more @ blog.fema.gov