April 25 Chat

Join Our Flood Recovery Chat

On April 25, the Disaster Issues Community will host an encore text chat session on flood recovery.

As floods move through the heartland of America, people are in different stages of flood recovery. Some are still waiting to re-enter their homes while others are continuing to discover new flood recovery needs. This session will provide an opportunity for participants to ask questions about their options for getting help, drying their homes and surrounding structures, and other issues. Questions will be answered by our disaster issues experts via text chat. Audio will not be available.

Join us even if you weren't able to join or didn't know about the first Flood Recovery chat. We welcome all questions. To view the previous flood chat, go to Flood Recovery Session 1.

This session is sponsored by the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN).

Details

Date: Friday, April 25, 2008

Time: Noon – 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Topic: Encore Flood Recovery: Practical Steps and Useful Resources

How to join the Chat Session

Begin by logging in to the chat system a few minutes before the starting time. Click EDENChat to link to the chat site.

Enter as a Guest. Please enter your first name and your last name, and your state in the box labeled “Type your name:” then click on the Enter Room button.

Our Panel of Experts Return for the Encore

Dr. Claudette H. Reichel is Professor and Extension Housing Specialist with Louisiana State University AgCenter. She spearheaded and chairs LaHouse Resource Center, a sustainable housing showcase of solutions and outreach program for the gulf coast region – with a goal of “shaping the future” with durable, healthy, resource-efficient, convenient and practical homes. LaHouse was created with broad participation from industry and public agencies.

Since 1981, Dr. Reichel has developed numerous educational programs, outreach delivery systems and materials relating to housing and building science, including energy efficiency, indoor air quality, hazard resistance, mold remediation, home buyer education, and others. She authored more than 100 Extension publications, including the Building Your High Performance Home – Gulf Region Homeowners Guide book. She has received ten national and state level awards for program excellence, was a featured speaker at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. and has presented at numerous national and regional events.

Dr. Ken Hellevang has a Ph.D. in engineering and is a registered professional engineer. He has obtained the academic rank of professor in the colleges of engineering and agriculture, food systems, and natural resources at North Dakota State University. He provides education and technical assistance related to moisture problems in buildings, including training for building and health professionals. He has provided education and assistance related to flooded buildings during several flood events such as the 1997 Red River Valley flooding, 2001 Fargo Moorhead flood, and the flooding in Northern Minnesota in the mid-90s. He provides leadership for the extension.org flood material.

Eric Evans has been on faculty at the University of Missouri Extension Fire and Rescue Training Institute since 2001. As the State Extension Emergency Management Specialist he plans, schedules and conducts disaster mitigation, preparedness, and response and recovery educational programs statewide. Other responsibilities include: training needs assessment and curriculum development; conduct courses, workshops, seminars and conferences; recruit, select and train part-time instructional staff; provide technical assistance to emergency service organizations at all levels of government and the private sector.

Shortly after joining the University, Evans was asked to create a program to train local extension faculty to prepare the university system to be ready for a crisis/disaster event and to be able to assist affected local jurisdictions and families impacted by the event. Since its inception the Community Emergency Management program has responded and supported disaster recovery efforts 10 separate times and has received several state and national awards.

Steve Cain is EDEN Homeland Security Project Director, Purdue University. He received the USDA Superior Service award for educational response to the drought of 1988 (team award). In 2001, the Monterey Institute's Center for Nonproliferation Studies Website selected his backgrounder on Agroterrorism as a resource. In 2002, he was named the national project leader for the EDEN Homeland Security project. In 2003, Cain and other EDEN leaders received the USDA Group Honor Award for Excellence. In 2005 he was selected as an agroterrorism consultant to the National Academies of Science. In 2005 and 2006, Cain developed business preparedness courses with the Department of Homeland Security.

He has published thousands of articles nationally and locally. In the 1970's, Cain was an agricultural journalist and managed the world's largest outdoor farm show, the Farm Progress Show. From 1989 to 2003, he was a contributing writer to World Book's Science Yearbook. In 1997 and 1998, he hosted the nationally-televised Science and Technology Update for Direct TV's Channel Earth. Also the 1990's, Cain was a volunteer, communication consultant in Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Russia and Uganda.