Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Program

In response to direction by Congress to develop "all-hazard regional catastrophic event plans and preparedness," FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security have established the Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP), and released grants to the ten largest urban areas in the country. To implement this Program, the City of Seattle Office of Emergency Management has stepped into a new leadership role with the larger Puget Sound region that surrounds and is partner to the City of Seattle.

The Puget Sound Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Planning Program (RCPPP) is intended to enhance regional catastrophic preparedness and continuity of operations efforts, with the aim of strengthening the region against risks associated with catastrophic events. As a region, planners will work to:

• Fix shortcomings in existing plans;
• Build regional planning processes and planning communities;
• Link operational and capabilities-based planning to resource allocation.

To accomplish these tasks, a collection of local, state, federal and tribal government agencies, private sector partners, subject matter experts and others within the Puget Sound region must work collaboratively and innovatively.

As the name of the grant implies, the main principle of this planning grant is that the scenarios being planned for are catastrophic in nature: truly debilitating disaster events. Given this, the assumption is that local and state resources will be overwhelmed and that outside assistance via Emergency Management Assistance Compacts and the Federal government will be both necessary and critical.

Regional planners at the Local, State and Federal levels, alongside Private Sector and Associated Response Communities, will work together to develop integrated plans to coordinate, respond to and recover from catastrophic events.

Learn more about the Puget Sound Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Region.

See a roster of the Puget Sound Regional Catastrophic Planning Team (RCPT) voting representatives.

See list of the specific RCP Projects.

The Regional Catastrophic Program Manager can be reached at: diane.bonne@seattle.gov

The Regional Planner can be reached at: lise.northey@seattle.gov