IEM Unscripted: DisasterSmiths™

In this episode of DisasterSmiths®, hosts Chris Smith and Diana Rothe-Smith move beyond the AI hype to examine what the technology can actually do for emergency managers. They are joined by Kyle Spencer, Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Norfolk (VA), and Jane Frantz, Section Leader for Preparedness and Recovery Analytics at Argonne National Laboratory, managed and operated by UChicago Argonne, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy. Together, they explore how predictive models can inform real-world flood decisions, strengthen resilience, and help resource-constrained communities put AI into practice. What does that look like when a county has just one emergency manager?Jane Sibley Frantz, Section Leader, Preparedness and Recovery Analytics, Argonne National Laboratory, managed and operated by UChicago Argonne, LLC, for the U.S. Department of EnergyJane serves as the Section Leader for Preparedness and Recovery Analytics at Argonne National Laboratory, where she leads recovery and resiliency projects nationwide. Part of Jane’s work included FEMA’s National Resilience Guidance. She has also supported several post-event impact assessments and targeted analyses in Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Prior to joining Argonne, Jane served as the Vice President of Resilience Solutions Group with Dewberry. Kyle Spencer, Chief Resilience Officer, City of Norfolk, VAKyle Spencer is the Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Norfolk, Virginia. He is responsible for implementing the City’s resilience strategy by managing complex projects in water management, environmental, urban planning, and smart cities. He regularly collaborates with regional partners on resilience innovations to support research projects with universities and develops business solutions in the resilience sector by turning Norfolk into a coastal community laboratory. His work on resilience has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, NPR’s Market Place, and the Weather Channel.

What makes an Emergency Operations Center succeed when the pressure is highest?In this episode of DisasterSmiths®, hosts Chris Smith and Diana Rothe-Smith sit down with emergency management veterans Mel Bartis and Bruce Lockwood to pull back the curtain on EOC operations. They explore who needs aseat at the table, how leaders and elected officials should engage during an incident, how emergency managers build situational awareness amid uncertainty, and what separates high-performing EOCs from those that struggle. Drawing on decades of experience responding to disasters and complex emergencies, Bruce and Mel share practical lessons on leadership, coordination, communication, anddecision-making when communities need it most. If you have ever wondered what really happens inside an EOC and what it takes to make one work, this episode is for you.

A lot can change in a year, especially when it comes toartificial intelligence. DisasterSmiths hosts Chris Smith and Diana Rothe-Smithwelcome back Dr. Ryan Rockabrand and Dr. Sarah Miller to revisit one of the fastest-evolving topic in emergency management. Together, they explore how AI is already supporting disaster operations, where organizations are seeing real value, and why conversations about governance, security, and decision-making are becoming increasingly important.Whether you're excited about AI, skeptical of its potential,or still figuring out where it fits, this episode offers a practical look at AI what emergency managers need to know now and what may be coming next. The technology is advancing fast. Is emergency management keeping pace?

Silence is never neutral. When official information lags during an emergency, something rushes in to fill the void, and it is rarely anything an agency would have chosen.In this DisasterSmiths episode, our guests, Nancy Leuenhagen, Communications Director for Washoe County, Nevada, and Stephanie Tennyson, Chief Communications Director at IEM, make the case that the most consequential communications work happens on blue sky days. Blue sky time is construction time, when relationships get built, andagencies earn the right to be believed. Together with our hosts, they explore how agencies build credibility before an emergency ever occurs, why consistent communication matters when there is no immediate threat, and how to makepreparedness resonate with people who assume disaster will never reach them.They also examine common pitfalls in preparedness messaging, the challenge of competing voices, and practical ways to adapt when misinformation spreads faster than facts.Whether you lead a communications shop or wear every hat in a one-person office, you will come away with ideas for building credibility, countering misinformation, and reaching the people who need your message most.

In this episode of DisasterSmiths, we explore one of the most significant changes to disaster recovery policy in decades. The newly enacted 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act establishes a more predictable framework for Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding, with the goal of accelerating recovery, reducing administrative burdens, and helping communities rebuild faster after major disasters. Joining our hosts is Marion McFadden, IEM Vice President of Disaster Recovery and former HUD Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning andDevelopment, to discuss what this landmark legislation means for state, local, tribal, and territorial governments. Together, we unpack the authorization of CDBG-DR, new expectations for planning and accountability, and the steps communities can take today to be better prepared for tomorrow’s disasters. Whether you’re responsible for housing, recovery, resilience, or grants management, this conversation offers critical insights into how the new lawcould reshape long-term disaster recovery nationwide.

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 GuestsTod Wells, Former Deputy Director, Public Assistance Division, FEMAHoward 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.