Office of Communications

Contact: Amy Batheja

Communications Specialist

Office: (817) 531-7521

abatheja@txwes.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROFESSOR, AREA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT EXPERTS AID CEDAR RAPIDS IN FLOOD RECOVERY

When Cedar Rapids was inundated with major flooding this summer, assistant city manager Sandi Fowler reached out for all the help she could get. That included calling her former professor, Dr. Rod Erakovich, assistant professor of public administration and management at Texas Wesleyan University. Fowler had studied with Erakovich while pursuing her Master in Management. She asked him for advice and lessons learned in recovery planning from natural disasters.

Erakovich coordinated with Juan Ortiz, Emergency Management Director for the city of Fort Worth, to bring together emergency management directors and specialists from the cities of Dallas, Arlington and Fort Worth and the North Central Texas Council of Governments in July and August 2008. The group met for several brainstorming sessions to identify short and long-term recovery strategies from natural disasters to assist the city management of Cedar Rapids. The city had received a Presidential Disaster Declaration due to the flooding that caused millions of dollars in damages and displaced several communities.

During the meetings, they discussed recovery topics, developed strategies, directed the development of a report, and made recommendations on the subject matter. The result of this meeting is a report titled "Developing a Community Recovery Strategy." It contains numerous proven and innovative ideas on recovery strategies.

Upon initial examination of the report, the Cedar Rapids City Manager and Mayor found confirmation of their progress in flood recovery operations. The report also provided several new ideas to examine for implementation by the city leaders.

"The individuals who involved in creating this report represent many years of emergency management experience and their personal involvement in numerous natural disasters," Erakovich said. "When the call was made to these dedicated professionals about the need and context of the requirements, there was no hesitation to participate and provide their expertise. All of the participants accomplished their reports voluntarily and in addition to their regular duties."

"All of these professional emergency management participants, including our friends in Cedar Rapids, symbolize what is right about government," said Erakovich. "They bring a fresh face to the profession of public service and embrace the need to make a difference in the quality of people’s lives many miles from their community."

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