A model to improve preparedness and strategically enhance resiliency at a community level: The Garden State approach

This paper focuses on community resiliency planning in high-density areas, concentrating on balancing critical infrastructure recovery needs with real-life limitations in funding, and knowledge for how emergency management is done. A case study examines how a New Jersey government agency and state university were able to pilot a community resiliency concept in order to rapidly inject emergency management knowledge into a community that was affected by Superstorm Sandy. The lessons learned are intuitively understood by emergency planning professionals: preparing continuity of operations plans, conducting training and exercises, and mitigating risk for future disasters. However, the value is not in reinforcing what the professionals already know, but in providing low-income and disaster-affected communities with the tools to help themselves and develop the competencies to provide meaningful information to those who can provide assistance.