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to make such property available to the State in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement signed by the Governor on

Signed:

(Date)

FCDA Regional Director."

IV. SURPLUS PROPERTY WHICH MAY BE DONATED TO STATES

Federal surplus property of a consumable nature such as food, clothing, medical supplies, and similar items may be donated to the States for the purpose of Public Law 875, 81st Congress, as amended. Nonconsumable items intended and actually used for the restoration of public facilities and essential rehabilitation of individuals may also be donated. Nonconsumable items in small or odd lot quantities which cannot reasonably be returned to the Federal Government may also be donated.

V. SURPLUS PROPERTY WHICH MAY BE LOANED TO STATES

Nonconsumable Federal surplus property such as trucks, bulldozers, and similar items may be loaned to the States for the purposes of Public Law 875, 81st Congress, as amended.

VI. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF DONATIONS OF SURPLUS PROPERTY

(a) Donable property shall be made available to a State in accordance with a written agreement with respect thereto entered into between the governor of the State or State civil-defense director, when authorized, and the regional director regarding the several responsibilities of the Federal and State Governments as provided in paragraph V, F of Advisory Bulletin 135, dated January 24, 1953.

(b) Donable property shall be transferred to the State on condition that it be put into use for the purposes of Public Law 875, 81st Congress, as amended, within 90 days from the date of receipt thereof.

(c) Such property acquired by a State shall be on an "as is, where is" basis without warranty of any kind.

(d) The State shall pay for all costs incident to the donation of such property, including the costs of care, handling, conditioning, maintaining, storing, and shipping.

(e) Donated property, as such, may not be sold, traded, leased or otherwise disposed of for profit, by the State or any subsequent transferee.

(f) Donated property that is not put into use for the purposes of Public Law 875, 81st Congress, as amended, within 90 days from the date of receipt thereof, or which is not suitable or usable for the purpose for which acquired, shall be reported to the regional director and shall be returned to the United States at such point, or otherwise disposed of in such manner, as the regional director may direct. Such property shall be returned in the same condition as received, reasonable wear and tear excepted. The State shall pay for all costs of returning such property.

(g) The State shall make such reports to the regional director on the use, condition, and location of donated property and on other pertinent matters, as the Administrator shall from time to time require.

VII. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF LOANS OF SURPLUS PROPERTY

(a) Loans of Federal surplus property shall not be made until necessary agreements are entered into between the governor or the State civil-defense director, when authorized, and the regional director.

(b) Loans of such property shall be on an "as is, where is" basis without warranty of any kind and upon condition that it will be placed in use for the purpose of the loan within 90 days from the date of receipt thereof.

(c) Such property shall be returned to the United States at the time fixed in the agreement referred to above, or at such earlier time as it is determined that such property is not suitable or no longer needed for the purposes authorized under Public Law 875, 81st Congress, as amended.

VAL PETERSON, Administrator.

FEDERAL CIVIL DEFENSE ADMINISTRATION

Washington 25, D. C.
ADVISORY BULLETIN

No. 154 Disaster Series October 21, 1953

To: State and local civil-defense directors.

Subject: Types of Federal assistance rendered in major disasters.

I. PURPOSE

The purpose of this advisory bulletin is to furnish State and local civildefense directors with more detailed information regarding the types of Federal assistance which may be rendered in a major disaster. This advisory bulletin supersedes paragraph 2.7 of the Disaster Interim Operating Procedures, copies of which were distributed under date of January 31, 1953.

II. TYPES OF FEDERAL ASSISTANCE IN MAJOR DISASTERS

A. Section 3 of Public Law $75, 81st Congress, as amended, specifies the types of Federal assistance which may be provided in a major disaster. Subsection (d) of that section states that assistance may be provided "by performing on public or private lands protective and other work essential for the preservation of life and property, clearing debris and wreckage, making emergency repairs to and temporary replacements of public facilities of local governments damaged or destroyed in such major disaster, providing temporary housing or other emergency shelter for families who, as a result of such major disaster, require temporary housing or other emergency shelter, and making contributions to States and local governments for purposes stated in subsection (d).”

B. Public Law 875 provides that Federal assistance may be granted to supplement State and local efforts and resources when the damage caused by disaster is beyond the ability of the State or local government to cope with such damage. The assistance authorized is intended to supplement such efforts rather than to supplant them. The paragraphs which follow describe in some detail the extent of Federal assistance that may be rendered under this subsection (d).

1. Performing protective and other work

(a) No restriction is imposed on the location, type, or ownership of property on which protective work may be performed. The Federal contribution for work performed cannot exceed the minimum amount required to prevent further deterioration because of continued exposure to the elements, or from other causes. (b) Examples of work which may be authorized for the preservation of life and property are construction of emergency dikes and levees or additions to existing dikes and levees, demolition of structures creating safety hazards, shoring up walls, provision of emergency services and provision of necessary health measures.

2. Clearing debris and wreckage

This work is ordinarily performed on public property. There may be cases, however, where because of the danger to public health or for the protection of life it must be performed on private property. In such instances, the authority to enter on such property and the responsibility for any damage or claim thereto is that of the State or local government.

3. Emergency repairs to and temporary replacement of public facilities

(a) This authority goes beyond the protective and other work essential for the preservation of property discussed in subparagraph 1 above. At the same time, it is limited to those public facilities which are essential. Examples of the types of public facilities generally deemed to be essential are bridges, roads, culverts, drainage ditches, waterworks, sewer systems, schools, hospitals, penal and welfare institutions, buildings housing public offices, land and court records, police facilities, etc. Public facilities usually not deemed essential would include auditoriums, zoos, and parks.

(b) Examples of emergency repairs to essential public facilities which generally may be undertaken would include the construction of a temporary earth fill to replace material washed from behind a bridge abutment or the baking out of an armature of a motor in a city powerplant. Renovations beyond those which are necessary for the resumption of essential services are not considered emergency repairs. For example, emergency repairs would not include the permanent repaving of roads in washed-out areas. Occasions will arise, of course, where the only emergency repair that can reestablish the facility may constitute a permanent repair. For example, the valves of a well pump may be so plugged with debris that they must be replaced before service can be resumed. (c) Temporary replacement of essential public facilities ordinarily is the provision of emergency facilities during a period required for the permanent repair or replacement of the damaged facility. Examples would be the provision of a temporary bridge while a permanent bridge is being repaired or constructed. (d) It should be noted that a public facility essential in a major disaster may require both protective and emergency repair, that is, the resumption of the facility's essential service may be necessary and, in addition thereto, protective or other work may be needed to prevent the further deterioration.

4. Providing temporary housing or other emergency shelter

The work authorized for this purpose is the minimum needed to provide shelter to families on a temporary basis. A temporary basis is considered that time necessary to permit the provision of permament facilities or the arrangement for other accommodations. The authority may be utilized only when there is an acute shortage of housing facilities and when other sources of available housing (including housing in adjacent localities within a reasonable commuting distance of the disaster area) have been exhausted. When temporary housing is required, it will, where practicable, be provided in the following order: (a) surplus barracks or other surplus housing, (b) tent-city housing, (c) trailertype housing. In determining the need for the provision of temporary housing, FCDA in cooperation with the American National Red Cross, the Housing and Home Finance Agency, and local public officials will conduct a survey of available facilities prior to the provision of such housing.

5. Federal contributions to States and local governments for work performed under section 3 (d)

Taking into consideration all of the provisions of existing law and regulations, Federal contributions may be made to State and local governments for work performed as outlined in 1, 2, 3 and 4 above, subject to the following conditions: (a) that the work is properly reimbursable under the agreement with the State and the provisions of individual projects approved; (b) that its cost is directly attributable to the disaster; (c) that the State or local government has accepted responsibility, as a sovereign, for performance of the work for which a contribution is requested.

C. At the request of the State or local community, a grant equal to the amount of the agreed cost of the emergency repair or temporary replacement may be paid to the State or local community, to be applied against the cost of the permanent repair or replacement in lieu of the Federal contribution toward the estimated cost of the work agreed to be performed under 1 or 3 above, providing such permanent repair or replacement will accomplish the protection, repair, or replacement objective for which the individual project was approved. In determining the amount to be considered as a grant, the estimated cost of the preventive or protective work, or the emergency repair or temporary replacement shall include only those items of work including labor, material, and equipment charges, necessary to provide minimum protection or temporary replacement or emergency repair.

VAL PETERSON, Administrator.

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Subject: Civil defense leadership in organizing community disaster warning networks

I. PURPOSE

The purpose of this advisory bulletin is to emphasize the need for State and local civil-defense leadership in organizing and maintaining community severe weather and disaster warning networks. A number of communities now have tornado warning networks but many more disaster warning networks are needed. Such activities make possible the detection of the imminence of a severe storm or other disaster, and the dissemination of warnings to the general public and especially to isolated communities or concentrations such as rural-school buildings.

II. GENERAL

(a) Warning of the approach of a severe storm, or other disaster observed developing, is a public safety and welfare measure of the greatest importance. It can mean the difference between life and death.

(b) As an example of what can be accomplished, United States Weather Bureau field offices may issue forecasts that a tornado could develop in any part of a certain area. This is done because it is not possible to predetermine the exact time or place a tornado will originate or strike. The forecast is issued to alert both local warning networks and the public in the area concerned. In this manner the people can be prepared to take whatever action is necessary when a tornado is observed or specific warning is received that the storm actually is approaching.

III. HOW EXISTING TORNADO WARNING NETWORKS OPERATE

(a) In small towns and rural areas where warning networks have been established, anyone observing a tornado is expected, as a matter of standing practice, to report at once to a previously selected warning center the location and direction of movement of the storm. The warning center is some point where communications are available 24 hours every day, such as a police station or central telephone office.

(b) At the instigation of the warning center, a warning is then disseminated by means of a prearranged method of communication to all persons believed to be in the path of the tornado. This may be done by telephone, radio broadcast, church bells, or other predetermined warning devices.

(c) In densely populated areas where warning networks have been established, volunteer observes are used. The usual course of a tornado is from southwest to northeast. Therefore, volunteers are stationed to the southwest, west, and northwest of the area to be protected, spaced from 2 to 4 miles apart. Where observation posts of the ground observer corps are found to be strategically located, such personnel may be invited to act as observers for the disaster warning network. However, when such personnel do participate, communications facilities other than those established for the primary mission of the observation post must be furnished in order that disaster information may be forwarded direct to the disaster warning center established for the area.

(d) As in the case of rural areas, upon discovery of a tornado a report is made to the warning center for the area concerned. The center then disseminates a public warning by a prearranged means of communication such as radio broadcast, television broadcast, or special audible warning device.

IV. ORGANIZING AND OPERATING A NETWORK

(a) Where no local warning network is now operating, the civil defense director for the area should take the initiative in establishing a severe weather and disaster warning network. Much assistance can be obtained by enlisting the aid of other civic officials, community organizations, local ground observer corps, Red Cross officials, local radio, television, wire service and newspaper executives, Weather Bureau officials for the area, local airport managers, military base commanders, the local official in charge of the interstate airway communications station, and other interested parties. Factors on which a decision must be reached

are:

1. Delineation of the area to be covered.

2. Designation and location of the warning center.

3. Actual procedures to be employed.

4. The means by which information will get quickly to the warning center. 5. The means by which warnings will be given to the public.

6. Method of forwarding warning information from the warning center to the nearest United States Weather Bureau office.

Protection for all points of the compass rather than the few used for tornado warning is desirable. Obviously, local problems will vary greatly and must affect the details of any specific plan developed. In every instance, however, provision should be included for immediate notification of appropriate civil defense officials to alert and, if necessary, set in motion the disaster organization.

(b) After completion of the details of a reporting and warning system, an adequate public education program is essential to gain public awareness and cooperation. VAL PETERSON, Administrator.

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