Form FEMA Form 008-0-9 FEMA Form 008-0-9 Focus Group Moderator Guide

OMB Control Number: 1660-NEW

Expiration: None

FEMA Form Number: 008-0-09

PAPERWORK BURDEN DISCLOSURE NOTICE

(Focus Group Moderator Guide)

Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 90 minutes per response. The burden estimate includes the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and submitting the form. This collection of information is voluntary. You are not required to respond to this collection of information unless a valid OMB control number is displayed in the upper right corner of this form. Send comments regarding the accuracy of the burden estimate and any suggestions for reducing the burden to: Information Collections Management, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1800 South Bell Street, Arlington VA 20598-3005, Paperwork Reduction Project (1660-NEW). NOTE: DO NOT SEND YOUR COMPLETED FORM TO THIS ADDRESS.

Hurricane Sandy

Focus Group Moderator Guide¹

I. Introduction and Ground Rules

1. Ground Rules

• Thank you for taking time out of your schedules.

• Group will last 90 minutes. (Provide burden disclosure)

• No right or wrong answers—goal is to hear a variety of viewpoints, not to reach consensus.

• Comments are private; Audio/Video taping; Listeners.

• Speak as loudly as moderator; Speak one at a time;

• Warning to talkative and quiet people—everyone gets a chance to speak.

• Feel free to talk to each other, disagree/agree, but observe common courtesy.

2. Introductions/Warm-up

Let’s have each of you introduce yourselves by saying your first name only, where you live, and something you like about where you live. Go to Appendix A.

2. Experience

1. Briefly, tell me about your experience with Hurricane Sandy.

1. Where were you when Hurricane Sandy made landfall?

2. How prepared or unprepared did you feel?

3. What were some of the emotions you felt throughout the hurricane?

4. What worried you the most? Least? [PROBE ON WHY]

2. Distribute hand out and ask them to take a few minutes to rate the importance of the items listed and to add any additional items.

3. What sort of help was either most useful or could you have used before the hurricane came ashore?

1. PROBE: general information/updated; supplies; Tips for getting ready; information on how to access state and local resources

2. Retrospective

Now I’d like for you to think back to before the hurricane made landfall.

1. What information did you receive about the hurricane?

   1. When did you receive it?

   2. From which sources did you get information?

2. What information do you wish you had before the hurricane?

3. What did you do to prepare for the hurricane?

   1. How did you know to take these steps? [PROBE/LISTEN FOR: previous experience; insurance information; FEMA information; media; local government information; etc.]

4. What motivated you to take action to prepare or get ready? [PROBE/LISTEN FOR: talking to others, advice on the news, past experience with disasters, to protect self or family, encouragement from others]

5. If there was one precaution you wish you would have taken before the hurricane, what would it be?

   1. Specifically, what do you wish you would have done differently in your preparation before the hurricane made landfall?

   2. If you had the opportunity to do this, how different would the recovery process be for you now?

6. By a show of hands, how many of you left your home voluntarily in advance of the storm? (COUNT PARTICIPANT)

   1. What made you decide to leave on your own?

7. How many of you followed a mandatory evacuation notice?

   1. What happen that forced you to leave? (PROBE/LISTEN FOR: mandatory, severe damage to dwelling, unsafe, conditions got worse etc.)

   2. How aware or unaware were you of the possibility of that occurring?

   3. If you aware that these situations were a possibility, would you have acted or prepared any differently? 

8. What was the most challenging aspect of the days before the storm hit?

   1. LISTEN FOR: Lack of information, lack of resources, didn’t take threat seriously, did not adequately prepare

9. What was the most challenging for you in the days after the storm hit?

   1. LISTEN FOR: Getting information about getting food and water, information about damage to their home, concern for friends and family, not knowing what to do next, emotional impact of lost property, not knowing how to get help.

2. Communication

1. Before the hurricane, what messages or warnings do you feel were well communicated to you? Which were not well communicated?

   1. What is it about this/these messages that made it stand out from all the other information you were receiving at the time? (PROBE: Help with recovery process, details about what to do specific to you community, directive action)

2. Overall, where would you prefer to see information about how best to prepare for a disaster?

PROBES

1. See in your community? (Where?)

2. Read (Where?)

3. Hear on the radio (What kind of program?)

4. See on TV (What kind of program? Weather Channel?)

5. See on the Internet? (Where on the Internet?)

PROBE: Would you look for it on Facebook? Twitter?

6. Hear from a person you respect? (Like whom?)

7. For parents, hear from your child’s school?

8. See in stores or as part of packaging on products you buy? (Which ones?)

9. Hear from a group in your community? (Which?)

10. Hear from an emergency responder, like an EMT or firefighter?

11. Get in some other way? (Which?)

3. What else would get your attention?

2. Response and Recovery

1. How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the overall response to the hurricane?

   1. PROBE: Specifically for FEMA’s response, federal government, state government and local government

2. What assistance, if any, have you received so far?

   1. What about assistance during the hurricane?

   2. What about since the hurricane?

   3. What services are you currently receiving? (PROBE: Specific from FEMA, Fed, State and local government)

   4. Thinking specifically of the services you receive from FEMA, what can they do to improve the service?

   5. What would be most helpful for you?

   6. What should they be doing differently?

VI. Role of Government

1. In your opinion what could the Federal Government and FEMA have done differently to better prepare you for this event?

   1. What about your local government?

   2. What about the state?

2. What do you think the Federal Government and FEMA could have done differently in their response to this event?

   1. What about your local government officials?

   2. What about the state officials?

VII. Closing (1 minutes)

I want to thank you so much for participating today. Your ideas are definitely going to make a difference for people prepare for future disasters.

Appendix A

Now I am going to read a list of preparedness items or actions. Based on your experience in Hurricane Sandy, please provide your advice for others by rating the importance of each item for helping before, during, or immediately after the storm. These may be things you had done or things you wish you had done.

First I am going to ask you what was or would have been useful information in the first 72 hours.

Please rate each item on a scale of 1 to 5 in terms of helpfulness during or after the Hurricane with 5 being “very important or useful” and 1 being “not at all important or useful.”

INFORMATION

Understanding weather forecast information in terms of its ability to cause damage and threaten lives

Receiving alerts and warnings from official sources

Knowing evacuation routes

How to use public transportation to evacuate

Knowing the locations of community shelters

Knowing the locations of community shelters that accommodate pets or service animals

Knowing the locations of community shelters that accommodate access and functional needs

PLANNING

Ability to communicate with household members

Planning ahead for unique needs of household members,

PLAN – responses/categories here will be a little different from no-notice because family likely to already be together

Family needs – access functional needs, pets

Communications?

Review, update, buy insurance

SUPPLIES

Stored drinking water

Way to purify other sources of water

Non-perishable food (no refrigeration)

Medicines

First Aid kit

Cleaning materials, plastic bags, garbage bags

Pre-packed evacuation bags for all household members

Clothes and shoes for warmth and safety

Flashlight

Full tank of gas in vehicle

Generator

Dust mask

Bleach

Matches – water proof

Way to cook without power

Clothes – warmth, shoes for safety, debris

Flashlight

Radio --- more generic to include smartphone --- extra battery or way to charge (hand crank)

Identity, financial, insurance records

Fire extinguisher

Generator

Landline vs cell phone?

Phone numbers printed out, not just stored in cell phone?

cash

SKILLS

How to turn off utilities in your home

How to use a fire extinguisher

How to purify drinking water

How to safely check for damage and start to clean up

How to help others – emotionally and physically

Having practiced a family plan for evacuation and communications

Is there anything else we did not include on the list that you think rates a 5 in importance or usefulness in making the first 3 days after a hurricane more comfortable?

On a scale of 1 to 5, how much damage did your home sustain with 5 being “completely destroyed” and 1 being “little or no damage.”

PROTECTING YOUR HOME

Installing window protection such as shutters, plywood panels, or hurricane proof glass

Raising furnace, water heater, or electric panel

Building a storm shelter in the home

Remove outside items (lawn furniture, bicycles, etc)

1 Note, this is a tool for the moderator and is not viewed by the public. The public are participants who answer the questions.

FEMA Form 008-0-9