STILL USING YOUR STUBBY PENCIL FOR FEMA DISASTER REPORTING? IT MAY BE TIME TO RE-THINK.

GLADES COUNTY SPENDS MINUTES ON FEMA DISASTER REPORTING

GLADES COUNTY, Florida - CitiTech Systems, Inc. - Mike Jones, former Assistant Road Superintendent for Glades County, Florida decided to work SMARTER, not HARDER, after the county was hit with Hurricane Floyd and declared a disaster area; consequently, he saved himself WEEKS of work.

Glades County had recently purchased CMS software (May 1999), a fully-integrated management tool for public works and road departments. Thanks to CMS, Mike was able to provide detailed disaster cost information within minutes of FEMA's request, and according to the FEMA representative, his was the only county in the declaration that had all the paperwork ready at his initial visit. The representative was so impressed that he accepted the reports at face value and did not request any additional information or clarification.

CMS tracks costs and improves operations. From Work Orders to Budgets, Project Management to Equipment Maintenance, the software combines all the major functions of the department into one, simple-to-use application; it is also very effective for disaster reporting, as it tracks the people, equipment, inventory and other costs associated with a specific task or activity, such as pothole patching, mowing, weeding, clean-up, etc. - which is exactly the information FEMA requires - WHO did WHAT task with WHAT equipment and HOW MUCH inventory - and HOW MUCH did all of this cost?

"FEMA needs to know the cost of damages; salaries, equipment, and other expenses associated with cleanup and rebuilding after the disaster", says Ken Howard, Emergency Management Director for Glades County Emergency. "Reports require backup documentation in case of an audit at a later date." Therefore, the more details, the better; it is unacceptable to merely submit a bottom-line cost amount.

"This was not our first experience with FEMA disaster reporting", Mike Jones said. "Years ago, we requested FEMA aid and were required to submit the same kinds of information (although FEMA was using a different reporting format); it took us weeks to submit the final reports because they were sent back several times for clarification or revision."