Force Majeure: Disaster Planning & Recovery
Force Majeure: An event or effect that can be neither anticipated nor controlled. The term includes both acts of nature (e.g., floods and hurricanes) and acts of people (e.g.) riots, strikes and wars. Black’s Law Dictionary (Bryan Garner, ed.), 7th ed.
Relief and Recovery
Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
Californians for All / California Volunteers
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Enter your city and state or ZIP code here to see if your area has been declared a federal disaster area.
FEMA’s Directory of Federal, State and local agencies available here.
https://disasterlegalservicesca.org/ (DLAC): If you are an attorney, consider volunteering at DLAC! During disasters they are always looking for volunteer attorneys to work 2-hour hotline shifts. DLAC is a coalition of organizations and law firms in Northern California working together to offer free legal services to the communities in the aftermath of natural disasters. Survivors of disasters such as wildfires face a wide variety of legal and financial needs ranging from insurance claim assistance to requests for government programs such as FEMA assistance.
Free Legal Answers: The California Lawyer’s Association and the Alameda Bar Association partnered to provide this service for low-income individuals, including victims of natural disasters, who need free legal advice.
Tracking Disaster: Social Media & Apps
Social media can be a powerful tool when disasters strike.
www.CalAlerts.org - Maintained by the State and local governments, this resource is free, private and ad-free. Sign up to get alerts on disasters in your area and places where your loved ones live.
Sacramento Sheriff at https://twitter.com/sacsheriff
West Sacramento Police Department at https://twitter.com/WestSacPoliceDe
Sacramento Police Department at https://twitter.com/SacPolice
California Fire Scanner at https://twitter.com/CAFireScanner
California Disasters at https://twitter.com/CalDisasters
California Office of Emergency Services at https://twitter.com/Cal_OES
California National Guard at https://twitter.com/CalGuard
Weather Underground App: use this app to track the weather where you and your loved ones live and work. It also tracks air quality, (“AQ Index”) which is especially important with fires.
Emergency Preparedness (“Prepping”)
Get prepared and learn how to handle yourself in an emergency:
The Urban Prepper: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheUrbanPrepper. As of 2020, this popular channel is also available on Netflix.
Ready.Gov: This Federal government run site is a deep well of knowledge on how to prepare anyone for everything, from Indigenous Americans (“Ready Indian County”) to animals. Learn how to Get Ready at https://www.ready.gov/plan.
Cutter Law, Safety Guide: cutterlaw.com/wildfire-safety-guide/. Cutter Law is a California law firm that specializes in personal injury, including property and personal injury from wildfires. Their Safety Guide, which links to numerous other resources, including government agencies, is a readable, informative list of tips and tools to protect you, your loved ones and your property.
Fire & Wilfire
https://media2.mofo.com/documents/2020-ca-wildfires-helping-handbook.pdf
MoFo is a leading California law firm and they have taken it upon themselves to freely distribute this 100+ page PDF book on how navigate the financial and legal landscape if you are affected by a wildfire. This is thousands of dollars of critical legal information, that they are giving to you for FREE. Chapters include housing, employment benefits, insurance, FEMA, SBA loan assistance, business interruption, personal finances and taxes, and immigration.
California Volunteers: Wildfire , www.californiavolunteers.ca.gov./wildfires. If you are looking for ways to assist communities after a fire, this site is maintained by State of California and will guide you to credible organizations who need your time and energy.
Ready for Wildfire, www.readyforwildfire.org, “Plan, Know, Act” - this site maintained by the State of California and gives you wildlfire-specific guidance on how to prepare yourself, family, pets and property.