Funds were made available to other NOS program offices to fill preparedness gaps or innovate their current preparedness efforts. The award name,"lagniappe," is coined by our resident Louisianan, Charlie Henry, and is a creole term to describe a bonus, or a little something extra. In our first year of what we hope will be an annual award cycle, four projects were funded:

• Office for Coastal Management (OCM)/ National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRS) emergency plan exercises. DPP will fund exercises for NERR response plans at two sites in different states that include the local emergency management community. 
• OCM/NERRS communication enhancements. DPP will fund the purchase of satellite phones across the reserve system and a pilot test of a mesh network system at three of the reserves.
• Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) emergency field kits. The DPP will fund the purchase of emergency field kits for ONMS staff. Kits will be tailored to address geographical risks.
• ONMS pilot COOP/emergency management app. The DPP will fund the development of a mobile app and website designed to assist with ONMS Field Site COOP and emergency management activities during critical incidents and site closure events.

Each of these projects aligns with the DPP mission to support NOS and our partners prepare for disasters. We look forward to learning more from these efforts and improving preparedness efforts, ideas, and culture across NOS and the agency.

For more information, contact Kate.Wheelock@noaa.gov.

Return to OR&R Weekly.