The Emergency Management Network Podcast

THE EMN NEWS DAILY BRIEF | Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Two pilots were killed Sunday when a helicopter under contract to the Forest Service crashed on the Dome fire in Yosemite National Park. The national preparedness level dropped to 2 with 92 incidents, 31 uncontained large fires and 9,701 personnel, down 588 in a day. A flood watch runs from this afternoon through Saturday afternoon for Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Kahoolawe and Hawaii Island as the remnants of Tropical Depression Fifteen-E organize southeast of the state; the next central Pacific name is Nolo. Hurricane Polo is a Category 4 off southwestern Mexico with 150-mile-per-hour winds and outer rainbands reaching the coast. The Southern Area reported 43 new fires and one new large incident near Bastrop, Louisiana. Two to five inches of rain is forecast today across New Mexico and eastern Arizona. The EMN NEWS Daily Brief is your concise daily update on national and state-by-state emergency management news.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Yosemite: The situation report opened with notice that both pilots aboard a Forest Service contract helicopter were fatally injured in an accident on the Dome fire on September 20. The fire grew from 373 acres to 3,420, remains 15 percent contained, and personnel rose by 203 to 784, with a California team assigned.
Hawaii watch: The National Weather Service flood watch covers Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Kahoolawe and Hawaii Island from Wednesday afternoon through Saturday afternoon. Forecast totals vary widely by outlet, with the Fox Forecast Center putting localized amounts on the eastern Big Island at 12 to 18 inches and gusts of 30 to 40 miles per hour on a close approach. The system is still a remnant low, and the track will not settle until it closes off.
Hurricane Polo: The 1200 UTC intermediate advisory put Polo at 150 miles per hour and 922 millibars, drifting north at 2 miles per hour about 165 miles off Zihuatanejo. Winds peaked near 180 miles per hour Tuesday. Hurricane-force winds extend 40 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds 105 miles. The core is forecast to stay offshore while turning northwest.
Wildfire posture: National Preparedness Level 2, down from 3, with 92 incidents, 31 uncontained large fires, 1,923,544 acres and 9,701 personnel, a drop of 588, per the Tuesday situation report. Six complex incident management teams remain committed, down from nine on Saturday. Year to date, the country is at 56,794 fires and 8,554,955 acres, 125 and 146 percent of the ten-year averages.
Northwest: Thirteen uncontained large fires and 4,656 personnel, down 352. Three Queens near Snoqualmie Pass moved to 31 percent contained and released 110 people, and evacuations remain in effect with numerous residences and critical infrastructure threatened. Border 2 in North Cascades National Park grew to 401 acres, reaching 9,108, and Sisi near Stehekin added 177 acres at 15 percent contained, with residences and energy infrastructure threatened.
California: Floriston near Truckee is 85 percent contained, and 283 people were released. Chileno in Marin County is 75 percent contained at 341 acres, with structures threatened and estimated containment today. Timber, in the Los Padres National Forest, is 59 percent contained, with numerous structures and communication infrastructure threatened and $171.6 million in costs.
Southern Area: Forty-three new fires, the most of any region. Round Prairie, eight miles northwest of Bastrop, Louisiana, is a new large incident at 739 acres and 60 percent contained after wind-driven and short crown runs. Gracemont in Oklahoma reached 90 percent contained with 31 structures lost. Mud Bayou in Texas is fully contained.
Southwest monsoon: Southerly flow around the repositioned ridge draws another round of monsoonal moisture into New Mexico and eastern Arizona, with 2 to 5 inches of rain expected today. Burn scar drainages are exposed.
Federal assistance: SBA physical damage deadlines for the September 1 public assistance declarations close November 1 in Colorado and South Dakota and November 2 in Missouri and Texas. Economic injury applications stay open to June 1, 2027.
Water systems: West Columbia, South Carolina, lifted its main break boil water advisory Tuesday evening. The Mississippi State Department of Health lists boil water notices issued September 21 in Lamar and Forrest counties, with several others rescinded September 22.
Fire weather: Relative humidity falls to 35 to 40 percent across the lower Mississippi Valley with temperatures back into the low to mid 90s. West winds gust to 35 miles per hour through the Cascade gaps and the Columbia Gorge this afternoon. Northern California drops to 10 to 20 percent with poor overnight recovery.
Cyber: No Known Exploited Vulnerabilities additions were located after Monday’s Zyxel GS1900 switch entry, CVE-2026-7273. The most recent industrial control system batch remains the eight advisories of September 17.

SOURCES
Wildfire, national
NICC Incident Management Situation Report and Predictive Services discussion: Tuesday, Sept 22, 2026, 0730 MDT (live PDF, overwritten daily). Source for the Yosemite helicopter accident notice and all fire figures.
https://www.nifc.gov/nicc-files/sitreprt.pdf
IMSR archive
https://www.nifc.gov/nicc/incident-information/imsr
Hawaii
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency flood watch, quoted by FOX Weather: Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Kahoolawe and Hawaii Island, Wednesday afternoon through Saturday afternoon, Sept 23
https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/flood-watches-issued-tropical-depression-fifteen-e-redevelops-threatens-hawaii-rare-direct-landfall
Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Hawaii island and Maui County under flood watch as system nears, Sept 23
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2026/09/23/hawaii-news/hawaii-island-maui-county-under-flood-watch-as-growing-storm-nears/
The Garden Island: news briefs, formation chances and the name Nolo, Sept 23
https://www.thegardenisland.com/2026/09/23/hawaii-news/news-briefs-for-wednesday-september-23-2026/
Eastern Pacific
Hurricane Polo Intermediate Advisory Number 11A: NHC, 1200 UTC Sept 23, NHC text via Cape Weather mirror
https://capeweather.com/hurricane-polo-public-advisory-number-11a/
Hurricane Polo Advisory Number 11: NHC, 0900 UTC Sept 23
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/mobile/text/refresh/MIATCPEP2+html/212339.shtml
CBS News: Polo peak intensity near 180 mph, tropical storm warning Tecpan de Galeana to Punta San Telmo, Sept 23
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-polo-category-5-mexico-life-threatening-flooding/
CISA
CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog: CVE-2026-7273, Sept 21
https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2026/09/21/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog
CISA Releases Eight Industrial Control Systems Advisories: ICSA-26-260-01 through 07, Sept 17
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCISA/bulletins/42b3c27
Federal assistance
Federal Register: SBA notice, Texas, FEMA-4935-DR amendment, published Sept 14
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/14/2026-18756/presidential-declaration-amendment-of-a-major-disaster-for-public-assistance-only-for-the-state-of
South Carolina
City of West Columbia: boil water advisory lifted, Sept 22
https://westcolumbiasc.gov/boil-water-advisory-9-22-2026-lifted/
Mississippi
Mississippi State Department of Health water safety notices: Lamar and Forrest counties issued Sept 21, several rescinded Sept 22
https://msdh.ms.gov/page/23,0,148.html


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THE EMN NEWS DAILY | Tuesday, 22 September 2026

The remnants of Tropical Depression Fifteen-E southeast of Hawaii are now likely to become a tropical depression within a day or two, up from a medium chance over the weekend. In the eastern Pacific, Hurricane Polo reached Category 4 overnight with 130-mile-per-hour winds, and the Associated Press reports it reached Category 5 Tuesday, with a tropical storm watch posted from Tecpan de Galeana to Manzanillo, Mexico. Fay has lost its deep convection 570 miles southwest of the Azores and is expected to become post-tropical today. National Preparedness Level 3 holds with 95 incidents and 10,289 personnel, down 597, and three new large fires, including Chileno in Marin County with structures threatened. Evacuations are again listed as in effect for the Three Queens fire in Washington. The EMN NEWS Daily Brief is your concise daily update on national and state-by-state emergency management news.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Hawaii watch: The Central Pacific Hurricane Center’s 0200 HST outlook says the remnants of Fifteen-E, several hundred miles southeast of the islands, produced an increase in showers and thunderstorms overnight, and a depression is likely in the next day or two as the system moves west-northwest or northwest slowly. Sunday’s outlook carried a 60 percent chance over seven days. The system is not yet under advisories.
Hurricane Polo: The 0600 UTC intermediate advisory put Polo at 130 miles per hour and 955 millibars, 330 miles south-southeast of Manzanillo. The National Hurricane Center forecasts 4 to 8 inches of rain, with isolated totals of 12 inches, across coastal Guerrero and Michoacán through Thursday, with life-threatening flooding and mudslides possible. The core is forecast to stay offshore.
Atlantic: Fay weakened to 40 miles per hour and 1009 millibars at the 0900 UTC advisory, moving southwest at 9 miles per hour. It peaked at 70 miles per hour Sunday night without reaching hurricane strength and has no hazards to land.
Wildfire posture: Preparedness Level 3 holds with 95 incidents, 33 uncontained large fires, 1,968,316 acres and 10,289 personnel, a drop of 597, per the Monday situation report. Initial attack was light, with 46 fires, three new large incidents and seven complex incident management teams committed. Northern California dropped to Preparedness Level 2. Year to date: 56,651 fires and 8,542,800 acres, 125 and 146 percent of the ten-year averages.
New large fires: Chileno, nine miles east of Tomales in Marin County, California, is 341 acres and 5 percent contained, with structures threatened and 110 personnel. Mud Bayou on McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge near High Island, Texas, is 10,550 acres and 80 percent contained. Tabor on the Mark Twain National Forest near Pomona, Missouri, is 130 acres and 4 percent contained.
Northwest, clarification: Monday’s issue noted that Sunday’s situation report did not list evacuations on Three Queens. Monday’s report lists evacuations in effect again, along with numerous residences and critical infrastructure threatened. The fire is 9,566 acres and 23 percent contained, and command transfers from Northwest Team 2 back to the local unit today.
California: Dome in Yosemite National Park grew 663 acres to 3,047 and holds at 15 percent contained with 581 personnel. Floriston near Truckee rose to 65 percent contained and released 338 personnel. Lucas is fully contained, and California Team 6 now manages both Timber and Plaskett.
Water systems: Kalamazoo, Michigan, lifted its boil water advisory at 7 a.m. Monday after negative tests for E. coli and coliform. Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo Public Schools are staying on bottled water while flushing systems. At Monday’s council meeting, the public services director said the city received many comments on its communications and is working with the state on its public alert systems.
Cyber: CISA added one vulnerability to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog Monday, CVE-2026-7273, a stack-based buffer overflow in Zyxel GS1900 series switches, remediated by federal civilian agencies under Binding Operational Directive 26-04.
Federal assistance: SBA physical damage deadlines for the September 1 declarations close November 1 in Colorado and South Dakota and November 2 in Missouri and Texas. Economic injury applications stay open to June 1, 2027.
Fire weather: Highs in the mid to upper 90s from the lower Mississippi Valley through Tennessee with relative humidity near 25 to 30 percent. East of the Cascades, humidity falls to 15 to 30 percent with gusts to 25 miles per hour in the gaps, and northern California drops to 10 to 20 percent with poor overnight recovery. Isolated wet and dry thunderstorms in southern and western Nevada and along the Sierra Front. Today is the driest day of the week on the southern Front Range, with humidity in the teens.

SOURCES
Tropical weather
Central Pacific Tropical Weather Outlook: CPHC, 200 AM HST Sept 22
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/mobile/text/refresh/HFOTWOCP+html/082337_HFOTWOCP.html
Central Pacific Tropical Weather Outlook: CPHC, 200 PM HST Sept 21
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/HFOTWOCP+shtml/211137_HFOTWOCP.shtml
Hurricane Polo Intermediate Advisory Number 6A: NHC, 0600 UTC Sept 22
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPEP2+shtml/220540.shtml
Associated Press via KSAT: Polo strengthens to Category 5, Sept 22
https://www.ksat.com/news/2026/09/22/hurricane-polo-grows-into-a-category-4-storm-in-the-pacific-off-mexico/
Tropical Storm Fay Discussion Number 11: NHC, 0300 UTC Sept 22
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/mobile/text/refresh/MIATCDAT1+html/212036.shtml
Tropical Storm Fay Public Advisory Number 12: NHC text via Cape Weather mirror, 0900 UTC Sept 22
https://capeweather.com/tropical-storm-fay-public-advisory-number-12/
Wildfire, national
NICC Incident Management Situation Report and Predictive Services discussion: Monday, Sept 21, 2026, 0730 MDT (live PDF, overwritten daily)
https://www.nifc.gov/nicc-files/sitreprt.pdf
IMSR archive
https://www.nifc.gov/nicc/incident-information/imsr
CISA
CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog: CVE-2026-7273, Sept 21
https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2026/09/21/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog
Binding Operational Directive 26-04: Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk
https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk
Federal assistance
Federal Register: SBA notice, Texas, FEMA-4935-DR amendment, published Sept 14
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/14/2026-18756/presidential-declaration-amendment-of-a-major-disaster-for-public-assistance-only-for-the-state-of
Federal Register: SBA notices for Colorado FEMA-4944-DR, South Dakota FEMA-4938-DR and Missouri FEMA-4939-DR, published Sept 9 to Sept 14 (links not recovered)
California, Texas and Missouri
NICC situation report: Chileno, Mud Bayou, Tabor, Dome, Floriston, Lucas, Timber and Plaskett, Sept 21
Washington
NICC situation report: Three Queens, evacuations in effect, Sept 21
Michigan
WMUK: boil water advisory lifted for affected Kalamazoo customers, Sept 21
https://www.wmuk.org/wmuk-news/2026-09-21/boil-water-advisory-lifted-for-affected-kalamazoo-customers
WOOD TV: Kalamazoo lifts citywide boil water advisory, Sept 21
https://www.woodtv.com/news/kalamazoo-county/kalamazoo-lifts-citywide-boil-water-advisory/
WOOD TV via Yahoo: Kalamazoo schools still using bottled water; council comments on communications, Sept 22
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/kalamazoo-schools-still-using-bottled-005006449.html


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THE EMN DAILY NEWS | Monday, 21 September 2026
Tropical Storm Fay peaked at 70 miles per hour overnight, just short of hurricane strength, and is now weakening about 405 miles southwest of the Azores with no hazards to land. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center gives the remnants of Tropical Depression Fifteen-E a 60 percent chance of becoming a depression within seven days, possibly south or southeast of Hawaii later this week. National Preparedness Level 3 holds with 96 incidents and 10,886 personnel, down 437 in a day, and uncontained large fires fell from 46 to 34. The Southern Area carries more incidents than any other region, 36, as hot and dry conditions persist across the Lower Mississippi Valley. Boil water advisories are in effect in three states, including all of Monroe County, Indiana, and most of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The EMN NEWS Daily Brief is your concise daily update on national and state-by-state emergency management news.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Hawai’i watch: As of Sunday’s outlook, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center puts formation chances for the remnants of Tropical Depression Fifteen-E near zero through 48 hours and at 60 percent over seven days as the system moves west to west-southwest. A depression could form south or southeast of the Hawaiian Islands once conditions improve. No watches are posted, keeping the first half of the week as the preparation window.
Atlantic: Fay reached 70 miles per hour at the 0300 UTC advisory, then weakened to 65 miles per hour and 997 millibars by 0900 UTC, drifting south-southeast at 2 miles per hour. The National Hurricane Center expects Fay to become post-tropical in a day or two and to dissipate by Saturday. No hazards affect land.
Wildfire posture: Preparedness Level 3 holds with 96 incidents, 34 uncontained large fires, 1,999,381 acres and 10,886 personnel, a drop of 437, per the Sunday situation report. Initial attack was light, with 60 fires and no new large incidents, and eight complex incident management teams remain committed. Year to date, the country is at 56,525 fires and 8,541,715 acres, 125 percent and 146 percent of the ten-year averages.
Southern Area: Thirty-six incidents and 1,038 personnel, down 157, after 26 new fires. Dry River near Sonora, Texas, is 8,939 acres and 85 percent contained, with energy infrastructure threatened. Gracemont near Binger, Oklahoma, has destroyed 31 structures on 2,665 acres and is 60 percent contained. Relative humidity of 20 to 30 percent persists across the Lower Mississippi Valley.
Northwest: Fourteen uncontained large fires, 5,050 personnel and five complex teams. The situation report no longer lists evacuations on Three Queens or Goat; Three Queens, near Snoqualmie Pass, is 9,566 acres and 23 percent contained, with numerous residences and critical infrastructure threatened. Border 2 in North Cascades National Park grew 345 acres, and Sisi near Stehekin is 15 percent contained, with residences and energy infrastructure threatened.
California: The dome in Yosemite National Park grew 198 acres to 2,384 and remains 15 percent contained, with 525 personnel. Command on Timber was set to pass Sunday from Southwest Team 1 to California Team 6, with the fire at 25,435 acres, 59 percent contained and $169.9 million in costs. Floriston near Truckee moved from 25 to 45 percent contained and released 100 personnel.
Rocky Mountains: Moonshine near Wheatland, Wyoming, is 7,325 acres and 61 percent contained, with residences threatened. Swiss Roll near Pagosa Springs, Colorado, is 36 percent contained, with energy infrastructure threatened. Rain fell Saturday over Davis Coulee and Sand Creek in Montana, where Sand Creek is 58 percent contained.
Water systems: City of Bloomington Utilities issued a precautionary boil water advisory for all of Monroe County, Indiana, early Sunday after turbidity exceeded the permitted maximum, running through 3 p.m. today. Kalamazoo, Michigan, expects to lift its advisory today if Monday samples come back clean; it covers 19 of 22 city neighborhoods and Portage north of Interstate 94. Salemburg, North Carolina, restored service Saturday evening, but its advisory remains in effect.
Federal assistance: SBA physical damage deadlines for the September 1 public assistance declarations close November 1 in Colorado and South Dakota and November 2 in Missouri and Texas. Economic injury applications stay open to June 1, 2027.
Cyber: The most recent Known Exploited Vulnerabilities additions, posted this morning, are Friday’s three Linux kernel entries, remediated by federal civilian agencies under Binding Operational Directive 26-04.
Fire weather: Wet thunderstorms bring up to about an inch of rain to eastern Montana, Wyoming and the High Plains. Relative humidity drops to 7 to 18 percent across Nevada, the Mojave Desert and the Central Valley, with light winds; gusts of 25 to 30 miles per hour are likely along the Front Range and eastern Sierra.
Tropical weather
Tropical Storm Fay Public Advisory Number 7: NHC, 0300 UTC Sept 21
Tropical Storm Fay Public Advisory Number 8: NHC, 0900 UTC Sept 21
Tropical Storm Fay Forecast/Advisory Number 8: NHC, 0900 UTC Sept 21
Central Pacific Tropical Weather Outlook: CPHC, 200 AM HST Sept 20, formation chance 60 percent in 7 days
Central Pacific Tropical Weather Outlook: CPHC, 800 AM HST Sept 20
Wildfire, national
NICC Incident Management Situation Report: Sunday, Sept 20, 2026, 0730 MDT
NICC Predictive Services discussion: Sept 20
CISA
Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: CVE-2025-39682, CVE-2025-39964 and CVE-2026-53266 added Sept 18; no later additions located in this sweep
Binding Operational Directive 26-04: Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk
Federal assistance
Federal Register: SBA notice, Texas, FEMA-4935-DR, amended incident period July 12 through August 4, published Sept 14
Federal Register: SBA notices for Colorado FEMA-4944-DR, South Dakota FEMA-4938-DR and Missouri FEMA-4939-DR, published Sept 9 to Sept 14
Texas and Oklahoma
NICC situation report: Dry River, Hydra, Gracemont and Calvary Creek, Sept 20
Washington and Oregon
NICC situation report: Three Queens, Goat, Sisi, Border 2 and Little Giant, Sept 20
California
NICC situation report: Dome, Timber, Plaskett and Floriston, Sept 20
Wyoming, Colorado and Montana
NICC situation report: Moonshine, Swiss Roll, Davis Coulee and Sand Creek, Sept 20
Indiana
The Bloomingtonian: City of Bloomington Utilities countywide boil water advisory, Sept 20
Indiana Public Media: precautionary boil advisory for Monroe County, Sept 20
Michigan
The Detroit News: Kalamazoo boil water advisory could end Monday, Sept. 20
North Carolina
WRAL: Salemburg boil water advisory remains in effect, updated Sept. 20
Links that need a note:
* Advisory 8 has no NHC link. Both Fay advisory 8 products came through news-site mirrors of the NHC bulletin text, not nhc.noaa.gov, so I’ve marked them.
* Two links are live pages. The situation report and one Central Pacific outlook link are overwritten with each new issue. After today they will show newer content than what the brief cites.
* The CISA links are lost. I pulled the September 18 CISA alerts yesterday, but those links didn’t carry over. A search just now couldn’t recover them.
* Three Federal Register links are lost. The same happened to the Colorado, South Dakota and Missouri notices. I’ve marked all of these as missing rather than rebuild addresses from memory.
Tropical weather
* Fay Public Advisory 7, NHC: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT1+shtml/200841.shtml
* Fay Public Advisory 8, NHC text via Index-Journal mirror: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/hurricane/tropical-storm-fay-public-advisory-number-8/article_9a48d4f1-d16c-5f75-923d-febd44f298cf.html
* Fay Forecast/Advisory 8, NHC text via Cape Weather mirror: https://capeweather.com/tropical-storm-fay-forecast-advisory-number-8/
* Central Pacific outlook, 200 AM HST Sept 20 (live page, overwritten): https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/HFOTWOCP.shtml
* Central Pacific outlook, 800 AM HST Sept 20: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/mobile/text/refresh/HFOTWOCP+html/171133_HFOTWOCP.html
Wildfire, national (covers every NICC line in the state sections too)
* Situation report and Predictive Services discussion (live PDF, overwritten daily): https://www.nifc.gov/nicc-files/sitreprt.pdf
* Archive page for past situation reports: https://www.nifc.gov/nicc/incident-information/imsr
CISA
* KEV additions, Sept 18: link not recovered
* Binding Operational Directive 26-04: link not recovered
Federal assistance
* Texas, FEMA-4935-DR amendment, published Sept 14: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/14/2026-18756/presidential-declaration-amendment-of-a-major-disaster-for-public-assistance-only-for-the-state-of
* Texas, FEMA-4935-DR original notice, published Sept 9: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/09/2026-18354/presidential-declaration-of-a-major-disaster-for-public-assistance-only-for-the-state-of-texas
* Colorado, South Dakota and Missouri notices: links not recovered
Indiana
* The Bloomingtonian: https://bloomingtonian.com/2026/09/20/bloomington-utilities-issues-countywide-boil-water-advisory-after-turbidity-spike/
* Indiana Public Media: https://www.ipm.org/news/2026-09-20/precautionary-boil-advisory-issued-for-monroe-county
Michigan
* The Detroit News: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2026/09/20/kalamazoo-boil-water-advisory-could-end-monday/91781476007/
North Carolina
* WRAL: https://www.wral.com/news/local/boil-water-advisory-salemburg-september-2026/


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Episode Description
September 11: The Recovery That Never Really Ended
Twenty-five years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the skyline of Lower Manhattan has been rebuilt—but recovery is about far more than buildings.
In this episode of Emergency Management Network, Todd DeVoe examines the long aftermath of 9/11: rebuilding Ground Zero, caring for responders and survivors, confronting World Trade Center-related illnesses, preserving memory, and understanding why the emotional wounds of that morning remain so powerful a quarter-century later.
Recent confrontations near Ground Zero during the 25th anniversary observances remind us that disaster memory does not follow an emergency manager’s recovery timeline. Places become symbols. Grief becomes generational. Anger can survive long after debris has been removed.
The episode also explores a sobering reality of long-term recovery: more FDNY members have now died from World Trade Center-related illnesses than were killed in the attacks themselves. Thousands of responders and survivors continue to receive monitoring and treatment, while researchers are still examining health consequences that may span generations.
September 11 challenges the way emergency managers think about recovery. Infrastructure can be restored. Businesses can reopen. Memorials can be built. But how do we measure the recovery of people?
Perhaps the lesson 25 years later is that we need to add something to “Never Forget.”
Never stop recovering.
Show Notes
Emergency Management Network
Episode: September 11: The Recovery That Never Really EndedSubtitle: 25 Years of Rebuilding, Recovery, Memory, and HealingHost: Todd DeVoe
Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, this episode looks beyond the attacks themselves and examines what happened afterward.
The World Trade Center site has been rebuilt. Lower Manhattan has transformed. Transportation, businesses, residences, and public spaces returned. The 9/11 Memorial and Museum now preserve the physical memory of what happened there.
But rebuilding a place and recovering from a disaster are not necessarily the same thing.
In This Episode
Todd examines September 11 through the lens of long-term disaster recovery, including the physical reconstruction of Lower Manhattan and the much longer process of human recovery.
The episode explores the continuing health consequences facing firefighters, police officers, construction workers, volunteers, survivors, residents, and others exposed to the World Trade Center disaster environment.
It also considers the idea of the long disaster—that deaths and consequences associated with a catastrophic event may continue years or even decades after the response phase has ended.
The 25th anniversary also demonstrated how powerful disaster memory remains. Confrontations near Ground Zero during anniversary demonstrations showed that the site is more than a geographic location. For many Americans, responders, survivors, and families, it remains sacred ground connected to grief, sacrifice, anger, and national memory.
That raises an important question for emergency managers:
When does recovery actually end?
Key Themes
Recovery is not reconstruction.Rebuilding roads, buildings, transportation systems, businesses, and infrastructure is essential, but physical reconstruction represents only one dimension of recovery.
Disaster mortality can continue for decades.World Trade Center-related illnesses demonstrate that the human consequences of a disaster may emerge long after debris removal and official recovery operations have ended.
Responder health is a recovery responsibility.The obligation to responders cannot end when an incident is demobilized. Occupational exposure monitoring, healthcare, mental health support, and long-term research must be considered part of catastrophic-disaster planning.
Memory has geography.Places such as Ground Zero, Pearl Harbor, Gettysburg, Oklahoma City, Shanksville, and the Pentagon become connected to collective memory. Emergency managers should recognize that communities may attach meaning, grief, identity, and trauma to physical locations for generations.
Social recovery matters.Disasters can create fear, anger, mistrust, discrimination, and division. Restoring social cohesion can be every bit as important—and considerably more difficult—than restoring infrastructure.
Recovery belongs to survivors, not our planning calendar.Emergency managers work with recovery frameworks, timelines, objectives, and milestones. Human beings do not necessarily recover according to those schedules.
The Question for Emergency Managers
September 11 forces us to reconsider what we mean when we say a community has “recovered.”
Is recovery complete when the debris is removed?
When businesses reopen?
When infrastructure is restored?
When a replacement building opens?
Or does recovery continue as long as responders are becoming sick, families are grieving, survivors are seeking treatment, and another generation is learning what happened?
Twenty-five years after September 11, perhaps the answer is clear:
The response ended. The recovery did not.
Final Thought
Every September we say:
Never Forget.
Perhaps the emergency management profession should add another promise:
Never stop recovering.
Never stop studying what happened. Never stop caring for responders. Never stop supporting survivors and families. Never stop examining the long-term consequences. Never stop learning.
Because rebuilding a skyline is difficult.
Rebuilding people is harder.



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Show Description
A crisis reveals the character of the people leading through it. Have they earned trust? Can they hear uncomfortable truths? Have they taken care of the team they are about to ask everything of?
In this episode of the Emergency Management Network Podcast, Todd DeVoe welcomes Eric McNulty, co-author of You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most, for a conversation about character, meta-leadership, and the human side of emergency management.
They explore the new edition’s emphasis on character, balancing workforce expectations with disaster demands, and creating teams where people can speak honestly and support one another. The conversation also tackles one of the profession’s toughest challenges: making consequential decisions with incomplete information while maintaining public trust.
From protecting downtime on blue-sky days to explaining evacuation decisions, this episode examines the everyday leadership practices that prepare people to perform when their communities need them most.
Show Notes
Podcast: Emergency Management NetworkHost: Todd DeVoeGuest: Eric McNulty, co-author of You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most
In This Episode
Todd and Eric discuss why effective crisis leadership begins long before an emergency. Character, honest communication, and relationships shape whether teams and communities will trust a leader when decisions become difficult.
Their conversation explores:
* Character before crisis: Integrity, listening, and putting the mission and people first.
* Leading across generations: Setting clear expectations while respecting boundaries, family responsibilities, and time away.
* Team resilience: Creating a workplace where colleagues support each other and can ask for help.
* Hearing truth to power: Why leaders need to welcome difficult information to avoid operational blind spots.
* Perspective and shared understanding: Bringing together what agencies, frontline personnel, and community members see.
* Public trust and transparency: Explaining what is known, what remains uncertain, and why decisions are being made.
* Evacuation decisions: Balancing competing risks and documenting the information available at the time.
* Community engagement: Building relationships and understanding public expectations before disaster strikes.
Episode Chapters
00:00 — Welcome to the EMN Podcast00:21 — Introducing Eric McNulty and You’re It01:47 — The new edition’s focus on character04:01 — Workforce expectations, boundaries, and the mission09:02 — Supporting team well-being and resilience11:25 — Truth, trust, and listening as a leader15:58 — Transparency and the Boston Marathon bombing response17:11 — Different perspectives and a shared understanding20:04 — Deepwater Horizon: uncertainty and response decisions21:21 — Evacuations, public criticism, and leadership23:56 — Explaining and documenting decisions under uncertainty26:16 — Community participation in emergency planning27:30 — Evacuation behavior and competing risks29:11 — How people interpret emergency messages31:30 — The new edition and supporting future emergency managers33:00 — A closing message of appreciation for the profession
Key Takeaway
The work of crisis leadership starts on ordinary days: earn trust, welcome difficult conversations, care for your team, and help the community understand how decisions are made.
Featured Resource (this is not associated with any affiliate program)
You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most — book information



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