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Formed by officers of several PMI chapters, a Project Managers' Disaster Recovery Coalition (PMDRC) will provide project management, facilitation, planning and logistics services to areas stricken by Hurricane Katrina. The PMDRC plans to provide services locally using PMI members who have been displaced by the recent hurricanes and resulting disasters in the southern United States.
The PMDRC was the result of discussions among PMI leaders at the recent PMI Leadership Conference and North American Congress held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, September 8-12, 2005. The group of PMI leaders from various chapters and specific interest groups (SIGs), along with several former members of PMI's board of directors, decided to form the coalition as the best way to begin mobilizing resources and actions to help both PMI members and communities devastated by the hurricanes, resulting flooding and evacuations.
The PMDRC has the following primary goals:
Instrumental in the initial organizing efforts were A.J. Collier,
president of the PMI Galveston/Clear Lake Chapter; Frank Polack, PMP,
president of the PMI Atlanta Chapter; Frank Saladis, PMP, president
of the PMI New York City chapter; and John Schmitt, PMP, PMI Memphis
chapter president. According to Frank Polack, "as many of us struggled
to find ways to help the folks in the Katrina-ravaged areas,
we realized that we should use the skills we know best - project management.
The gargantuan work effort for planning, developing, rebuilding, procuring,
deploying, etc., needs professional assistance to ensure it's
done right the first time."
According to another key participant, Chuck Bosler, founder of
PMI's Risk Management SIG, on September 21, "welcome to a new group made up of Frank Saladis, NYC chapter, A.J. Collier, Galveston chapter, Frank Polack, Atlanta Chapter, and John Schmitt with the Memphis chapter. They have put together a draft scope statement and Frank Polack is working on a draft business plan/case. Frank has also established a website, http://www.pmdrc.org. A.J. has gotten commitments for PC's and portable buildings, which can be used as "headquarters" for
operations. He is also contacting state and federal officials
and trying to get financial donations to help get things off the ground.
Our approach was to work with the PMI members in the afflicted areas and
establish a PMO; the concept being these folks would be able to help locally
with the rebuilding efforts by coordinating efforts between various
contract and local entities, staging and distribution of materials,
scheduling, collecting and providing information to officials,
etc. Working together I feel we can help on many more fronts."
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the southern coast of the United States as a Category 4 storm with winds of 140 miles per hour and a 30-foot tidal surge. The Louisiana and Mississippi coastal areas were badly damaged, with over 1,000 lives lost and billions of dollars in property damage. The City of New Orleans, the largest city in the region, was devastated as the tidal surge and torrential rains caused the levies on Lake Pontchartrain to burst, flooding the city and nearby parishes. On September 24, 2005, a second deadly storm, Hurricane Rita, hit the Louisiana Texas coastline as a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mile per hour winds, a 15 foot tidal surge and torrential rains (over 24 inches in some places). While Hurricane Rita resulted in few deaths, over two million persons were evacuated and billions of dollars of damaged property resulted.
For more information on the Project Manager's Disaster Recovery Coalition, go to www.pmdrc.org or visit http://pmdrc.blogsource.com