Hello and welcome to the first episode of State of Disaster. I'm your host and Friendly Neighborhood Emergency Manager, Matt Green.

My goal is to bring you to the front lines and behind the scenes of the biggest news, incidents, and innovations happening within the emergency and disaster management field. I'll also be interviewing practitioners, professors, authors, researchers, and survivors. You can find each episode at stateofdisaster.com along with articles, resources, live streams, and more as we grow this community.

This is an uncensored and unfiltered podcast, and we're going to cover some heavy topics. But at the end of the day, this is meant to be entertaining, enjoyable, and a space for you to share your story as well. So if you're an emergency manager, a researcher, a student, a volunteer, an innovator, a survivor, or all of the above, fill out the guest application!

My first guest, Eric Kant’s years of hands-on emergency response have shaped a lifelong commitment to protecting lives, advancing innovation, and leading complex operations. A former Firefighter, Paramedic, and Emergency Manager, he brings deep operational expertise to some of the world’s most challenging disaster and crisis environments.

Today, he leads 4Cast, a Decision Intelligence platform that applies artificial intelligence and systems thinking to understand and manage complex interdependencies across operations.

Mr. Kant has been recognized by the Department of Defense, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, NATO, DHS Science & Technology, and others for his innovative approaches and strategic insight.

His career includes supporting real-time command and control operations during events such as the Florida Night of Tornadoes, the World Trade Center disaster in NYC, Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, and numerous other nationally significant incidents.

In this episode, we introduce The Local Emergency Managers Alliance: A grassroots initiative that exists to empower local emergency managers through advocacy, innovation, and action. Their mission is to strengthen local preparedness, response, and resilience by reducing dependence on federal support, promoting regional coordination, advancing sustainable funding solutions, and accelerating the adoption of technology and best practices. They unite local leaders to lead with autonomy, act decisively, and build a safer, stronger future from the ground up. They're advocating for the ten actions that local emergency managers need to take right now to prepare for a country without FEMA:

• Build financial reserves
• Strengthen state and regional partnerships
• Prioritize hazard mitigation
• Enhance community preparedness
• Adapt emergency plans for minimal federal aid
• Deepen private sector and NGO relationships
• Track policy changes
• Advocate for your program and community
• Improve damage assessment and documentation
• Prepare for political uncertainty