Bloomsburg University class uses real disaster to teach students

WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Recovery operations are ramping up Thursday in Florida and the southeastern part of the country in the aftermath of two hurricanes in two weeks.

Lives have been lost and millions of people are still without power.

Clean-up is expected to take months, and for some, even years.

On Thursday, 28/22 News got word of an effort underway at an area university to prepare the future leaders of emergency management agencies to deal with these disasters.

Bloomsburg University launched the course this fall to prepare the leaders of emergency management agencies for the future to help make a difference in their communities for disasters yet to come.

Images show the destruction and devastation from Hurricanes Helene and Milton every day.

Millions of people are in a daily struggle to recover, to try to get their lives back to normal.

Emergency management agencies across the nation are watching very closely to possibly learn from these disasters.

For Bloomsburg University it’s a chance to teach students in real time how to prepare and deal with the aftermath.

They are at Luzerne County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) talking with the people, the experts who deal with local natural disasters.

Dr. Jennifer Haney came up with the idea for the course. She is an Assistant Professor of Geography and is also a Nationally Certified Emergency Manager.

“It has such real-world applications and what we’re learning about you can see right on the news. I mean why it’s important why it’s needed it’s really emergency management is in dire need of a younger generation to be able to respond to what the future holds,” Haney explained.

These students jumped at the chance to take the course.

“I’m interested in the science of disaster and how we can better prepare for them before they happen. So that way the response process and recovery process after they happen can go smoother,” Bloomsburg University student Sidney Springer said.

“It affects many lives. You can see it affects homes like businesses as well, and I just want to help them,” said Anna Runkle, a Bloomsburg University student.

For longtime EMA officials, like Lucy Morgan, the course opens the door to the future.

“Just as you see with Helene today it affects everybody. We are a very disaster-prone county, so even though some of them are from other counties, it happens everywhere. It’s super super important to have the youth of today interested,” Morgan explained.

The students 28/22 News spoke with are very focused. They all said they took the course to help their communities.

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