Background

In the Spring of 1997 the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC) and the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) held a workshop for the community and business leaders to assess the vulnerability of the area to natural disasters. At the conclusion of this workshop, a steering committee was organized and plans were begun to start efforts for disaster resistance in Southwest Indiana. The resulting Southwest Indiana Disaster Resistant Community Corporation (DRC) is a not-for-profit organization.

The group's efforts to upgrade building codes, remove structures in flood plains and perform nonstructural retrofits were recognized by the IBHS when Southwest Indiana was named the nation's first "Showcase Community".

In the Spring of 1998, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) named Evansville/Vanderburgh County a "Project Impact Community".

In the Fall of 1998, a movement to develop an alliance of area businesses was begun by the Evansville Chamber of Commerce and regional business executives. The purpose of this alliance was to develop disaster recovery initiatives and resulted in the formation of DRBA the Disaster Recovery Business Alliance a subgroup of DRC, yet a separate organization.

The two organizations share the express purpose of preparing for natural and man-made disasters, rather than react and respond after they have occurred. To date over 115 projects and programs to limit the impact of a natural or man-made disaster in our area have been completed through funding from FEMA, CUSEC, IBHS, several local companies and local grants.

Today

The DRC board has representatives from businesses, schools, universities, local governments, emergency management agencies, and citizens from the five counties of Gibson, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh and Warrick they serve.

The DRC is supported through funding by the county governments of the five counties, the City of Evansville and DRBA. Programs like CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and education outreach to schools and the communities are funded through grants and in-kind donations of time and materials.

The Main Goals of DRC are: