By:Craig Fugate on February 02, 2012

2011 was a memorable year for those of us in the emergency management field – and for the many Americans impacted by disasters.

Massive blizzards simultaneously blanketed dozens of states across the country. As snow melted, parts of the Midwest and upper Midwest experienced severe flooding. Texas and other states fought dangerous wildfires for months.

Last spring, our nation was devastated by the deadliest outbreak of tornadoes since the 1950s, with multiple instances over just a few weeks. In August, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck Virginia and was felt as far as New York City – just one of the 5,017 earthquakes experienced in 2011, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

And as expected, the 2011 hurricane season didn’t give us a break. We had 19 tropical storms, the third-highest total since records began. Irene became the first hurricane to make landfall since 2008. Days later, Tropical Storm Lee proved that storms don’t have to be hurricane strength to cause significant damage. Then there are the thousands of smaller disasters that communities handled every day, out of the media glare.

So as we reflect on the past year, many wonder, what lessons did...