It does appear that some people have learned their lessons from the many tornado outbreaks in 2011. See this article re individual and community storm shelter construction.
Tornado Shelters – great idea that has been slow to catch on
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Monthly Archives: April 2012
Emergency Preparedness Grant Program – 2 postings from Disaster-Zone blog
See the comments of fellow blogger, Eric Holdeman, on this topic; I defer to his assessment, since he has actually been a local emergency manager. See his blog post from April 29 here.
On May 1, Eric added some additional information.
One Year Anniversary of Deadly Tornado Outbreak
EF4-rated tornado damage
From the HSDL, on April 26: 1 Year Anniversary of April 25-28, 2011 Tornado Outbreak. It was the 3rd most deadly tornado event in US history. Some details from the article:
Nearly one year ago today the third largest tornado outbreak in US history (since systematic tornado record keeping began in 1950) was recorded on April 25-28, 2011. The areas most affected by the devastating tornadoes included the Southern, Midwestern, and Northeastern United States. In particular, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia were hit hardest. According to a Department of Commerce Service Assessment report, more than 200 tornadoes occurred in the aforementioned states which resulted in 316 deaths, 2,400 injuries and over $4.2 billion in property damage. Out of the 200 tornadoes, 15 were considered to be EF4 to EF5 (Enhanced Fujita Scale 4 or 5) tornadoes. Note: The two deadliest tornado outbreaks ever recorded include the 1974 Super Tornado Outbreak (368 deaths) and the 1965 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak (337 deaths).
Two Years Since Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill – some gaps, some new reports – updates
From the Homeland Security Wire, April 23 — Scientists: Deepwater Horizon exposed gaps in deepwater oil spill knowledge
On the second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a national team of scientists warns that inadequate knowledge about the effects of deepwater oil well blowouts threatens scientists’ ability to help manage comparable future events.
See also the Homeland Security Digital Library post on April 20th for 3 sources of information about the spill and its aftermath.
Some ground level truth, via Huffington Post, April 27.
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Loss Estimation Modeling May Need Revising After 2011 Disasters
An interesting new paper from Marsh Co. indicates the possible need to review loss estimations after the large no. of high impact disasters that occurred worldwide during 2011. A short account of the report was provided by Homeland Security Wire on April 17: Scale of 2011 disasters challenged established thinking on nature of risk. Some excerpts follow:
New paper says that the scale of the catastrophes experienced in 2011 exceeded previous loss-modeling predictions and has challenged established thinking on the nature of risk; the paper says that, post-2011, companies need to re-examine their risk management strategies and introduce new methodologies to strengthen their operational and financial resilience
Following the severe catastrophes experienced around the world in 2011, organizations now have an opportunity to learn lessons from these events and reduce the adverse impact of future incidents on their balance sheets.
These are the conclusions of a new paper published the other day by Marsh. The paper says that the scale of the catastrophes experienced in 2011 exceeded previous loss-modeling predictions and has challenged established thinking on the nature of risk. The paper says that, post-2011, companies need to re-examine their risk management strategies and introduce new methodologies to strengthen their operational and financial resilience.
… Marsh identifies five major risk and insurance topics arising from events of 2011, namely denial of access; strike, riot, civil commotion or terrorism; the differences between flood and storm damage; contingent business interruption; and 72-hour insurance notification clauses. According to Marsh, the catastrophe events of 2011 events have raised concerns around the suitability of standard denial of access cover, which is typically only for short-term incidents.
A copy of the full report (12 pp.) is available from Marsh.com, but you have to create a login and request it.
Nagging and Lagging Problems with Off Shore Drilling Safety
Platform supply vessels battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon. ( Wikipedia)
This seems to be a week with all kinds of deficiencies in emergency management getting media coverage. Too bad none of the news is good.
Today, the Huffpost writes Oil Spill Commission Action Group Gives Congress Low Grades For Regulatory Reform On Drilling. Some quotes follow:
Two years after BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig foundered and sank in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 crew members and unleashing an 87-day torrent of oil that soiled surrounding beaches and poisoned delicate coral reefs, a pair of assessments paint a somewhat bleak picture of the subsequent regulatory reform.
Following the BP spill, which was set in motion on April 20, 2010, President Barack Obama established an investigatory body — the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling — that was charged with determining the cause of the accident and recommending steps to make offshore energy development more safe.
In January 2011, that commission issued a final report outlining a variety of “critical” safety recommendations. The panel disbanded two months later. On Tuesday, a group of former members of that commission, now calling itself Oil Spill Commission Action, issued an assessment of the government’s implementation of those suggestions.
The group — which includes former Democratic Senator from Florida Bob Graham, Natural Resources Defense council president Frances G. Beinecke and Cherry A. Murray, the dean of Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, among others — said that while some progress has been made, Congress in particular has failed to pass much-needed legislation.
See also this editorial in the NYTimes on April 17th, which provides a recap of outcomes in the two years since the spill. It too excoriates Congress for lack of action. [Thanks to Bill Cumming for calling this article to my attention.]
Related articles
- Spill panel slams Congress over inaction on safety (AP)
- Nearly Two Years On, Did the BP Oil Spill Have to Happen to BP? (ecocentric.blogs.time.com)
Unexpected Outcomes from Environmental/Medical Disasters
In environmental disasters, families experience conflict, denial, silence; from Homeland Security Newswire, April 3, 2012. Some excerpts:
Environmental disasters affect individuals and communities; they also affect how family members communicate with each other, sometimes in surprising ways; the researchers say that the findings were, in some ways, counterintuitive
Environmental disasters affect individuals and communities; they also affect how family members communicate with each other, sometimes in surprising ways, according to a paper published by a faculty member at the University at Buffalo in the Journal of Family Issues.
A University of Buffalo release reports that the study is the first systematic analysis of how families communicate when faced with serious health issues brought on by “slow moving technological disasters,” like environmental disasters.
Note the researchers studied environmental and medical disasters, not the usual types of events we term man-made.
Thanks to Wanda Headly, librarian extraordinaire, at the Hazards Center in Boulder, CO for helping me locate the full text of the article.
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Man-made Earthquakes in U.S.
Against fracking 02 (Photo credit: Bosc d'Anjou)
Fracking Tied to Unusual Rise in Earthquakes in U.S., according to Bloomberg News, April 12.
A spate of earthquakes across the middle of the U.S. is “almost certainly” man-made, and may be caused by wastewater from oil or gas drilling injected into the ground, U.S. government scientists said in a study.Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey said that for the three decades until 2000, seismic events in the nation’s midsection averaged 21 a year. They jumped to 50 in 2009, 87 in 2010 and 134 in 2011.
Those statistics, included in the abstract of a research paper to be discussed at the Seismological Society of America conference next week in San Diego, will add pressure on an energy industry already confronting more regulation of the process of hydraulic fracturing.
New Guidance on Threat & Hazard ID and Risk Assessment
New document from FEMA:
Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Guide; Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 201. April 2012.
Insurance Payouts Are a Big Problem
insurance (Photo credit: Alan Cleaver)
For an update on the problems disaster victims are having collecting on insurance post disaster, see the article from Reuters titled Insurers rethink coverage after weather disaster payouts. Some excerpts from the article:
As weather disasters strike with more frequency, homeowners first get hit with the destruction or total loss of property. Many are then hit with the unexpected loss of homeowners insurance policies as insurance companies re-evaluate their financial
liabilities.“Insurance companies have significantly and methodically decreased their financial responsibility for weather catastrophes like hurricanes, tornados and floods in recent years,” the Consumer Federation of America said in a statement after studying industry data.
The industry concedes that it is trying to avoid getting trounced by those same punishing weather patterns. “Last year (2011) was an extraordinary year for natural disasters,” said Michael Barry of the Insurance Information Institute (III), an industry trade group. “Insurers have taken a step back to assess whether or not they can absorb severe losses.”
The Diva reported on the report from the Consumer Federation several weeks ago. See the link below.
Related articles
- Is the Insurance Industry Really Aiding Disaster Victims? (recoverydiva.com)
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