NIST Resilience Workshops

Posted on February 21, 2014 by recoverydiva

NIST has convened a series of workshops engaging a broad network of stakeholders to help develop the Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems (Guide), with a focus on the role that buildings and infrastructure play in ensuring community resilience.

These workshops were held to support the continuing development of the Guide. The first workshop was held on April 7, 2014 at the NIST Gaithersburg, MD campus. Following workshops were held at locations throughout the country to engage a broad range of stakeholders and their experiences.

After receiving feedback from stakeholders NIST has released Volume I and II of the Guide.

The Community Resilience Planning Guides and related materials are available from https://www.nist.gov/el/resilience/community-resilience-planning-guides

Environmental Impacts of Disasters

Posted on February 20, 2014 by recoverydiva

News from Charles Kelly, with the AON Benfield UCL Hazard Centre in the U.K. He noted this new 15 page paper — Working Paper 29: Strategic Environmental Impact Assessments and Disasters: Building Back Smarter, by C. Kelly, He notes that some of the other titles in this series of disaster studies and management working papers may also be of interest, if you haven’t come across them before. All are free to download.

Another Blog May Be of Interest

Posted on February 20, 2014 by recoverydiva

I just got a note from British researcher John Twigg, who writes a blog on Disaster Risk Reduction. Readers might want to check out his blog, in which he comments on matters related to recovery.

Hurricane Sandy Recovery Revisited

Posted on February 19, 2014 by recoverydiva

Here are three new perspectives on the H. Sandy recovery process. The first is from a blog called Politics of the Environment; Discussing Environmental Public Policy and the article is Your Tax Dollars At Work or Not. I believe the author was a member of the H. Sandy Rebuilding Task Force. Here is an excerpt:

I would like to be be discussing the progressive and forward thinking approach to rebuilding that New Jersey has taken in the aftermath of Sandy. But I can’t. I would like to describe the intelligent and measured plan to spend the billions of dollars in federal Sandy aid that has poured into the state. But I can’t. I would like to list the dozens of coordinated programs designed to re-shape the future of New Jersey as a place where vulnerability to future storms and the effects of climate change on a coastal state are being adequately addressed. But I can’t. I would like to say that in response to Sandy’s destruction New Jersey is fundamentally re-assessing how and where we occupy vulnerable areas of the coast. But I can’t. What I can say is that something has gone wrong, very wrong, with the state’s handling of Sandy recovery.

The second is a cool, neutral review of the process from the Congressional Research Service. See Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy; In Brief. One of the key points made in this report is the need to determine if the recovery task force mechanism is necessary and successful.

The third, available from NJ.com on Feb. 20th, is titled Sandy Aid Went to Projects Far from the Storm.

Short Sightedness in Canada

Posted on February 19, 2014 by recoverydiva

I do not know the details or the politics of the situation, but given the number of sizable disasters in Canada this past year this decision seems short sighted to me. See: Canadian disaster research institute closes after funding cut; The University of Manitoba has closed its Disaster Research Institute because it no longer has funding. It has studied floods, forest fires and storms.

I would be interested in hearing from some of my Canadian readers on this matter.

In CA Drought and Fires Worsen – 3 takes on the topics

Posted on February 16, 2014 by recoverydiva

In today’s Washington Post there is a compelling article titled West Coast Girds for Record Forest Fires. Whatever the causes of the drought may be, the implications for fire fighting are significant and wide ranging. Some excerpts follow:

Across the Western United States, officials tasked with fighting forest fires worry that a confluence of factors, including climate change and human development, are conspiring to create conditions ripe for a landmark fire year. That would mean hotter fires that burn longer and threaten more homes, sapping already-strained budgets and putting at risk the lives of thousands of firefighters. * * *

The consequences of climate change encourage wildfires in three ways, firefighters and policymakers say. First, even modest rises in temperatures change forest ecologies and allow invasive species to take root. Second, changing weather patterns can stem much-needed precipitation. And third, global warming is extending the fire season. * * *

In parts of California, the cost of defending a single home can run as high as $600,000 — far more than many of the homes are actually worth. And while homeowners are able to get out before a fire sweeps over them, the firefighters who have to defend those homes wade into danger.

A truly scary article comes from the National Geographic. It is titled Could California’s Drought Last 200 Years? Clues from the past suggest the ocean’s temperature may be a driver.

“Resilience Gap”

Posted on February 14, 2014 by recoverydiva

As I noted a few days ago, there was a Senate hearing this week on extreme weather events. According to an article based on the testimony of an international reinsurance executive:

The United States faces a “resilience gap” with the potential to disrupt the American economy with long-term consequences, an insurance firm official, who also urged Congress to prioritize investments in resilience over disaster response, told a Senate panel Feb. 12.

“Should resilience be prioritized over other disaster response costs? Absolutely,” said Lindene Patton, chief climate product officer for Zurich Financial Services. She testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Thanks for Bill Cumming for this URL

Personally, I am not so much convinced about this new “gap” as I am interested in her perspective as an insurance executive in a major reinsurance co.

Disaster Recovery — a limerick or two

Posted on February 14, 2014 by recoverydiva

One of my readers shared this limerick. It was written by an experienced hand working on a recovery project, so I think many of you will relate quite well.

Post Disaster Indecision

Drowning in data and indecision,
endless calls and plan revisions.
Frustrating for sure,
and there is no cure,
at least that I can now envision.

______________________________________________________

Although the author of the above chose to be anonymous, he did encourage the Diva to try a limerick. The Diva is a recovering limerick writer, but she just had a relapse!

Musings from the Recovery Diva

There once was a diva named Claire
who thought recovery a topic in disrepair.
She boldly set forth on the web
to deal with the topic many dread.
So, don’t despair but seek to repair!

Feel free to offer your own limerick, if you are so inclined!

Extreme Weather in Washington, DC region – updated

Posted on February 13, 2014 by recoverydiva

Just in case people might thing extreme weather is something that happens to others, here in the metro Washington, DC area we are getting a major slow/sleet/ice storm right now. Mid-morning from the Wash Post, this account of our extreme weather event. Plus more wicked weather is coming in the next 24 hours.

This is cute, local nickname for the storm is Snochi! And the new motto for DC: “Keep Calm and Cancel Everything.”

Last I heard, 22 states — from Louisiana to Maine — are under winter advisories. And about 1/3 of the population of the country is affected.

I would not call it catastrophic, however. Some many activities have been called off, there is virtually no traffic and most people are staying in as told — as far as I can tell from local news.

“Widespread and extended power outages are likely as ice accumulates on trees and power lines and brings them down,” the warning says. “Please prepare to be without power in some locations for days and perhaps as long as a week.”

FEMA is “leaning forward” for this storm and a couple of states declared an emergency before the storm hit. See: FEMA Closely Coordinates with States in Path of Major Winter Storm; Residents Urged to Prepare and Stay Informed. FEMA said:

Leave it to the Wall St. Journal to examine the Economics of Snow. Here is the lead in to the article:

Economic research looking at weather shows that extreme cold can increase mortality, reduce spending on food among the poor, increase spending on food among the rich and boost sales of sport-utility vehicles. Parents can rest easy: school snow days don’t have much impact on educational achievement.

“cat” bonds — use of catastrophic bonds in NYC