New GAO Report on FEMA IT Mgmt

Posted on May 5, 2016 by recoverydiva

GAO. FEMA Needs to Address Management Weaknesses to Improve Its Systems

Here is an article from FierceGovernment.com on the report.

Canadian Oil-Sands Town on Fire

Posted on May 4, 2016 by recoverydiva

Update on May 6: Here is the website for the Alberta Province, which contains situation reports on the fired. I just learned that 49 wildfires are burning in the province. that must be a record!

Update on May 5: Up to 90,000 evacuated from Fort McMurray; some ordered to move again as fire spreads

May 4: From the Washington Post today, this article: A Canadian oil-sands town is on fire; 80,000 residents must evacuate.

This quite a scary situation, with the number of people affected jumping significantly each day. As of 3pm today, the entire town – 88,000 were ordered out. Where and how do you handle that many evacuees?

Here is another article, from the HuffPost Canada, on the fire. The photos are quite dramatic. And it looks like a lot of spontaneous offers of help from residents outside the fire zone.

A provincial declaration was issued in early evening.

“Resettling the First American Climate Refugees”

Posted on May 3, 2016 by recoverydiva

Following up on the last post, here is a U.S. example. From the NY Times, this article and accompanying photos. The location is Louisiana. See: Resettling the first American Climate Refugees.

A related article from the NOLA press is Fate of LA Coast Could be Determined by Antarctica Ice Melt. Interesting map in the article.

The Rising Tide of Migration

Posted on May 3, 2016 by recoverydiva

Presently, we are focused on migration of refugees from war and issues of statelessness. As this piece warns, we soon will be seeing refugees from sea level rise.

Emerging threats- As a rising tide of migration. Two excerpts:

With sea levels on the rise, several island nations are scrambling to stay above water and ensure citizens will have a place to go when the ocean engulfs their homeland. The humanitarian-crisis phase of climate change has officially begun.
In total, climate change may displace up to a quarter-billion people by 2050, according to research cited by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. That means, within our lifetimes, climate change could become a human rights emergency that grinds global governance to a halt. How the global community chooses to address this seemingly inevitable problem will help define international relations for the rest of this century.”