New Congressional Research Service report: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Assistance. (4 pp)

New Report from RAND: Improving the Financial Resilience of Public Entities and Individuals for Natural Disasters: A Resource Guide for State and Local Government.  The full document is 50 pages and can be downloaded free from the RAND site.

From the WashPost: Nearly 6,200 Lahaina wildfire survivors face the holidays with no home

“More than four months since the deadliest wildfire in modern American history burned Lahaina to the ground, nearly 6,200 people are still looking for a place to live while their beloved Maui town is rebuilt.

There’s the retiree who has been shuttled from one shelter to another; the family of five who can only afford to stay in their overpriced, unlicensed rental until month’s end, when their shrinking finances will force them to leave the island; and the dozens of people camping on the beach to demand long-term housing for survivors of the blaze.

In the fire’s immediate aftermath, many predicted this crisis. And yet, despite the warning signs, Maui has hurtled headlong into a housing emergency.”

New Report from the firm Everbridge. Written from the business perspective.

Year in review: Key trends in critical event management

From the Guardian: Survivors of deadly Maui blaze face displacement after displacement: ‘I live a nomadic life’ An excerpt:

“The deadliest US wildfire in more than a century – which incinerated the historic town of Lahaina, killed 100 people and destroyed 3% of Maui’s residential housing stock – pushed the island’s longstanding affordable housing crisis to a new inflection point. More than 10,000 survivors lost their homes, and, four months later, 6,300 remain sheltered at 33 hotels contracted with the Red Cross and Fema. For the thousands of evacuees who have been shuffling around, the haphazard way in which the program is managed, along with the return of tourists to the fire-ravaged region in October, have carried dire social consequences: residents share concerns of rising suicide rates, and monthly calls to the county domestic violence hotline have more than doubled since the disaster.”

TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT: Artificial Intelligence in Natural Hazard Modeling
Severe Storms, Hurricanes, Floods, and Wildfire. Note that the full report is 61 pp.

The Diva considers this a must read for people in the emergency management field and expects that this subject will be an important one in 2024.

FEMA is seeking feedback on the draft guide “Climate Adaptation Planning for Emergency Managers.” FEMA is seeking feedback on the draft guide “Climate Adaptation Planning for Emergency Managers.” The guide helps emergency managers incorporate climate adaptation into emergency management planning efforts.
Source of Draft Guide: https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/national-preparedness/plan

The Emergency Management Institute at 70;From Civil Defense to Emergency Management in an Education and Training Institution.

This report traces the 70-year history of the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) from the founding of its predecessor in 1951 to the present. The story of these institutions’ development can inform current strategy about EMI’s future. EMI trains primarily state, local, tribal, and territorial officials in emergency management (EM). It also trains some federal officials and leaders in the nonprofit and private sectors and provides course materials for higher education.

Emergency managers have been asked to respond to a growing number of hazards and disasters, including nontraditional missions, such as managing pandemic response and addressing homelessness. EMI will need to adapt to increasing EM responsibilities in an expanded all-hazards era by building new partnerships and training professionals in disaster management skills applicable to a wide variety of events. EMI also has an opportunity to grow from a technically focused institution into a thought leader and educator of the next generation of EM leaders.

Be sure to read the Key Findings and Recommendations.

From Axios: FEMA chief “very concerned” about disinformation from U.S. adversaries after disasters.

“FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell told Axios…..on Monday that she is “very concerned” about the ability of U.S. adversaries to spread disinformation and sow distrust in the wake of natural disasters in the U.S.

Driving the news: She pointed to misinformation and disinformation spread by nation-state actors — namely, China and Russia — following this year’s devastating fires in Maui and train derailment and chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio.

What she’s saying: “I’m very concerned about convergence cyberattacks with our natural disaster — that our adversaries know when we are most vulnerable and know how to take advantage of those times,” Criswell said at the Axios event in Dubai.

“I’m very concerned about this new threat landscape that is coming into our environment and creating challenges that we haven’t faced before,” she said, adding that this includes the spreading of misinformation and disinformation.
“It’s creating so much difficulty for us to get people who really need our help to come ask us for the help because it’s created this level of distrust,” she said. “It’s a whole new challenge.”

From CU Boulder today: Putting research to work: FEMA administrator visits CU to strengthen academic partnerships. Nice tribute to one of the oldest disaster research centers. An excerpt:

“Among the research topics that could support the agency’s resilience goals are work related to climate migration, risk communication and refining social vulnerability indices. These are issues that are central to the work of CU researchers in IBS and across the university, including in engineering and the physical sciences. For nearly 50 years, the Natural Hazards Center has played an especially important role in both advancing new disaster research and translating it for practitioners and policymakers.”

“Since 1976, we’ve had one central goal, which is to move research into the hands of the people who need it most,” stated Director Lori Peek. “We focus on building connections so we can reduce the harm and suffering from disasters. Over the years, we have always remained true to that mission.”