H. Florence Set Flood Records in Carolinas
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Author Archives: recoverydiva
FEMA’s Role in CA Fires
FEMA has kept a lower profile in Camp Fire than after hurricanes. Here’s the reason.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has directed far less resources to helping California cope with the devastating Camp Fire than it typically sends to states dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane, or other natural disasters. But experts say that’s by design, as California’s robust disaster response planning and operations make the feds less necessary in the early stages of fighting a disaster.
Climate-Induced Relocation
From Bloomberg News: Climate May Force Millions to Move and U.S. Isn’t Ready, Report Says
- Rising seas to roil coastal areas, federal scientists predict
- Large outflows of people expected from New York, New Jersey
New Report on Climate Change Just Released
The Trump administration purposely released this report in late afternoon on Friday after Thanksgiving to be sure it got little attention. Article from CNN: Climate change will have dire consequences for US, federal report concludes
Let’s call their bluff. The direct link to the report is here:
FEMA’s Actions re CA Wildfires
From the NYTimes, this balanced article about the role of FEMA in response to the CA wildfires: What FEMA Is Doing, and Not Doing, in Response to California’s Fires
Special Problems of Elderly and Infirm during Emergency Evacuations
From the New Yorker: An Evacuation in North Carolina, and the Danger of Climate Disasters for an Aging Population.
As noted in the article, the evacuation process may be quite harmful.
FEMA “Contemplating” Housing for CA Wildfire Victims
FEMA won’t enact a major housing program that would help California wildfire survivors. Homelessness after the fires is both “predictable and preventable,” housing advocates told ThinkProgress. An excerpt from the article:
FEMA told ThinkProgress in an email that as of Tuesday morning, only 49 families (120 individual people) have checked into hotels through FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) program. The TSA program pays for hotel sheltering for people displaced in emergencies.
But there are other programs available to FEMA. The agency has thus far refused to enact a Department of Housing and Urban Development-administered program that would provide essential housing relief to those people in desperate need of stable housing. The Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP), created in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, provides housing subsidies to survivors and evacuees, and covers the cost of rent, security deposit, and utilities.
NFIP Problems
See this USAtoday article, written by two former FEMA Administrators: National Flood Insurance Program is a deluge of damaging policy. Congress must rebuild it. Right now, our country is using yesterday’s policies and standards to pay for today’s floods with tomorrow’s money. It can’t be fixed with more debt.
Role of Culture in Recovery
Culture as Factor for Building Back Better After Conflicts and Disasters
Direct link to the full paper titled Culture in City Reconstruction and Recovery
Free download of this 62 page paper, which is available in English and French.
Disaster Preparedness for Zoo Animals
From the Smithsonian Magazine: How Los Angeles Zoo Prepares Animals for Natural Disasters.
Recovery Diva 