Summary of recent workshop on Recovery at Harvard University: Preparing for the Next Disaster HKS Hosts Conference on Disaster Recovery.
The Diva was invited to that event in January, but thanks to the big blizzard that week she never did make it to Boston.
The Emergency Preparedness and Response Initiative at the Shriver Center works to improve self-preparedness and equal access to emergency services for individuals with disabilities…” See this site: http://shriver.umassmed.edu/community-resources/emergency-preparedness-and-response
Note: it includes a variety of information but also some specific tools provided including an assessment tool.
34% of U.S. Small Businesses Have Been Hit by Disasters – It Pays to Be Prepared
Last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency made 78 major disaster and wildfire declarations. The Small Business Majority reported one-third or 34 percent of American small businesses have personally seen extreme weather impact their business. Likewise, a survey from Allstate, “What Keeps Small Business Owners Up at Night,” uncovered at least 25 percent of businesses that close due to a disaster, never reopen.
“Our survey found the fifth biggest risk small business owners fear is the inability to do business because of physical damage to a building or structure,” said Mark McGillivray, senior vice president, Allstate Claims. “No one expects the unthinkable to happen. But the severe weather hitting most parts of our county is real. It can happen anytime and anywhere. Business owners must be prepared for a disaster so they can rebuild, repair and reopen their doors as quickly as possible.”
From the Wash. Post, an article that discusses the governance issues and structural changes needed, rather than a political solution.
See: Voters want a revolution. Here’s what that would take. We need to change the system, not just who’s in charge
Two-page paper from CRS on the Regulatory Issues re Flint Michigan water crisis: Lead in Flint, Michigan’s Drinking Water: Federal Regulatory Role.
Thanks to Bill Cumming for the citation.
From the Guardian, this article about Australia: Natural disasters costing Australia 50% more than estimated. Reports find increases in family violence and mental health problems due to stress of natural disasters outweighs cost of rebuilding infrastructure. Some excerpts:
The cost of natural disasters in Australia is 50% more than previously estimated– $9bn in 2015 – and is set to increase to $33bn by 2050 even ignoring the effect of climate change, according to two reports commissioned by the Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience and Safer Communities.
The reports included the first analysis of the economic costs of social impacts of natural disasters, and concluded they cost the economy more than tangible impacts like damage to property.
Among the tangible costs, the biggest occurred when critical infrastructure was damaged. Despite this, there was no formal requirement to consider resilience when making decisions about building infrastructure.
The reports said more investment was needed at times other than in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, with funding also required for community and infrastructure resilience, as well as longer-term social care.
This example from Japan illustrates the complexities of providing replacement housing. See: Seven Percent of Public Housing Units for disaster Victims Unoccupied. [Thanks to Chris Jones for the citation.]
And for some information about the U.S. problems with replacement housing, I call you attention to this posting almost two years ago, titled Lament re Disaster Recovery Housing Programs.
On this election day, it is worth considering this New Yorker article on leadership. It is a bit long, but parts of it are priceless. See: Shut Up and Sit Down; Why the leadership industry rules.
California gas leak was the worst man-made greenhouse-gas disaster in U.S. history, study says
The massive leak that vented millions of pounds of natural gas from a Los Angeles storage facility now appears to have been the worst accidental discharge of greenhouse gases in U.S. history, scientists concluded in an analysis released Thursday.
Here is another article with details of some of the scientific work done so far.
Homeland Security: Oversight of Neglected Human Resources Information Technology Investment Is Needed. GAO-16-253: Publicly Released: Feb 25, 2016.
Recovery Diva 