From the Homeland Security Digital Library blog: HHS Launches System to Improve Disaster Preparedness
Dept. of HHS and Disaster Preparedness
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Author Archives: recoverydiva
Weather Forecasting – U.S. not in lead
From the NYT: Hurricane Joaquin Forecast: Why U.S. Weather Model Has Fallen Behind.With the storm projected to move out to sea, it’s another triumph for European modeling.
As those of us on the Eastern Seaboard who were watching the path of Joaquin closely, it was clear that there were many models being used by forecasters. It is a good thing that an array of options were possible.
Thanks to Bill Cumming for this citations.
Readiness for Pet Animals
What Canadians Need to Worry About
Some familiar, some less familiar natural disasters could prove costly.
Note to folks in the U.S.: you too may have these risks!
Shipping Container Buildings
I have covered this topic before, but just this week in a conversation about how to quickly create shelter for large numbers of refugees the topic came up again. See this WashPost article: Is shipping-container building ‘the best thing since the brick?’
Here is a link to the earlier posting ( Nov. 2012) about the use of shipping containers for emergency shelters.
Update: one more article from the Guardian on October 9: Living in Steel Box Shipping Containers.
It does seem like a possible solution for sheltering large numbers of migrants temporarily.
GAO Report on Disaster Contracting
In keeping with the department-wide morale problems at DHS are the morale problems with FEMA’s contracting officers. The is one of the concerns of this new GAO report: Disaster Contracting: FEMA Needs to Cohesively Manage Its Workforce and Fully Address Post-Katrina Reforms. 59 pp. GAO-15-783: Published: Sep 29, 2015.
DHS Still Worst in Federal Agency Ranking
This is a record nobody wants – DHS continues to be at the bottom for federal agency employment. See: Homeland Security ranks as worst federal agency for employees
Another account of the report from Breitbart.
Refugee Crisis = “conflict emergency”
See this article in the Wash. Post about some of the differences in private sector response to the conflict emergency as contrasted with a natural disaster: Earthquake? Silicon Valley Will Help. Refugee Crisis? Not so much.
On a personal note. I would like to mention a personal and positive example of help. I received an email from a researcher at a Berlin University, asking for some help with experts regarding supply chains for food. Not having that expertise, I contacted 5 friends who do. All answered me immediately and offered to be of help to the German researchers. Small sample, but I think the research community in the field of emergency management consists of terrific people!
Note: The Diva just added a page to this blog on Refugees.
Wildland Fire Management – new report from GAO
Hajj Pilgrimage and Human Stampedes
On the topic of poor planning for the Hajj Pilgrimage: Hajj pilgrimage: more than 700 dead in crush near Mecca; Stampede in Mina valley, the site of a vast tent city of pilgrims, leaves more than 800 others injured.
On the science of stampedes: What can science tell us about human ‘stampedes’?
The Diva did not there are experts in crowd safety and risk analysis. Both space constraints and human behavior are key factors in stampedes. An expert says “It is all about math, management, and psychology.” Actually that sounds quite complex.
Update on 10/3. From the Guardian, this personal account of a person at the Hajj Pilgrimage: In Mecca I saw little of Islam’s compassion, but a lot of Saudi Arabia’s neglect
Also from the Guardian on 10/4: Hajj crush: how crowd disasters happen, and how they can be avoided. Mass panic? Stampedes? Nonsense, say the experts trying to stop another disaster like last week’s in Mecca: they’re failures of management, and they aren’t inevitable. So why aren’t they a thing of the past?
Recovery Diva 