From the NY Times, on July 4, 2015: The long decline in Trust in Government and Why That Can be Patriotic. An excerpt:

It’s easy to look at Washington and conclude that nothing ever gets done. Trust in government has steadily deteriorated over the past several decades and continues to do so. Questioning the aims and efforts of government is a foundation of American citizenship. It’s how the nation was born. The colonists didn’t trust King George III, and they carefully laid out their reasons for breaking away from his rule in the Declaration of Independence.

But some of the recent decline may have less to do with how the government has disappointed people and more to do with an increasing knowledge of how the government works.

****Trust in all kinds of institutions, from banks to courts, has declined since the 1950s. Justin Wolfers, an economist and Upshot contributor, described it as a function of what we know now that we didn’t know before: There is increasing transparency across all types of institutions today relative to the 1940s and 1950s, he said in an interview in 2011. That very transparency might be the root of declining trust, he concludes.

“FEMA Promising Practice: Overnight Shelter Experiences”
July 9, 2015

The archive of this Webinar, including handouts, transcripts and recordings, is available at http://adapresentations.org/webinar.php?id=23.

This 90-minute webinar hosted by the ADA National Network/FEMA Webinar Series will highlight the Overnight Shelter Exercise with the Disability Community. Reasons for the exercises is typically the lack of appropriate and accessible services in shelters as one in five people encountered during any disaster will have a disability or about 56.7 million people, approximately 19 percent of the population. Many first responders lack familiarity and working knowledge they require to successfully integrate all members of the community in all aspects of the work they do. Participants will learn how to plan an overnight exercise with the disability community, hear about the challenges encountered in the process and learn how to overcome them.

From Scientific American: FEMA Does Not Know if 750,000 Homes Are Flood-Prone

The U.S. flood insurance program has inaccurate elevation data about many high-risk homes that enjoy discounted premiums

The nation’s flood insurance program doesn’t know the elevation of 750,000 high-risk homes with discounted policies, according to the National Research Council.

The omission could complicate efforts to phase out subsidized insurance rates in the National Flood Insurance Program, said researchers who contributed to a technical report that suggests the program needs to modernize the way it collects data and sets rates.

Drones to deliver medicine, supplies to Wise Remote Area Medical clinic: During this summer’s Remote Area Medical clinic in Wise, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones, will deliver pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies for the first time in the United States. RAM, an annual free medical clinic that serves more than 1,500 people, NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and Flirtey Inc., an Australian startup company specializing in delivery using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), are teaming up to deliver medicine at the event on July 17. Details are here.

Here is a second example of suggested use of drones in disasters.

Another bad news story about the federal government. Article in today’s Wash Post talks about the disfunctional Chemical Safety Board.

This organization has occasionally been mentioned as a possible model for reviewing disasters, but not lately!

A new document on climate, the environment and humanitarian interventions: Topic Guide: Mainstreaming Environment and Climate Change into Humanitarian Action from DFID.

The guide is intended for DFID advisors, but provides a useful compendium of information on humanitarian actions, environment and the climate.

Readers may also be interested in an earlier document in the same series: Mainstreaming Environment into Humanitarian Interventions – A Synopsis of Key Organisations, Literature and Experience.

Thanks to Chas. Kelly for the citations.