This CRS report is out for review is my understanding. I am not sure how the review and response process works, but am posting this FYI.
Go to the FAS website for a line to the new, 54-page report titled Deployable Federal Assets Supporting Disaster Response Operations.
From the Huff Post, article titled Shocking Photos Of Humanitarian Crisis On U.S. Border Emerge. Some details from the article:
Disturbing images of children warehoused along the border by the federal government emerged on Friday, posted by Breitbart Texas reporter Brandon Darby.
The haunting pictures show a system overwhelmed by children and families detained by Customs and Border Protection, reflecting a growing humanitarian crisis. ****
“The President has directed Secretary Johnson to establish an interagency Unified Coordination Group to ensure unity of effort across the Administration in responding effectively to this humanitarian situation.
This effort, lead and coordinated by FEMA, is quickly marshalling resources across the government to provide humanitarian relief to affected children. Addressing the rising flow of unaccompanied children crossing our southwest border is an important priority of this Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
From the Christian Science Monitor, this article explaining the sudden influx of children.
Update on June 11: See the discussion of this topic by the Secretary of DHS today.
Seas Rise, Florida GOP Leaders Balk At Climate Change. From the article:
There are few places in the nation more vulnerable to rising sea levels than low-lying South Florida, a tourist and retirement mecca built on drained swampland.
Yet as other coastal states and the Obama administration take aggressive measures to battle the effects of global warming, Florida’s top Republican politicians are challenging the science and balking at government fixes.
Among the chief skeptics are U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and former Gov. Jeb Bush, both possible presidential candidates in 2016. Gov. Rick Scott, who is running for re-election, has worked with the Republican-controlled Legislature to dismantle Florida’s fledgling climate change initiatives. They were put into place by his predecessor and current opponent, Democrat Charlie Crist.
Here is a form of post-disaster housing that I do not recall seeing before. From the UK’s Daily Mail, see: From poverty to the penthouse: Homeless who are living like kings in mansions and hotels abandoned since Christchurch earthquake
Quite a story — price is right for the new occupants!
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Thanks to Ian McLean for sending me the link.
The Weather Channel site posted an article about an international conference on disasters: Cost of Natural Disasters Has Quadrupled in Recent Decades, Official Says
It’s getting a lot more expensive to recover from natural disasters today than ever, according to a senior European official who urged world leaders Thursday to spend more on preparing cities and coastal regions for the impact of storms and other disasters to ensure a stable future.
Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis response, told a conference on disaster risk reduction and management of the Asia-Europe Meeting that costs related to natural disasters have increased from $50 billion a year in the 1980s to $200 billion in the last decade, an era when the U.S. has weathered the impact of storms like 2005’s Hurricane Katrina and 2012’s Superstorm Sandy. In three of the last four years, disaster-related costs exceeded $200 billion. * * *
She said only 4 percent of spending for natural disasters today goes to prevention and preparedness, with 96 percent spent on response. But, she said, evidence shows every dollar spent on prevention brings at least $4 in savings on damage.
Here is the direct link to the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.
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The Diva also was at a conference this past week, one on Higher Education in Emergency Management, sponsored by FEMA at its training institute. While there she and a long-time friend and colleague, Dr. Dan Barbee, also lamented the fact that after decades of effort, we in the U.S. remain very heavily focused on the response phase of disasters.
If at first you do not succeed, file a formal complaint and try again!
New Jersey Reaches Deal on Hurricane Sandy Aid. From the NYTimes on May 30th:
New Jersey has agreed to spend more federal disaster money to provide housing to people displaced by Hurricane Sandy and to make sure that the hardest-hit parts of the state get a proportional share of the money, according to a settlement reached on Friday.
The state also agreed to reconsider all of the applications for reconstruction aid that were rejected, after a review found that more than three-fourths of them should have been approved. The agreement stemmed from complaints by civil rights groups filed last year with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“We have one more chance to get this right, and I am hopeful that this agreement will help the state do a better job,” said Frank Argote-Freyre, president of the Latino Action Network, one of the groups that filed the original complaint.
See this news account of a just-released report from the Chemical Safety Board: Why Deepwater Horizon could happen again. Of special concern is the fact that the same faulty device is still being used. From the lead paragraph:
A new report investigating the cause of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster says the blowout preventer failed in a different way than previous investigations have concluded.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board released the two-volume draft report the morning of June 5 and will consider it for approval at a public meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. Central Time June 5 at the Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston.
Update on June 6: From the WashPost, see New report on BP oil spill points to faulty blowout preventer procedures; Investigators says the drill pipe buckled in the first minutes of the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
From James Fossett, the following note regarding a June 1 article in the WashPost titled In Norfolk, Evidence of Climate Change Is in the Streets at High Tide.
For those of us on the East Coast who worry about sea level rise, the area around Norfolk Virginia is emerging as a poster child for where the rest of us are going to be in twenty or thirty years. Sea level is rising faster in this area than anywhere else on the East Coast, partly because the land is also sinking. As this article from the Washington Post notes, the population in the Norfolk area at risk from sea level rise is second only to New Orleans. Flooding of surface streets during high tide is common—one local church even prints tide tables on its Web site, so that parishioners know if they can get to church on Sunday.
It’s happening faster in Virginia than elsewhere, but the entire East Coast from Cape Hatteras to Boston has been designated a “sea level rise hotspot” by the US Geological Survey, with projected rates of rise well above the global average. Possible solutions, ranging from sea walls to buyouts, are all very expensive and beyond the capacity of the affected state and local governments. In the current budget environment, substantial federal support seems unlikely as well.
Last month the Diva attended part of the conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Disaster Research Center at the Univ.of DE.
If you missed it and wondered what went on, the Center now has posted some of the talks, papers, and pictures from that conference at this website: http://sites.udel.edu/drc50thanniversary
There is no question the wheels of government move slowly; and in this case they are barely rolling if you read down to the end of this article. From Bloomberg News: U.S. Agency Will Assess Dangers of Tar Sands Oil Spills.
The federal government said …it will study a critical question in the battle over oil pipelines carrying Canadian diluted bitumen: Are spills involving dilbit more dangerous to people and the environment than leaks of lighter traditional oil?
In recent years, dilbit spills in Michigan, Arkansas and elsewhere have provided convincing evidence on the subject, but researchers are still working on definitive scientific studies that would translate those examples into broader conclusions about the risks of dilbit.
The disastrous effects of those spills—and fear that future spills could foul aquifers and vital waterways—have inflamed opposition to dilbit pipelines across the country. * * * The controversial project still lacks the required presidential permit for the segment stretching from the U.S.-Canada border through Nebraska.
News of the study came during questioning at a Congressional hearing held Tuesday to review the progress by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) toward fulfilling mandates included in the 2011 pipeline safety act.
“As a part of our 2014 budget, there was a requirement that we do a further study to evaluate whether dilbit spills are more risky than spills of other crudes,” said PHMSA Administrator Cynthia Quarterman. “We are in the process of finalizing a contract with the National Academy of Sciences to do that study.”
Recovery Diva 