Author Archives: recoverydiva

Request for Feedback – update

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As you no doubt noticed The Diva recently promised that for a donation of $25. or more the donor would be sent a copy of  the Recovery Roundup, which is a 23 page annotated index of key resources noted in the blog over the past 3 1/2 years. Probably about 50 people have received a copy of that index, either for a donation or other assistance.

We would appreciate some feedback on the useful of that index, since we are considering doing an update on that product soon. Please let us know if you find it helpful or have any suggestions for improving it. Either post a comment at the end of this posting, or email me directly:  cbrubin at yahoo dot com.  Thanks…..

Update: since I posted this note, I have received several more donations ( thanks!!!) but still no feedback. I really would appreciate knowing if providing an index is useful to readers.

Building in Risky Areas

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Time and time again we see risky areas that have buildings on them that are later deemed questionable. Why does that happen?  See this article in the NYT: No Easy Way to Restrict Construction in Risky Areas. From the intro:

After disasters like the Oso landslide in Washington State, a common question is why people are allowed to live in such dangerous places. On the website of Scientific American, for example, the blogger Dana Hunter wrote, “It infuriates me when officials know an area is unsafe, and allow people to build there anyway.”

But things are rarely simple when government power meets property rights. The government has broad authority to regulate safety in decisions about where and how to build, but it can count on trouble when it tries to restrict the right to build. “Often, it ends up in court,” said Lynn Highland, a geographer with the United States Geological Survey’s landslide program in Golden, Colo.

I got this citation from a posting on the topic by Phil Palin in the blog Homeland Security Watch.

“Canada Not Prepared for Natural Disasters” – new reports

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Two recent reports have been critical of the readiness of Canada for major natural disasters. See this article re Canada not prepared for natural disasters, say top insurance execs – according to the article:

Canada is doing little to anticipate risks of extreme weather and this inaction will cost us severely when disaster eventually strikes, said Canadian insurance executives during the Globe conference on environmental business and sustainability held in Vancouver.

Mary Lou O’Reilly, senior vice president of issues management and communications with Insurance Bureau of Canada called for action to prepare for the coming storms in Canada.

“For a long time we lived impervious to severe weather but the fact of the matter is that the story has changed,” said O’Reilly, noting last summer’s devastating floods in Alberta and ice storms crippling Toronto this winter.

Another recent report, by the auditor in British Columbia, was critical of the province’s Catastrophic Earthquake Preparedness. Direct URL for that report (44 pp)  is here.

 

Report Is Critical of Role of Fire Service in Christchurch Quake Response in 2011

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It is not often that you see a detailed and candid account of the failings of the response effort to an earthquake. Sadly, the death toll and the law suits that followed the Feb. 2011 earthquake and aftershocks in Christchurch led to this inquiry. The final report was recently released.

Thanks to Ian McLean and John Coleman for the links.

Global Warming and Civil Strife

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From the AP, this article about a new UN report: UN Report: Global Warming Worsens Security Woes

In an authoritative report due out Monday a United Nations climate panel for the first time is connecting hotter global temperatures to hotter global tempers. Top scientists are saying that climate change will complicate and worsen existing global security problems, such as civil wars, strife between nations and refugees.

They’re not saying it will cause violence, but will be an added factor making things even more dangerous. Fights over resources, like water and energy, hunger and extreme weather will all go into the mix to destabilize the world a bit more, says the report by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The main UN site for press info and the full report on Monday the 31st is here.  Regarding the scientific base of the report, note this quote:

The report is based on more than 12,000 peer reviewed scientific studies. Michel Jarraud, secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization, a co-sponsor of the climate panel, said this report was “the most solid evidence you can get in any scientific discipline.”

Article from the Wash. Post on March 31; U.N. climate panel: Governments, businesses need to take action now against growing risks

Global warming is hurting the poor and may lead to more civil wars and amplified economic shocks as its effects grow more severe, a U.N. group says.

Mudslides Explained – updated

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Update:  Once again, we see an example of the gap between knowledge known by at least the scientific community about a hazard and the working knowledge of the current public officials. We saw that gap during Hurricane Katrina and we saw it again with Hurricane Sandy, to name just a couple of recent examples.

Apparently, there were several studies and several precedents for landslides in the area of Oso Washington.  The articles below go from oldest to newest:

(1) From the National Geographic: Mudslides Explained: Behind the Washington State Disaster. It begins:

A fatal mudslide in rural northwestern Washington State over the weekend underscores the dangers of this fast-moving natural hazard. On Saturday morning, a mudslide moved down the Stillaguamish River near the small former fishing village of Oso, Washington. Authorities have confirmed eight dead, eight injured, and as many as 108 people missing or unaccounted for as of Monday morning. The one-square-mile (2.6-square-kilometer) track of the mudslide also destroyed about 30 homes.

(2) From the Christian Science Monitor:  Can mudslides be predicted? Washington site’s history highlights challenge. (+video)

Eight people died in the Washington mudslide, and the toll is expected to rise. No detailed hazard map exists for the country as a whole, and no national database exists of past slides and the conditions that caused them.

(3) From the Washington Post, March 30 : Before the Landslides; Warnings about the Unthinkable.  One quote: ” It was a nightmare waiting to happen.”

(4) April 5, Christian Science Monitor: Authorities Knew of Mudslide Danger But Didn’t Tell Residents.

 

 

 

10 Riskiest Cities in the World -updated

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From Business Insider,  an article titled : The 10 Cities Most At Risk Of Being Hit By Natural Disasters . I cannot vouch for their selection methodology, but the results are interesting to consider.  Only one U.S. city is on this list and that is Los Angeles.

Update: An eeire coincidence that on March 29, LA experiences a 5.1 magnitude earthquake and more than 100 aftershocks. Damaged to small number of residential structures have been documented. See this account from the LA Times.