Author Archives: recoverydiva

Drought in CA – updated

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The seriousness of the drought in CA really hits home when you realize that many cities may not have a supply of drinking water in a matter of months. See: California drought: Clock ticking on 17 communities’ water supply

Gov. Jerry Brown huddled Thursday with water managers looking for solutions to California’s worst drought on record. The 17 communities could run out of water in 100 days, the state warned.

On January 31, the state government made it clear that it may have to stop providing water to some localities. See this HuffPost article.

Series on Recovery in Major Cities – from the Guardian (UK)

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Disaster cities: after tragedy strikes, what next?  The Guardian’s New Cities: back from the brink site analyses the motivations and reality of rebuilding homes and communities after they have been torn apart.  The series includes the following cities that are recovering from a major-to-catastrophic disaster:

  • New Orleans
  • Christchurch
  • Banda Aceh
  • Porte au Prince
  • Ishinomaki
  • Galle

FEMA Is Not Dealing Adequately With Climate Change

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From Bloomberg News: FEMA: Caught Between Climate Change and Congress . This is a complex issue, with many facets. and FEMA is only partly to blame. Please read the entire 5-page article for more details. Some excerpts:

Thanks to climate change, extreme weather disasters have hammered the United States with increasing frequency in recent years—from drought and wildfires to coastal storms and flooding. It is perhaps surprising, then, that the U.S. agency in charge of preparing for and responding to these disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), doesn’t account for climate change in most of its budget planning and resource allocation or in the National Flood Insurance Program it administers.

“Climate change is affecting everything the agency does, and yet it isn’t given much consideration,” said Michael Crimmins, an environmental scientist at the University of Arizona who is leading a project to try to improve FEMA’s use of climate science data. “FEMA has to be climate literate in a way that many other agencies don’t have to be.”

A main problem, he and other experts say, is that FEMA doesn’t use short- or long-term climate science projections to determine how worsening global warming may affect its current operations and the communities it serves. Instead, FEMA continues to base its yearly budget and activities almost entirely on historical natural disaster records. That practice is exacerbated by the fact that the agency is at the mercy of economic and political pressures. In addition to having to deal with years of recession that ate into its budget, FEMA has repeatedly been caught in the crosshairs of partisan politics that forced funding cuts and blocked proposed increases.

Calgary’s Cowboy Style Emergency Management – take #2

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This article in HuffPost/Canada today really got my goat: Naheed Nenshi Tells World Economic Forum Clear Communication Key After Natural Disasters. Once again, the well-meaning but free-lance style of emergency management used in Calgary Alberta after the floods this past spring leave me wondering why the basic tenets of emergency management are so unknown or ignored by public officials in a major city. [And he got invited to Davos to talk about his maverick version of emergency management!]

The Calgary Mayor’s personal version of disaster response might have worked, at least once, in Calgary, but most of what he recommended makes no sense for efficient and effective emergency management; e.g.,

  • Mayor serving as Public Information Officer
  • Mayor getting no sleep and having no backup,
  • Empowering thousands of untrained, amateur bldg. inspectors.

In reading a second press account of what the mayor said – Naheed Nenshi discusses resilience to flood at Davos forum –  I am even more infuriated.  Here he is quoted as saying the recovery process went well. Too bad no one else had a chance to speak to that statement, since that does not appear to be true by traditional emergency management standards, in my opinion. Plus the term resilience seems to be used in an imprecise and not helpful way..

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My  first take on this topic was back in June 2013, when I did a posting that was critical of the use of debits cards as a means of providing disaster assistance to disaster victims.  See: https://recoverydiva.com/2013/06/24/disaster-response-canadian-cowboy-style/.

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In this past year, two big Canadian Cities — Calgary and Toronto — have displayed a remarkable lack of preparation for disasters and have used mainly ad hoc means to muddle their their way through major disaster events. Some innovation is to be expected after a disaster, but more strategic thinking and planning seems to be needed.

“Oil and Chemical Spills: Federal Emergency Response Framework”

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For those of you wondering about the underlying authorities and response systems in place for a disaster event like the chemical spill in the Elk River in WV, this recent 25 page report from the Congressional Research Service should help you understand the system used for oil and chemical disasters.

Among other things, it explains the National Contingency Plan and its relationship to the  National Response Framework.  Useful document to have for reference.

Resources for Faith-Based Organizations re Disasters

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This nice, 11-page compendium of resources was put together by IAEM. It is a good addition to one’s personal library. Compendium of Faith-Based Organization Resources, from the International Association of Emergency Managers’ December 2013.

For example, #17 deals with Long-Term Recovery. This fact-packed 2 page guidance document should be helpful; for getting started with long term recovery.

Thanks to Mr. Gregory T. Banner of Dept. of HHS for this info.

Disaster Psychiatry as New Field of Study

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Yet another dimension of disaster studies that is becoming a field of its own. See: Disaster Psychiatry Emerges as DOD Field of Study

 At the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, experts in the emotional toll of disasters help the Defense Department, government agencies and first responders worldwide understand how best to help communities struck by terrorist attacks, mass casualties and natural disasters.

 

 The center is part of the psychiatry department at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. The USUHS serves the Army, Navy, Air Force and U.S. Public Health Service by educating health professionals for DOD and USPHS career service.

 

“The center was established essentially to address concerns by the Department of Defense about psychological impacts and health consequences that might result from the potential use of weapons of mass destruction during combat [and] acts of terrorism or hostage events,” Dr. Joshua C. Morganstein told American Forces Press Service during a recent interview.

Latest News re WV Chemical Spill- with updates

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What intrigues me about this moderately severe disaster is how complicated the response has been. Gradually, underlying problems/issues like plant ownership and management, crisis communications, and state and federal environmental regulations all have come under scrutiny and criticism.  Seemingly basic and routine matters have not gone well.

January 31: A recap of the multiple disasters, from Newsweek
January 23: What’s the matter with West VA? from the Baltimore Sun
January 21: From the Washington Post
January 20: useful roundup of news from Huff Post.
January 19: