FEMA flood maps underestimate damage risks, according to NC State research

New research out of N.C. State University shows the state and nation could be underestimating flood damage risk. Researchers from the university’s Center for Geospatial Analytics used artificial intelligence to predict where flooding is likely to happen. Researchers used data from actual flooding events, as well as information about distance to a river or stream, type of soil, and precipitation, to build the computer models, which in turn made predictions about flooding.

NIST Offers First-of-a-Kind Guidance for Holistic Home and Community Wildfire Protection. The authors of the report compiled methods to protect against wildfires’ two main weapons of choice: flames and airborne pieces of burning debris.

These article are off message from what the Diva usually posts, but she thinks they are worth reading at the present time.

From the Wash Post: Aiming to control Ukraine, Russia risks quagmire of foreign regime change. Moscow may be underestimating the difficulty of securing a nation with foreign-imposed regime change, according to scholars who have studied such scenarios.

From Thomas Friedman in the NY times: I See Three Scenarios for How This War Ends

From HSToday: Emergency Management Leaders Evaluate FEMA’s Priorities in the Changing Face of Disasters

From the WashPost Magazine: The Hard Lessons We Learned — and Didn’t — From Two Years in Pandemic School. This may not even be the Big One. We must prepare for doomsday, act faster and respect evolution.

From the Congressional Research Service, this 32 page report: FEMA Hazard Mitigation: A First Step Toward Climate Adaptation

From the WashPost: A year after Texas cold spell, study shows renewable energy could help prevent blackouts. Electricity blackouts could be avoided across the nation by switching to solar, wind and water energy sources, the report argues

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From the Congressional Research Service, this 3 page report: COVID-19: The Way Forward

From The Guardian: US sea level to rise as much in next 30 years as in past century.  Seas rising faster around the US than global average will cause ‘dramatic increase’ in number of people vulnerable to flooding