I know this is a bit off message, but I recently ran across a fascinating report on the likely future issues for higher education that I highly recommend. The report is 77 pages, but easy to read; the title is The Avalanche is Coming. issued in March 2013, by the Institute for Public Policy Research.
New report ( 26 pp.) by the Congressional Research Service on Severe Thunderstorms and Tornadoes in the U.S.: CRS on Storms May 2013. CRS Report # R40097. The report addresses 3 issues: (1) forecasting and issuing warnings for several thunderstorms and tornadoes; (2) the role of mitigation; and (3) the effect of climate change.
Thanks to Bill Cumming for bringing this report to my attention.
In an effort to boost preparedness for hurricanes in the approaching season, the publishing firm of Taylor and Francis has selected about 30 articles that are pertinent to hurricanes. Many more articles are available here.
They have grant readers free access to selected journal articles about hurricanes that they have published in the past few years. One article (cited on page 2) may be of special interest among our readers: The Long Road Home: Race, Class and Recovery After H. Katrina.
In its latest set of uploads, the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management just published a review of the recent book Emergency Management, the American Experience, 1900-2010 (2nd edition).
The Diva is the editor of the book so she has a vested interest, but she and the reviewer recommend this as a basic book for those new to the emergency management field. The opening sentence of the review says:
In Emergency Management; The American Experience, Claire Rubin brings together a team of highly esteemed scholars and practitioners to examine the history of emergency management in the U.S., while addressing several important questions regarding the growth and appropriate role of the federal government in respond to disaster events.
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The book can be ordered from Disaster Bookstore, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble.
By the way, the Diva has a great slide set and talk prepared about the contents of the book. If you are looking for a conference speaker or guest lecturer, contact her.
See this article re the new forecast for Atlantic coast Hurricanes in 2013, from the hurricane experts at the Colorado State University. The Colorado forecasting team predicts 18 tropical storms in 2013, of which nine will be hurricanes.
It seems this is the first of 3 reports on the topic to be issued. For the full text (34 page) of the report, go to this CO State website.
A wealth of resources on transportation issues/need in the post disaster setting, from the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciencies.
As noted by the Univ. of CO/Boulder in their newsletter (April 5th):
When it comes to keeping citizens safe during transit, the Transportation Research Board has 101 ways to make it happen. Actually, make that 111 ways—and learn the status of them all in this monthly report. Since 2001, the TRB has been busy making sure travel in the United States is safe from terrorist threats and other dangers. So far, they and their partners have completed 111 research projects, with another 24 in progress and 10 in development. The report is a quick and easy way to keep tabs on $20 million devoted to keeping everything from railways to waterways terrorist-free.
From the Homeland Security Digital Library, Superstorm Sandy: Preliminary Response & Recovery Report. This report is from a bipartisan legislative task force. It is in addition to the 3 executive commissions set up by Governor Cuomo. Note that a short summary of the recommendations from those 3 reports is included in this report.
The direct URL for the full text, 32 page version of the report: NY State Bipartisan Task Force on Hurricane Sandy (Feb. 2012)
In a recent newsletter from the National Capital Area Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration, these two new resources mentioned.
The Trust for America’s Health has released its 10th annual report about public health preparedness. The goal of this 80 page report is to inform policymakers and the public about how ready our nation is for the next public health emergency. The report accomplishes this by examining preparedness measures on a state level.
Key findings from the report include:
In addition to these findings, the report also has several recommendations designed to address gaps in emergency health preparedness.
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See our new book: Emergency Management; The American Experience, 1900-2010. Available from our sponsor, the Disaster Bookstore.com
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Recovery Diva 