From The conversation: I spoke to 99 big thinkers about what our ‘world after coronavirus’ might look like.

For those readers who are collecting articles and other information about the post-pandemic period. this is a useful item.

Update: Another article on a related topic: From the GAO WatchBlog: COVID-19 Vaccines and the Lessons Learned from H1N1

From the WashPost: 4 former homeland security secretaries: We cannot afford one more day without a confirmed DHS leader.

Presently the FEMA Administrator, Peter Gaynor, is serving as Acting Secretary. Note in the last paragraph of the article, pointed out DHS has not had a confirmed leader for almost 2 years!

I just learned of the recent passing of Larry Pearce from his wife Laurie. Both have been notable contributors to emergency management in Canada. Thanks to annual conferences in Colorado, the Diva got to know them both – Larry’s experiences in Boulder led to the creation of CRHNet and the “Meet the Canadians” lunch at the conference. What follows is a brief version of the notice posted in the site www.crhnet.ca

For Larry, emergency management was a second career, after military service. It culminated in positions as Regional Director for BC and the Yukon for Emergency Preparedness Canada. He then devoted himself to volunteer work, as the Ex. Director of Pan-Pacific Hazards ’96, President of the Emergency Social Services Association, Director of the Emergency Preparedness of Commerce and Industry Council of BC and the Sunshine Falls Road Society. He served as Executive Director for the Canadian Risk and Hazards Network for many years and was proud to have had a student award named for him. Larry was always willing to help others and he mentored and guided many in government and in the emergency management field. He was a Friend of JIBC and has been the recipient of numerous lifetime achievement awards.

If you wish to make a donation in his memory to support the Larry Pearce Education Award for emergency management students at CRHNET. Please share your stories at the Larry Dale Pearce – ForeverMissed.com Online Memorials.

To donate to the Larry Pearce Educational Aware please click here: https://crhnet.ca/donations/donate-larry-pearce/

Disaster and Emergency Management (DEM) Cases Repository; Development & Special Collections by acob Fast, Antoine B. Richards, Jane Kushma, and David Thornton

“The utilization of case studies in Disaster and Emergency Management (DEM has a rich history across professional practice,research,and academic pursuits. Although there is little standardization in case study development and composition,the application of case studies to teaching is common. In order to best make use of case studies, it is critical to first locate and identify the resources.”

Globalization & Health – Integrating the social sciences in epidemic preparedness and response: A strategic framework to strengthen capacities and improve Global Health security

“…Based on data collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, in this paper we analysed the variety of knowledge, infrastructure and funding gaps that hinder the full integration of the social sciences in epidemics and present a strategic framework for addressing them….”

Thanks to Dr. Lois Cohen for the citation.

New article titled A review of emergency response in disasters – present and future perspectives – 2020. [Thanks to Chris Jones for the citation.]

The Diva was a bit baffled by this article, which does not seem to mention many publications from U.S. sources. Comments from readers are invited.

From the NYTimes: U.S. Disaster Costs Doubled in 2020, Reflecting Costs of Climate Change, The $95 billion in damage came in a year marked by a record number of named Atlantic storms, as well as the largest wildfires recorded in California.

From the WashPost: After 2020, we need to talk about how we talk about catastrophe.
Narratives of crisis can create feedback loops that make it harder to inspire action.

I mentioned this resource about two months ago, but here are some recent articles. Direct link is here: National Risk Index (NRI)

“The National Risk Index is a new, online mapping application from FEMA that identifies communities most at risk to 18 natural hazards. This application visualizes natural hazard risk metrics and includes data about expected annual losses, social vulnerabilities and community resilience. The National Risk Index’s interactive web maps are at the county and census tract level and made available via geographic information system (GIS) feature services for custom analyses. With this data, you can discover a holistic view of community risk to natural hazards via online maps and data.”

Updates:
From the Guardian: Los Angeles is riskiest US county but New Yorkers should beware tornadoes

From the WashPost: FEMA rates Los Angeles the most dangerous county for natural disasters

From GovTech website.

From HSDL, a collection of articles re Vaccine Hesitancy.