Land Trusts and Disaster Management

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Guest posting from reader Ann Patton, who is a long-time activist in the emergency management field.

I keep thinking this land trust idea could be very useful in disaster management. Perhaps you already have used or know about this potential tool. I wish I had it available when I was doing the work.

Our son Michael Patton is director of Oklahoma’s Land Legacy, a nonprofit that works on land and water conservation by acquiring and preserving development rights on lands that have high conservation value, in exchange for generous tax write-offs. As I understand it, Land Legacy has a very broad grant of powers, and Michael is using those powers creatively.

In essence, a landowner might be able to exchange the development rights on his/her land for IRS tax credit. With some careful, creative management, I believe it could even be extended to floodplain acquisition — something that is going to become more and more urgent with rising seas. In essence, the IRS becomes a potential funding source.

If you are interested, here’s Michael’s website: Land Legacy.  There more info on his facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/landlegacy/

 

 

 

“Disaster Housing Construction Challenges”

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From MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics a new report that outlines new ideas to address the nation’s disaster housing challenges: Disaster Housing Construction Challenges in America: Exploring the Role of Factory-Built Housing.  Press Release and direct URL to full report, which is 44 pages.

The report includes 11 recommendations for emergency managers; housing agencies; policymakers at state, local, tribal, territorial, and federal levels; leaders in the building code community; home construction companies; and others who have a goal of addressing challenges around disaster housing.  While factory-built housing is not a panacea, it should be a key component of the nation’s housing stock at a time when both the severity and frequency of natural disasters are increasing, and states continue to struggle to meet the demand for affordable housing.

Disaster housing is a challenge without easy answers or straightforward solutions.  Researchers at MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics have compiled their take on ways to improve our nation’s ability to take on disaster housing challenges.  More advanced construction methods can help ease some of the burden but will require action from policymakers, code officials and the construction industry.

Thanks to Dana Bres, U.S. Dept. of HUD, for this citation.

New Report on Climate Emergency

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At virtually the same time Pres. Trump has begun the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord 11,000 scientists from around the world have issues this report: Scientists Declare A Climate Emergency, Warn Of ‘Untold Human Suffering’
“Scientists have a moral obligation to clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat and to ‘tell it like it is,’” says a new report signed by over 11,000 academics.

Overcoming Extremism

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Overcoming Extremism in the Private and Public Sectors. The Anti-Defamation League has released the final report from the Communities Overcoming Extremism (COE) Public and Private Sector Summits. The After Charlottesville Project Final Report is a compilation of outcomes from the two conferences dealing with domestic terrorism and far-right extremism following the Charlottesville attack in 2017.

Two New Books!

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(1) Emergency Management: The American Experience (3rd edition); Claire B. Rubin, Editor; Routledge Publisher (August 2019).

Since the publication of this text in 2012, additional insights and research in the past eight years warrant a review. Some, but not all, of the chapters feature a fresh look and additional outcomes. We revised Chapter 7 (Hurricane Katrina) and Chapter 8 (BP Oil Spill) to bring those disasters up to date and also revised the final two chapters (9) and (10), so that the summary information is more current and reflects lessons learned since 2011. The 3rd edition continues to be important to practitioners, educators, students, and other readers because it contains essential information covering more than 110 years of disaster experiences and their influence on the formation and continuing improvement of our national emergency management system. Ordering info: https://www.crcpress.com/Emergency-Management-The-American-Experience/Rubin/p/book/9781138354067

(2) U.S. Emergency Management in the 21st Century: From Disaster to Catastrophe; Claire B. Rubin and Susan L. Cutter, Editors. Routledge Publisher (December 2019).

This book explores a critical issue in American public policy: Are the current public sector emergency management systems sufficient to handle future disasters given the environmental and social changes underway? In this timely book, the editors focus on disaster recovery efforts, community resilience, and public policy issues of related to recent disasters and what they portend for the future. Beginning with the external societal forces setting the stage for shifts in policy and practice, the next six chapters provide in-depth accounts of recent disasters— the Joplin, Tuscaloosa-Birmingham, and Moore tornadoes,  Hurricanes Sandy, Harvey, Irma, Maria, and the California wildfires.  A chapter on loss accounting and a concluding chapter on what has gone right, what has gone wrong, and why the federal government may no longer be a reliable partner in emergency management.

Accessible and clearly written by authorities in a wide-range of related fields with local experiences, offers a rich array of case studies and describes their significance in shifting emergency management policy and practice in the United States in the past decade. Through a careful blending of contextual analysis and practical information, this book is essential reading for students, an interested public, and professionals alike. Ordering info: https://www.routledge.com/US-Emergency-Management-in-the-21st-Century-From-Disaster-to-Catastrophe/Cutter-Gall-Rubin/p/book/9781032783420

Disruption of Health Care From the CA Fires

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From Govtech: California Wildfires, Power Outages Are Disrupting Health Care
Across California, wildfires and outages have forced health-care providers to close hospitals and medical clinics, or greatly limit services. Both Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health evacuated their Santa Rosa hospitals.

Another concern is that of people with health and disabilities.  See: Disabled seniors in Ca. complex left behind during outage.  Thanks to Chris Jones for this citation.