It is interesting to note that Bloomberg News is one of the few business communications companies to be sympathetic to climate change matters. See: The Nightmare Scenario for Florida’s Coastal Homeowners, Demand and financing could collapse before the sea consumes a single house.
From the Homeland Security News Wire: Cities inland could be reshaped by migration from sea-level rise
From the NY Times: When Rising Seas Transform Risk Into Certainty. “Along parts of the East Coast, the entire system of insuring coastal property is beginning to break down.”
It is not easy to do the right thing after a disaster. Here is a reminder that some well-intended efforts may have negative consequences. No one ever said recovery was easy!
See: When a natural disaster isn’t a disaster. Humans often do more harm than good when we try to rebuild damaged landscapes
See the short feature on an interview with the Diva that is highlighted in the emergency management blog section of the Earth Networks website. The direct link is here.
From the Conversation website: In planned EPA cuts, US to lose vital connection to at-risk communities.
The Trump budget calls for slashing the EPA budget by an estimated 31 percent. Staff would be reduced by 25 percent and 50 programs could see cuts, such as ones designed to lower the health risks from lead paint.
In all likelihood, the first communities to feel effects of a dismantled EPA are those who consistently pay the biggest price when policy strays from being focused on people. It will be the indigenous people, the populations who live in poverty and at-risk communities – often populated by people of color – who typically feel the sharp cuts and public health effects first and fully.
U.S. disasters in first 3 months of 2017 cost record $5B. Given these facts, is this the right time to endure major cutbacks in federal funding regarding EPA, NOAA, FEMA and other agencies?
New resilience study helps governments prevent disaster-related loss
Hurricanes, wildfires, tsunamis, and other disasters cannot be stopped, but countries can plan for them — something some areas of the world seem to do better than others, according to a new study. In the study, thirty-eight factors that affect a country’s resilience were derived from national and international databases, and the researchers used these databases to grade the resilience of each country and continent and develop a comprehensive index that includes indicators such as the number of disasters and their death tolls, as well as an area’s population, infrastructure, economy and educational system
From the Homeland Security Newswire: Earthquake early warning vital for city transit. |
Although no one can reliably predict earthquakes, today’s technology is advanced enough to rapidly detect seismic waves as an earthquake begins, calculate the maximum expected shaking, and send alerts to surrounding areas before damage can occur. This technology is known as “earthquake early warning” (EEW). An EEW system called “ShakeAlert” is being developed and tested for the West Coast of the United States.
“EEW is a game changer with respect to postdisaster recovery,” Johnson said. “By using EEW to minimize derailments, lives will be saved, injuries will be reduced, and the impacts to a postdisaster-stressed medical system will be minimized.”
From the HSDL, this account of a new report on critical infrastructure by MIT: Keeping America Safe: Toward More Secure Networks for Critical Sectors
Recovery Diva 