While the focus of this blog is usually on community recovery, many organizations and agencies may be interested in data recovery as well. Thanks to Robert Parmer, the go-to man for infographics!
Infographic on Disaster Data Recovery
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GAO Forum
Highlights of a GAO-sponsored Forum: Preparing for Climate-Related Risks: Lessons from the Private Sector
World Bank Report on Climate Change
CNN article about new World Bank study: Climate change could create 100 million poor, over half a billion homeless
The study found that rising global temperatures stand to push more than 100 million people into extreme poverty in the next 15 years, with sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia most at risk.
Climate-related “shocks” are already impeding efforts to reduce poverty, it said, particularly through crop losses, food price shocks and other impacts on agriculture, which is the main source of income for most poor families.
“States at Risk” – rankings for preparedness
States At Risk: America’s Preparedness Report Card. Special Report Prepared by Climate Central and ICF International.
Update: Florida is especially vulnerable and ill-prepared. See this article in Emergency Management magazine: Florida Flood Preparations Slammed in National Report. “A study, called States at Risk, says Florida lacks a long-term plan for dealing with rising sea levels, despite being the nation’s most vulnerable state as oceans inch higher.”
Standoff Over Climate Studies
This is the second article in recent weeks on this topic from the Washington Post. See: NOAA climate feud: Pursuit of scientific truth vs. public
“Could Paris Happen Here?”
From an opinion piece in the NY Times on Nov. 15: Could Paris Happen Here?
The short answer is not likely.
Updates: comments from readers are not so optimistic!
Nov. 17th, from the Washington Post: Is the United States safe from a Paris-style Islamic State attack?
Lack of Political Will to Retrofit Masonry Buildings in the Cascadia Fault Zone
You may recall that several months ago, the New Yorker magazine featured an article that talked about the extreme risk in the Cascadia Fault Zone. ( See this July blog posting.)
I have been chatting about this topic with fellow blogger, Eric Holdeman, who lives in the Cascadia Fault Zone. Here is his recent take on the topi: Unreinforced Masonry Buildings Are a Death Trap.
For those looking for a model, the state of California has been dealing with retrofit of existing buildings for several decades. It can be done and it is being done!
“The Cyberthreat Under the Street”
Just when you think you know about the full array of threats/hazards in your area, along comes a new one. Seems to me that emergency managers should have full employment for years to come!
The Cyberthreat Under the Street. Here are some details:
Within the last year there have been 16 so-called fiber cuts in the San Francisco Bay Area. According to the F.B.I., someone or some group has been going through manholes to sever fiber optic cables that supply telecommunications to large sections of the region, which is home to technology companies, academic institutions and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, overseer of the nation’s nuclear weapons.
Following each incident (usually occurring late at night and involving two or three separate fiber cuts) residents couldn’t make land or mobile calls, not even to 911, or send texts or emails. Hospital records in some instances were inaccessible. Credit cards and A.T.M.s didn’t work. And forget about Googling, watching Netflix or remotely turning on a coffee maker. (For security reasons, Lawrence Livermore declined to say how the cuts affected its operations.)
The Political Conflict Over Recent NOAA Report on Climate Change
Congressman demands climate study documents as scientists warn of ‘chilling effect’
A nasty fight between a senior House Republican and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration over a recent climate change study is getting nastier.
The country’s chief society of meteorologists weighed in this week with a letter to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), warning the prominent congressional skeptic on climate change that his demands for internal communications and documents from NOAA “can be viewed as a form of intimidation” that could thwart federally funded research.
Smith, chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, stepped up his pressure on agency Administrator Kathryn Sullivan to divulge its scientists’ internal deliberations, demanding in a letter that she turn over the documents requested in a House subpoena by Friday.
How Volunteers in Iceland Provide Emergency Response
In keeping with my tradition of providing some of the lighter news items over the weekend, here is a compelling and amusing article (16 pp)from the New Yorker magazine titled: Life Is Rescues. Looking for trouble with a national team of emergency-response volunteers.
Iceland is a nation of 300,000 people and 10,000 of them are willing to volunteer to respond to emergencies. No national funding is provided for their support. All of the equipment and food come from donation. Fascinating story, I think.
Recovery Diva 