Include Climate Change in Disaster Planning, FEMA Says.
Federal funds that help communities brace for emergencies will stop being provided to states if they ignore threats posed by climate change in their disaster planning.
Newly issued guidance on mitigation from FEMA.
From the NYT on March 13, FEMA to Review All H. Sandy Flood Claims.
As noted by reader, James Fossett:
* * * this story from the New York Times which reports on an on-going dispute where it’s been alleged that engineering reports of flood damage were doctored to minimize federal flood insurance payouts. While disputes over what’s flood damage and what’s not seem endemic to recovery programs—they crop up in FEMA’s Public Assistance program as well—the fact that they’re still going on more than two years after Sandy doesn’t speak well for our ability to manage the recovery process.
See comments below.
Update on March 16: As many as 147,000 claims have to be reviewed!
In both the U.S. an Canada, a spate of recent accidents/disasters have raised questions about the transport of oil by rail. See: Spate of Oil Train Derailments Raising New Alarms About Safety.
And also this editorial in the NYTimes: Dangerous Trains, Aging Rails.
It has been 4 years since the trifecta of disasters in Japan. Here are some photos of Japan’s Disaster Recovery.
Update: And here is a narrative account from the Japan Times.
Thanks to Franklin McDonald for points out this URL.
Dan Aldrich sent me this link to his paper (36 pp), written for the World Bank. It is about recovery experience in Japan.
Abstract: This project draws on multiple constructs, including elder empowerment, community bonding, social capital, and community resilience. Using qualitative and quantitative data we argue that: (1) Empowering elders changes the way they feel about their role in their community (2) Creating the Ibasho Café (both physical and social infrastructures) with elders in a leadership role increases the community bonding among the members of all ages (3) A strong sense of community bonding increases the level of social network and community participation, enhancing the sense of belonging and trust, and developing reciprocity between neighbors (4) An enhanced sense of social capital strengthens the community’s resilience so it is better prepared to withstand future natural disasters and the impacts of global aging
Full paper is available at http://works.bepress.com/daniel_aldrich/28/
Knowing how long and difficult the recovery process can be, it is always nice to get some positive news about a recovery experience. See: Quakes Spark Industrial Evolution in Christchurch.
Thanks to John Coleman for this link.
From the HSDL a nice writeup on a recent CRS report that I did not see; namely, Major Disaster Assistance from the Disaster Relief Fund: State Profiles.
Note that CRS reports are not made public, so it is tricky finding out the new titles and then obtaining them. Both the HSDL and the Federal of American Scientists (FAS.org) do make the CRS reports public when people supply them with copies.
Press Release and full report titled Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015. The full report is 316 pages, but there is a “pocket version” that is 28 pages. Some details from the press release:
The fourth edition of the United Nations Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) is a resource for understanding and analyzing global disaster risk today and in the future. The report explores the large potential losses from disasters currently face by many countries – especially those which can least afford to invest in future resilience and the cost and benefits of disaster risk management (DRM). It emphasizes as well the close link between disaster risk and sustainable development and explores prospective, corrective and compensatory risk management approaches as a way to integrate it in development activities, in order to avoid risk generation and accumulation. The report aims to promote the integration of Disaster Risk Management into development by raising the awareness that managing risks cost less than managing disasters.
The GAR series has compiled and analyzed data and information on disaster risk patterns and trends, government self-assessment of progress, and critical challenges to disaster risk reduction since 2009. GAR09, provided evidence that disaster risk is disproportionately concentrated in lower-income countries with weak governance
Excerpts from new book by Naomi Klein.
The Guardian is embarking on a major series of articles on the climate crisis and how humanity can solve it. In the first, an extract taken from the Introduction to THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING by Naomi Klein, the author argues that if we treat climate change as the crisis it is, we don’t just have the potential to avert disaster but could improve society in the process,
Her earlier book (2007) was Shock Doctrine, which dealt with disasters and how capitalists benefit from them.
Recovery Diva 