New 20-page report on drought from the Congressional Research Service. Thanks to Bill Cumming for the link.
See analysis by Eric Holdeman in his blog too.
New Report on Drought from CRS
Reply
Update on the Recovery Process in Christchurch, NZ
As was noted in the articles about the H. Sandy recovery proceeding far more slowly than most would like, the same thing is true in Christchurch.
Thanks to Ian McLean of New Zealand for this link to an updated account of the recovery process in Christchurch. Although the article is based heavily on an interview with the former mayor, Bob Parker, Ian noted that much of what Parker had recommended to city officials was not mentioned and that 10 of his recommendations were never acted upon.
Lack of Progress in Rebuilding Post Sandy
Here are three recent articles about how slowly the recovery is proceeding in NYC. And of course NJ is having its own set of problems rebuilding. Here are two takes on the NYC situation:
(1) City is slacking on Hurricane Sandy aid for homeowners: report
Of the 19,920 people who applied for the Build It Back program, none have seen construction work start and only 110 had signed a deal on aid as of last month, according to data analyzed by the Alliance for a Just Rebuilding.
(2) Build It Back Has ‘to Do Better’ at Releasing Sandy Funds, Mayor Says
And here is an account of the problems in NJ:
Gov. Christie Blames Slow Sandy Recovery on Federal Governmentg
Rethinking Disaster Aid
A pending proposal explained by Congressional Quarterly on March 4, 2014
With federal disaster aid squeezed by federal spending limits, a bipartisan push has emerged to offer a new type of tax-exempt savings account to help families finance more of their own disaster preparation and recovery costs. Sens. James M. Inhofe, R-Okla., and Mark Begich, D-Alaska, are leading the drive for a bill (S 1991) to allow families to make deductible contributions of up to $5,000 annually to disaster savings accounts to help pay for needs and rebuilding after tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and other disasters. A companion bill (HR 3989) is being offered in the House by Reps. Dennis A. Ross, R-Fla., and Mike McIntyre, D-N.C.
S 1991 – A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow individuals a deduction for amounts contributed to disaster savings accounts to help defray the cost of preparing their homes to withstand a disaster and to repair or replace property damaged or destroyed in a disaster.
HR 3989 – A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow individuals a deduction for amounts contributed to disaster savings accounts to help defray the cost of preparing their homes to withstand a disaster and to repair or replace property damaged or destroyed in a disaster.
My personal take on this is that the idea sounds good intellectually; but practically, I doubt that many individuals or organizations would actually put money aside for future events.
CA drought- two dramatic photos
Amazing before and after pictures of a lake in CA.
National Preparedness Toolkit
After a week of personal practice with resilience and recovery, the Diva is back in action. Almost back to normal. e.
From the Homeland Security Digital Library, this reference to a potentially useful site. See National Preparedness Toolkit.
NIST Resilience Workshops
NIST has convened a series of workshops engaging a broad network of stakeholders to help develop the Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems (Guide), with a focus on the role that buildings and infrastructure play in ensuring community resilience.
These workshops were held to support the continuing development of the Guide. The first workshop was held on April 7, 2014 at the NIST Gaithersburg, MD campus. Following workshops were held at locations throughout the country to engage a broad range of stakeholders and their experiences.
After receiving feedback from stakeholders NIST has released Volume I and II of the Guide.
The Community Resilience Planning Guides and related materials are available from https://www.nist.gov/el/resilience/community-resilience-planning-guides
Environmental Impacts of Disasters
News from Charles Kelly, with the AON Benfield UCL Hazard Centre in the U.K. He noted this new 15 page paper — Working Paper 29: Strategic Environmental Impact Assessments and Disasters: Building Back Smarter, by C. Kelly, He notes that some of the other titles in this series of disaster studies and management working papers may also be of interest, if you haven’t come across them before. All are free to download.
Another Blog May Be of Interest
I just got a note from British researcher John Twigg, who writes a blog on Disaster Risk Reduction. Readers might want to check out his blog, in which he comments on matters related to recovery.
Hurricane Sandy Recovery Revisited
Here are three new perspectives on the H. Sandy recovery process. The first is from a blog called Politics of the Environment; Discussing Environmental Public Policy and the article is Your Tax Dollars At Work or Not. I believe the author was a member of the H. Sandy Rebuilding Task Force. Here is an excerpt:
I would like to be be discussing the progressive and forward thinking approach to rebuilding that New Jersey has taken in the aftermath of Sandy. But I can’t. I would like to describe the intelligent and measured plan to spend the billions of dollars in federal Sandy aid that has poured into the state. But I can’t. I would like to list the dozens of coordinated programs designed to re-shape the future of New Jersey as a place where vulnerability to future storms and the effects of climate change on a coastal state are being adequately addressed. But I can’t. I would like to say that in response to Sandy’s destruction New Jersey is fundamentally re-assessing how and where we occupy vulnerable areas of the coast. But I can’t. What I can say is that something has gone wrong, very wrong, with the state’s handling of Sandy recovery.
The second is a cool, neutral review of the process from the Congressional Research Service. See Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy; In Brief. One of the key points made in this report is the need to determine if the recovery task force mechanism is necessary and successful.
The third, available from NJ.com on Feb. 20th, is titled Sandy Aid Went to Projects Far from the Storm.
Recovery Diva 