I do not know the details or the politics of the situation, but given the number of sizable disasters in Canada this past year this decision seems short sighted to me. See: Canadian disaster research institute closes after funding cut; The University of Manitoba has closed its Disaster Research Institute because it no longer has funding. It has studied floods, forest fires and storms.
I would be interested in hearing from some of my Canadian readers on this matter.
In today’s Washington Post there is a compelling article titled West Coast Girds for Record Forest Fires. Whatever the causes of the drought may be, the implications for fire fighting are significant and wide ranging. Some excerpts follow:
Across the Western United States, officials tasked with fighting forest fires worry that a confluence of factors, including climate change and human development, are conspiring to create conditions ripe for a landmark fire year. That would mean hotter fires that burn longer and threaten more homes, sapping already-strained budgets and putting at risk the lives of thousands of firefighters. * * *
The consequences of climate change encourage wildfires in three ways, firefighters and policymakers say. First, even modest rises in temperatures change forest ecologies and allow invasive species to take root. Second, changing weather patterns can stem much-needed precipitation. And third, global warming is extending the fire season. * * *
In parts of California, the cost of defending a single home can run as high as $600,000 — far more than many of the homes are actually worth. And while homeowners are able to get out before a fire sweeps over them, the firefighters who have to defend those homes wade into danger.
A truly scary article comes from the National Geographic. It is titled Could California’s Drought Last 200 Years? Clues from the past suggest the ocean’s temperature may be a driver.
As I noted a few days ago, there was a Senate hearing this week on extreme weather events. According to an article based on the testimony of an international reinsurance executive:
The United States faces a “resilience gap” with the potential to disrupt the American economy with long-term consequences, an insurance firm official, who also urged Congress to prioritize investments in resilience over disaster response, told a Senate panel Feb. 12.
“Should resilience be prioritized over other disaster response costs? Absolutely,” said Lindene Patton, chief climate product officer for Zurich Financial Services. She testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Thanks for Bill Cumming for this URL
Personally, I am not so much convinced about this new “gap” as I am interested in her perspective as an insurance executive in a major reinsurance co.
One of my readers shared this limerick. It was written by an experienced hand working on a recovery project, so I think many of you will relate quite well.
Post Disaster Indecision
Drowning in data and indecision,
endless calls and plan revisions.
Frustrating for sure,
and there is no cure,
at least that I can now envision.
______________________________________________________
Although the author of the above chose to be anonymous, he did encourage the Diva to try a limerick. The Diva is a recovering limerick writer, but she just had a relapse!
Musings from the Recovery Diva
There once was a diva named Claire
who thought recovery a topic in disrepair.
She boldly set forth on the web
to deal with the topic many dread.
So, don’t despair but seek to repair!
Feel free to offer your own limerick, if you are so inclined!
Just in case people might thing extreme weather is something that happens to others, here in the metro Washington, DC area we are getting a major slow/sleet/ice storm right now. Mid-morning from the Wash Post, this account of our extreme weather event. Plus more wicked weather is coming in the next 24 hours.
This is cute, local nickname for the storm is Snochi! And the new motto for DC: “Keep Calm and Cancel Everything.”
Last I heard, 22 states — from Louisiana to Maine — are under winter advisories. And about 1/3 of the population of the country is affected.
I would not call it catastrophic, however. Some many activities have been called off, there is virtually no traffic and most people are staying in as told — as far as I can tell from local news.
“Widespread and extended power outages are likely as ice accumulates on trees and power lines and brings them down,” the warning says. “Please prepare to be without power in some locations for days and perhaps as long as a week.”
FEMA is “leaning forward” for this storm and a couple of states declared an emergency before the storm hit. See: FEMA Closely Coordinates with States in Path of Major Winter Storm; Residents Urged to Prepare and Stay Informed. FEMA said:
Leave it to the Wall St. Journal to examine the Economics of Snow. Here is the lead in to the article:
Economic research looking at weather shows that extreme cold can increase mortality, reduce spending on food among the poor, increase spending on food among the rich and boost sales of sport-utility vehicles. Parents can rest easy: school snow days don’t have much impact on educational achievement.
Preparing for Disaster by Betting Against It. An excerpt:
Not for the first time in New York City, necessity has bred an interesting kind of financial invention. In the wake of Sandy, the M.T.A. worked with the First Mutual Transportation Assurance Company (F.M.T.A.C.), its “captive” (or in-house) insurer to obtain reinsurance — that is, insurance for the insurer — by issuing the world’s first “catastrophe” bond designed specifically to protect against storm surge. With extreme weather becoming routine and public resources stretched thin, governments across the world — particularly at the local (and sea) level — are taking note.
It seems ironic that the hearing is the very day that a supposedly catastrophic show and ice storm is headed up the east coast. The hearing was titled: Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing titled “Extreme Weather Events: The Costs of Not Being Prepared
Press Release: Geospatial Website Provides Ongoing Awareness of Natural Hazards. A new website from the Department of the Interior provides online maps containing the latest available information on earthquakes, earthquake shakemaps, streamflow data and floods, volcanoes and wildfires, as well as information on severe weather hazards.
The Verification Handbook; An Ultimate Guideline on Digital Age Sourcing for Emergency Coverage. Published by the European Journalism Center in the Netherlands.
The Verification Handbook is a groundbreaking new resource for journalists and aid responders, which provides step-by-step guidelines for using user-generated content (UGC) during emergencies.
In a crisis situation, social networks are overloaded with situational updates, calls for relief, reports of new developments, and rescue information. Reporting the right information is often critical in shaping responses from the public and relief workers; it can literally be a matter of life or death.
The Handbook prescribes best practice advice on how to verify and use this information provided by the crowd, as well as actionable advice to facilitate disaster preparedness in news rooms.
While it primarily targets journalists and aid providers, the Handbook can be used by anyone. It’s advice and guidance are valuable whether you are a news journalist, citizen reporter, relief responder, volunteer.
This 112 page document is available in several electronic forms.
Christchurch, NZ experienced two major earthquakes in Sept. of 2010 and in Feb. of 2011 as well as thousands of aftershocks since then. Details of the many quakes are here. Here is a personal account of the recovery from an experienced U.S. disaster professional who was visiting in Christchurch this past month. She shared her observations with the Diva, but prefers to remain anonymous.
___________________________________________________________
Christchurch was very interesting, but heartbreaking. From what I heard from talking to residents and even tourists from England, most are disappointed in the Recovery. Some say it’s too slow, some want it back how it was, and others say there is a shortage of construction workers, as Australia pays more, and NZ cost of living makes it hard to live there.
From speaking to people on the street, they become tearful of what used to be. They don’t like the “big glass boxes” that are replacing the damaged buildings.
I did go by the Office of Emergency Management, and spoke with one of the Team Leads and one who is in charge of “welfare”, but of course, not the meaning we use for welfare. They’d like that terminology changed. They can’t rebuild the old stone and cement buildings, no matter how beautiful they were. I’m sure you know this, but they said they didn’t even know there was a fault or the liquefaction in the geology of the area.
Emergency Management is trying to make it a “happier place”. They have built a temporary shopping area in the City Centre out of train containers, where there is not only shopping, but events and concerts.
The Museum offers bus tours of the damage, and there is something called “Quake City”, I suppose a simulation and information on what it is like to have experienced the earthquake. I did not take the tours, nor go to the display. I saw enough damage just driving through. I suppose I’m a little odd in that I don’t take pictures of disasters. Somehow it feels intrusive.
Their biggest project now is infrastructure. The whole sewer system needs to be replaced before much building can continue. Roads in the city are a mess. I got the feeling at the temporary building of the Office of Emergency Management of frustration. However, their priorities seem to be for social and crisis issues, and infrastructure. That may be because that is whom I spoke with. They work with the different Ministries, probably as we do with our Recovery Support Functions.
I was surprised, no validation of who I was, no security guards, offered a cup of tea and a chair to sit and chat. What a different culture! We discussed the differences in our countries. Their law enforcement doesn’t even carry guns, and need permission to use them. No school shootings, very little violence, but of course, worries about the instability of the island, earthquakes, tsunami’s, and volcanoes.
I didn’t see anything about the Mayor-Elect at all. In fact, I didn’t see much about politics. What a relief that has been.
I’m sure you know more than I, but it was an interesting first hand experience. If there is anything else I can answer for you, or I think of something, I will pass it on. Did I tell you they loved our expression “The new normal”, and are going to use it? Funny, how things get started.
Recovery Diva 