The Christian Science Monitor published a promising article on Feb. 10, with the title:  Blizzard 2013 storm prep sharpened by experience in Katrina and Sandy. The article noted that:

Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, American storm response has changed dramatically. The blizzard that swept across nine states in the Northeast US this weekend in many ways showed how.

The author ( a staff writer) makes a number of generalizations about learning from past disasters, but cites no sources or specific reasons. I would not call this great journalism and certainly not competent scholarship.  The topic is one that I hope some more skillful researchers and writers will tackle.

Related articles

• VIDEO: Watch the historic blizzard form (wtvr.com)
• Blizzard 2013 storm prep sharpened by experience in Katrina and Sandy (csmonitor.com)

As you might expect from the Congressional Research Service, here is a thorough analysis of the current needs and problems. See The National Flood Insurance Program: Status and Remaining Issues for Congress; CRS report, Feb. 6.

As noted earlier, the chronic problems with the National Flood Insurance Program have complicated the recovery from H. Sandy. The details are in this 44 page report.

Thanks to Bill Cumming for this citation.

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On a related topic, that of the NFIP flood maps, see FEMA Flood Zone Maps Make Case for Climate Resiliency; Jan. 31, 2013.
Thoughtful article from the Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media.

Thanks to Chris Jones for bringing this article to my attention.

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One more related article, thanks to Chris:  Climate Change Impacts Absent from FEMA’s Redrawn NYC Flood Maps;
Scientists argue new FEMA flood maps may be too conservative because they don’t consider future sea level rise, with implications for Sandy rebuilding.

Over the past year, I have mounted more than 600 postings, all of which have key word tags. If you are interested in some past information about a given topic, you can use the Search box in the right-hand column at the bottom of the homepage to find it by entering a descriptor term.

We have had lights, cameras, but no action on long term recovery.

As we approach month 5 since Hurricane Sandy devastated large areas of coastal communities in N.Y. and N.J., there is surprising little news about FEMA’s strategy for facilitating recovery or the new role and functions of the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.The news media have not been providing coverage to this topic.  And the two agencies named have been very quiet. If any of our readers have information, I would be glad to hear from them.

In my view, recovery has long been the neglected phase of emergency management, and most of the limited knowledge about long-term recovery in the U.S. that exists resides with the research and academic communities.  To my knowledge those communities have not been asked for advice and assistance by either FEMA or HUD.  Again, if you have information to the contrary please let me know.

Back in early November, 2012, I wrote a posting titled: Recovery Planning for NY and NJ, Some Ideas.  I think most of those suggestions are still valid and should be considered.  But time is wasting…….

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The Diva is back! Thanks to those of you who expressed your willingness to help me keep the blog going.  Since this is a very small operation, it is easiest for me if you use the SUPPORT US button in the upper right hand corner to voluntarily offer support via the Pay Pal option. (I do not have the ability to maintain a subscriber system.)  Pay Pal will take various credit cards or you are welcome to mail a check to the address on the About page.  And you will get an email receipt for your donation.  Please contribute so I can recruit a helper and improve the range and content of this blog. Thanks.

SUPPLY CHAIN:  Last week the Diva attended the two-day exercise on Local Supply Chain Capacity in a Crisis, held in Arlington County, VA.  It was an excellent event and a verbatim transcript is being prepared.  When it is available, I will do a posting about it.

HURRICANE SANDY: Interesting article about long-term considerations from the scientific community’s perspective.

In the current issue of Emergency Management magazine (Jan./Feb.2012) there are several interesting articles on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Both the hard copy and online versions are available at no cost.  See especially the editorial titled Lessons From Sandy. on page 10.

RESILIENCE: Interesting op-ed article in the NYTimes on Feb. 5th titled Forget sustainability; It’s About Resilience.