From the Homeland Security Digital Library, Superstorm Sandy: Preliminary Response & Recovery Report. This report is from a bipartisan legislative task force. It is in addition to the 3 executive commissions set up by Governor Cuomo. Note that a short summary of the recommendations from those 3 reports is included in this report.
The direct URL for the full text, 32 page version of the report: NY State Bipartisan Task Force on Hurricane Sandy (Feb. 2012)
Climate Change And The Blizzard: Nor’easters More Fierce With Global Warming, Scientists Say ; Feb. 9, 2013.
Despite the title, scientists really do not know for sure. But the explanation of weather science and the chart of storms in the northeast are interesting, I think.
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.
From the Boston Globe, On Feb. 7 – Bloomberg outlines plan for 1st billion dollars in Sandy aid. Finally, some details about recovery spending plans. And what I find notable is the first mention of Sec. Shawn Donovan, who has been given the lead for recovery. Some excerpts:
New York City plans to spend its first $1 billion in federal funding for Hurricane Sandy recovery on loans and grants to homeowners and businesses affected by the storm, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced Wednesday morning. It will also go toward efforts to protect public housing and critical infrastructure from future storms.
The money will come from a $51 billion disaster relief package that will be distributed to New York, New Jersey, and other affected areas. The first installment for the city will total $1.77 billion; in his presentation on Wednesday, Bloomberg did not say how he would use about $725 million of that initial payment.
N.Y. state Governor offers a courageous recovery effort that features a major buy out: see Cuomo Seeking Home Buyouts in Flood Zones; Feb. 4. This is an example of a sensible and courageous recovery plan component. Some additional details are in this article, dated Feb. 7.
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.
The U.S. isn’t the only country not coping well with long-term recovery from a major disaster. Japan is having its problems too. There is no question that effective and efficient recovery is very hard to do. See Reconstruction Agency under reform a year on. Some excerpts from the article:
Plagued by administrative disorganization, the Reconstruction Agency is revamping itself to accelerate recovery from the March 2011 disasters, ahead of the first anniversary of its launch Sunday. Designed to oversee the rebuilding of areas devastated by the massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident, the agency was expected to guide related government agencies.
In reality, however, progress has been slow in housing reconstruction and decontamination of radiation-polluted areas.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has made postdisaster reconstruction a priority, along with economic revival, plans to improve coordination within the agency to better effect policies. “The agency will be revamped drastically with the vertically divided administration eliminated,” Abe said.
According to a colleague who has visited Japan, Given the scope of spatial area and many small cities the capacity issue is not surprising. There is a real need to support the urban planning function with more than physical planning. The need to put projects in the ground requires more than graphics. It requires collective effort of multiple stakeholders.
One more article on the problems of the Reconstruction Agency. Feb. 7.
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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REMINDER: The Diva needs your financial support for this blog. Please consider donating via Pay Pal ( upper right-hand corner of the homepage) or by check (address is on the About page.)
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.
This is my 600th posting for this blog, which I have maintained for almost 4 years. At this point I am at an impasse. I had some early start-up funding, but for more than 3 years I have maintained this blog by myself and at my own expense. To continue bringing you cutting edge information on critical disaster and recovery activities, I need some staff in order to more efficiently and effectively gather and present content, and also financial support to make needed enhancements.
I would like to be able to do summary analyses of past blogs and synthesize the information by topic. And I would like to build a companion knowledge base of recent information about various aspects of recovery. I need some staff and some help from an information technology guru. Plus, I would like to add more information about business recovery.
Over the past few months I met several subscribers of the blog, who expressed their thanks for the breadth and depth of material that can be found on the blog, while others appreciated all of the recent coverage about Hurricane Sandy. But, in order to continue bringing you this material, the Diva needs your support..
I can think of three options for support:
I ‘d like to hear back from readers to determine your interest, recommendations, and willingness to help.
Note: for those who asked, I will be able to work through an existing 501.C.3 organization.
Offline Email: <claire…at…disasterbookstore.com>
Former New Orleans mayor indicted on federal corruption charges, CNN, Jan. 18, 2013.
Some additional details, Jan. 19, 2013.
Recovery Diva 