Here is an upbeat article from the Huff Post, December 23 : How New York City Food Trucks Helped Heal Hurricane Sandy Victims . A few excerpts follow:

Connecting the real-time knowledge of City Agencies and FEMA working on the ground, the Mayor’s Fund ultimately funded over 275,000 free hot meals to New Yorkers in the neighborhoods hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy. As many as 32 trucks were dispatched on any given day, serving over 500 meals apiece. Additional food distribution efforts to date, including Thanksgiving meals, exceed 330,000.The impact for families was significant and immediate, as we heard in daily reports and tweets and instagrams and blog posts from the trucks on the ground.”The smile on people’s faces when they get warm food and coffee is priceless,” one said in a Nov 8 report.

The Critical Infrastructure Protection Center at Geo. Mason University has issued its DecemberNewsletter, which features some articles on resilience. The focus of this center is on civil infrastructure, but the observations made by several article authors should be of general interest.

Related to the last posting, here’s a new tack: including requirements for far-reaching implications of the reconstruction efforts post-Sandy into the Congressional appropriations for recovery.  In my view this action seems to be an immediate way to get around the limitations of the enabling legislation, regulations and program requirements of FEMA and other disaster agencies.

Sandy relief bill says rebuilding effort should take into consideration climate-related risks; published 19 December 2012 in Homeland Security Wire.

The $60 billion Sandy relief bill being debated this week in the Senate does not specifically mention the words climate change or global warming, but it implicitly raises topics and themes which are part of the climate change discussion; the bill says that federal, state, and local agencies engaged in the post-Sandy rebuilding effort should take into consideration “future extreme weather events, sea level rise and coastal flooding”

The Senate begins debate this week of the administration request for a $60 billion package in disaster relief funds for states which suffered the wrath of Hurricane Sandy.

Scientists point to Sandy and the damage it left in its wake as disasters we are likely to experience more of as a consequence of climate change, and the Hill notes that the bill, while not specifically mentioning the words climate change or global warming, implicitly raises topics and themes which are part of the climate change discussion.

The bill, for example, urges consideration of the effects of rising sea levels in the rebuilding effort.

The bill says: “In carrying out activities funded by this title that involve repairing, rebuilding, or restoring infrastructure and restoring land, project sponsors shall consider, where appropriate, the increased risks and vulnerabilities associated with future extreme weather events, sea level rise and coastal flooding.”

The bill also says that that federal agencies, in partnership with state and local governments, should seek to ensure that recovery and rebuilding plans “reduce vulnerabilities from and build long-term resiliency to future extreme weather events, sea level rise and coastal flooding.”

Be sure to read the comments, which raise all kinds of new considerations!

In my view, the window of opportunity for dealing with some of the long-range issues connected with sea level rise and climate change was wide open for about 6 weeks after Hurricane Sandy occurred.  As is often the case, the focus of the news media shifts quickly, this time to the terribly sad shootings in Newtown, CT. No mention of H. Sandy victims lately in the media or on the political struggle to obtain Congressional funding for recovery.

In an editorial in the NY Times today, they note:

But with the election over, outside events have now presented Mr. Obama with a series of decisions. Vote counts might suggest that he is still a long way from passing significant legislation on climate change, immigration and gun control. But Hurricane Sandy, last month’s Latino turnout for Democrats and now the Newtown shootings have also given him openings to make new arguments.

Once the glare of the spotlight is off, perhaps some progress will be made. But now other matters also want space in the window.

The Coastal Conundrum. Washington Post, December 17, 2012. The author speaks from years of experience. Some Excerpts:

So, without clear legal authority, without support from state and federal government, without policies that illuminate the path out of this mess toward the future envisioned by pundits, we’ll stay put. We’ll rebuild a little higher, pay more for insurance, speak more often at family gatherings about selling the house at the shore. But we’re in for one more cycle.

Sandy, like Katrina and Andrew, will be one of the storms that came before the storm that changed things in coastal America. Like those earlier storms, it has eroded resistance to change and has shifted thinking. Sandy will not be the game-changer that many have called it, because we are not yet ready to change.

Jersey Shore revolution begins, as FEMA releases new flood maps. Dec. 17, 2012. As noted in the article:

A revolution is likely coming to the New Jersey Shore, and the federal government just fired the first shot.The Federal Emergency Management Agency released advisory flood maps yesterday, which they hope will serve as a guideline for how nearly 200 communities should rebuild stronger after Hurricane Sandy’s devastation. The maps (see below) are the first change to New Jersey’s federal flood maps in more than two decades, and show a coastline far more vulnerable to flooding than previously thought — as Sandy proved in the worst way.FEMA’s message is clear: If you’re going to rebuild, build higher and stronger.

More info from another source: FEMA Flood Maps Include Elevation Increase of One to Five Feet on Average

The Advisory Base Flood Elevations published Saturday morning. FEMA hosted a teleconference Friday to explain the motivation behind the reports.

In an article titled The Dance for Disaster Dough, the author makes an interesting case for creating a Disaster Superfund. The author, Steven Cohen, is Executive Dir. of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

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