From HSToday:

FEMA Lays Foundation for Strategic Plan: Engages Stakeholders and Initiates Efforts to Instill Equity, Increase Resilience and Readiness Posture

FEMA simplified its Individual Assistance application process, leading to over 100,000 survivors receiving assistance who would have previously been ineligible.

New GAO Report on Emergency Relief Funds: Significant Improvements Are Needed to Address Fraud and Improper Payments. GAO-23-106556

From HSToday:

America’s First Responders Give NIST Their Communications Tech Wish Lists

Public safety communications technology should be trustworthy, be controllable and reduce user frustration.

From the Johns Hopkins Univ. (2022), conference report titled Post-Pandemic Recovery: https://media.licdn.com/dms/document/C561FAQHLEq1Ekve1hw/feedshare-document-pdf-analyzed/0/1673626158844?e=1675900800&v=beta&t=7x7la0gQfulj-doR6xQ-Bz1G_atcNu6OKZodggbBsqw

This is a very thoughtful and well-written report. I highly recommend it.

Upcoming Conference: International Recovery Forum 2023: Building Back Better and Long-term Recovery Outcomes: Aspirations for a Resilient, Sustainable Future

From the Guardian, ‘Inside we are all struggling’: storm-bruised California begins recovery. Extensive discussion of the aftermath of the many storms.

From HStoday: Out of State Recovery Experts Arrive in CA to Assist With Winter Storm Impacts.  This assistance is thanks to the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), which is a nationally recognized mutual-aid system.

From the Guardian.com: Children of the storm: can a climate disaster hurt the unborn in the womb? Study suggests children who were in the womb during Superstorm Sandy are more likely to have behavior disorders

From the WashPost: Atmospheric Rivers Won/t End CA Drought.

Research shows how climate change reduces snow packs and how extreme spring temperatures lead to drier summers.

From the Guardian:California’s rainstorm hell ‘among the most deadly disasters in our history’ More details on the impacts.