The Continuity Professionals Pulse website often reprints postings from this blog.  It is aimed at business continuity specialists, but others may find their articles of interest as well.

From the WashPost: Much has changed since the start of the pandemic. But the nation’s public health system remains fractured

Another discouraging article from the NY Times: The C.D.C. Is Hoping You’ll Figure Covid Out on Your Own

From GovTech: Last Year’s ‘Relentless’ Disasters Challenged Fed Response
In his first year in office, President Biden has found that the nation’s aging infrastructure and pressures from a changing climate are putting new demands on the federal government, officials say.

From Politico: California continues to face wildfire risks. Insurers think they have an answer.

From AP News: Climate change, new construction mean more ruinous fires

At the present time, massive wildfires are raging in Colorado. From the NYTimes: How to Prepare for and Evacuate from Wildfires.

From the American Society of Civil Engineers, Wind Hazard Damage Assessment Group:

The StEER report on timpacts from 10 December 2021 tornado outbreak and accompanying media repository can be accessed below.

1. Washington Post Guest Essay:  Prevatt (2021) “We can build houses to survive tornadoes like Kentucky suffered.  We just haven’t.” Washington Post December 27, 2021: https://wapo.st/3eBPiMR

As wind engineers you may be also interested to review some of the comments from over 280 letter writers in response to this piece – indicating the public (or many among the public) are painfully aware of what can be done to mitigate tornado losses

3. NPR All Things Considered Interview: Civil engineers says buildings will need to prepare for stronger storms,” Audie Cornish: https://n.pr/3JpzBXw
4. ASCE has generously compiled many of the important publications that has given many in the natural hazards research hope that perennial problems of catastrophic destruction of houses and other buildings by tornadoes can be eliminated: https://ascelibrary.org/tornado These publications are freely available for access and download through 28 February 2022.

In the wake of the December 2021 Midwest tornado outbreak and the resulting near 100 fatalities and extensive property loss I wish that you and your families reflect upon those lives disrupted and the long road many now are facing to rebuild the affected communities.  Nevertheless, I am hopeful that change is upon us, and buoyed by the contributions of almost 50 researchers, students, structural engineers in and out of government and others who came together to extract some good from this event, in the hope that one day it can be avoided.

[Thanks to Chris Jones for this info.]

From Politico: Omicron triggers business outcry for Washington lifeline. The lobbying push poses a new challenge for the Biden administration and congressional leadership heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

What follows is a guest posting from Mr. Ian McLean, a retired public official in NZ.  Comments from readers are invited.

A significant strategic issue emerging from the pandemic seems to me to be this: In almost every country, the Covid pandemic required management skills and capacity beyond those available in ‘business as usual’ within the government structure.

Existing structures were severely challenged in most countries, but skills and capacity were developed to deal with the pandemic. These skills will decay in time, with an expected half life significantly less than the expected return period of another pandemic based on historical events. Unless deliberate action is taken, in the next pandemic governments will again have to again re-invent structures to manage it.

Despite many skills required by the pandemic being substantially technical in nature and related to the disease and its impact, substantial management and administrative skills are not health-specific. These include decisive decision making, rapid expansion of organizational capacity, fast development of new logistics systems, and mobilization of assistance from external agencies both within government and in civil society.

These skills are available to a considerable extent in government agencies including the military, first responder emergency services, and civil defence/emergency management. But they are not otherwise required or available as core skills in government agencies in NZ and many other countries, – especially in those agencies whose focus is planning and administration. Where the prime task of a government entity is planning or monitoring other entities, the ability to take action taken quickly and effectively is not a key attribute in recruitment of staff. Good planners, even superb planners, are not necessarily effective managers.

In NZ, both the military and police are playing a vital role in assisting the management of the Covid pandemic. But neither is equipped by culture and training for the core role of managing the government response. The military are neither trained nor skilled in the breadth and depth of interaction with civil society  and the population that is required with  a pandemic like Covid (although they have done very well during Covid, as in major natural disasters). The police do not have the logistics capacity and skills for a major operation of this kind, nor the required linkages with the cooperating agencies in civil society.

An important aspect is the coordination of the various government agencies involved in managing a pandemic. In NZ the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is the obvious candidate to undertake logistics and similar non-technical functions during a pandemic. It would need to be strengthened and redirected towards operational rather than planning priorities in order to do this.

The advantages of such an an arrangement are threefold:

1. Learnings from the management of the pandemic would be preserved and kept fresh in an agency focused on emergencies
2. The management of other emergencies would learn from the experience of managing the pandemic
3. Strengthening NEMA’s role in pandemics would make it stronger to deal with other emergencies.

Similar integration of non-technical aspects of the pandemic management with emergency management may well be worth considering in other countries.

From the Wash Post: We can build homes to survive tornadoes like Kentucky suffered. We just haven’t. The housing industry and politicians have resisted changes that could save lives