From the Guardian: US invokes emergency powers after cyber-attack on fuel pipeline. Scramble to avoid shortages after Colonial Pipeline targeted in attack on US infrastructure

New GAO Report: Disaster Recovery: HUD Should Take Additional Action to Assess Community Development Block Grant Fraud Risks

New CRS Report ( 3 pp.): Biden Administration Proposes New Civilian Climate Corps

From the Union of Concerned Scientists: Deanne Criswell as the new FEMA Administrator: Here’s What she Brings to the Agency and the Challenges she’ll Face.

Article features interview with Craig Fugate re new FEMA Administrator. New emphasis on climate change provided.

Homes in Floodplains Are Overvalued by Nearly $44 Billion.

Analysis of sales data and flood risk data over two decades indicates that housing markets fail to fully account for information about flood risk. The findings suggest that policies to improve risk communication could influence market outcomes.

From the WashPost: ‘ASSISTANCE NOT APPROVED’
“Her home still wrecked months after a freak storm, an Iowa woman’s FEMA ordeal presages the turmoil ahead as climate disasters worsen.”

[Be sure to read the comments from some folks who have practical experience.]

From HSNW: Pandemic Response Lessons from Past Emergencies Could Improve the Pandemic Response.

“The lack of accountability, poor communication and insufficient planning plaguing the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic — especially in its early months — have roots in how the nation responded to 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the H1N1 swine flu, a new study finds.”

From GovExec: With Hurricane Season Looming, FEMA Aims to Stave Off Burnout After ‘Tiresome’ Year. Some offices are at 10% capacity due to widespread deployments, leaving few employees behind to prepare for upcoming storms.

From the WashPost: As Covid relief money floods in, pandemic-battered cities see a chance to transform..
“Researchers who study American cities say leaders are right to think big and creatively, once they’ve filled the gaps created by the pandemic. The influx of money as part of Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is unlike any that cities have seen in decades, with relatively few restrictions attached to its use.”

From FederalNewsNetwork: Lawmakers ask FEMA how to avoid future communication breakdowns during disasters.

“Right now, FEMA is dealing with 960 declared disasters around the country – at least one in every state – and not all of them are COVID-19 related. Of the agency’s 52 federal coordinating officers for disaster management, only one is not currently assigned to a disaster.

Aside from the pandemic – FEMA is helping with an influx of migrants at the southern border, prepping for wildfire and hurricane seasons, and responding to damage from severe winter storms across the middle of the country. However, it was COVID-19 specifically that highlighted weaknesses in the chain of command. A report released in January said that neither FEMA nor the Department of Health and Human Services understood the domestic supply chain at the beginning of this response.”