The American Planning Association has released a short interview with Ed Thomas and Alessandra Jerolleman (both from the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association) on the best way for communities to recover quickly and safely from a major storm, flood, etc. Their work is the foundation of our (largely in development) After the Storm section.
You can listen to... »read more
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The Latest on Post-Disaster Recovery [audio]
The American Planning Association has released a short interview with Ed Thomas and Alessandra Jerolleman (both from the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association) on the best way for communities to recover quickly and safely from a major storm, flood, etc. Their work is the foundation of our (largely in development) After the Storm section.
You can listen to... »read more
How Easy Can Freeboard for an Existing Structure Be?
Pretty easy.
A freeboard success story from FEMA:
Gail Cunningham Coen of Westport wishes that people would realize how easy it is to elevate your flood-prone house, especially when the Long Island Sound is just feet from your front door. “We didn’t even take the pictures off the wall,” Coen said, referring to the elevation of her home in 1994.... »read more
City Folds Climate Change Adaptation into Hazard Mitigation Plan
“Hazard mitigation is very important and there’s a lot of value in looking at past events, but we know with climate change that we can’t use the past to project what the future will be like. For example, the flood that a community used to experience every 100 years may now be the 20-year flood.”
Nice Coastal Services Magazine article on Lewes,... »read more
Video from Last Week’s Wind Retrofit Webinar
The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety has released a video of their webinar last week, "IBHS Fortified for Existing Homes and FEMA’s Wind Retrofit Guide."
The webinar covered the joint engineering guidance provided by the IBHS FORTIFIED for Existing Homes program and FEMA’s Wind Retrofit Guide, both of which were introduced in 2010 with... »read more
San Francisco Bay Adopts Climate Change Regulations
The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission has voted unanimously to pass a development plan for land within 100 feet of the bay's coastline. The plan—which requires that decisions about land use in the area consider factors including the latest climate science and the importance of wetland restoration—gives the agency a tool to deny... »read more
FEMA Releases Updated Coastal Construction Manual
FEMA has updated their bible on construction in coastal areas, the Coastal Construction Manual. Like the bible, it's no pamphlet: this version comes in at 253 pages and a hefty 33MB. But if you're involved in any sort of construction in coastal areas (including deciding where it should happen), you already know that you need it anyway. You can find a little... »read more
What’s the Relationship Between Climate Change and Extreme Weather?
Some scientists give us the rundown:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmJfsjYfVNU
(From Climate... »read more
What Do People Know About Flood Risk and How Do They Want to Learn More?
Most of the general public (69%) doesn’t believe that they are at risk of flooding, though most (68%) local official know many are wrong to feel so safe. The public wants to hear about flood risk from municipal/county officials (47% want the mayor, 32% the floodplain manager)—unfortunately, nearly half (45%) report that they “never” do.... »read more
FEMA Releases First Edition of the National Preparedness Goal
From a FEMA press-release:
We are pleased to announce the release of the first edition of the National Preparedness Goal, which is available for download at http://www.fema.gov/PPD8. The National Preparedness Goal is the first deliverable called for by Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 8 and was signed by the Secretary of Homeland Security on September... »read more
The Dutch, Showing the World Up Again
Leave it to the Dutch to come up with a huge plan for dealing with flooding and to implement it AND to make a pretty flashy video about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roGzkCMyR0g&eurl
You can read about the project in English on the Dutch Room for the River Programme's... »read more
