“We had prepared for an emergency. The emergency we had prepared for was an act of terrorism, not this.” Water is incredibly destructive. “Future Is in Limbo for the Damaged Buildings Close to the Water’s Edge“
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High Tech (and generally free) Tools for Disaster Preparation
Posted on April 15, 2010
Mashable has written a short article outlining some of the many ways that people can take advantage of the technology they already own (computers, smart-phones, etc) to help prepare themselves for natural disasters. Some of the ideas: Using Google My Maps to create evacuation maps (see video below for an intro on how to do […]
Sunday: Scheduled StormSmart Coasts Site Maintenance [UPDATED]
Posted on February 19, 2010
Just a heads-up: we’ve got some exciting work to do on the StormSmart Coasts site. We think you’ll like the results, but in the meantime, we’re going to pull the site down for a few hours Sunday evening (Feb. 21st) and put our robots to work. If you visit then, there’s no telling what you […]
2010 Coastal Resilience Symposium: May 26, Houston [EVENT]
Posted on February 16, 2010
Just announced: the 2010 Coastal Resilience Symposium will be held at Rice University (Houston) on May 26th. From the event’s new webpage: “Hurricane Ike was not the “Big One” for the Houston area, but it gave us a much clearer picture of what we might expect should a large hurricane make landfall to our southwest. […]
COMMENTARY: Seven Years Too Long for Updated Flood Maps
Posted on February 5, 2010
From today’s Press-Register Commentary (here in its entirety): FEMA CONTINUES to neglect coastal Alabama by dawdling on compiling new flood maps. After Hurricane Katrina and later Hurricane Rita devastated coastal Mississippi and Louisiana in 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency made updated flood maps a priority for those states. In the aftermath of historic storm […]
State Farm to Drop 125,000 Policies in Florida
Posted on February 4, 2010
Approximately 125,000 of State Farm’s “most vulnerable customers” in Florida should brace themselves to receive some potentially bad news: their policies with State Farm Insurance are being cancelled. MSNBC and others are reporting that State Farm Florida will be canceling policies for nearly a fifth of its clients, most of them in coastal areas. It […]
FEMA Grants Conference Call—February 5
Posted on January 28, 2010
A friend just passed this announcement our way: The DHS Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives would like to connect you to some of our colleagues in FEMA and share information on specific grant programs to strengthen your resilience against hazards. The call will provide an overview of four programs: Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) […]
State of the Coast Conference June 8-10, Louisiana
Posted on November 9, 2009
From the press release: State of the Coast: Implementing a Sustainable Coast for Louisiana June 8-10, 2010, Baton Rouge, Louisiana The Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and many others have partnered together to host the State of the Coast (SOC) Conference. […]
The Costs of Not Preparing for Climate Change
Posted on September 30, 2009
Even the most conservative project puts sea level rise at 0.5 meter (1.6 feet) higher than current levels. The HRI Socio-Economics Group was asked by the Environmental Defense Fund, with support from the British Consulate General in Houston, to assess what the socio-economic impact might be for the Galveston Bay region of Texas. HRI Endowed […]
Training Opportunity: FEMA 550 – Residential Construction for Gulf Coast Design Professionals
Posted on September 3, 2009
FEMA will be offering its “Recommended Residential Construction for the Gulf Coast Design Professionals” course on September 15, 8:00am – 4:15pm at the Army National Guard Emergency Operations Training Auditorium in Gulfport. Details from the flier: This 1-day course on FEMA 550, Recommended Residential Construction for the Gulf Coast, developed by FEMA is geared to […]