“The federal government is a support role. So if you think FEMA responds to disasters or that we’re in charge, first of all, we’re never in charge, we’re always in support, and and we work for a lot of different folks.”

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate delivers a great TED talk on the federal role in disasters, what we’re doing wrong when we respond to them (most of the problem being how we think about disasters and the people caught up in them), and how we might/must use social media to meet our goals, even if our goals are to get a little more sleep. Check out the video below.

The State University System of Florida has released Climate Scenarios: A Florida-Centric View, a serious look at what future climate conditions might mean for the sunshine state. From the intro:

The purpose of this document is to provide an informed opinion on future climate scenarios relevant to Florida. It offers a primer on Florida’s vulnerabilities to climate variability and change. The document is an excellent compilation of diverse viewpoints on future climate projection. It implores the readers to be cognizant of the associated uncertainty but not to use that as an excuse for inaction in climate adaptation and mitigation.

Experts in diverse fields employed in institutions across Florida have contributed to this document and provided candid and informed assessments of future climate variation and change. The uniqueness of this document is that it broadens the discussion of a rather restrictive sounding title like “climate scenarios” to involve experts in sociology, environmental law, and economics, in addition to oceanography and meteorology.

You can download Climate Scenarios: A Florida-Centric View here.

Thanks Heidi, for sharing.

NOAA’s National Hurricane Center Storm Surge Unit has put together a new brochure explaining the what storm surge is and how to best measure it.

There’s nothing here on how to prevent losses, but the before/after shots (on page 3) should motivate some people to think about how we need to plan for it.

Added to our Sources for Outreach Materials page.

Download “Introduction to Storm Surge” from the National Hurricane Center (PDF). ]]> http://al.stormsmart.org/2012/01/06/noaa-releases-new-storm-surge-brochure/feed/ 0 http://al.stormsmart.org/2011/12/16/animated-map-of-extreme-weather-events/ http://al.stormsmart.org/2011/12/16/animated-map-of-extreme-weather-events/#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:45:58 +0000 Wesley Shaw http://al.stormsmart.org/?p=2868 Just an animated map showing last year’s extreme weather events around the country. Amusing if you don’t think about it. Very worrisome if you do.

Extreme Weather Map

The issue is over a state law prohibiting counties and cities from enforcing building codes, including local floodplain management ordinances, against qualified hunting and fishing camps. The NFIP requires that participating communities regulate development in floodplains.

To be clear: this isn’t about a couple of rural areas. It’s about the entire state of Mississippi. From that article:

“This is not simply a matter of residences in Bolivar County or the Delta Region,” said Bill Quinton, director of the Bolivar County Emergency Management Agency in August. “Everyone across the state, including the Gulf Coast, could lose federal funding needed to help rebuild after flooding disasters.”

Ouch.

Read all about it over on the Bolivar Commercial.

Happy Friday, everybody.

chaosinyourtown.com

For details (including the link to visit the webinar), see the event’s page on StormSmart Connect.

If your community has any Corps projects, you’ll definitely want to have a quick skim (it’s shorter than it looks: most of the important stuff is in the first few pages, though you may want to dive into some of the appendices), and even if you don’t, it provides a good example of a methodical way to approach a complex issue.

You can listen to the interview here.