Emergency Management - US

submitted by Andrew Schroeder

directrelief.org - by Andrew Schroeder - October 14, 2015

Early Fall mornings in Cambridge, MA have the feeling practically of American myth. The sun rises over the mist that hangs like a blanket on the Charles River, lighting the water with a pale glow that filters through multi-colored leaves and glints off the steel and glass fronts of the buildings which line the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I’m hurrying down Massachusetts Ave towards Technology Square, wind in my face and coffee in hand, to arrive for the start of the second annual Humanitarian UAV (drone) Experts Meeting happening at MIT Lincoln Labs’ Beaver Works. The meeting is hosted by UAViators (Humanitarian UAV Network), a brainchild of my friend and colleague Patrick Meier.

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Firefighters prepare to battle the Wolverine wildfire near Chelan, Washington, in this U.S. Forest Service picture taken August 16, 2015.  REUTERS/US FOREST SERVICE/HANDOUT

npr.org - by Lucy Perkins - August 17, 2015

The Army is deploying 200 soldiers to help fight wildfires that are burning through about 1.1 million acres across the Western United States. That's according to a press release from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

"It's been nine years since wildfire was so widespread all at once that active military troops joined firefighters battling blazes," NPR's Howard Berkes reports. "Four military C-130 cargo planes are also in use as air tankers."

A group at the fire center in Boise submitted the request to the Department of Defense, according to the press release, which cites about 95 large wildfires in seven states.

The DOD approved deployment of soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. They'll be organized into 10 crews, all sent to the same fire, which has yet to be announced.

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with seven technology organizations to provide state, local, tribal and territorial governments with technology resources during a disaster to expedite response and recovery. Cisco Systems, Google, Humanity Road, Information Technology Disaster Resource Center, Intel, Joint Communications Task Force and Microsoft have joined FEMA’s new Tech Corps program – a nationwide network of skilled, trained technology volunteers who can address critical technology gaps during a disaster.

People canoe through floodwaters in Houston on Saturday, May 30.  Torrential rains have given Texas the wettest month on record, according to Texas A&M climatologists.  In all, 37.3 trillion gallons of water have fallen over the state in May, the National Weather Service said.

cnn.com - by Kevin Conlon - June 14, 2015

(CNN) For portions of rain-battered Texas, the warnings issued by the National Weather Service on Sunday must have seemed like a cruel joke: a tropical storm that is potentially forming in the Gulf of Mexico is headed straight for them.

"Through Wednesday, widespread rainfall totals could easily average 6 to 8 inches with some amounts exceeding 10 inches," read the ominous forecast issued by the weather service office in Houston. "This will obviously lead to a dangerous flood situation."

Local officials sounded even more alarmed, calling the event "possibly catastrophic."

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