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Disaster Management

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This working group is focused on discussions about disaster management.

The mission of this working group is to focus on discussions about disaster management.

Members

Kathy Gilbeaux Maeryn Obley mdmcdonald

Email address for group

disaster-management@m.resiliencesystem.org

What Did the U.S. Learn from Ebola? How to Prepare for Bioterrorist Attacks

FOREIGN POLICY  by Siobhán O'Grady                        April 13, 2015
When the Ebola virus spread from Guinea to Sierra Leone and Liberia last spring, the initial international response was labeled a failure. By the time President Barack Obama ordered troops to the affected countries in September, more than 2,400 people were dead.

But in the United States, where major hospitals prepared for an outbreak, there were only four in-country diagnoses, one of which resulted in a death. And some see the urgency of that response as a lesson in how the government can prepare for another public health hazard: a bioterrorist attack.

Arizona Rep. Martha McSally chairs a House subcommittee that will examine over the next few months the threat of bioterrorist attacks and U.S. preparedness to respond to them. She told Foreign Policy that even if a disease outbreak and the use of a biological agent in a coordinated attack are not completely analogous, the response strains similar systems.

“We can learn lessons from other outbreaks that are naturally occurring,” she said. “We can identify weaknesses in our response and even if it wasn’t terrorism, it presses the system at the same level....”

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What Ebola can teach us about a new bubonic plague outbreak in Africa

THE WEEK -- by S.E. Smith                                                                                                     Dec. 5, 2014
While West Africa battles Ebola, another outbreak is striking just across the continent. In Madagascar, cases of plague are erupting in the small village of Mandritsara and the disease is spreading to neighboring communities. The two outbreaks are related by more than simple surface similarities, though. In fact, fighting the first has provided an invaluable blueprint for containing the second.West Africa's Ebola outbreak could inform responders to Madagascar's plague cases.

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There Are No Victims Here: Creating an Empowered Survivor Culture

submitted by Samuel Bendett

      

Emergency managers need to train, encourage and empower public partners to become their own heroes. 
Flickr/Joe Loong

emergencymgmt.com - by Charisma Williams - July 15, 2014

“Be your own hero.” The words hit me like a bolt of lightning (I’ll explain why later). . .

. . . Too often the public has to be “humbled” by a tragic or devastating event before many people start to see the validity in the safety and preparedness measures that those of us in the emergency management/preparedness community work so hard to promote both in our professional and personal lives. However, once they do, it is our job to use these events to help foster the safety culture we strive for daily.

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2014-2018 FEMA Strategic Plan

fema.gov

The 2014 - 2018 FEMA Strategic Plan reflects objectives the Agency will accomplish to provide the best possible support to the American people before, during, and after disasters. It sets forth the strategies FEMA will employ to accomplish the objectives and also establishes measurable outcomes to achieve. This Strategic Plan was developed through the involvement of hundreds of FEMA employees and many external stakeholders who contributed to generating our objectives, strategies, and outcomes, and who are now working to execute this Plan. 

The Strategic Plan provides a strategic lense to focus FEMA's efforts and guide the allocation of resources over the next four years. The FEMA Strategic Plan supports the Department of Homeland Security's 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review Mission 5 (Strengthen national preparedness and resilience) and is built on five strategic priorities and two strategic imperatives outlined in the Fiscal Year 2015-2019 Administrator's Intent:

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House Passes Homeland Security Legislation on Chemical Facility Security, Border Security and Emergency Communications

submitted by Albert Gomez        

              

homeland.house.gov - July 8, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 4007, H.R. 4263, H.R. 4289 and H.R. 3488 - bipartisan legislation to enhance the security of chemical facilities and ports of entry and improve emergency communications.

Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX): “The ability of our first responders to communicate with each other and with the public during a terrorist attack or natural disaster is imperative. I am pleased the House passed H.R. 4263 and H.R. 4289 to ensure that our first responders are able to communicate with each other via interoperable communications systems and with the public via social media during times of crisis.

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This is Extreme: Wildfires Strike Early, Hard in Southern California

      

A house is consumed by a wildfire in San Marcos, California, on Wednesday, May 14.  Wildfires have forced evacuations in San Diego County after a high-pressure system brought unseasonable heat and gusty winds to the parched state.

cnn.com - by Greg Botelho, Michael Martinez and Paul Vercammen - May 15, 2014

Carlsbad, California (CNN) -- Thousands of homes, a university campus, a nuclear plant, a Legoland and parts of one of the military's biggest and busiest bases: All have been evacuated due to a rare confluence of fast-moving wildfires scorching Southern California.

Cal Fire Division Chief Dave Allen said nine fires have burned 9,095 acres.

The Golden State has seen many such blazes before. But these are different because they sprung up so quickly, spread so fast, and hit months before the traditional height of wildfire season, making them menacing in the short- and long-term.

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Life-Threatening Flooding Submerges Pensacola, Florida

      

Photo - @TWCBreaking

nbcnews.com - By Alastair Jamieson and M. Alex Johnson - April 30, 2014

Torrential rainfall and “life-threatening" flooding turned deadly in Florida’s panhandle late Tuesday - the latest fallout from a monster weather system that has killed at least 35 people in six states. . .

. . . More than two feet of rain fell in a 26-hour period in Pensacola, Fla. according to one rain gauge, washing away bridges and closing mile after mile of highways across the region, leaving hundreds of drivers stranded for hours. . .

. . . More than five inches fell on Pensacola in the single hour between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. CT (10 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET) Tuesday, the NWS said.

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Infographic: Social media's impact on natural disasters

Infographic: Social media's impact on natural disastersImage: Infographic: Social media's impact on natural disasters

thedrum.com - April 14th, 2014 - Ishbel MacLeod

Tsunami warnings were issued over the weekend following an earthquake on the Solomon Islands, leading to over 15,000 tweets mentioning the warnings. So, how does social media impact weather warnings?

Last year, Twitter launched an alerts system, which allows users to get notifications directly to their phones during emergencies whenever a credible organisation account - such as police or the fire brigade - marks a tweet as an alert.

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