Emergency Management

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.

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Washington Air National Guardsmen methodically make their way through the mud and wreckage left behind by the March 22 mudslide in Oso, Wash. (Photo by Spc. Matthew Sissel/122D PAOC)

By letting citizens live in vulnerable places even after disaster strikes, governments plant the seeds for future disasters.

emergencymgmt.com - by Donald F. Kettl - May 28, 2014

It didn’t take long after the tragedy of the Oso, Wash., March mudslide for everyone to wonder: Should local officials have done more to prevent people from building in harm’s way? . . .

. . . The feds often know a great deal about the risks but don’t have the authority to act. Local governments have the authority to act, especially through zoning requirements, but often don’t have the capacity to collect all the technical information or the will to interfere in local development.

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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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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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