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Thu, 2011-07-14 22:34 — mdmcdonald
This collaboratory is focused on discussions about Risk Communication.

The mission of this collaboratory is to focus on discussions about Risk Communication.

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Kathy Gilbeaux Katie Rast mdmcdonald
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Crowdsourcing Democracy Through Social Media

Sun, 2011-10-16 00:55 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Tim Siftar

Georgia Tech

ATLANTA – Oct. 11, 2011 – Today the citizens of Liberia will participate in just their second presidential election since the country emerged from a brutal civil war in 2003, and in such an environment the specter of violence or other unrest is never far away. But what if social media, a Georgia Tech professor is asking, could identify and even help prevent dangerous situations from occurring?

When nearly 40 million Nigerians took to the polls last April to elect a new president, many of them went online to share comments about their chosen candidates on blogs, Twitter or other social media platforms. They also used these new media tools to report what they saw. “Listening” to much of it was Georgia Tech Associate Professor Michael Best, which just might have saved a few lives.

During the election, Best provided technical support for a Nigerian group that wanted to use social media as a means for tracking the election process and identifying any problems that cropped up. Best and his team of researchers designed a social media aggregator tool that could pull content from about 20 different sources (including Twitter) and analyze the data in real time using keywords.

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
General Topic Tags: 
Communication
Technology
Visualization
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions

Early Assessment of Cancer Outcomes in New York City Firefighters After the 9/11 Attacks: an Observational Cohort Study

Sat, 2011-09-03 19:22 — Kathy Gilbeaux

                                   

September 3, 2011

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Disaster Response
Disease
Environment
Health
Vulnerability
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

Controversial Study Shows Higher Cancer Risk in 9/11 Firefighters

Sat, 2011-09-03 19:07 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CBS News - September 2, 2011

      

A firefighter breaks down after the World Trade Center buildings collapsed September 11, 2001 after two hijacked airplanes slammed into the twin towers in a terrorist attack.  (Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

(CBS) The 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City killed almost 3,000 people, but what about New Yorkers who were in the area at the time but survived? New studies show they face heightened risk for asthma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and cancer - but not all health experts agree the attacks are to blame for survivors' health problems.

For one study - published in the September 1 issue of The Lancet - Mount Sinai researchers evaluated more than 27,000 police officers, firefighters, construction workers, and office workers who were in or around ground zero over the nine years following 9/11. The researchers found more than one in five responders had multiple physical or mental health illnesses.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Disaster Response
Disease
Environment
Health
Vulnerability
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

Video - Mobile Phones Without Towers Coming Soon

Sat, 2011-09-03 17:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Sydney Morning Herald - September 1, 2011

A mobile phone communications system that doesn't need towers is being developed at Adelaide's Flinders University.

The Serval Project was inspired by the 2010 Haiti earthquake in which the phone network crashed as infrastructure went down.

Creator Paul Gardner-Stephen said the earthquake showed the lack of resilience in a communications system that relied on infrastructure.

"If the towers are knocked out, mobile phone handsets become useless lumps of plastic in our hands," he said.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
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Communication
Technology
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions

State-by-State Developments Related to Hurricane Irene

Sat, 2011-08-27 01:03 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CNN - August 26, 2011 - 8:44 p.m. EDT

(CNN) -- On Friday, President Barack Obama said of Hurricane Irene that "all indications point to this being a historic hurricane."

Numerous local, state and federal agencies, among other organizations, have taken steps in preparation. Here are some of those measures, for states most affected by Hurricane Irene:

SOUTH CAROLINA

Irene was off the South Carolina coast on Friday, with its outer bands bringing gusty winds, heavy rain and dangerous surf.

No evacuations were ordered, as the storm path appears to be too far east to present serious problems. However, state emergency officials were monitoring Irene and have contingency plans. The state emergency management agency is using its website, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to keep the public informed.

NORTH CAROLINA

Hurricane Irene is expected to make its first contact with the U.S. mainland on Saturday morning near Beaufort, according to CNN meteorologist Sean Morris.

United States
Cities
Citizens
Communication
Community
Disaster Risk Reduction
Extreme Weather
Vulnerability
Solutions
Problem

Hurricane Irene Moves North, FEMA Sets Expectations

Thu, 2011-08-25 21:50 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Washington Post - August 25, 2011

     

Hurricane Irene appears headed towards the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions this weekend — areas that haven’t endured tropical storm-force winds and rain in years.

And the Federal Emergency Management Agency, panned by Southerners almost six years ago for its inept response to Hurricane Katrina, is reminding Americans up north that they should turn first to local and state authorities in advance of the storm.

“If the public’s seeing FEMA, it’s most likely if we’ve had impacts and we have requests for assistance,” the agency’s administrator, Craig Fugate , told reporters Thursday. “Otherwise, we’re doing things to get ready, but we’re not getting in front of the governor’s teams, we’re there to support them.”

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Researchers Develop Controversial Earthquake Detection Network

Thu, 2011-08-18 21:41 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Homeland Security Newswire - August 18, 2011

       

A QuakeFinder network installation // Source: newsvine.com

Researchers at a Silicon Valley company are hard at work developing an experimental network of electromagnetic sensors that could predict large earthquakes as much as two weeks in advance; the theory behind the research is disputed, but Tom Bleier, the inventor and chief engineer behind project QuakeFinder, hopes to prove seismologists wrong.

Researchers at a Silicon Valley company are hard at work developing an experimental network of electromagnetic sensors that could predict large earthquakes as much as two weeks in advance.

The theory behind the research is disputed, but Tom Bleier, the inventor and chief engineer behind project QuakeFinder, hopes to prove seismologists wrong. Under the project, engineers will install roughly 200 five-foot tall sensors near fault lines in California to measure changes in underground magnetic fields and to detect electrically charged particles in the air.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Disaster Risk Reduction
Earthquake
Vulnerability
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions

Averting Bridge Disasters: New Sensors Could Save Hundreds of Lives

Mon, 2011-08-01 18:38 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security Newswire - August 1, 2011

                              

Sensor mounted to bridge member // Source: gizmag.com

One of every four U.S. highway bridges has known structural problems or exceeded its intended life-span. Most only get inspected once every one or two years; University of Maryland researcher has developed a new sensor that measures indicators of a bridge's structural health, such as strain, vibration, flexibility, and development of metal cracks; the sensors are expected to last more than a decade, with each costing about $20

Millions of U.S. drivers cross faulty or obsolete bridges every day, highway statistics show, but it is too costly to fix all these spans or adequately monitor their safety, says a University of Maryland researcher who has developed a new, affordable early warning system.

This wireless technology could avert the kind of bridge collapse that killed thirteen and injured 145 along Minneapolis’ I-35W on 1 August 2007, he says — and do so at one-one-hundredth the cost of current wired systems.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
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Communication
Disaster Risk Reduction
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