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Also noted
Integrated Emergency Response essential to Effective Disaster Management | How Steve Jobs helped emergency management | Assessment of Thailand Flooding Impact Updated | NY team assesses Prattsville disaster recovery | SBA approves more than $55 million disaster loans in New Jersey
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Illinois distributes $3.4 million to help first responders upgrade radios
Earlier this week the Illinois Terrorism Task Force (ITTF) announced that it was awarding more than $3.4 million to 156 local emergency response agencies across the state to upgrade their communications equipment; the funds come from DHS grants designed to help states comply with new federal communications requirements aimed at relieving congestion and increasing channels on non-narrowband radios
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Decontaminating Japan to cost at least $13 billion
Last week Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced the government will spend at least 1 trillion yen, or $13 billion, to decontaminate areas affected by nuclear radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant
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LA-area hospitals prepare for the big quake
In earthquake-prone California, local hospitals and emergency responders are at hard at work preparing for the next big quake
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DC officials receive priority disaster phone access
During major disasters or a terrorist attack, phone lines quickly become inundated with traffic which makes it nearly impossible for residents to make calls or send texts; to ensure that local officials have the ability to communicate during disasters, DHS recently issued special calling cards to members of the Washington, D.C. City Council that allow their calls to take priority during moments of heavy phone traffic
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What triggers volcanic "super-eruptions"?
The “super-eruption” of a major volcanic system occurs about every 100,000 years and is considered one of the most catastrophic natural events on Earth, but scientists have long been unsure about what triggers these violent explosions; a new model offers an explanation
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Public-private partnership in homeland security
The Homeland Security and Defense Business Council says that job of securing the U.S. homeland is an extensive and daunting mission that cannot be accomplished by government alone; it requires that the United States, collectively, become a resilient nation, with the capabilities needed to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate against all threats
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Creating incentives to purchase disaster insurance
Natural disasters have become more common and more expensive – still, death, injury, and financial losses can be reduced through incentives to purchase insurance and install protective measures
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Engineering lessons of Fukushima
Many engineers and scientists are still examining what happened at Fukushima during the earthqyake and tsunami of 11 March; one group, a Tsunami Loads-and-Effects Subcommittee sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), is preparing to publish early next year an approximately 350-page report
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Doyenz, Lifeboat Distribution in distribution agreement
Lifeboat Distribution, a software distributor for disaster recovery, will distribute Doyenz’s cloud-based recovery services to thousands of its reseller partners across North America
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Also noted
NY nuke owner awards $275,000 to first responders * Charlotte inks broadband network deal with Alcatel-Lucent * Japan offers free return flights to revive tourism after Fukishima disaster * FEMA: Insurance Key to Disaster Recovery, But May Not Be Enough * Video: Japan earthquake highlighted ‘lifeline role’ of banking services
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U.K. nuclear plants are safe: report
The United Kingdom has finalized a review of the implications of the Fukushima disaster for the U.K. nuclear power industry; Dr. Mike Weightman, the author of the review, said that the “U.K. nuclear facilities have no fundamental safety weaknesses”
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Tweeting may help in disasters
Social networks like Twitter cannot help prevent disasters, but can quickly correct misinformation resulting from false rumors, thus preventing possible further loss of lives
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Alabama: students do not need birth certificates to attend school
After thousands of fearful Hispanic students failed to show up for classes on Monday in Alabama, the state’s top education official announced that children would still be allowed to attend even if they did not have birth certificates
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"Burying" FEMA in DHS was "huge structural and operational mistake"
Homeland Security NewsWire’s executive editor Eugene K. Chow recently had the opportunity to interview Aden Hogan Jr., the city manager of Evans, Colorado and the former assistant city manager of Oklahoma City during the 1995 terrorist attack; in their interview, Hogan rates FEMA’s response during the recent spate of natural disasters in the United States, problems the agency has had since it became integrated in DHS, and steps that local governments and residents should be taking to better prepare themselves for major disasters
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More headlines
The long view
Proactively Planning for Community Relocation Before and After Climate Disasters
Between 1980 and mid-2023, 232 billion-dollar disasters occurred in the U.S. Gulf Coast region, with the number of disasters doubling annually since 2018. As the frequency, intensity, and destructiveness of climate change-driven disasters increase, accompanied by an increase in recovery costs, more experts are calling for a managed retreat of entire communities from disaster-prone areas to safer ground.
Number of People Affected by Tropical Cyclones Has Increased Sharply Since 2002
The number of people affected by tropical cyclones has nearly doubled from 2002 to 2019, reaching nearly 800 million people in 2019, according to a new study. More people are affected by tropical cyclones in Asia than any other region, but every affected world region saw an increase in the number of people exposed to tropical cyclones, which are expected to become more intense and possibly more frequent as the climate warms.
Coastal Populations Set to Age Sharply in the Face of Climate Migration
As climate change fuels sea level rise, younger people will migrate inland, leaving aging coastal populations — and a host of consequences — in their wake. While destination cities will work to sustainably accommodate swelling populations, aging coastal communities will confront stark new challenges.
Damaging Thunderstorm Winds Increasing in Central U.S.
Destructive winds that flow out of thunderstorms in the central United States are becoming more widespread with warming temperatures. New research shows that the central U.S. experienced a fivefold increase in the geographic area affected by damaging thunderstorm straight line winds in the past 40 years.