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Hurricane Ike damage analysis point to vulnerable Texas bridges
Preliminary results from a new research show more than a dozen Gulf Coast bridges on or near Galveston Island would likely suffer severe damage if subjected to a hurricane with a similar landfall as Hurricane Ike but with 30 percent stronger winds
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Insuring against Olympic cancelation
Starting on 27 July, the 2012 Olympic Games in London will see more than 10,000 athletes from nearly 200 different nations compete in 302 disciplines; nine million spectators are expected at the competition venues, while between three and four billion people will follow the spectacle on television; if the Games were called off as a result of terrorist act or another disaster, Munich Re would provide cover of around 350 million euros through several policies
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Private, public partners in Illinois CBRN emergency drill
First responders and authorities in Lake and Cook counties, Illinois, joined Army Reserve units to conduct Exercise Red Dragon 2012, a chemical, nuclear response exercise
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NASA to operate unmanned aircraft over hurricanes this year
Beginning this summer and over the next several years, NASA will be sending unmanned aircraft dubbed “severe storm sentinels” above stormy skies to help researchers and forecasters uncover information about hurricane formation and intensity changes
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Simulating the effects of different actions to minimize disaster’s consequences
The European CRISMA project prepares for disasters by developing a decision-support tool to help the authorities, responders, communities, and private parties to prioritize the most important measures for saving lives and mitigating the effects of the crisis
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California coastal planners protect infrastructure from climate change
California’s coastal planners and resource managers say there is a need to prepare for changes along the coast that might result from rising sea levels and other impacts, such as more floods, loss of beach access, coastal erosion, and potential damage to transportation infrastructure, including highways, roads, and ports
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Mobile security services, cloud top priority in business disaster planning
As the United States readies itself for the upcoming 2012 Hurricane Season, businesses and organizations have developed their business continuity and disaster recovery plans to include mobile security services in the effort of protecting their IT infrastructure
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Baseball players support relief efforts in Japan
Major League baseball players continue their support of earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Japan by awarding a $310,000 grant from the Players Trust to expand mobile Community Café to serve as a cultural hub to help restore a sense of community to areas devastated by last year’s twin disasters
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Using Twitter to share information after a disaster
A new study shows how people used Twitter following the 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan, highlighting challenges for using the social media tool to share information; the study also indicates that social media have not changed what we communicate so much as how quickly we can disseminate it
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IBHS: Don’t let a disaster put you out of business
Insurance institute urges small business owners and managers to prepare for risks that could threaten their operations
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New law allows mobilizing reservists to respond to natural disasters
Except for a crisis involving a weapon of mass destruction, the U.S. military reserves historically have been prohibited from providing a homeland disaster response; new authority in this year’s Defense Department authorization act changes that
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Alternative-powered energy supply for disasters
Emergency preparedness retailer Disaster Relief Supply says that the popularity of solar and dynamo powered emergency products has increased
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Planning traffic routing in no-notice disasters
Spontaneous evacuations of New York City and Washington, D.C. following the 9/11 terrorist attacks demonstrated that U.S. cities are not prepared to manage the sudden influx of traffic into roads and highways following a no-notice disaster
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Groundbreaking tests to offer better understanding of post-earthquake fires
Post-earthquake fires are a well-known and serious hazard, but very little is known about the performance of fire protection systems in earthquakes; groundbreaking tests to be conducted next week are aimed at better understanding of the effects of earthquakes on building systems designed to suppress or prevent the spread of fires
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Tornado season survival tips for employers
Dozens of tornadoes have already ravaged the Midwest and more recently, Texas, indicating that the tornado season is moving into high gear; employers should review their business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) plans to keep employees safe and operations running should a devastating twister strike
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The long view
Trump Aims to Shut Down State Climate Policies
President Donald Trump has launched an all-out legal attack on states’ authority to set climate change policy. Climate-focused state leaders say his administration has no legal basis to unravel their efforts.