John Solomon, author of “In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog” has written an interesting and compelling editorial arguing that governments at all levels need to work harder to engage the business community in disaster preparedness. He says: Government citizen preparedness campaigns over the past few years have raised awareness but not significantly enough to change […]
Tag Archives | technology
Are You Using Social Media for Emergency Management? Your Citizens Are!
Posted on August 10, 2010
The Red Cross has released the results of a survey of just over 1,000 respondents on how people use and expect to use social media during a disaster. The results are pretty striking. A couple of highlights: Nearly 3-in-4 respondents use at least one online community or social network. Facebook was by far the most […]
Congress Wants Your Thoughts on New NOAA Climate Service
Posted on June 14, 2010
Today marks the first day of a two-week online dialogue on the establishment of the NOAA Climate Service. You can participate in the conversation by visiting their website: www.NAPAclimatedialogue.org. The study is trying to determine how the NOAA Climate Service can best: Provide information at the global, regional and state levels over varying timescales Support […]
Gulf Spill Oil Coming to Atlantic?
Posted on June 3, 2010
What’s the real worst case scenario for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill? What it the oil keeps gushing all summer? The New York Times is reporting that a team of scientists has run the models, and that the results aren’t pretty. Nearly all of the simulations show oil heading into the Atlantic, and, perhaps, even […]
Introducing StormSmart Connect
Posted on May 13, 2010
After months of testing, we’re extremely excited to announce the release of the newest part of the StormSmart Coasts Network: StormSmart Connect. We built StormSmart Connect to help make it easier for coastal decision makers work together. On StormSmart Connect, you can: Find other people in your profession from around the country (at last count […]
Municipal Emergency Management Messaging Systems
Posted on May 12, 2010
Emergency Management has published an interesting story on using so-called “Messaging Systems” as a means of quickly reaching residents during emergency events. These messaging systems can contact people through various means including phone or email depending on how they’re set up. While these are generally proprietary systems and aren’t free, the community profiled in this […]
County Uses FEMA Funds for Innovative Infrastructure Reconstruction
Posted on May 11, 2010
Good case study on a county using FEMA Public Assistance (PA) 406 Mitigation funds to pay for post-storm recovery using a relatively innovative technique: When technical advice from a Public Assistance Specialist recommended using a geo-textile to stabilize the embankment and make the road more resilient once repairs were completed, Lafayette County’s Emergency Management Coordinator […]
FEMA Releases New Mobile Website
Posted on May 6, 2010
Want FEMA assistance from your iPhone, Blackberry, or other smart phone? FEMA head Craig Fugate announced the launch of FEMA’s new mobile website, m.fema.gov. FEMA says that the “mobile website makes it easier to access critical information regarding emergency preparedness and what to do before and after a disaster right on a smartphone.” So far, […]
High Tech (and generally free) Tools for Disaster Preparation
Posted on April 15, 2010
Mashable has written a short article outlining some of the many ways that people can take advantage of the technology they already own (computers, smart-phones, etc) to help prepare themselves for natural disasters. Some of the ideas: Using Google My Maps to create evacuation maps (see video below for an intro on how to do […]
National Hurricane Center Announces Changes
Posted on March 4, 2010
Straight from the National Hurricane Center press-release: Product Changes for the 2010 Hurricane Season’s Effective May 15, the National Hurricane Center will implement important changes in some of its text and graphical products. It will also make some additions to its Web site and experimental products. This is part of a continuing effort at the […]