This message was sent to ##Email## To advertise in this publication please click here February 24, 2022 .IAEM CONFERENCE NEWS IAEM Virtual Conference, Mar. 24-25, features program sessions for all needs IAEM The emergency management community will gather on Mar. 24-25, 2022, for IAEM’s second annual Virtual Conference. The program provides a plethora of topics to meet diverse needs, including sessions on power grid fragility, using weather data to drive decisions, takeaways from Hurricane Ida, tactics for tornadoes, flood mitigation and climate change impacts, the Miami Surfside building collapse, and more. All registrants will have access to content-on-demand following the conference and possible credit for more than 20 contact hours that may be used towards IAEM certification. In addition, Virtual Conference registrants will receive bonus on-demand content post-conference that includes the plenary sessions and EMvision Talks from the 2021 IAEM Annual Conference held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, this past October. View the full program for the Virtual Conference. Registrants may opt for the All-In registration pass which includes registration to both the March IAEM virtual event and full registration to the IAEM Annual Conference in Savannah, Georgia Nov.11-17, 2022. Get a discounted rate for IAEM members, IAEM student members, and even non-members today. .IAEM-CANADA COUNCIL NEWS Canada lightens border measures as part of pandemic management Homeland Security Today The Canadian government has announced a phased easing of travel restrictions at the country’s borders. Recent data indicates that the latest wave of COVID-19 driven by the Omicron variant has passed its peak in Canada. As provinces and territories adjust their public health measures, and as the country transitions away from the crisis phase, the government is moving towards a more sustainable approach to the long-term management of COVID-19. READ MORE British Columbia set to move to year-round BC Wildfire Service Global News As wildfire seasons in British Columbia continue to start sooner and last longer the province is significantly altering the BC Wildfire Service. Finance Minister Selina Robinson announced the provincial budget would include the significant funding shift. READ MORE .IAEM-OCEANIA COUNCIL NEWS Australian High Commissioner discusses disaster mitigation issues with ASDMA authorities The Print Australian High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell on Monday said his government is looking forward to working with India towards developing disaster resilience in the northeast Indian Ocean. Speaking during a visit to Assam State Disaster Management Authority headquarter here, O’Farrell said the overview of the challenges and steps towards its mitigation given to him by the ASDMA authorities has brought out the similarities between Australia and India in this sector, a press release said. READ MORE .IAEM-USA COUNCIL NEWS Legislation introduced to make first responder communication network (FirstNet) permanent IAEM On Feb. 22, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) and Congresswoman Val Demings (FL-10) introduced H.R. 6768, the FirstNet Reauthorization Act, to promote public safety by ensuring first responders can communicate with each other in times of crisis. Established in response to the first responder communication problems that occurred during 9/11, the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) is a public-private partnership to build and operate a nationwide public safety broadband network. The original legislation that created FirstNet included a sunset provision to terminate the program 15 years after its enactment. This bill, introduced on the 10-year anniversary of FirstNet’s enactment, reauthorizes FirstNet by striking the original sunset provision and making FirstNet permanent. More information is available in a joint press release.  SPONSORED CONTENT Promoted by Rave Mobile Safety Do You Know How To Prepare Your Front Lines For Community Protection? Protect Buildings, Schools and other Soft Targets with Rave Public Safety and the Need to Improve Mental Health and Emergency Response – Survey Results Prepare for both Planned and Unplanned Events with Rave’s Incident Collaboration Solution Deliver Critical Communications to Your Community in Three Clicks Across All Modes Our infrastructure is succumbing to natural disasters — we need to be ready for worsening floods The Hill In the weeks ahead, as the funds from the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package signed into law in November begin to flow, lawmakers have both an opportunity and an obligation to be certain we spend that money wisely. We need to repair and replace aging infrastructure, but we must do so in ways that will offer protection against increasingly intense storms and flood events. Now is the time to support bipartisan legislation that would leverage those taxpayer dollars to make our nation’s roads, hospitals, and utilities more resilient. READ MORE .NEW INSIGHTS Opinion: The right public policies can ensure wildfires are not the new normal The Deseret News Wildfires continue to wreak havoc on the western United States with more than 54,350 wildfires burning 6,802,729 acres across the region in 2021. These fires, in addition to devastating the states, make the affected areas more prone to future burning and other natural catastrophes. In Utah, one of the most wildfire-prone states, between 800 and 1,000 fires a year can cost the state more than $12 million a year, and air pollution from wildfires in California and Oregon impacts residents’ health. READ MORE  PRODUCT SHOWCASE GET YOUR 72 HOUR KIT. ReadyWise – Are you prepared with enough food and water to last you through a disaster? ReadyWise’s delicious freeze-dried meals and drinks have up to a 25-year shelf-life and are easy to prepare, just add water. Go to ReadyWIse.com/IAEM to order you’re your 72-hour kit and use CODE: IAEM at checkout. LEARN MORE Application of the Cynefin Framework to COVID-19 Pandemic Domestic Preparedness Since the spring of 2020, variables such mistrust of government leaders, anti-maskers, and economic concerns complicated COVID-19 community response. The Cynefin framework is a sensemaking theory in the social sciences to create a framework for emergency managers in large-scale events. It is useful because it can help identify the complexity of an infectious disease problem to inform resource allocation across many domains in the hopes of identifying gaps that can be addressed. READ MORE .EM NEWS Study: Natural hazards compound COVID-19 impacts disproportionately on businesses run by minorities, women and vets Homeland Security Today By many measures, 2020 — a year dominated by an emerging pandemic and overrun with natural disasters — was bad for business. A multitude of variables affected the ability of businesses to adapt, but according to new research, socio-economic vulnerabilities intensified impacts on small businesses. A study by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed that businesses run by minorities, women and veterans, were dealt a much worse hand by the pandemic than other businesses. READ MORE  SPONSORED VIDEO Emergency Operations that Scale Enable systems of care that scale, eliminate fragmentation of communication, and coordinate mutual aid — all on one communication and logistics platform. With Pulsara, Emergency Managers have the flexibility to assess regional and statewide needs and centrally compile needed resources during emergency response, dramatically reducing miscommunications and waste time. WATCH VIDEO Emergency alerts were a problem long before the Marshall fire, reports show The Colorado Sun More than 10,000 calls warning residents to flee failed when the Waldo Canyon fire exploded near Colorado Springs in 2012. Thousands of people were left without warnings as flames destroyed 347 homes and killed two people. That same year, evacuation alerts were sent to the wrong phone numbers during the Lower North Fork fire — three hours after residents reported seeing smoke and before the fire leveled about two dozen homes and left three people dead. Among the dead was a 51-year-old woman who, like more than 90 residents in the Jefferson County neighborhood, didn’t get an evacuation notice due to a system glitch, officials said. READ MORE .UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE/SCHOOL EM ISSUES What campuses can learn from the Surfside condo collapse Campus Safety Nearly 100 people were tragically killed, from elderly couples to young children, after the Champlain Towers South 12-story oceanfront tower condominium partially collapsed in the Miami, Fla., suburb of Surfside before dawn on June 24, 2021. As one of last year’s highest profile stories, the immediate aftermath and ongoing coverage of this disaster played out before millions of horrified television and online news viewers. READ MORE  FEATURED ARTICLE   Asbestos? Lead? It Pays To Do Things Right Promoted by Optimum Seismic, Inc. Many older homes and apartment buildings contain lead and asbestos. Owners sometimes downplay the health hazards these substances pose to humans and the environment alike, and feel tempted to bypass the rules by removing these contaminants undercover — hoping that no one finds out. LEARN MORE   .CLIMATE/WATER/WEATHER UPDATES Wildfires pose threat to water supply as drought lingers Government Technology Already diminished by drought and extreme heat, California’s water supply will face yet another peril as wildfires continue to incinerate ever larger areas of forested land, according to new research. In a UCLA-led study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers determined that increasing forest fire activity is “unhinging” Western U.S. streamflow from its historical predictability. In areas where more than a fifth of the forest had burned, streamflow increased by an average of 30% for six years after the fire. READ MORE WMO: Climate disasters to increase until at least the 2060s Environment News Service The impacts of climate change are already “very visible” and “happening worldwide,” the head of the UN weather agency told the opening session of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, which convened on Monday in a virtual meeting that will last through February 25. Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization, cited a growing trend of rising sea levels, glaciers melting and continuing disasters as he emphasized the importance of adaptation. READ MORE PRODUCT SHOWCASE Online Master's in Infrastructure Planning & Management The University of Washington's online Master of Infrastructure Planning & Management program prepares you to lead development of the next generation of critical infrastructure systems ­­— resilient, secure and accessible. Earn your degree completely online in two years of part-time study. Apply now to start in fall 2021.   LEARN MORE   Reach Your Prospects Every Week Thousands of industry professionals subscribe to association news briefs, which allows your company to push messaging directly to their inboxes and take advantage of the association's brand affinity. Connect with Highly Defined Buyers and Maximize Your Brand Exposure   LEARN MORE   .CYBERSECURITY NEWS CISA launches new catalog of free public and private sector cybersecurity services Homeland Security Today The  Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) published the “Free Cybersecurity Services and Tools” webpage intended to be a one-stop resource where organizations of all sizes can find free public and private sector resources to reduce their cybersecurity risk. The catalog published today is a starting point. Going forward, CISA will incorporate other free services into the catalog. READ MORE .EM CALENDAR Mar. 2 webinar introduces first open-source Equitable Decision Intelligence Model for Emergency Management (EDI4EM) IAEM SPIN Global, 4Cast, the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management (I-DIEM), and the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) are pleased to announce the first open-source Equitable Decision Intelligence Model for Emergency Management (EDI4EM) is now available. Join us on Wednesday, Mar. 2, at 1:00 p.m. EST to learn about the new model, the modelmaking process, and how to access, use, and apply the model in your jurisdiction. Register to attend the webinar. FEMA hosts IPAWS webinar on Mar. 9 IAEM FEMA is hosting a webinar to highlight Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) use, trends in IPAWS adoption, and major developments with the IPAWS program during 2021. The webinar will be held at 1:00 p.m. EST on Mar. 9. FEMA will share statistics from the past year and discuss some new resources available to IPAWS users. This 30-minute discussion will be led by FEMA’s IPAWS Stakeholder Engagement team and will be followed by a question-and-answer period. The webinar will be recorded for future viewing; however, FEMA encourages live attendance to maximize the time for Q&A with the presenters. To join the webinar, visit FEMA's WebEx webpage. Registration is open for the National Homeland Security Conference, July 11-14, 2022 IAEM Registration is open for the National Homeland Security Conference to be held in Cleveland, Ohio, July 11-14, 2022. The National Homeland Security Conference brings together professionals in homeland security, law enforcement, fire, and emergency management. It will bring together officials in federal agencies, non-profit agencies, business owners, universities, and decision-makers to learn about emerging trends in homeland security and see the new equipment and technology available to support their mission. Register today for the early bird rate of $675 for full conference registration. More information about the National Homeland Security Conference 2022 is available at nationalhomelandsecurity.org. .IAEM-ASIA NEWS Kerala has set an example in disaster management The Hindu Kerala is a State that has survived the crises caused by natural disasters, standing together and setting an example, Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development J. Chinchu Rani has said. She was inaugurating a training program on Sunday for the captains of local self-governing bodies in the district as part of the expansion of the volunteer force formed by Kerala State Youth Welfare Board. READ MORE Government to make disaster information management effective The Himalayan The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to establish Disaster Management Database System for effective documentation of various disaster events. According to Home Administration Reforms Action Plan, 2022, a software will be developed for the purpose of DMDS. Nepal police has been designated as the responsible agency for this purpose, whereas MoHA and Nepal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority will provide necessary support to the security agency. READ MORE Cebu City, Philippines deploys network to improve connectivity amid natural disasters Open Gov The Cebu City government plans to use a point-to-point microwave network to link the City Hall’s communication system with its 80 barangays or villages. The project will strengthen the capability of the city government to connect with the barangays in the event of disasters or emergencies using cutting-edge technology. The Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CCDRRMC) made this announcement recently. READ MORE .IAEM-EUROPA NEWS UK unveils game plan for 'living with COVID' Homeland Security News Wire In an address to the House of Commons, Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a plan for “living with COVID,” phasing out free testing for most people and removing requirements to self-isolate after testing positive. READ MORE Increased risk of flash flooding in London poses threat to life Evening Standard People are at increased risk of drowning as the threat of flash flooding grows in London due to climate change, experts have warned. A report by a London Councils taskforce warned that the capital relies on a “Victorian drainage system that was not designed to cope with the city’s current and predicted future populations." READ MORE .AROUND THE WORLD Death toll in Brazil's Petropolis mudslides, floods hits 176; more than 110 missing Reuters The death toll from last week's mudslides and floods in the Brazilian city of Petropolis reached 176 as of Monday, Rio de Janeiro's state civil defense said, with more than 110 people still missing. READ MORE Madagascar braces for next cyclone as at least 14 killed by storm Reuters via SABC News At least 14 people were killed in Madagascar this week by tropical storm Dumako, the state disaster relief agency said, as the island braces for another cyclone due to hit on Tuesday. Some 4,323 were displaced when Dumako made landfall in the east of the country on Tuesday, the disaster relief agency said late on Friday. They were being housed in 12 sites. READ MORE Wildfires in northeastern Argentina burn 8,000 sq km TRT World A devastating wildfire in the province of Corrientes in northeastern Argentina has ravaged almost 8,000 square kilometres of land, or nearly 10 percent of the region's area, according to figures released by the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA). READ MORE Italy: New Etna eruption spews ash and closes airport DW Mount Etna blasted a massive 12-kilometer-high (7.5-mile) pillar of volcanic ash into the sky over the Italian island of Sicily. Scientists from Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in Catania say activity centered on a lava flow on the mountain's southeast slope. 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