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IAEM
Whether you are a member of IAEM or a non-member, the April 2020 IAEM Bulletin is now the current sample issue that can be downloaded here. The link to the April issue also is posted on the IAEM Bulletin page and the IAEM COVID-19 Resources page. This was the first special focus issue of 2020 on the topic of “Black Swan Events: Pandemics.” When the IAEM Editorial Committee selected this topic, COVID-19 had not been declared a worldwide pandemic. The Bulletin is a monthly members-only publication, so this is your opportunity to see what IAEM members are reading about this timely topic.
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IAEM
The IAEM Editorial Committee will publish the second 2020 special focus issue in June, on the topic of “Black Swan Events: Cybersecurity.” Technology is vulnerable to cyber hacks, and the damage could be a whole lot more than the incidents we have already experienced. What have we learned from events that have already occurred to prepare our communities to face future cyber incidents? How will the challenges of cyber incidents become opportunities? The deadline for article submissions on cybersecurity is May 20, 2020. Details are posted online. Note: We will continue to consider article submissions on pandemics. Direct questions to Bulletin Editor Karen Thompson.
IAEM
IAEM is seeking speakers for the EMvision Talks, to be held in November at the IAEM Annual Conference. The renowned EMvision Talks are based on the TED™ Talk format. Can you pinpoint a pivotal moment in your life when something changed? Did you experience or discover something that fundamentally changed your perspective? Did something inspire you to do things differently or prompt you to take action? Submit your proposal to tell your story by the May 8, 2020, deadline. IAEM will select approximately seven speakers to present their inspirational talk live on the plenary stage on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, at the IAEM 68th Annual Conference & EMEX in Long Beach, California. View the flyer for more information.
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Everbridge
With Everbridge's Community Engagement, governments are able to expand outreach through mobile keyword opt-ins. With Resident Connection, agencies are able to obtain verified mobile, landline and VoIP telephone records to use for emergency notifications and are uploaded into the Everbridge system.
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Global News
Officials in Williams Lake, B.C., are growing concerned that further erosion due to flooding in the Cariboo region could send its raw sewage toward the Fraser River.
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CTV News
Not everyone is welcoming the return of the warm, sunny weather in Alberta.
“The grass is yellow and dry and it is extremely flammable,” said Leah Lovequist, a Fire Information Officer in the Slave Lake Forest Area.
Officials are worried about the increasing wildfire risk.
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BCG is committed to helping you respond to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Our years of experience in the disaster and emergency management field make us a great partner for providing solutions to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and the challenges it presents.
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| | IAEM-OCEANIA COUNCIL NEWS |
Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience
Seven Pacific Island countries were surveyed in 2017. The majority had enabling policy environments that support school safety as well as specific policies supporting safe facilities, school disaster management and disaster-related education.
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Homeland Security News Wire
For five weeks, Kiwis have endured some of the toughest lockdown conditions anywhere in the world. Now, the country appears to be on the verge of victory.
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Emergency management specialists across the world keep our communities safe and help them rebuild when disaster strikes. With UCF’s online Master of Emergency and Crisis Management, you’ll advance your skills in managing disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation - all from the comfort of your home. Learn more here.
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Business Insider
Scientists have mapped seismic stress across North America in unprecedented detail, revealing the areas most at risk of earthquakes. Mark Zoback, a Stanford geophysics professor behind the new map, and his team described their mapping work in a study published in the journal Nature Communications, calling it the first "quantitative synthesis of faulting across the entire continent."
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The Weather Channel
A series of severe weather outbreaks in April have more than doubled the United States tornado death toll in 2020, making it the deadliest year of twisters in nine years. Tornadoes in 2020 have claimed 73 lives as of April 24, according to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.
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Optimum Seismic
California just experienced its deadliest and most destructive wildfire, ever. Nearly 14,000 homes, 530 commercial structures and 4,300 other buildings were destroyed in November when the Cal Fire ravaged the Butte County landscape, incinerating entire communities like the town of Paradise in its wake.
The devastation of lives and livelihoods lost is unfathomable. So too is the sheer scope of work needed to clear the charred debris before recovery can ever start.
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Nextgov
Citing cutting-edge computer model forecasts, America’s weather predictors recently projected the 2020 hurricane season may usher in more storm activity than usual due to warmer-than-average waters in the Atlantic Ocean and other factors.
On top of the possible increase in storms, the hurricane season that begins June 1 also presents a deeper threat on the horizon: The potential intersection of catastrophic weather with a global pandemic.
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IAEM
IAEM-USA signed on to 3DEP Coalition letters sent Apr. 24 to Senate and House Appropriations Committee leaders, supporting funding for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Three-D Elevation Program (3DEP) in Fiscal Year 2021. USGS manages 3DEP to respond to growing needs for high-quality topographic data and for a wide range of other three-dimensional representations of U.S. natural and constructed features. The letters state: “As you develop FY 2021 appropriations, we ask for your support for the USGS recommendation to provide $146 million to 3DEP, as requested by John Palatiello, on behalf of the 3DEP Coalition, in his Feb. 6 testimony before the Subcommittee.”
IAEM
IAEM-USA signed on to the Flood Map Coalition letter sent Apr. 23 to Senate and House Appropriations Committee leaders, strongly supporting at least maintaining FY 2020 appropriated levels ($262.5 million) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Flood Hazard and Risk Analysis Program. The coalition, which represents a diverse group of partners, stakeholders and interests, noted in the letter that “Appropriations as close as possible to the full authorization level of $400 million would help move the nation to better coverage with up-to-date flood maps more quickly.” The reasons for the coalition’s request include: “Flooding is responsible for more loss of life and property than any other natural disaster in the United States; current and accurate flood mapping is the key to minimizing future losses; both taxpayers and policyholders benefit from flood mapping; flood mapping is a cost-effective taxpayer investment; and mapping also reduces National Flood Insurance Program borrowing from the Treasury.”
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Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience
In recent years, new forms of participatory mapping have emerged that foster the participation of children in disaster risk reduction. Participatory mapping enables children to produce insightful representations of their local area, including their perceptions of hazards, vulnerability and capacities.
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Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience
While it is acknowledged that children are greatly affected by disasters, the perspectives of children are often the least heard and included in DRR. Research into the use of disaster video games as learning tools brings together the perspectives of teachers and students to consider how to foster children’s participation in DRR and support the aims of the Sendai Framework.
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| | UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE EM ISSUES |
Campus Safety
Hospitals overwhelmed by coronavirus patient surges and a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) have become targets for opportune cybercriminals.
Ransomware attacks, where hackers lock a network in an attempt to extort payments to regain access, have been a growing threat for hospitals for months, but experts caution the coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating the problem, reports The Hill.
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| | CLIMATE/WATER/WEATHER UPDATES |
Emergency Management
Forecasters are predicting an active hurricane season and while there’s no telling if Hampton Roads will be in the crosshairs, the coronavirus could complicate matters.
With that in mind, emergency planners want people to be prepared this year more than ever because they likely will need to deviate from their typical response if the worst should happen.
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The Associated Press
Some communities in the U.S. heartland are taking a more natural approach to preventing the kinds of floods that have devastated the region in recent years.
As climate change brings more extreme weather, the network of levees and walls that keeps rivers such as the Mississippi and the Missouri under control has come under greater stress.
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New York Daily News
This year’s hurricane season arrived historically early in the Eastern North Pacific on Saturday, as a newly formed cyclone whirled about 730 miles southwest of Baja California, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Officials said wind whipped at sustained speeds of about 35 mph as the system moved northwest far off the western Mexican coast.
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Homeland Security News Wire
Scientists agree that sea levels will continue to rise this century, but projections beyond 2050 are much more uncertain regarding exactly how much higher ocean levels will be by 2100. While actions to protect against 2050 sea-level rise have a secure scientific basis, this range in late-century estimates makes it difficult for coastal communities to plan their long-term adaptation strategies.
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Scientific American
The U.S. could save more than $1 trillion over the long term by removing roughly 1 million homes from flood-prone areas and relocating residents to higher ground, according to a massive new study funded by the government.
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The Guardian
The number of people harmed by floods will double worldwide by 2030, according to a new analysis.
The World Resources Institute, a global research group, found that 147 million people will be hit by floods from rivers and coasts annually by the end of the decade, compared with 72 million people just 10 years ago.
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Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience
In Australia, and around the world, disasters disproportionately and often severely impact on children and youth. New international guidelines have been developed and refined to give worldwide access to expertise, communities-of-practice and networks of disaster risk reduction practitioners.
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Homeland Preparedness News
The spread of coronavirus in the United States has unveiled various levels of inequalities in society, including between major cities with more robust hospital systems and rural communities with less access to resources.
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Route Fifty
Disasters bring to light a hard truth: the poor, minorities, immigrants and other marginalized groups are acceptable losses of life.
Rooted within the military, medical and insurance industries, “acceptable losses” refers to the number of expected casualties that are tolerable.
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Emergency Management
State and local governments were caught off guard by the coronavirus, but need to ramp up with lessons learned from the last several weeks to be prepared for a second wave. That was a message shared by three former high-level public safety officials in a webinar.
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Forbes
As the death toll due to coronavirus continues to increase, one certainty has emerged: the world was ill-equipped to deal with a catastrophe of this nature. However, this pandemic has provided individuals and communities across the globe a new found appreciation for the intricacies of disaster management.
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SciDev.Net via Phys.org
Rural populations living around large cities have better access to resources and are therefore less vulnerable to disasters than rural communities located near small cities, a new study conducted in Pakistan's Punjab province suggests.
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University of Buffalo
A key group of allies is missing in the U.S. effort to face the coronavirus pandemic: the American people.
In the wake of World War II and during the Cold War, the U.S. was the world’s best at planning and preparing for mobilizing the citizenry to take action in an emergency.
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Homeland Security News Wire
The Australian government releases an App called COVIDSafe to help in tracing contacts of those infected with the coronavirus. As is the case with similar apps in other countries, COVIDSafe has raised privacy concerns, especially about the potential of abuse by government agencies and hacking by cybercriminals.
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IAEM
IAEM is extending the deadline to apply for an open position on the Certification Commission. Due to COVID-19, applications will be accepted until Aug. 1, 2020. Application details are posted on the Certification News page. Contact Kate McClimans with any questions.
IAEM
The application period is now open for $100 million in additional Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program funding. The COVID-19 Supplemental (AFG-S) provides financial assistance directly to eligible fire departments, non-affiliated emergency medical service organizations and state fire training academies for critical personal protective equipment and supplies needed to respond to COVID-19.
The additional funding is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that was signed into law to address the impact of the global coronavirus public health emergency. The application period for AFG-S closes at 5:00 p.m. EDT, May 15. For more information on the grants, visit the FEMA website.
IAEM
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has launched a survey on operational impacts, needs input from emergency managers and all COVID-19 response personnel by midnight, Apr. 30, 2020.” The intent is to distribute this survey once every four to six weeks to obtain a longitudinal record of the impacts over time. All responses are anonymous and will not be attributed to any person or agency. The survey is being distributed to responders in the United States and Canada, and an international forum is going to distribute it to their members to get additional data from abroad. As a result, the survey provides a unique opportunity to capture data from a diverse group of responders while the pandemic is ongoing and while responders remember the details of what is happening. It should take less than seven minutes to complete the survey.
IAEM
The IAEM-USA Disaster Cost Recovery & Finance Caucus scheduled four additional offerings of the “COVID-19 Cost Recovery Webinar.” Caucus members will discuss the public assistance aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These webinars will focus exclusively on FEMA’s Public Assistance funding for Category B, Emergency Protective measures. We will not be discussing any of the medical aspects, except as they may be eligible for FEMA funding. We also will not be discussing DHHS or CDC funding. The Apr. 28 webinar has already taken place. The remaining three webinars will take place at 1:00-2:00 p.m. EDT on these dates: May 12, May 26, and June 9. Register online, and select which of the sessions you wish to attend. Download the webinar handout here. If you are not able to attend a session of this webinar, the recordings will be posted here, as well as on the IAEM COVID-19 Resources page.
Politico
On paper, Ursula von der Leyen could not be better cast for this moment in EU history: Brussels-born; trilingual in German, French and English; a three-time Cabinet minister; the first ever female European Commission president; and — a Hollywood scriptwriter could hardly dream it up — a trained medical doctor with a master’s degree in public health leading the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Homeland Security Today
The recent fires in the Exclusion Zone near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Ukraine have not led to any hazardous increase of radioactive particles in the air, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.
Basing its assessment on data provided by Ukraine, the IAEA said the increase in levels of radiation measured in the country was very small and posed no risk to human health.
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The Associated Press
As Brazil careens toward a full-blown public health emergency and economic meltdown, President Jair Bolsonaro has managed to add a third ingredient to the toxic mix: political crisis. Even if it doesn’t speed his downfall, it will render Brazilians more vulnerable to the pandemic.
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WRCB-TV
At least six people were killed Wednesday and more than a dozen injured as severe storms ripped through Southern Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana, officials said.
Three people died and 20 to 30 people were injured in Onalaska, Texas, the Polk County Office of Emergency Management said in a statement.
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The Associated Press via ABC News
Lightning killed at least 10 villagers during thunderstorms and heavy rain in eastern India on Sunday, a government official said.
Pratay Amrit, a Bihar state disaster management official, said nine others suffered injuries after lightning struck them in Khalpura, a village in Bihar state’s Saran district.
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New Straits Times
Flash flooding in mainland Penang forced up to 148 people from their homes.
State Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said two temporary relief centres (PPS) were opened to house over 30 families.
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KBC
At least 300 families living along River Tana have been displaced by floods as the effects of ongoing rains continue to be felt across the country. The development comes a day after President Uhuru Kenyatta called on Kenyans living in flood-prone areas to move to higher grounds.
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OCHA
Initial reports indicate that more than 100,000 people across Yemen have been impacted by torrential rains and flooding since mid-April. Health authorities in Aden Governorate, one of the hardest-hit areas, have confirmed seven deaths, including four children. Two people are missing, and deaths and injuries have been reported elsewhere.
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