This message was sent to ##Email## To advertise in this publication please click here July 28, 2022 To view email in web browser, click here. .IAEM CONFERENCE NEWS IAEM Annual Conference plenary session looks at who emergency managers are and where the profession will be in the future IAEM The IAEM 70th Annual Conference & EMEX will be held in Savannah, Georgia, Nov. 11-17, 2022. Register now and plan to attend the plenary session, “We Are All Emergency Managers, Right.” Moderated by IAEM-USA First Vice President Cathy Clark, MA, a panel of diverse emergency managers discuss the backgrounds of today’s emergency managers; where future emergency managers will gain education, training, and experience; and what the profession will look like in five, 10, and 20 years. Panelists are Paula Buchanan, MBA, MPH, instructor, Disaster Resilience Academy, Tulane University; Paul Downing, director of STOF Department of Emergency Management and adjunct instructor; Chelsea Sawyer, MA, CEM-GA, emergency management coordinator, community outreach, Chatham County EMA; and Chris Soelle, MS, executive officer, Recovery Division, FEMA Region 7. Visit the conference website to obtain more details and register online. .IAEM-CANADA COUNCIL NEWS Feds to audit CP Rail's safety measures after investigation found railway 'normalized' problems* CBC The federal government says it will audit CP Rail's safety practices and training regime, after a report by the Transportation Safety Board found the company had "normalized" a persistent problem with trains braking during the winter months, before a derailment near Field, B.C., that killed three crew members in February 2019. Andrew Dockrell, Dylan Paradis and Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer of Calgary were killed when their train's air brakes failed in windchill temperatures of –30 degrees on Feb. 4, 2019. It caused their loaded CP grain train to run away down a mountain, derailing 99 cars and landing a locomotive in the Kicking Horse River. READ MORE Rogers says it couldn't have restored emergency services any faster during outage The Daily Courier Rogers Communications Inc. says in a submission to the federal telecom regulator that it could not have restored emergency services any faster during a widespread service outage earlier this month that crippled the company's networks and affected millions of customers across Canada. New details about the extent of the disruption were also included in the filing and range from media outlets unable to produce news broadcasts to outages for all customers in critical infrastructure such as hospitals and energy providers. READ MORE .IAEM-USA COUNCIL NEWS Administration launches Heat.gov with tools for communities facing extreme heat Homeland Security Today The Biden Administration through the interagency National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) launched Heat.gov, a new website to provide the public and decision-makers with clear, timely and science-based information to understand and reduce the health risks of extreme heat. Heat.gov will provide a one-stop hub on heat and health for the nation and is a priority of President Biden’s National Climate Task Force and its Interagency Working Group on Extreme Heat. Extreme heat has been the greatest weather-related cause of death in the U.S. for the past 30 years — more than hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding or extreme cold — killing over 700 people per year. READ MORE Facing reauthorization, CWMD Office leader says partnerships and focus on chemical threats are critical* Homeland Security Today The head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office called the at-times embattled office “an unheralded gem” while praising senators’ reauthorization bill that “mandates that we will consult with our peers in the government, outside the government, academia, industry on a regular basis to understand what they’re seeing.” Acting Assistant DHS Secretary for the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office Gary Rasicot, who led the office from October 2019 to July 2020 and again starting in January 2021, told senators that “we have made great strides in maturing this critical organization over the past three years” and he is “confident that CWMD is the right office at the right time to face the threats emerging in this mission space.” READ MORE  SPONSORED CONTENT Promoted by Rave Mobile Safety How to Leverage Rave911 Suite and Smart911 for Safety in your Community Emergency Preparedness Checklist for Public Safety Engage and Protect Your People with Rave’s Personal Safety App Fast, Smart, Reliable School Safety with the Rave Panic Button Invest in Employee Safety and Wellness for Your SMB GAO exposes security gaps in radioactive material purchasing* Homeland Security Today The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has called on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to add security features to its licenses to make it harder for people to use a fraudulent license to purchase radioactive material, after the watchdog used shell companies and fraudulent licenses to purchase from vendors in the U.S. Radioactive materials are commonly used for things like treating cancer and sterilizing medical instruments. But even a small amount could be used in a dirty bomb, which uses conventional explosives to spread radioactive material. READ MORE Mayorkas meets with venue and security officials in Central Florida to discuss vulnerabilities at crowded targets* Homeland Security Today Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas participated in a roundtable meeting with senior executives, directors, and security officials from entertainment venues, sports teams and leagues, colleges and universities, local chambers of commerce, law enforcement, and other key stakeholders from throughout Central Florida on Monday afternoon in Orlando. The roundtable conversation centered on the importance of collaboration between DHS and the private sector in promoting security, preparedness, and resilience at widely attended events and popular locations. 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 .EM NEWS New York unveils measures to address extreme heat Homeland Security Today New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced actions State agencies and authorities will advance to help address the impacts of extreme heat on disadvantaged communities and other New Yorkers vulnerable to the effects of increasingly high temperatures driven by climate change. The actions stem from the Governor’s 2022 State of the State directive to develop an extreme heat action plan to coordinate interagency investments and efforts to help mitigate community climate impacts and prioritize assistance to disadvantaged communities on the front lines of heat vulnerability. READ MORE The world's largest experimental earthquake infrastructure facility Homeland Security News Wire The U.S. National Science Foundationdirector Sethuraman Panchanathan met with staff and students from the University of California San Diego, local officials and industry partners to observe and discuss research investments and technology that help recognize and mitigate the impacts of natural disasters across the U.S. Panchanathan also attended the grand reopening of the upgraded NSF Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure shake table, a state-of-the-art research facility that enables engineers to test infrastructure by simulating earthquakes under a full range of motion. READ MORE  PRODUCT SHOWCASE New and Innovative Flood Risk Mitigation Solutions Designed, engineered, and manufactured in the USA to meet or exceed ANSI 2510/2511 Standards. Stores compactly near to high-risk areas. Rapidly deployed with no tools required. Minimal Labor Requirements. Example: 150 of 48" protection can be stored in a single stackable crate and deployed by a crew of 4 in about 15 minutes. LEARN MORE .NEW INSIGHTS Embedding meteorologists and hydrologists into emergency operations Homeland Security Today Weather conditions influence a variety of factors in emergency management from disruptions to supply chain logistics and travel, to the way in which a wildland fire may abruptly shift at any given moment. Due to the potential changes meteorological conditions generate before, during, and after an incident, meteorologists and emergency managers must maintain strong collaborative partnerships throughout all four phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Emergency managers today know to contact the National Weather Service (NWS) office to obtain weather and water information supporting emergency management activities; this, however, was not always the case. READ MORE The K-Factor in emergency management: Caring for your own kids during a campus crisis Campus Safety We have all been there: you’re committed to picking up the kids, attending a ballgame or meeting with a teacher when disaster strikes and your role as emergency manager requires you to respond to the crisis. Now what? Do you let your 8-year-old wait an extra 45 minutes in the rain while you make other arrangements to have someone pick them up? Or, do you make “family first” and leave the situation at work for someone else to handle? READ MORE  SPONSORED CONTENT Promoted by Pulsara Before the next stress event, overlay your system with Pulsara's demand-driven communications solution. Learn how healthcare leaders successfully created interconnected regional systems of care. Discover how one EMS agency eliminated 434 unnecessary transports in just three weeks. By simplifying patient transfers with Pulsara, one task force reduced excessive phone calls by 75%. Triage, track patients, and manage stress events all on a single platform. Wildfires: Why they start and how they can be stopped BBC A fire needs three things: fuel, oxygen and heat. Firefighters often talk about the fire triangle when they're trying to put out a blaze. On a hot summer's day when drought conditions peak, something as small as a spark from a train wheel can ignite a raging wildfire. Sometimes, fires occur naturally, ignited by heat from the sun or a lightning strike. READ MORE Creating a common operating picture for wildfire season Domestic Preparedness Life is beginning to return to normal following the past two years of the pandemic, but the world is still as unpredictable as ever. When it seems as though one catastrophic situation is coming to an end, another tends to emerge as the newest public safety issue. One set of threats that will persist is weather and climate-related natural disasters. Although emergency preparedness professionals cannot eliminate earthquakes, hurricanes, freezes, and wildfires, they can take steps to mitigate the impact natural disasters have on local communities. READ MORE Societal violence & its impact on critical infrastructure Domestic Preparedness The “new normal” following the COVID-19 outbreak is still evolving. Although some people have welcomed the relief from many years of commuting and focused on personal growth and time with family, others have become disenfranchised, isolated, depressed, or lack purpose and empathy. As the United States reels from the recent high-profile active shooter incident in Uvalde, Texas, concern among Americans is growing. COVID-19 has increased the risk of psychiatric disorders, chronic trauma, and stress, which eventually increase suicidality and suicidal behavior. READ MORE .UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE/SCHOOL EM ISSUES Uvalde preliminary report details 'systemic failures' in school shooting response Campus Safety The scathing preliminary report on the Robb Elementary School shooting and the subsequent response was released to the victims’ families and the public Sunday, detailing what officials describe as “systemic failures and egregious poor decision-making” by nearly everyone involved who was in a position of power. The 81-page report, compiled by the Texas House investigative committee, was released five days after the Austin American Statesmen and KVUE released 77 minutes of security video from the May 24 mass shooting at the Uvalde school. The video shows dozens of law enforcement officers entering the school and inexplicably waiting to breach the adjoining classrooms where a gunman shot and killed 19 students and two teachers. READ MORE  FEATURED ARTICLE   Proper Debris Management — Key to Disaster Recovery and FEMA Assistance Promoted by Tidal Basin Group Every year, communities across the country are impacted by disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, and winter storms. With these natural events comes debris. Debris management is often one of the most overlooked and least-planned-for components of disaster response and recovery. Learn how to better prepare your communities from debris. LEARN MORE   Uvalde announces new campus safety measures Spectrum News The school year will start in the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District on Sept. 6, to allow time for the district to add additional safety measures at each school campus. Uvalde schools will open on the Tuesday after Labor Day, Superintendent Hal Harrell told the school board at its regular meeting. Every campus will have a single entry point when the school year starts, Harrell said. The district also is interviewing vendors for metal detectors on campus. Those will be in place when school starts, he said. READ MORE Conducting a school site assessment this summer? Test your skills with this quiz Campus Safety According to the U.S. Department of Education, a Security and Vulnerability Assessment (SVA) is the ongoing process through which school districts and campuses identify and evaluate potential risks and areas of weakness that could adversely impact the campus or school system. Conducting an SVA allows campuses to find areas of liabilities they did not know existed, develop strategies for prevention and mitigation, and create plans for responding to and recovering from manmade and natural events. READ MORE  PRODUCT SHOWCASE Leadership Programs Recommended for You Want to optimize your effectiveness and accelerate your impact? ­ Experience an executive education program at Harvard Kennedy School including Leadership Decision Making (ONLINE), Leadership and Character in Uncertain Times (ONLINE) and Leadership in Crises ­ (ON CAMPUS). The best leaders never stop learning. Apply today. LEARN MORE Every California school needs to be tsunami aware Times Standard Emergency management is an important part of campus administration. Most of the time you hear nothing about it and campus emergency managers fight for space and budget allocations. But when something happens, they are expected to seamlessly establish an Emergency Operations Center, often in borrowed space, coordinate response, and keep up on all the activities and expenditures that have to be included when reports are due. READ MORE .HEALTHCARE EM UPDATE New studies bolster theory coronavirus emerged from the wild* The Associated Press Two new studies provide more evidence that the coronavirus pandemic originated in a Wuhan, China market where live animals were sold – further bolstering the theory that the virus emerged in the wild rather than escaping from a Chinese lab. The research, published online Tuesday by the journal Science, shows that the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market was likely the early epicenter of the scourge that has now killed nearly 6.4 million people around the world. Scientists conclude that the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, likely spilled from animals into people two separate times. READ MORE Why declaring monkeypox a global health emergency is a preventative step — not a reason for panic* The Conversation Countries that are members of the United Nations are obligated to report cases of unusual diseases that have the potential to become global health threats. In May 2022, more than a dozen countries in Europe, the Americas and other regions of the world that had never before had cases of monkeypox started to report cases occurring within their borders. In response, the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, convened a monkeypox emergency committee to track the evolving situation. READ MORE Disaster Available Supplies in Hospitals (DASH) tool available to help planners estimate stock IAEM This interactive tool (designed by ASPR TRACIE) is now available at dashtool.org. Hospital emergency planners and supply chain staff can use DASH to estimate supplies categorized in four modules (pharmaceutical, burn, trauma, and PPE) that may need to be immediately available during various mass casualty incidents and infectious disease emergencies based on hospital characteristics. Each module also incorporates pediatric sizes and specific medication needs as appropriate. A webinar, “Introduction to the Disaster Available Supplies in Hospitals (DASH) Tool,” will be offered 11:30 a.m. EDT, Aug. 15 by ASPR TRACIE and Healthcare Ready. Register to participate. .WEATHER UPDATES To prevent another 'Sharpiegate,' House to vote on elevating protections for career scientists at NOAA Government Executive The House is set to vote on a measure to boost protections for scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, tasking a top official with ensuring politically motivated outcomes do not supersede objective research and data. The introduction of the NOAA Chief Scientist Act followed NOAA falling into the spotlight for its questionable scientific process involving President Trump’s manipulation of agency hurricane data. READ MORE Extreme rainfall will be worse and more frequent than we thought Route Fifty Joshua Studholme and three colleagues at Yale published a study that seeks to finetune our understanding of extreme rainfall, now and in the future. They, and other researchers, suspect that the trick to accurately pinpointing the magnitude and frequency of extreme rainfall doesn’t just come down to measuring and tracking rain; it also hinges on the way researchers model climate change. READ MORE Climate change, land-use changes increase likelihood of flood events Homeland Security News Wire The German government estimates the total losses resulting from the disastrous floods in July 2021 at 32 billion euros. To improve future preparedness for such extreme events, researchers advise that risk assessments take greater account of the landscape and river courses, how they change, and how sediments are transported. READ MORE .EM RESOURCES FEMA and AARP release new resources to reduce natural hazards risk IAEM FEMA and AARP have partnered to release two new resources to protect adult communities from natural hazards. Adults aged 65 and older are a growing demographic who are often disproportionately impacted by severe weather. The guides provide resources and encourage ideas and partnerships to better engage older Americans in disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery from these events. View and download the Guide to Expanding Mitigation: Making the Connection to Older Adults. View, download or request a print copy of the Disaster Resilience Tool Kit on the AARP website. .DISASTER TECHNOLOGY NEWS Undersea internet cables can detect earthquakes — And may soon warn of tsunamis The New Yorker Somewhere beneath the Adriatic Sea, a rogue block of the African tectonic plate is burrowing under southern Europe, stretching Italy eastward by a few millimetres each year. On October 26, 2016, the stress triggered an earthquake in the Apennine Mountains, one in a series of quakes which toppled buildings in Italian towns. On the day of the tremor, Giuseppe Marra, a principal research scientist at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, England, was running an experiment that beamed an ultra-stable laser through underground fibre-optic cables. READ MORE .IAEM MEMBER NEWS Coral Springs' director of emergency management and special events leaves post TAPInto Coral Springs Before leaving his job last week as Coral Springs’ director of emergency management, special events, and city security, Alex Falcone offered to do one final Covid-19 update. For the past two years, Falcone has been part of the city’s public face through the pandemic, appearing at city commission meetings and Facebook Live events and helping release information to the public on the latest data and government protocols. And so, last Wednesday, at his final appearance in front of the commission, he jokingly offered to do it one more time. READ MORE .SURVEY REQUESTS Researcher seeks input from emergency managers about reducing the effects of vaccine hesitancy during COVID-19 pandemic IAEM Christie Y. Morris, a doctoral student at Capella University, is in the process of completing her doctoral degree in emergency management. She is conducting her Capstone Research Project on the effects of vaccine hesitancy on emergency response. The research study is entitled, “How Emergency Management Reduces the Effects of Vaccine Hesitancy During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of the lived experiences of emergency management professionals’ efforts to reduce the effects of vaccine hesitancy within the general population during the pandemic response as well as seek an understanding of the public's perceptions of rejecting the vaccine. The student researcher seeks study participants. Potential participants will be asked to participate in an open-ended anonymous questionnaire with six questions. All participants and their information will be kept confidential and at no time will participants be identified. To assist the student researcher, please complete this questionnaire. Questions may be directed to christiemorris83@gmail.com. .EM CALENDAR FEMA kicks-off Hazard Mitigation Assistance Summer Engagement Series IAEM On Aug. 4, FEMA will kick-off its 2022 Hazard Mitigation Assistance Summer Engagement Series. The 10-part series features experts and special guests who will provide information and insights on the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, and Flood Mitigation Assistance programs. The webinars are designed for regional leaders and key stakeholders in states, local communities, tribes and territories, and other interested individuals to learn more about the grant programs and grant application strategies. FEMA will coordinate with local contacts to host "office hours" for states, tribes, and territories to answer questions about subapplications for the 2022 BRIC and FMA grants. To register for any of the 10 webinars, visit Hazard Mitigation Assistance 2022 Summer Engagement Series and find the webinar best suited for your jurisdiction. .AROUND THE WORLD Extreme heat causes record wildfires, acres burned Homeland Security News Wire In 2022, 38,046 wildfires have burned 5,571,855 acres. This is the most acres burned-to-date in the past 10 years. Both numbers are well above the 10-year average of 32,286 wildfires and 3,328,244 acres burned. Temperatures will rise to 10- 15oF above normal across the Pacific Northwest and 5-10oF above normal in northern California and portions of the Great Basin. READ MORE Grass fires burn more homes in drought-ravaged North Texas* The Associated Press A grass fire spread to at least nine homes in a rural North Texas subdivision Tuesday, marking the second such damaging grass fire spread in the drought-ravaged region in as many days. The fire in the rural Rendon community, 11 miles (17 kilometers) southeast of Fort Worth, came one day after a grass fire spread into a subdivision in Balch Springs, a Dallas suburb. READ MORE Strong quake kills 5, injures dozens in northern Philippines The Associated Press A strong earthquake set off landslides and damaged buildings in the northern Philippines on Wednesday, killing at least five people and injuring dozens. In the capital, hospital patients were evacuated and terrified people rushed outdoors. The 7-magnitude quake was centered in a mountainous area of Abra province, said Renato Solidum, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, who described the midmorning shaking as a major earthquake. READ MORE Pakistan's biggest city paralyzed by monsoon rain AFP via France24 A weather emergency was declared in Karachi Monday as heavier-than-usual monsoon rains continue to lash Pakistan's biggest city, flooding homes and making streets impassable. The monsoon, which usually lasts from June to September, is essential for irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams across the Indian subcontinent, but also brings a wave of destruction each year. READ MORE Greek firefighters battle inferno 'disaster' at natural park Phys.org Greek firefighters battled wildfires on three fronts Monday as flames destroyed around 2,200 hectares (5,400 acres) of woodland in one of the country's most important protected habitats. Around 320 firefighters, ten water-bombing planes and 13 helicopters were deployed to contain the fire, now raging for a fourth day, at the Dadia National Park, known for its black vulture colony. READ MORE One dead, hundreds rescued as record rains wreak havoc across St. Louis region St. Louis Post-Dispatch Debbie and Jeff Boshans awoke around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday in their basement bedroom when their phones began blaring alerts. Then they stepped out of bed into water 3 inches deep — and rising fast. They raced to find their cat, Elliot, before the flooding reached the first floor. "We were literally praying, asking God to stop it," Debbie Boshans said. Instead they were rescued by firefighters in a small boat, like hundreds of others across the region swamped by a downpour that shattered a century-old record and left a trail of chaos in its wake. READ MORE Northland's heavy rain causes slips, surface flooding, power outages The Northern Advocate Schools are closed, thousands are without power and roads have been affected by flooding and slips across Northland. Northland police have urged motorists to avoid non-essential travel due to surface flooding, slips and low cloud across the region. READ MORE Volcano erupts in Japan, sending large rocks and ash into the sky CBS News Dozens of people have evacuated two towns on Japan's main southern island of Kyushu, where a volcano spewed ash and large rocks into the nighttime sky. The rocks fell as far as 1.5 miles from the Sakurajima volcano Sunday night in the southern prefecture of Kagoshima. Footage on Japan's NHK public television showed orange flames flashing near the crater and dark smoke with ash billowing high above the mountaintop. READ MORE   IAEM Dispatch Connect with IAEM | Privacy Policy Hailey Golden, Director of Publishing, MultiView, 469-420-2630 | Download media kit Bob Kowalski, Executive Editor, MultiView, 469-420-2650 | Contribute news *Article contributed by the Emergency Manager's Weekly Report. International Association of Emergency Managers 201 Park Washington Court  |  Falls Church, VA 22046-4527  Elizabeth B. Armstrong, MAM, CAE, IAEM CEO, IAEM Executive Director Dawn M. Shiley, CAE, IAEM Dispatch POC, IAEM Communications and Marketing Manager (703) 538-1795  |  Contact Us  |  www.iaem.org/ Click here to unsubscribe.  Learn how to add us to your safe sender list so our emails get to your inbox. ADVERTISE SUBSCRIBE PAST ISSUES   7701 Las Colinas Ridge, Ste. 800, Irving, TX 75063