Preparedness and Communications

For participating public-safety personnel, this simulated exercise offered the type of hands-on training that can only be surpassed by an actual disaster.

Final tallies aren’t in yet, but it’s clear Ian brought historic levels of storm surge from Key West to Naples to Fort Myers, Fla., with some spots seeing at least seven feet of water above dry land.

The people in this room do not control the weather. They could not stop climate change on their own. But with the right tools and better observations, they might warn more people sooner?

The report from the firm Mission Critical Partners lays out a plethora of issues facing 911 call centers, including personnel issues, cyber attacks and the difficult transition from legacy technology to NG 911.

“The coroner’s office serves in an indispensable role in our county and it is vitally important that we ensure that they have all of the tools necessary to carry out their essential mission.”

After a 90-day pause on the U.S. Forest Service's prescribed burn program following two fires that got out of control in New Mexico, but some worry new restrictions put in place will do more harm than good.

As California wildfires grow more intense and frequent, many children who live through them experience lasting psychological trauma such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Children may also develop sleep problems, or struggle in school.

“What we’ve seen almost over the last 10 years now is a huge change in the ways fires have been burning throughout California,” said Jon Heggie, a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“The concerns that we have heard have been mostly from students. It’s interesting. I hadn’t thought about it actually, until you asked that, but I haven’t heard from parents.”

In 2018, Folly Beach along with a 26-mile stretch underwent emergency beach renourishment to restore sand lost from Hurricanes. The damage was so bad that the Army Core of Engineers paid for the entire cost of renourishment.

Recent fires having killed more than 13 percent of all giant sequoias, and scientists and officials are growing increasingly concerned that the state its forests emit more climate-warming carbon dioxide than they absorb.

Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Acting Director Dawn Brantley said drought conditions are being felt through the state, from damaging wildfires to dry riverbeds and wells.

California is struggling through drought, but a growing number of scientists say climate change — the same catastrophe that’s drying up the West — is also increasing the risk of nightmarish flooding across much of the state.

Resting in the hands of Congress is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposal for a $1.1 billion sea wall that would encapsulate about 8 miles of Charleston’s peninsula in the city that’s expected to continue to swell in population.

Most emergency preparedness checklists say to have hard-soled shoes to wear to protect your feet from embers or glass shattered by heat. Fire experts suggest wearing flame-resistant garments, from head to toe, if possible.