Preparedness and Communications

The organizers behind the ShakeOut shared three steps from federal, state and local emergency management experts to reduce the risk of injuries and death when an earthquake hits.

The Wisconsin Public-Private Partnership Summit is scheduled for Nov. 1-2 at the Glacier Canyon Conference Center with training and demonstrations on the first day and a slate of speakers and panel discussions on the second.

The Great Washington ShakeOut is organized by state and local emergency response managers. Skagit County’s participation in the event has grown from about 7,800 residents in 2012 to about 21,000 this year.

That money will pay for a checklist of items, including assessing erosion at the toe of the earthen dam caused by seepage, evaluating gaps in metal sheet piling, installing survey monuments and assessing underwater components.

For decades, taxpayers have been subsidizing flood insurance rates, but new premium calculations by FEMA will adjust rates to better reflect the true risk of flood-prone homes.

A null signaling warm temperatures, dry conditions and fearsome gusts went into effect at 6 a.m. and was slated to last through 8 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

Austin and Travis County, Texas' emergency management offices partnered with Deaf Link, an all-service interpreting agency, to send emergency alerts in American Sign Language.

“We understand the medical physiology of breath, and we’re starting to develop engineering and instrumentation that can exploit those chemical signatures for specific purposes.”

Pulling from a variety of scientific studies, the project foresees a future where towering conifer stands have retreated to higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada. It anticipates a receding snow line and a thirstier atmosphere leaving less moisture in the ground.

As Sunday night’s storm neared Norman, Okla., the Norman Police Department warned residents they’d need to take weather precautions, but that Norman has no public shelters. The storm dropped golf and tennis ball-sized hail on Norman.

Gaps between resident and staff vaccination rates are common at nursing homes across the state. Both groups were among the earliest eligible for vaccines in Minnesota, as long-term care facilities were particularly hard hit.

He’s helped put together new systems to allow hospitals to send out patients and accept them. He also fields calls from outlying hospitals with urgent transfer challenges.

The Yosemite-Stanislaus Solutions group, composed of entities from environmental and industry interests, has dedicated itself to developing a healthier forest through fuel reduction and reforestation projects.

Senate Bill 322 raises the legal standard to hold trained managers overseeing prescribed fires on the hook for firefighting costs only if they acted recklessly, allowing the fire to burn out of control.

"Eventually, it's a matter of time before something gives," said Jerrad Jeske, the first-year superintendent in the Liberty School District south of Spokane, Wash.