Preparedness and Communications

Mayor Harry Kim has instructed county staff to “learn from our mistakes” as they plan the long-term lava recovery, a reference to decisions made decades ago when Hawaii County authorized development of large subdivisions in the most dangerous lava zones.

Gun owners and people operating shelters would be able to decide if a firearm should be brought to a shelter and how it could be safely stored.

The Bureau of Emergency Management is a small office that coordinates Portland, Ore.'s disaster preparation plans and outreach. Its budget this year is $9.4 million.

A state government 'strike force' recently outlined a series of measures lawmakers should consider to change utility wildfire liability laws, including creating a new wildfire insurance fund.

With five weeks until the start of hurricane season, FEMA has made changes to better handle more severe storms, including keeping more supplies in places like Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Alaska, which can be harder to reach.

A U.S. Geological Survey study suggests that even the storms being experienced today, combined with some sea level rise, will outdo wildfires and earthquakes in terms of monetary damage done to coastal communities.

The exercise was part of a four-day simulation, organized by the South Central Public Health District and the Jerome County Office of Emergency Management, to prepare for a potential anthrax or other bioterrorism attack.

FEMA money, plus another $1 million from the Washington state tribe, will cover the tower’s construction. When complete, it will be one of two tsunami evacuation structures in the U.S., the other about 10 miles north.

Governments should have seen it coming, two or three decades ago when we first became aware that climate change had begun, with warmer air and water temperatures and changing weather patterns.

Preparing to react to the next flood, wildfire or earthquake, and sharing plans with residents are the vital steps local government officials must take in disaster-prone areas like Northern California.

Discussion will include a section on earthquake magnitude and anticipated shaking. Also covered will be tsunami inundation, heights expected, evacuation, time between earthquake and tsunami, as well as other survival tips.

Biology majors who will embark on futures in the medical field, Florent and Johnson serve as emergency medical technicians for the Massachusetts-based Brewster Ambulance Service.

Together with Rice University and other local institutions, the Texas city is collaborating with residents and stakeholders to plan for future flood mitigation given the devastation seen during Hurricane Harvey.

According to a presentation given this week at the National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans, climate change is expected to intensify storms by about 3 percent, or a few miles per hour, by the year 2100.

Fifty-one percent of the 350 houses built after 2008 escaped damage during the Camp Fire, according to an analysis by McClatchy. Yet only 18 percent of the 12,100 houses built before 2008 did.