TOP STORIES

Tropical Storm Fay inundates Florida
August 22 '08: As Tropical Storm Fay has worked its way across Florida, as much as 30 inches of rain have fallen on parts of the state prompting federal and state officials to declare states of emergency, the Associated Press reported. Online resources for community members have been made available according to One Storm which linked to TropicalStormFay.org sponsored by the Red Cross.

DHS creates private sector accreditation program
August 15 '08: Late in July, the Department of Homeland Security signed an agreement with the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB), based in Milwaukee, "to establish and oversee the development and implementation of the accreditation and certification requirements" for the private sector to strengthen its preparedness and resilience, the Suburban Emergency Management Project reported (courtesy of HSDL). Accreditation guidelines have not been announced yet, but participation is voluntary and will be driven by the marketplace.

New radio technology developed to help communications in buildings and underground
August 8 '08: The National Institute of Standards and Technology announced recently the creation of a new radio communications technology that can extend the range of radio communications for first responders working in buildings, underground and in other similarly difficult areas. The mesh network and breadcrumb system, Computer World reported, uses "relay devices [which] run software that can notify emergency crews when they need to place another of the breadcrumbs along their route to extend the range of communications down a hallway or tunnel."

Breaking NEWS

Rescue team trains to help animals in Kansas ... In Kansas, emergency responders are training with the Kansas State Animal Response Team which was formed four years' ago to help pets during and after a disaster... read more>>

Wildfires rage in California ... Wildfires in California are forcing firefighters to pick the blazes they can control while other fires are completely out of control. Officials have said some blazes are impossible to fight because of their location... read more>>

New policy guidelines for FEMA trailers ... FEMA has updated its hurricane policies for the 2008 season. The new policy changes effect the agency's emergency trailer guidelines for state and local government issues as well as for residents who will need them... read more>>

Chinese mull ceasing dam construction projects ... Chinese officials are considering whether to halt future dam projects after the recent earthquakes have created "quake lakes" which could potentially put residents at risk if they were to break... read more>>

Iowa community begins recovery after devastating tornado ... Residents in one Iowan community are trying to recover from devastating tornadoes which flattened homes and farms. In one town along, more than 222 homes were destroyed... read more>>

Tornado in Colorado kills one ... A freak tornado plowed through a town about 80 miles north of Denver killing one person while the same storm spawned golfball-sized hail... read more>>

Wildfires in CA prompt evacuations ... Hundreds of residents in California have been evacuated after wildfires were ignited along the central Californian mountains. About 1,400 homes were under evacuation orders... read more>>

Military junta allows disaster aid into country ... The military junta in Myanmar has announced it will let all waiting foreign disaster aid groups into the country after a "breakthrough" meeting between the Burmese government and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon... read more>>

Stadiums as shelters in China ... Chinese government officials in Chengdu are trying to cope with the estimated 5 million people who are without shelter after the devastating earthquake and its aftershocks by using stadium as shelters... read more>>

Death toll now 78,000 in Myanmar ... The official death count in Myanmar is now 78,000 with about 56,000 more people missing. The government is still severely restricting access to the country's affected by international aid groups... read more>>

Dams are weakened by quakes in China ... Chinese officials are monitoring damage to more than 400 dams in the Sichuan Province. The fear is that the recent large earthquake has weakened the infrastructure putting even more communities at risk should the dams brake... read more>>

Earthlink shuts down Philly WiFi ... Earthlink announced that it will suspend its wireless Internet network in Philadelphia because it could not find a buyer for the $17 million communications infrastructure... read more>>

Death toll in China continues to rise ... The death toll in China continues to rise as more victims of the worst earthquake to hit the country in 30 years are found... read more>>

Death toll in Myanmar rises ... The death toll in Myanmar has risen to about 32,000 while American relief supplies are being airlifted into the country according to officials. Health officials are worried about disease setting in the displaced and affected populations... read more>>

Temblor in China kills thousands ... A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck central China killing at least 8,500 people, though the death toll is expected to rise according to state-run news agencies... read more>>
Other NEWS

Report looks at mass transportation's role in emergency response
July 29 '08: A Congressionally-mandated study, funded by the Federal Transit Administration and compiled by the Transportation Research Board has looked at the role of mass transportation before, during and after an emergency. Writers of the report said the study's aim was "to explore the capacity of transit systems serving ... locations in times of emergency."

Report finds increased disaster preparedness outreach needed in immigrant communities
July 28 '08: The Naval Academy's Center for Homeland Defense and Security blog (HSDL) announced a new report released by two immigrant communities-focused think tanks looking at the impacts of disaster preparedness in communities where English is not the primary language. In the press release, the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute and the AsianPacific American Legal Center of Southern California wrote that recent disasters in Southern California have shown that "in order to improve disaster awareness among immigrant community members and to help emergency response personnel better serve limited English speaking populations," education and outreach operations must be increased.

America's Emergency Network - public/private partnership to deliver nation-wide emergency network
July 24 '08: Last year, organizers from America's Emergency Network (AEN) announced a new public/private partnership providing a suite of communications technologies for the general public and state, local and federal emergency response officials and government agencies. AEN provides a website containing video feeds and bulletins issued by OEMs and other government agencies in addition to AEN-TV (for emergency response and government agencies) as well the radio based AlertFM warning system.

EPA report examines increase in climate extremes changing communities' dynamics
July 22 '08: In a press release from the Environmental Protection Agency, the federal government announced a new report which examines the health, settlement dynamics and impacts of climate change on communities in the United States - broken down into regions. The report covers areas ranging from population redistribution to local, state, regional and national disaster recovery in the face of increasingly severe weather. Many of the findings suggest increased economic, infrastructural, and societal pressures.

WebAnywhere helps the blind access the Internet
July 18 '08: The Disaster Zone blog reported on a new Internet technology which allows blind persons access the web without the expensive technology typically needed. The WebAnywhere alpha release is an open source project which was developed by researchers at the University of Washington.

RX Response partnership provides medications to communities during disasters
July 11 '08: A new partnership among medical industry stakeholders, federal health agencies and nonprofit organizations have developed the Rx Response program which seeks to continue delivering medicines to patients on the regional, state and local levels during an emergency. The partnership works by partnering with biotechnology manufacturing and distribution companies as well as hospitals and community-located pharmacies to help solve supply chain problems caused by natural or man-made disasters.

Stadiums as shelters part 2
July 1 '08: In Japan, architect Shuhei Endo has been working on fusing disaster response and recovery capabilities into the design to stadiums, Architectural Record reported in the June 2008 edition. Endo's design incorporates curved lines and open spaces to maximize the space available for large response operations to move into an area also used by sports teams, AR reviewed. Local communities in the US such as Charleston, S.C. have been using stadiums to house displaced people after disasters. Similar uses have been put into place during Hurricane Katrina and during the Southern California wildfires in 2007.