The Associated Press is reporting on the aftermath of Xynthia, the storm that slammed into Europe last weekend. The hurricane-force winds and huge storm surge destroyed seawalls and killed dozens there. The article focuses on the past, present, and future challenges of devastated historic towns along the French coast. New homes have cropped up chaotically […]
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Disaster‐Resilient Homes Webinar Series [EVENT]
Posted on March 3, 2010
The Resilient Home Program has just announced a new (free) webinar series on resilient homes. The first two webinars are co‐sponsored by FEMA and will be: Home Evaluation after Storms and Floods March 9, 2010 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM (Eastern) Presented by Bill Coulbourne, Director of Wind and Flood Mitigation Applied Technology Council (ATC) […]
Top 10 Reasons to Buy Flood Insurance NOW
Posted on February 25, 2010
While this list was written by FEMA for the general public, most of it applies to your municipal properties, too (and it’s not a bad outreach tool, either). The Top Ten Reasons to Buy Flood Insurance Now Spring flooding is almost here and there is a 30-day waiting period before coverage begins. Coverage is relatively […]
Risk Communication: Best Practices
Posted on February 24, 2010
The folks over at the NOAA Coastal Services Center recently released a two-page summary of risk communication specifically for those working in coastal hazards. In addition to explaining the concept of risk and why our behavior in the face of risk is so complicated, it provides six best practices for those trying to communicate risk. […]
Coastal Adaptation Planning Webinar: Feb 25th [EVENT]
Posted on February 23, 2010
To help inform and engage coastal communities on coastal climate preparedness, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA will be hosting a monthly webinar series focused on all issues surrounding coastal climate adaptation in the Southeast U.S. This month’s webinar will be on February 25th from 12 – 1 (Eastern) […]
NOAA Improves Forecasts for Coastal Flood Impacts
Posted on February 23, 2010
The National Weather Service has created a new way to help coastal decision makers better project damage from coastal flooding through an experimental forecast technique they’re calling the “Coastal Flood Nomogram”. Unlike some other models which rely solely on predicted damage from still water, the Coastal Flood Nomogram considers the combined effects of storm tides […]
Sunday: Scheduled StormSmart Coasts Site Maintenance [UPDATED]
Posted on February 19, 2010
Just a heads-up: we’ve got some exciting work to do on the StormSmart Coasts site. We think you’ll like the results, but in the meantime, we’re going to pull the site down for a few hours Sunday evening (Feb. 21st) and put our robots to work. If you visit then, there’s no telling what you […]
Hurricane Center Takes Storm Surge Out of Intensity Categories
Posted on February 17, 2010
NOAA’s National Weather Service has just announced that it will use a new hurricane scale this season called the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The new scale keeps the same wind speed ranges as the original Saffir-Simpson Scale for each of the five hurricane categories, but no longer ties specific storm surge and flooding effects to […]
Building Resilience Workshop: Feb 25-27, New Orleans [EVENT]
Posted on February 17, 2010
This just across our desks: “The challenge of living with water is one shared by cities and communities around the world. Nowhere is this more true than in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, where people live with a daily awareness of the threat, and opportunity, of water. Please join us at the Building […]
EPA Releases Water Quality Scorecard
Posted on February 17, 2010
Dealing with storms means dealing with stormwater. EPA has just released a new resource for local governments to help them do just that. In their words: “EPA has released a first-of-its-kind water quality scorecard designed to help communities in rural, suburban and urban settings incorporate green infrastructure practices to protect local water quality and improve […]