Briefly, FEMA has announced a loan forgiveness program for government agencies that received money after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Under the new regulations, local governments that received Community Disaster Loans from FEMA can apply to have all or part of the loans erased if its revenues in the 36 months after the two major storms […]
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New Report: More Storms, Stronger Winds for Texas
Posted on January 21, 2010
A new Reuter’s article reports that NOAA’s National Sever Storm Laboratory is predicting more storms for Texas. Curses! “Texas Seen Getting More Storms, Stronger Winds“, (Reuters) Photo MorBCN.
Hurricane Damage Prediction Tough, Even for Insurance Companies
Posted on January 21, 2010
A report released yesterday finds that short-term hurricane damage models, designed to project insured losses in the United States from Atlantic hurricanes for the past five-years, have significantly overestimated losses for the cumulative 2006 through 2009 seasons. From the press release: “This latest study further supports our previous findings that a short time horizon is […]
National Hurricane Center to Provide Greater Lead Time in Watches and Warnings
Posted on January 13, 2010
A quick word from the NOAA National Hurricane Center: NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami will issue watches and warnings for tropical storms and hurricanes along threatened coastal areas 12 hours earlier than in previous years. According to NHC experts, advancements in track forecasts are making it possible for forecasters to provide greater lead time. […]
EVENT: Southeast Stormwater Association's Conference, October 6-8, Biloxi
Posted on January 12, 2010
The folks over at the Southeast Stormwater Association have set the date and location of their annual conference: October 6-8 at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi. According to the event’s webpage, the organizers aim to “bring quality training to stormwater professionals,” specifically targeting local, state and federal government administrators and regulators; developers, builders, contractors; land […]
New Levee Outreach
Posted on December 16, 2009
The brainy folks over at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) have released a little handy outreach booklet designed to help folks living behind levees understand their risks. It’s called, appropriately, So, You Live Behind a Levee! The 28-page booklet answers such questions as: What does it mean to live behind a levee? Are […]
DHS Releases Grant Guidance for 2010
Posted on December 15, 2009
The folks over at Emergency Management have posted a good summary of the newly released 2010 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Grant Guidance. While the bulk of the $2.7 billion is targeted at terrorism-related security (this is DHS, after all), there’s plenty here for those looking for funding to protect coastal communities from weather and […]
NEW StormSmart Coasts Network Calendar
Posted on December 14, 2009
We’ve started pulling together a calendar for the site that will list events we think would be useful for our readers across the network. It’s not much yet — little more than a list of events we’ve heard about recently — but we’ve got big plans. Once we get it populated we’ll make it look […]
FEMA's Fast-Track Dispute Resolution for Katrina Clean-Up Not Popular?
Posted on December 2, 2009
When the Federal Government modified The Civilian Board of Contract Appeals in August, their goal was to: “. . . resolve disputes between applicants and the Federal Emergency Management Agency as to funding for public assistance applications arising from Hurricane Katrina and Rita damage.” The quick version? The special arbitration panel hears from all sides, […]
GIS Training (Mobile, January 5th)
Posted on November 23, 2009
This from the fine folks at the Coastal States Organization: “On January 5 there will be a GIS training for coastal resource professionals in Mobile, Alabama on the Habitat Priority Planner. The tool is a geographic information system (GIS)-based tool used to make decisions about land use, conservation, and restoration. Different scenarios can be quickly […]