Author Archive | Wesley Shaw

Webinar Series Includes Presentation on "Sea Level Rise and Property Rights"

The International Submerged Lands Management has announced its new conference dates. Unlike most conferences, this one takes place on your computer, so those of us with limited travel budgets can still participate. You can find a schedule of all the conference’s events on their website (and we’ll add the lot to the StormSmart Coasts Calendar), […]

Five Years After Katrina: The Changing Landscape of the Lower Ninth Ward

The New York Times has created a mesmerizing and troubling (and clever) webpage that allows you to virtually drive down two streets in New Orleans’s Lower Ninth Ward in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010. The animation stops at various properties along the way, so you can see how certain buildings have fared (some gone, some […]

Ideas on How to Engage Your Businesses in Emergency Preparedness

John Solomon, author of “In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog” has written an interesting and compelling editorial arguing that governments at all levels need to work harder to engage the business community in disaster preparedness. He says: Government citizen preparedness campaigns over the past few years have raised awareness but not significantly enough to change […]

New Funding & Technical Assistance Opportunity for Local Planning

The Model Forest Policy Program is offering an interesting-sounding new funding and technical assistance opportunity for rural communities looking for help with their land-use planning. Here’s how they’re describing the program on their website: The Model Forest Policy Program (MFPP) is now accepting applications for 2011 Climate Solutions University: Forest and Water Strategies (CSU). This […]

Are You Using Social Media for Emergency Management? Your Citizens Are!

The Red Cross has released the results of a survey of just over 1,000 respondents on how people use and expect to use social media during a disaster. The results are pretty striking. A couple of highlights: Nearly 3-in-4 respondents use at least one online community or social network. Facebook was by far the most […]

Webinar: Climate Resilient Coastal Communities (Wednesday July 28)

Webinar announcement for tomorrow, courtesy of EMForum.org: Building the Foundation for Hazard and Climate Resilient Coastal Communities July 28, 2010, 12:00 Noon EasternEMForum.org is pleased to host a one hour presentation and interactive discussion Wednesday, July 28, 2010, beginning at 12:00 Noon Eastern time (please convert to your local time). Our topic will be the […]

White House Opposes Multiple Peril Insurance Bill [UPDATED]

The White House released a statement today saying that it would not support the expansion of the National Flood Insurance Program to cover wind damage. Such a move would likely do no good, the statement explains, because the government’s rates would be comparable to current market prices. The whole statement: EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT […]

FEMA Releases Guidance for 2011 Mitigation Grant Programs

Via the always useful CZMA Climate Change and Coastal Hazards E-News Update newsletter: The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) “Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program Guidance” (176 pp.) represents the unification of all five of the agency’s hazard mitigation grant programs into one guidance document. These programs, which provide funding for eligible mitigation activities that reduce […]

NOAA Announces New Coastal Resilience Networks Grant Program

From our friends at NOAA: CRest Grant Program – Coastal Resilience Networks Pacific Islands – Gulf of Mexico – West Coast Coastal Resilience Networks (CRest) is a new and exciting grant opportunity for the Pacific Islands, Gulf of Mexico, and West Coast regions. The program funds projects that help communities become more resilient to the […]

3ft of Freeboard? I'll Take 12ft!

After Hurricane Ike bashed a hole in their roof and left their first floor uninhabitable, FEMA experts recommended that Galveston residents Matt and Lauren Johnson elevate their home 3′ above the minimum requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program. The Johnsons went for 12′ instead. “Even if it costs us more now, whatever costs us […]