DERA will conduct a one-day planning workshop on Sunday, 24 September1995 in Milwaukee, focusing on "Preparing for Disaster and Emergency Needsof the Next Decade." The session will include training in problem solvingmethods and process improvement, a long-range risk assessment presentationby DOD and FEMA regional staff, panel discussions, and an open forum forall participants. The meeting will be at Milwaukee's International Airportso that attendees may fly in for only the day of the workshop, or they maystay at hotels nearby. Registration deadline for the workshop is September1, 1995. Those planning to attend should contact DERA at the address aboveas soon as possible.
The Barrier Island Mapping Project
The Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines (PSDS) at DukeUniversity is undertaking a barrier island mapping project to addressproblems associated with the development of American coastal zones; theprogram will focus on efforts to reduce property damage.
The PSDS is inviting members of the insurance industry to participate in acooperative venture to further understanding of the forces affecting NorthAmerican shores. The resulting coalition, called the Property DamageMitigation Insurance Affiliates (PDMIA), will enable PSDS to utilizegeographic information system (GIS) technology to identify geologiccoastal hazard areas, ascertain historical storm effects, and devisemethods of mitigating property damage. The resulting data base willprovide information for an entire island, portions of an island, orindividual buildings. This information will be used to encouragemitigation that includes repairing damage to the natural environment,enhancing natural protection, and improving zoning and land-use practices.
Through this program, insurance affiliates will have access to coastalhazard maps that delineate zones with different levels of risk, site-specific damage mitigation assessments or recommendations, wind exposureanalyses, surveys of types and numbers of buildings in danger fromspecific hazards, coastal evolution scenarios, videos, and post-stormstudies.
For more information on the PDMIA program, contact Orrin H. Pilkey, DukeUniversity Department of Geology, Program for the Study of DevelopedShorelines, Campus Box 90228, Durham, NC 27708-0228; (919) 684-4238; fax:(919) 684-5833.
International Center for Hurricane Damage Research and Mitigation Opens
Florida International University (FIU) recently established theInternational Center for Hurricane Damage Research and Mitigation, aninstitution that will promote interdisciplinary research related tohurricane hazard mitigation, disaster preparedness, response, recovery,and redevelopment. The center will be affiliated with the NationalHurricane Center/Weather Service Forecast Office, which recently moved tonew facilities on FIU's main campus; the two organizations will conductjoint projects on hurricane hazard mitigation.
Persons desiring more information about the new center or wanting to beplaced on the center's mailing list for publications and announcementsshould contact Walter Peacock, Department of Sociology and Anthropology,FIU, Miami, FL 33199; (305) 348-2247; fax: (305) 348-3605; e-mail:peacock@servax.fiu.edu.
Tsunami Education Program Launched
[Adapted from the "Tsunami Newsletter," July 1995]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is developing aplan to reduce tsunami hazards along the coasts of the U.S., with publiceducation as a key component. To identify important public educationneeds, NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), Oregon SeaGrant, the International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC), and the AlaskaTsunami Warning Center jointly convened a tsunami education planningworkshop last fall in Oregon. The workshop group identified key industriesand segments of the population vulnerable to tsunamis, discussed theincreased risk to these groups, and agreed that broad-based publiceducation could be one of the key means for reducing risks to life andproperty. The group noted that, although their focus is tsunamis, theyshould be only one component of an all-hazards education program.
Persons interested in obtaining more information on this planning effortshould contact ITIC, Box 50027, Honolulu, HI 96850-4993; (808) 532-6423;fax: (808) 532-5560; e-mail: itic@ptwc.noaa.gov.
FEMA Borrows (and Saves!)
In August, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced thatit would borrow $194 million from the U.S. Treasury to pay the floodinsurance claims of victims of the May flood in Louisiana and other recentflood disasters.
FEMA director James Lee Witt pointed out that no taxpayer money will beused to repay this loan. Instead, FEMA will repay the Treasury withinterest within three years through National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP) premiums. Witt stressed that the National Flood Insurance Fund isentirely separate from the President's Disaster Fund, which is used to payfor disaster assistance. All claims, operating expenses, administrativeoverhead, and commissions to insurance agents who write and service floodinsurance policies are paid from policyholder premiums, not taxpayerdollars. Thus, the record payments on federally backed flood insurancewill actually save the government between $200-263 million. Witt explainedthat because so many Louisiana residents had wisely purchased floodinsurance, 88% of the dollars for flood victims came from the NFIP. Only12% of aid to victims had to be financed by U.S.taxpayers through FEMAindividual and family grants and minimal home repair funds.
FEMA has statutory authority to borrow up to a billion dollars from theTreasury if the number of claims from a catastrophic flood or series offloods temporarily threatens to deplete the National Flood Insurance Fund.The NFIP expects approximately 35,000 claims from the Louisiana flood inMay, which was preceded by significant floods in Missouri, Louisiana,California, and Texas.
For more information on the this action or on the NFIP generally, contactthe FEMA Office of Emergency Information and Public Affairs, 500 C Street,S.W., Washington, DC 20472; (202) 646-4600: fax: (202) 646-4086; e-mail:eipa@fema.gov.
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