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As the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) celebrates its 30th anniversary, FEMA's Federal Insurance Administration (FIA) and Mitigation Directorate are conducting an assessment of the program. Examples of issues to be examined are: the effectiveness of the NFIP in promoting wise use of the nation's floodplains and reducing the risk of financial loss from floods; the extent to which local governments are enforcing the program's land-use and building standards; impact of the NFIP on reducing the overall costs to governments for flood recovery; the distribution of financial risk among policyholders, disaster victims, and taxpayers; and the impact of NFIP insurance rating and coverage on floodplain management and hazard mitigation.
In an effort to ensure a comprehensive assessment, we are requesting
notification of any unpublished and/or current research underway on
these issues or the NFIP in general. Please provide a brief overview
of the specific research or study being conducted, and the name,
address, and/or phone number of a contact person to:
Mrs. Laurel Lacy
Federal Insurance Administration
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Room 435, FCP
500 C Street, S.W.
Washington, DC 20472
(202) 646-3590
Fax: (202) 646-3286
E-mail: Laurel.Lacy@fema.gov
I am a Costa Rican researcher searching for methodologies to forecast
losses in urban areas due to flooding and mudflows. I would greatly
appreciate any information by e-mail or to my postal address:
Lorena Montoya
Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences
PB 248, P.O. Box 6
7500 AA Enschede
The Netherlands
E-mail: montoya@itc.nl
We are currently developing Australian guidelines on land-use planning for natural hazards mitigation. These guidelines are being funded by Emergency Management Australia, as well as being supported by the Australian Local Government Association and the Royal Australian Planning Institute. The guidelines are intended to assist land-use planners in reducing the risks posed to development by natural hazards.
I was wondering if you had information on any individual state or local governments that have tackled this problem successfully. Such information would assist us greatly. I look forward to your reply.
Peter Koob
Manager Planning
State Emergency Service
47 Liverpool Street
Hobart, Tasmania 7000
Australia
Tel: 61 3 6230 2700
Fax: 61 3 6234 9767
E-mail: peter.koob@ses.tas.gov.au
I'm looking for information on establishing a Public Information Officer (PIO) program within a volunteer fire/emergency medical services organization. Would like to hear from anyone who has set up such a program or know where I can find information on this issue. E-Mail address is: michael.zanotti@ns.doe.gov. Thanks for your help.
Hello,
We are conducting communications research in the flood-prone areas of
the Hawkesbury-Nepean Region of New South Wales, Australia. We would
appreciate any new/recent information that you have on: a) preparing
flood-prone communities, and b) research/evaluation of strategies
employed to save lives. Our postal address is:
Colmar Brunton Social Research
GPO Box 2212
Canberra, ACT 2601
Australia
Any information that can be e-mailed or faxed in the next couple of
days would be of great importance to us.
E-mail: cecilia@canberra.cbr.com.au
Fax: 6 1 2 6249 8588
Please reply at your earliest convenience.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Frances Panopoulos MAPS
Dear Colleagues,
I am currently conducting a literature review on the physical nature of, and human behavior in, shelters during the aftermath of natural disasters. Hank Fischer and I have received a Quick Response Grant from the Natural Hazards Center entitled "Shelter Proxemics and Media Impact on Shelter Use."
I would appreciate any help with identifying research published since 1986 dealing with the interaction of shelter residents with each other, the staff of the shelters, or the physical conditions of the shelter. Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.
Sam Casselberry
Professor of Anthropology
P.O. Box 1002
Millersville University
Millersville, PA 17551
(717) 872-3543
Fax: (717) 872-3942
E-mail: sam.casselberry@millersv.edu
Dave Colvin
Y2K Contingency Coordinator &
Campus Emergency Planning Coordinator
University of Western Ontario
Services Building,
Room 120
London, Ontario
Canada N6A 5B9
E-mail: ppddgc@julian.uwo.ca
Tel: (519) 679-2111, ext. 8873
Fax: (519) 661-3801
Ryan G. Sanders
Evacuation Planner-Crisis & Consequence Management Division
Innovative Emergency Management, Inc.
E-mail: rsanders@ieminc.com, bradykinin@aol.com
Tel: (225) 952-8256
Fax: (225) 952 8122
WWW: http://www.ieminc.com/
Dear Friends,
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has just launched
a new Web site relating to the Campaign for the 50th Anniversary of
the Geneva Conventions. Its URL is http://www.onwar.org. You are
invited to participate in the interactive discussion forum under the
heading "Action."
Best regards,
Michel Veuthey
Legal Adviser, 50th Anniversary of the Geneva Conventions
International Committee of the Red Cross
19 Avenue de la Paix
CH-1202
Geneva
Switzerland
E-mail: mveuthey.gva@icrc.org
On June 4, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued an updated version of the plan for mobilizing and deploying federal resources for people and communities overwhelmed by natural disasters and human-caused emergencies. Called the Federal Response Plan, the document serves as the principal organizational guide defining the roles and responsibilities of the 26 federal member agencies and the American Red Cross engaged in delivering emergency aid during a major crisis.
The revised plan incorporates 11 changes and other modifications that result from the lessons learned and the experiences of federal partners since the plan was first employed during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. FEMA has tried to improve federal response capabilities by making the plan more consistent with current policy guidance and new ways of doing business.
The key revisions include the addition of a new, evolving "Recovery Function Annex," which begins the integration of recovery and mitigation functions into the plan's response structure. The updated plan also includes four new support function annexes covering "Community Relations," "Donations Management," "Logistics Management and Occupational Health and Safety," and two new appendices: "Federal Response Plan Changes and Revisions," and "Overview of a Disaster Operation." Additionally, the revised plan reinforces the use of Incident Command System principles, discusses the importance of private-sector partnerships, and describes several new response resources, coordinating mechanisms, and management tools. There is also an updated version of the "Terrorism Incident Annex," originally published in February 1997.
The full text of the revised plan is currently available on FEMA's World Wide Web site: http://www.fema.gov/r-n-r/frp/. Printed copies can be ordered free of charge as they become available from FEMA's Publications Office at 1-800-480-2520.
The Red River Basin Disaster Information Network (RRBDIN) will host two 1-hour workshops via the Internet in June. The first one is June 10, 12:00 noon, CDT. Brad Crabtree, Program Coordinator, North Dakota Consensus Council, will discuss the progress to date on the International Flood Mitigation Initiative launched last December. The initiative involves regional policymakers, stakeholders, and citizens from both the U.S. and Canada, in an effort to move communities towards effective, long-term disaster prevention and mitigation. The on-line dialogue includes an interactive question and answer period for the audience. For background information, see http://www.emforum.org/redriver/workshop/wk990610.htm.
The RRBDIN is sponsored by the International Joint Commission, the Global Disaster Information Network, and the Red River Basin Board, with support by the EIIP. Previous on-line workshops addressed disaster information needs, flood forecasting, and the use of remote sensing in disasters. Transcripts of all sessions, as well as related materials, are available via the Web site.
The Emergency Information Infrastructure Partnership (EIIP) Virtual Forum Schedule for June 1999 (all times eastern) includes:
EENET, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Education Network has the following broadcasts scheduled for June (all times are Eastern Time):
[These are some of the latest and more useful Internet resources we've encountered. For an extended list of selected Internet sites dealing with hazards and disaster management, see http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/sites/sites.html.]
http://www.fema.gov/r-n-r/hpindex.htm
http://www.nthp.org
http://www.dia.org/mi-alliance/disaster/index.html
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/
http://www.thc.state.tx.us/dsastr1.html
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Response and
Recovery Directorate maintains an "Historic Preservation" page at the
first URL above. It describes FEMA's efforts to support historic
preservation and provides links to legislative, educational, and
preservation resource Web sites.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation site also provides
good information, although much of it (including access to its
extensive library database) is available only to members.
The Michigan Alliance for Conservation of Cultural Heritage, on
the other hand, has launched a new Web site to help any individuals or
institutions prepare for disaster. The site features a checklist for
disaster planning; tips on recovering from calamities such as fire,
flood, and earthquake; a list of sources of disaster supplies,
services, and equipment; a bibliography; and links to other resources
on the Internet.
One of those links is to "CoOL" - Conservation On-Line - a
project of the Preservation Department of Stanford University
Libraries. This site is a full-text library of conservation
information. It includes recent news, a facility for finding people
involved with conservation, an author index, a complete section on
"Disaster Planning and Response," and numerous other links and
resources.
In fact, the Internet has a surprising number of sites offering
information on the protection of cultural property from disasters (see
the State of Texas site listed above, for example). The sites listed
here, however, provide good places for the interested surfer to begin.
http://hurricanes.noaa.gov/
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hurricane/index.html
Just in time for hurricane season, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service's
Office of Meteorology have created two new hurricane awareness Web
sites offering information on hurricane awareness activities around
the country. The NOAA site, entitled "Hurricanes: The Greatest Storms
on Earth," presents the latest hurricane news and extensive background
information, as well as links to numerous sources of hurricane
information, including local sites. The Office of Meteorology site
provides several on-line preparedness guides in both Spanish and
English, current watches and warnings, on-line tracking charts, and
links to many of the national agencies dealing with hurricane
preparedness, response, and recovery.
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hazstats.htm
Those productive folks at the NWS Office of Meteorology mentioned
above have also just placed on-line their Summary of U.S. Natural
Hazard Statistics for 1997 - a report of fatalities, injuries, and
damage costs caused by severe weather in 1997. The same site provides
the 1995 and 96 statistics as well.
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/awarenow.htm
The NWS Office of Meteorology also publishes Aware - a useful
newsletter designed "to keep communications links open within the
Agency and with the natural hazards community." (In fact, the two
previous items are taken from that newsletter.) Immediate, on-line
updates to that newsletter are available via "AwareNow" at the URL
above.
http://www.civil.buffalo.edu/aawe
The American Association for Wind Engineering Web site has
recently moved the State University of New York at Buffalo and been
extensively updated. It now includes "Wind Net" - a communication
network intended to facilitate communication to and among wind
engineering centers and to the political establishment that controls
wind engineering funding. It also provides general information about
the group, the association newsletter, and much information and data
about wind hazards. The association also maintains an e-mail list:
aawe@eng.buffalo.edu. Information about subscribing is also available
from the AAWE Web site.
http://www.oas.org/en/cdmp/publist.html
The Organization of American States' Caribbean Disaster
Mitigation Project has recently made some of its previously printed
documents available in electronic form. Information on publications
produced by the CDMP, including links to those available on-line, can
be found on the project's Papers and Publications Web Page cited
above. Newly available on-line documents include:
A Correction:
http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/assessbib.html
In the last DR newsletter (DR #290) we mentioned that the summary
volume from the NSF-sponsored Second Assessment on Natural Hazards -
Disasters by Design: A Reassessment of Natural Hazards in the United
States, by Dennis Mileti - is now available from the National Academy
Press and that the complete, extended bibliography for the book (over
100 pages) is now available from the Natural Hazards Center Web site.
The correct address for that bibliography is above (we left out an "s"
- how embarassing!) This list of literature comprises all the
citations provided by the numerous researchers, practitioners,
reviewers, and others who contributed to the book.
As the United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) concludes, the international community is increasingly aware that natural disasters are a major threat to social and economic stability and that disaster prevention is the main long-term solution to this threat. The biggest challenge of the Decade lies, therefore, in the creation of a global culture of prevention. To this end, the IDNDR secretariat is organizing an Internet conference as a prelude to the Decade's closing event - the Programme Forum 1999, which will take place July 5-9, 1999, in Geneva, Switzerland (see http://www.idndr.org/forum/ for details).
The Internet conference will run over a period of two weeks (June 14- 25) with four themes running each for two and a half days, as follows:
Participation in the IDNDR Internet conference is welcome! All
interested persons are invited to enroll and share their experiences,
best policies and practices in disaster management, to ask questions,
and to learn from others around the world regarding what they are
doing to protect themselves from natural disasters. To register send a
message to: listserv@thecity.sfsu.edu. Write nothing under the subject
and write the following as the text:
To submit a paper or comments, send an e-mail to risk@thecity.sfsu.edu. The moderator will review submissions for relevance and then ensure they are sent to all conference participants. Comments will also be available via the Web site. Please keep comments concise.
The discussion will be mostly in English. Spanish translations will be available when possible. Send additional questions to: IDNDR Secretariat, Patrick Hein, e-mail: patrick.hein@dha.unicc.org.
The Connection newsletter, focusing on civilian disaster
preparedness programs (see DR #270), is currently accepting articles
for its second edition. To submit an article, please note the
following guidelines:
- Submission deadline: July 30, 1999. (Second edition target date
September 1, 1999.)
- Format: e-mail, fax, or mail on disk in Word or WordPerfect for PC.
- Graphics: JPEG, GIF, PIN, TIFF, etc. to support your article.
- Length of article: No minimum; maximum 1,500 words.
- Suggested content for submission:
anything dealing with school preparednessSubmit to: Frank Lucier, 1325 Imola Avenue West, Suite 121, Napa, CA 94559; pager: (415) 527-6482; fax: (602) 381-8907; e-mail: fjlucier@naem.com; WWW: http://www.naem.com.
how you are maintaining skills and motivation
how your teams are organized
innovative idea(s) you are trying
anything about your program of interest
[We received this via several DR readers, but it originally came from the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List: CFP@english.upenn.edu - see, http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/]
Authors are wanted for a collection of essays on Public Reactions to
Extraordinary Events, to be edited by Professors Art Neal and Ray
Browne. Authors of essays should address the issues of the event
itself and an analysis of the trauma-like responses to the event by
the public. In other words, what the impact of the event was and
continues to be on society. Essays should be no more than 15 pages,
including notes and bibliographies (following the PMLA or latest
Chicago Style Manual sheet). Potential topics include: travel
disasters, criminal victimization, and natural disasters, such as the
Johnstown Flood (or the Buffalo Creek Flood), the Dust Bowl of the
1930s, or the tornadoes of 1999 (Oklahoma and Kansas). Interested
authors should send abstracts to either
Art Neal
3215 SW 66th Avenue
Portland, OR 97225
neal@spiritone.com
or
Ray Browne
Popular Press
Bowling Green University
Bowling Green, OH 43403
E-mail: rbrowne@bgnet.bgsu.edu
Through a cooperative agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) is offering a "Year 2000 Professional Fellowship" to provide an opportunity for a practicing professional to improve his or her expertise in earthquake hazards reduction, either by enhancing knowledge in the applicant's own field or by broadening his or her knowledge in a related discipline. The fellowship is for a career professional and is designed to bring together an experienced practitioner with professionals conducting significant research. It is not intended to fund work toward a degree.
The fellowship provides a stipend of $30,000, beginning January 2000, to cover tuition, fees, and relocation and living expenses for six months. Applicants must provide a work plan for a research project to be carried out during those six months and the fellow is expected to produce a written report. All applications must be accompanied by a professional resume and letter of nomination from the faculty host(s) at the cooperating education institutions(s). Faculty members should also indicate the institution's ability to provide research facilities and other support. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
Candidates can obtain an application form from EERI, 499 14th Street, Suite 320, Oakland, CA 94612-1934; (510) 451-0905; fax: (510) 451- 5411; e-mail: eeri@eeri.org; WWW: http://www.eeri.org. Deadline for applications is September 3, 1999.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has two positions open for earthquake scientists. The survey is seeking a seismologist to work with its Earthquake Hazards Team in Pasadena, California, and a geophysicist/seismologist/geologist to work with its team in Menlo Park, California (vacancy numbers USGS-W-99-094 and USGS-W-99-096, respectively). For complete details, on the World Wide Web see: http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/vacancies, or telephone the USGS Human Resources Office, (650) 329-4101. Deadline for applications is July 9.
[Below are some recent announcements received by the Natural Hazards Center. A comprehensive list of upcoming disaster-related meetings and training is available from our World Wide Web site: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/conf.html]
International Conference on "Voluntary Service and Civil Protection Training at the Dawn of the 21st Century." Sponsors: International Civil Defense Organization and National Civil Protection Office, Tunisia. Tunis, Tunisia: September 14-16, 1999. Contact: International Civil Defense Organization, 10-12, ch. de Surville, B.P. 172, CH-1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Geneva, Switzerland; tel: +41 22 793 44 33; fax: +41 22 793 44 28; e-mail: icdo@icdo.org.
Association of Engineering Geologists 42nd Annual Meeting. Salt Lake City, Utah: September 26-29, 1999. Contact: Jeffrey Keaton; (520) 282- 2706; e-mail: jkeaton@agraus.com.
SARSCENE '99: "Leading Search and Rescue into the Next Millennium." Includes search and rescue games, lectures, seminars, workshops, demonstrations, trade show, and track on Canadian response to Swissair Flight 111 disaster. Sponsors: National Search and Rescue Secretariat and Newfoundland and Labrador Search and Rescue Association Inc. St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada: October 13-17, 1999. Contact: Isabelle Beaumont-Frenette, SARSCENE 99 Coordinator, National Search and Rescue Secretariat, 275 Slater Street, 4th Floor, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0K2; (613) 992-8215; fax: (613) 996-3746; e-mail: isabelle@nss.gc.ca.
Geological Society of America (GSA) Annual Meeting. Denver, Colorado: October 25-28, 1999. Contact: Becky Martin, GSA Meetings Department, Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301-9140; (303) 447-2020, ext. 164; fax: (303) 447-1133.
NATO Advanced Studies Institute: "Coping with Flash Floods." Ravello, Italy: November 8-18, 1999. See: http://web.uccs.edu/Geogenvs/NATOASI or contact Eve Gruntfest, Department of Geography, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, P.O. Box 7150, Colorado Springs, CO 80933-7150; (719) 262-4058; fax: (719) 262-3019; e-mail: ecg@brain.uccs.edu.
Facilitating and Mediating Effective Environmental Agreements. Offered by Concur, Inc. Berkeley, California: November 10-12, 1999. Contact: Kym Garrett, Concur Inc., 1832 Second Street, Berkeley, CA 94710; (510) 649-8008; fax: (510) 649-1980; e-mail: concur@concurinc.com; WWW: http://www.concurinc.com.
2000 North American Snow Conference. Traverse City, Michigan: April 9-12, 2000. Abstracts due August 15, 1999. Contact: American Public Works Association, Education Department, Suite 500, 2345 Grand Boulevard, Kansas City, MO 64108-2641; (816) 472-6100; e-mail: pkutt@apwa.net; WWW: http://www.apwa.net.
Watershed 2000. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: July 9-12, 2000. Sponsors: Water Environment Federation (WEF), British Columbia Water and Waste Association, and the Western Canada Water and Wastewater Association, in conjunction with International Joint Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environment Canada, and others. Abstracts due November 15, 1999. Contact: WEF Member Services Center, 601 Wythe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-1994, USA; 1-800-666-0206 or (703) 684-2452; fax: (703) 684-2413; e-mail: msc@wef.org.
SARSCENE 2000: "One for All, All for One." Search and rescue workshop including search and rescue games, lectures, seminars, workshops, demonstrations, and trade show. Sponsors: National Search and Rescue Secretariat and Sauvetage Canada Rescue. Laval, Quebec, Canada: October 9-13, 2000. Contact: Isabelle Beaumont-Frenette, National Search and Rescue Secretariat, 275 Slater Street, 4th Floor, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0K2; (613) 992-8215; fax: (613) 996-3746; e-mail: isabelle@nss.gc.ca.
Fourth International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical
Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics. San Diego, California: March
26-31, 2001. (Pre-conference short course on Soil Dynamics: March 25-
26, 2001.) Abstracts due November 30, 1999. See:
http://www.umr.edu/~conted/conf8767.html; or, regarding technical
issues, contact: Shamsher Prakash, Conference Chairperson, 308 Civil
Engineering, University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, MO 65409-0030; (573)
341-4489; fax: (573) 341-6553/4729; e-mail:
prakash@novell.civil.umr.edu;
for other information, contact: Buddy Poe, Conference Coordinator, 103
ME Annex, University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, MO 65409-1560; (573)
341-6061; fax: (573) 341-4992; e-mail: buddyp@umr.edu.
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