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The National Academy of Science's Joseph Henry Press has announced the publication of the final two volumes resulting from a multi-year project that assessed the status of hazards and disaster research and knowledge in the United States.
The first - Facing the Unexpected, by Kathleen J. Tierney, Michael K. Lindell, and Ronald W. Perry (ISBN 0-309-06999-8, 2001, 300 pp.) - presents a wealth of information derived from disasters that have occurred around the world over the past 25 years. The authors explore how these findings can improve disaster programs, identify remaining research needs, and discuss disasters within the broader context of sustainable development. Focusing on the social, cultural, and economic factors that shape vulnerability to disasters, they examine key questions regarding today's catastrophes and review the influences that have shaped the U.S. system for disaster planning and response at all levels. They also compare technological and natural disasters and examine the impact of technology on disaster programs.
The second - American Hazardscapes, edited by Susan L. Cutter (ISBN 0- 309-07443-6, 2001, 250 pp.) - examines the risks associated with living and owning property in diverse regions across the United States, offering dual perspectives: that of the geographer and that of the social science hazards researcher. Well illustrated with numerous maps and figures, the book summarizes what we already know about regional patterns of hazards events and losses during the previous three decades and goes further to shed light on the nature of the events themselves and their impact on society.
As mentioned above, these volumes resulted from a recently completed National Science Foundation-sponsored project, the "Second U.S. Assessment of Research and Applications for Natural Hazards." That study, a reassessment of the findings of a similar study conducted 25 years ago, involved more than 100 hazards researchers and addressed the fundamental question: "Why, despite all our knowledge about the causes of, consequences from, and remedies for disasters, do losses continue to rise?" The other volumes resulting from that study include:
Information about each volume is available from the NAS publication web
site. Indeed, each can be read in its entirety on-line. The web addresses
for each volume are:
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/5782.html (Disasters by Design)
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/5784.html (Paying the Price)
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/5785.html (Cooperating with Nature)
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9834.html (Facing the Unexpected)
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/10132.html (American Hazardscapes)
Finally, a complete, extended bibliography for Disasters by Design is available from the Natural Hazards Center web site: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/assessbib.html. This list of references comprises all the citations provided by the many researchers, practitioners, reviewers, and other individuals who contributed to the book.
With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Office for Central Europe and Eurasia of the National Research Council (the operating arm of the National Academies) offers grants to individual American specialists who plan to establish new research partnerships with their colleagues from Central/Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Newly Independent States (NIS). This program is designed primarily to prepare these new partnerships for competition in NSF programs. Although proposals are accepted for collaborative research in all fields of basic science supported by NSF, this year the COBASE program has added three topical focus areas in which applications will be given special priority. One focus area is extreme events (see below).
Collaboration in Basic Science and Engineering (COBASE)
Project Development and Initiation Grants support American specialists
who wish to host and/or visit their CEE or NIS colleagues in order to
initiate research projects and prepare collaborative research proposals
for submission to NSF. U.S. applicants may request support for up to two
visits in either or both directions. Grants will be in the range of
$2,500 to $10,000.
Participating Countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan (traveling only), Bosnia (hosting in U.S. only), Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, (former Yugoslav Republic of) Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia (see web site for updated list of ineligible partner institutions), Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Accepted Fields: Only fields funded by NSF are eligible, including archaeology and anthropology; astronomy; biochemistry, biophysics, and genetics; biological sciences; chemistry; computer science; earth sciences; economics; engineering; environmental sciences; geography; history and philosophy of science; linguistics; mathematics; physics; political science; non-clinically-oriented psychology; science and technology policy; and sociology. Proposals outside the scope of the program will not be considered.
Special Topical Focus Areas: Although applications are accepted in all fields of science listed above, three special focus areas have been selected, beginning with the August 2001 deadline. Projects in these topical areas are especially encouraged and will be given priority consideration. The three areas are Extreme Events, Black Sea Transboundary Issues, and Mathematics.
Eligibility: All applicants must: 1) be U.S. citizens or permanent residents; 2) be affiliated with U.S. universities or other nonprofit research institutions; and 3) possess Ph.D. degrees or equivalent research experience. Foreign counterparts involved must possess CEE/NIS citizenship, be permanently employed at a CEE/NIS institution, and hold Ph.D. (kandidat) degrees or research training and experience equivalent to a doctoral degree. Employees of private companies and the U.S. government generally are not supported under the COBASE program.
Special Opportunities for Junior Investigators: American applicants who have received their doctoral degrees within the past ten years will receive special consideration. The COBASE program allocates at least 25% of its grants to researchers in this category in order to encourage beginning investigators to become involved in international collaboration.
Special Topical Focus Areas for 2001
Extreme Events
Extreme events can occur in the social, built, and natural environments
as rare, severe, and rapidly progressing phenomena that limit or upset
the balance or normal operation of a system. Such events include both
natural and technological impacts on complex systems, and because of
scale and intensity the impacts cross subsystems and domains and can
result in catastrophic losses. Proposals submitted under this topic could
include multidisciplinary research into forecasting, modeling,
mitigating, and evaluating the consequences of extreme events. Projects
could also include a focus on techniques for studying processes leading
to extreme events or for dealing with uncertainties over predictions and
actions taken. As the topic is multidisciplinary in nature, projects
involving partners from different scientific fields are required,
including but not limited to anthropology; biological sciences;
climatology; cognitive science; computer science; decision, risk, and
management sciences; ecology; economics; engineering; geosciences;
mathematics; political and policy sciences; psychology; and sociology.
Further information explaining this topic may be obtained by contacting
the Office for Central Europe and Eurasia.
Upcoming deadlines include: August 27, 2001; January 4, 2002; April 15, 2002. Application forms and instructions are available from: http://www.nationalacademies.org/oia. More information is available from: tel: 202-334-2644; fax: 202-334-2614; e-mail: ocee@nas.edu.
The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) has undertaken a joint project with the International Association of Earthquake Engineering (IAEE) to use the World Wide Web to build an interactive, dynamic, web-based Encyclopedia of Housing Construction Types in Seismically Prone Areas of the World. The encyclopedia will be viewable on the web, and users will also be able to generate the encyclopedia in whole or in part as a conventional hard copy publication. With the expanding capabilities of the web and Internet this project is breaking new ground in terms of building a global network and offering instant information exchange among engineers, architects, and other professionals in many diverse countries. The project will provide those individuals with tools to improve housing vulnerable to earthquakes, thereby reducing future economic losses and saving lives. Examples received to date from various countries that will form the basis for the interactive web site can be viewed at http://www.johnmartin.com/EERI.
Ultimately the encyclopedia will not only provide information that will be helpful in improving housing construction, but it will create a community of knowledgeable workers drawn together by this world-wide cooperative effort. Once the information is collected, the next step is to organize this community so that it can spread its knowledge to those actively engaged in planning, designing, constructing, and renovating housing in their respective countries, through activities such as training courses and demonstration projects. The project is using technology to build this global community, by connecting experts around the world through the use of e-mail and the Internet. The web site, with its searchable database, will be completed and ready for use in December 2002.
The project steering committee has developed a standardized, multi- question form that is used by project participants to describe various construction types in their respective countries. With the results, the next phase of the project is to create the web-based database of this information so that a user can search by various parameters - country, seismic hazards, building function, building type, and other dimensions. With this information, a user will be able to generate graphs, tables, and presentations; view photos and drawings; and print summary forms.
Users of the encyclopedia will be able to compare strengths and vulnerabilities of the various construction systems and strengthening technologies and to determine generally the number of people living in the various construction types as well as each country's perception of the vulnerability of a particular construction type. The site will include basic information on earthquakes, building performance in quakes, and an array of global housing statistics, as well as country-specific information covering a host of physical and demographic data.
EERI and IAEE are actively seeking participants for this project who would be willing to contribute information on the housing in their own countries. A background in architecture or structural engineering is helpful. To date, over 160 volunteer engineers and architects from 45 different countries have agreed to participate. A complete roster can be downloaded from the EERI web site: http://www.eeri.org.
Persons interested in participating should send an e-mail to Svetlana Brzev, Project Chair, sbrzev@bcit.ca -or- Marjorie Greene, EERI Special Projects Manager, mgreene@eeri.org.
Supported by a Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant administered through the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, the Collaborative for Disaster Mitigation (CDM) is a unique organization bringing together public and private, profit and nonprofit organizations to mitigate hazards. The collaborative includes an executive board, advisory committee, and users group that provide oversight to an operations center. San Jose State University provides insight, information, human talent and other university resources to support the organization.
CDM activities and projects center around the implementation of hazard mitigation measures, targeting emergency preparedness professionals in all sectors of society. The collaborative intends to help translate available research into practical, cost-effective real-world applications; provide professional development opportunities; serve as an information clearinghouse; serve as a multidisciplinary resource to local jurisdictions, schools, and businesses; and identify technological needs in the field.
Specifically, the collaborative will host a laboratory hazard mitigation demonstration project, conduct conferences and symposia, help develop a master's program in emergency management, establish a hazard mitigation web site, and provide translation of various projects for the many ethnic communities of the San Francisco Bay area.
For further information, contact the Collaborative for Disaster Mitigation, One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192-0082; (408) 924- 3596; fax: (408) 924-4057; e-mail: sjsu_cdm@email.sjsu.edu; WWW: http://www.sjsu.edu/cdm.
(Adapted from the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research [MCEER] Newsletter)
The Japan Association for Earthquake Engineering (JAEE) was established on January 1, 2001, to bring together the diverse group of experts dedicated to undertaking an integrated effort to increase the safety of Japanese society against earthquakes. JAEE will serve as a forum for collaboration, mutual education, and the creation of a shared knowledge base to unite the efforts of these researchers and engineers. Specifically, the association will:
(Also adapted from the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research [MCEER] Newsletter)
Under Annex III to the US-PRC Protocol for Scientific and Technical Cooperative Research, three high priority categories are identified for bilateral collaboration between U.S. and PRC researchers for the next five years. They are:
The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is funding a project involving Oregon State University, the Uzhgorod (Ukraine) Sister City Association of Citizens, Krakow (Poland) Red Cross, Corvallis (Oregon) Sister Cities Association, Benton County (Oregon) Emergency Management, and the Benton County Extension Service, the goal of which is to increase citizen participation in civic life and thus to develop stronger democratic institutions by fostering neighborhood-level coalitions to address local problems.
One of the principal problems being addressed is local preparedness and response to hazards and disasters, since neighborhood-level networks have been shown to be an effective means of providing mutual assistance in natural disasters or other emergencies. Indeed, the citizens of Corvallis, Oregon, have participated in a project supported by the Benton County Emergency Management Council that uses neighborhood networks to help mitigate the effects of emergencies. This grant from the U.S. Department of State builds on that experience and the existing strong sister city relationship between Corvallis and Uzhgorod to provide training for members of the Uzhgorod Sister City Association of Citizens in organizing neighborhood-level networks in that city for mutual assistance in times of need.
Grant activities have included direct visits to Ukraine by team members from Corvallis to select program participants, conduct a needs assessment, and develop an emergency profile of Uzhgorod. Additionally, earlier this year, the Uzhgorod participants visited Corvallis for training in leadership, organizational development, and emergency preparedness, so that on their return they could continue establishing their neighborhood networks.
The program will conclude in Uzhgorod in the fall of 2001 when participants will conduct an exercise involving emergency professionals and neighborhoods. They will convene an international workshop that will bring together Uzhgorod emergency managers, members of the neighborhood networks, representatives from the Krakow (Poland) Red Cross, and Corvallis program personnel to discuss lessons learned.
For more information about the Corvallis/Uzhgorod Neighborhood Networking for Emergency Preparedness Project, contact Naomi Weidner, Office of International Research and Development, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331; (541) 737-5711; e-mail: naomi.weidner@orst.edu; WWW: http://osu.orst.edu/international/oird/ukr_network/.
Title: Program Director for Infrastructure and Information Systems Program, AD-800-4 (ENG/CMS)
Vacancy Announcement-- (Open Until Filled) Date: June 25, 2001
Program Director Position, Infrastructure and Information Systems Program, AD-800-4 (ENG/CMS) in the Directorate for Engineering at NSF
Dear Colleagues:
The Civil and Mechanical Systems (CMS) Division within the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced a nationwide search among engineering professionals to fill the position of Program Director - Infrastructure and Information Systems (IIS) program. This position will focus primarily on the Information Technology and Infrastructure Systems (ITIS) program element as described at http://www.eng.nsf.gov/cms/About_CMS/IIS/iis.htm.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) (http://www.nsf.gov) is an independent U.S. government agency responsible for promoting science and engineering through programs that invest over $3.7 billion per year in almost 20,000 research and education projects. The National Science Foundation Act of 1950 established the mission of NSF to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense.
The Infrastructure and Information Systems (IIS) program supports research for the development and deployment of advanced information systems and technologies required to sustain the nation's civil infrastructure. IIS research impacts on infrastructure system design, construction, maintenance, operation, and control as well as infrastructure interdependencies. The domain areas for IT application encompass construction, network and transport systems, infrastructure systems subject to risks, uncertainties, environmental loads, and extreme events.
Supporting technologies include: networking; sensor and monitoring systems including distributed and remote wireless micro-devices with built-in sensors and processors for managing infrastructure systems and networks; voice and data communications; Internet-based database and warehouse systems; visualization; GIS-based multimedia global infrastructure information systems; and high performance computing.
The IIS program portfolio focuses on systems and network approaches to infrastructure management, including:
NSF Program Directors are responsible for providing stewardship of integrated research and education both in a discipline and across disciplines within the context of agency vision, mission, and goals, and within the framework of guiding legislation and agency policies and resources. A Ph.D. or equivalent professional experience, a successful research and education career in academe, industry, or government, and substantial management expertise are essential. All appointees are expected to function both within specific program boundaries, as well as in a team mode, contributing to and coordinating with virtual organizations in the directorate, across the foundation, and with other federal and state government agencies and private-sector organizations as necessary. Periodic appointments to leadership positions of interdivisional, interdirectorate, and interagency programs may be made. We are particularly interested in attracting women and under-represented minority candidates to these positions.
Program Director appointments may be on a temporary basis in the Federal Service, or by temporary assignment as a visiting scientist/engineer on leave of absence from a research and/or education institution. For these positions, the federal salary ranges up to $116,414 for a Program Director position. The salary for these appointments will be based on the level of responsibilities, candidate's present salary, and related factors. Appointment alternatively can be as a temporary assignment under provisions of the Intergovernmental Personnel Assignment (IPA) Act. IPA assignees from academe will retain their university salary and benefits, with cost sharing negotiated between the foundation and the home institution. Program Director appointees can arrange to make research- supervision visits to their institutions.
In addition to addressing current openings, our intention is to develop a candidate pool for future consideration as other openings at the Program Director level become available in CMS. These needs, as well as those in other ENG divisions, are detailed and updated regularly on the NSF web site: http://www.eng.nsf.gov/jobopportunities/. We ask your assistance in conveying this information to those of your colleagues who have a compelling interest in the opportunities facing engineering education and research, would make a strong contribution to the work of the division, and could meet the stimulating challenges of an appointment with the foundation.
Inquires, applications and nominations should be sent by electronic means to the CMS Division Search Coordinator.
Sincerely,
Dr. Priscilla P. Nelson, Division Director, e-mail: pnelson@nsf.gov
Dr. Jorn Larsen-Basse, Program Director and CMS Division Search
Coordinator, e-mail: jlarsenb@nsf.gov
CMS Division, Room 545; tel: (703) 292-8360; fax: (703) 292-9053
The Public Health Service, Region II is seeking a Commissioned Officer
for the Following position:
Regional Emergency Coordinator
Grade sought: O-4, 5, 6
Open to all categories.
Duties: Serves as planner and responder to natural emergencies and disasters. In this regard, works with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal departments under the Federal Response Plan. The Emergency Coordinator will also participate in planning for and response to disasters caused by terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, (chemical, biological, and nuclear) in a like manner. The Regional Emergency Coordinator serves as the project manager for contracts awarded to cities within the region for the development of Metropolitan Medical Response Systems (MMRS's), which are designed to respond to such terrorist disasters. In the event of a disaster, the Emergency Coordinator may have to deploy to the disaster site with less than 24 hours notice. He/she may need to perform rapid needs assessments and help to set up a disaster field office with other federal agencies. The Emergency Coordinator also serves as the regional consultant to state and local jurisdictions for emergency preparedness.
This position entails a great deal of travel both local and long distance. The candidate for Emergency Coordinator should be prepared to spend at least 60% of his/her time away from the office. Long distance travel should comprise at least 25% of the EC's time.
The application period is August 1-September 1, 2001. Please send resume to: Robert Davidson, Deputy Regional Health Adminstrator, e-mail: rldavidson@osophs.dhhs.gov; (212) 264-2560; fax: (212) 264-1324.
[Below are some new or updated Internet resources we've discovered. For an extensive list of good Internet sites dealing with hazards, see http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/sites/sites.html]
http://www.eird.org
The United Nation's International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
(ISDR) Unit for Latin America and the Caribbean has launched this new web
site to promote disaster mitigation in the region and to help the unit
better respond to the many information requests it receives daily. The
site provides information about the goals and many initiatives of the
ISDR as well as other events relevant to ISDR objectives. It also
provides on-line documents, such as the ISDR Informs magazine and the
monthly ISDR Highlights, and it includes an educational section for
children. The site is in both Spanish and English, and the developers
welcome comments and contributions.
http://www.bghrc.com
We recently received an e-mail announcing that the second issue of
the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre's newsletter, Alert, was now
available in PDF format from the centre's web site above. Of course, we
promptly took a look to see what our colleagues across the pond are up
to, and, well, they're up to a lot.
Rather than repeat the newsletter here, we'll suggest that interested hazard researchers and planners take a look. The centre's new projects include "Project Claudius" - an effort to assess natural hazard risk in Italy and to examine a number of possible financial solutions to mitigate those risks; "Project RUNOUT" - an attempt to develop early warning forecast techniques for large landslides, particularly along artificial reservoirs; TropicalStormRisk (TSR) - a method for determining seasonal tropical cyclone forecasts; and a project examining "Social Responsibility in Disaster Reduction Projects," focusing on private- sector involvement in five south Asia countries. The centre also announced formation of a "Seismic Risk Group" (SRG) to examine all aspects of seismic risk - from palaeoseismology to post-earthquake recovery.
http://www.csc.noaa.gov/vata/
The NOAA Coastal Services Center's (CSC's) new Vulnerability
Assessment Techniques and Applications (VATA) web site is being developed
to provide a central source of information for developers and users of
risk and vulnerability assessment applications. The site provides
assessment techniques and resources to assist communities in making sound
decisions to protect lives and property, maintain economic stability, and
preserve the environment. It will also house Vulnerability Assessment
Techniques Workshop information, which the developers intend to
supplement or even replace actually attending these workshops, which are
currently being hosted by the Organization of American States (OAS) Unit
for Sustainable Development and Environment (USDE) and the CSC. The
workshops are intended to create networking opportunities and dialogue
for exploring new ideas and potential partnerships in the application of
vulnerability assessments.
The goal of VAT I, the first workshop held in March 2000, was to identify, present, and discuss a variety of natural hazard vulnerability assessment methodologies and their applications and identify gaps in coverage, particularly from the point of view of present and potential users at all levels of public and private sectors. Vat II, to be held August 13-15, 2001, at the CSC in Charleston, South Carolina, will build upon the experience of the VAT I Workshop and feature presentations of a variety of vulnerability assessment methodologies and result in recommendations for new applications and further methodological development.
More information on this development process is available from the web site. In addition, the developers plan to institute both a bulletin board and an on-line system for submitting case studies via the site. The site is in its infancy, and the people at the CSC are interested in feedback about how it could be made more valuable.
http://mceer.buffalo.edu/publications/resaccom/0001/default.asp
The Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research
[MCEER] has just published MCEER Research Progress and Accomplishments:
2000-2001 available from the web URL above. The publication highlights
MCEER's achievements in research and education during the past year and
includes papers focusing on research regarding intelligent response and
recovery, hospitals, water and gas pipelines, electric power networks,
and bridges and highways. The studies involve researchers from multiple
disciplines - engineering to sociology - working in concert to develop
and implement techniques to protect people and structures from
earthquakes. The full-color report is available on-line, and a limited
number of black and white copies are available by contacting MCEER
Publications; (716) 645-3391, ext. 105; fax: (716) 645-3399; e-mail:
mceer@acsu.buffalo.edu.
http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/data_services/data_services.html
(Rapid Earthquake Notification Services)
Three mailing lists are available at the web site of the U.S.
Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) that
provide earthquake information rapidly:
http://www.worldbank.org/dmf/
http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/dmf/conceptual_articles.htm
The Worldbank's Disaster Management Facility web site (which we've
mentioned before), includes a series of succinct "Conceptual Articles"
at the second URL above:
http://www.tallytown.com/redcross
Those industrious folks at the [Florida] Capital Area Chapter of the
American Red Cross (who put out a lot of disaster preparedness, response,
and mitigation information on the web), have added several new resources
to their site.
First, the site now includes the new Building Disaster Resistant Neighborhoods Handbook - available via the Disaster Resistant Neighborhood link. This handbook outlines a step by step action plan, with examples, to assist anyone working with neighborhood associations to help them become better prepared for disasters. Posted along with the handbook are a variety of marketing tools to assist promotion of the program. Also posted are the applications for three successfully funded Disaster Resistant Neighborhood initiatives.
Also, with the discovery of West Nile Virus in North Florida during early July, the Capital Area Chapter has established a West Nile Virus Information Web Section available from the home page above. This site contains fact sheets, maps, reporting and surveillance information on the virus; educational information such as Mosquitoes: How To Control Them; educational programs for children; and links to related web sites.
http://www.dotrs.gov.au/bte/docs/r103/contents.htm#top
In March, the Bureau of Transport Economics (BTE), part of
Australia's Federal Department of Transport and Regional Services,
released a report on the costs of natural disasters in Australia, which
is available at the URL above. The report is extensive, but a few of the
more prominent findings include:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Emergency Preparedness and Response Branch and the Pacific Health Dialog are pleased to announce sponsorship of a special issue of the Pacific Health Dialog dedicated to issues of "Emergency Environmental Health" in the Pacific Region, (e.g., health issues related to natural and technological disasters, risk and emergency management, emergency medical services, water and food safety, emergency operation planning, hazard identification, mitigation, emergency response, and disaster epidemiology).
The editor of the Pacific Health Dialog is now calling for papers, articles, reviews letters, etc. for this special issue. The Pacific Health Dialog is the premiere peer-reviewed journal for public health and medical issues in the Pacific Basin. It is now listed on Medline, so any printed contribution can be accessed globally.
The issue is scheduled for 2002, so please submit your contribution as soon as possible. For submission information, please see http://www.resourcebooks.co.nz/phd/phd.htm.
Any queries, please contact the editor.
Mark Keim, MD
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
Department of Health and Human Services
Tel: (770) 488-4597
24hr: (770) 488-7100
Fax: (770) 488-4820
Arizona State University-East has announced that its Master of Science in Technology degree, with a Concentration in Emergency Management (College of Technology and Applied Sciences) is now available "totally on-line," and that a cohort group is being formed for a January 2002 beginning of this two-year program. For more information, see http://www.east.asu.edu/ctas/imt/etm/index.html, or e-mail Dr. Danny Peterson at drp@asu.edu.
On June 15, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published a proposed rule to revise National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations to allow Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) to reflect future conditions hydrology. The proposed rule can be viewed and downloaded from http://www.fema.gov/mit/tsd/FRM_fchy.htm.
The proposed rule would revise parts of the NFIP regulations to include definitions for future conditions hydrology and for the floodplains that may be shown in FIRMs, and to establish the zone symbol to be used to identify future conditions flood hazard areas on FIRMs.
FEMA is requesting that written comments on the proposed rule be submitted by August 13, 2001, to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, FEMA, 500 C Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20472; fax: (202) 646-4536.
[Below are some recent announcements received by the Natural Hazards Center. A comprehensive list of upcoming hazards-related meetings and training is available from our World Wide Web site: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/conf.html]
Mississippi Mayors Flood Summit: "Helping Flooded Communities Help Themselves." Davenport, Iowa: August 23-24, 2001. Contact: Diane Brown, Association of State Floodplain Managers, 2809 Fish Hatchery Road, Madison, WI 53713; (608) 274-0123; fax: (608) 274-0696; e-mail: diane@floods.org; WWW: http://www.floods.org/confer.htm.
Disaster Management Workshop: "Managing Mass Population Displacement Emergencies." Offered by: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Engineering Professional Development, Disaster Management Center. Madison, Wisconsin: September 17-21, 2001. Contact: Amy Lensing, Department of Engineering Professional Development, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 432 North Lake Street, Madison, WI 53706; 1-800-462-0876; fax: (608) 263-3160; e-mail: custserv@epd.engr.wisc.edu; WWW: http://epdweb.engr.wisc.edu/. The course brochure is available at: http://epdwww.engr.wisc.edu/brochures/A454.html.
Short Course in Evaluation of Health Programmes in Complex Emergencies. Offered by the Conflict and Health Programme (Health Policy Unit), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. London, U.K.: September 17-21, 2001. See: http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/php/phpteach.htm#ShortCourses.
Sixth International Symposium and Fifth General Assembly of the Organization of World Heritage Cities. Puebla, Mexico: October 3-7, 2001. The theme of this conference is "Risk Preparedness and Emergency Response in the Context of the Management of the World Heritage Cities." Contact: Organizing Committee, Av. 2 Poniente 107, altos Centro Historico C.P. 72000, Puebla, Pue. Mexico; tel: 52-22-32-9183; fax: 52-22-32-9183; e-mail: orggral@ocpmcoloquiopuebla.com.mx; WWW: http://www.ocpmcoloquiopuebla.com.mx.
California's 2001 Wildfire Conference and Public Events: Ten Years after the 1991 East Bay Hills Fire. Host/Sponsors: The Hills Emergency Forum, University of California Forest Products Laboratory, University of California Extension, and many others. Oakland, California: October 10- 12, 2001. Technical questions should be addressed to: Carol Rice, (925) 944-5282, e-mail: carollrice@aol.com -or- Ken Blonski, (510) 215-4277, e-mail: ken.blonski@ucop.edu. Logistical information is available from: JoAn Wenker, (530) 757-8604, e-mail: jwenker@unexmail.ucdavis.edu. Also see: http://www.universityextension.ucdavis.edu/fire/. To register, call (530) 757-8876 or see: http://www.universityextension.ucdavis.edu.
2001 Civil Engineering Conference and Exposition. Host: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Houston, Texas: October 10-13, 2001. This meeting includes numerous sessions on various aspects of hazards mitigation and hazards engineering. Contact: ASCE, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4400; WWW: http://www.asce.org/conferences/annual01.
Restoring Streams, Riparian Areas, and Floodplains in the Southwest: Improving Landowner Assistance, Incorporating Scientific Advances. Sponsor: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and many others. Conducted by: Institute for Wetland Science and Public Policy, Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM). Albuquerque, New Mexico: October 29-31, 2001. A call for poster presentations and "nuts and bolts" papers on this topic has been issued; abstracts are due August 15. Contact: ASWM, P.O. Box 269, Berne, NY 12023-9746; (518) 872-1804; fax: (518) 872-2171; e-mail: aswm@aswm.org; WWW: http://www.aswm.org.
Mid-America Earthquake (MAE) Center Annual Meeting and RA Symposium. Charleston, South Carolina: November 17-19, 2001. Contact: Vicki Jarboe, MAE Center, 1241 Newmark Laboratory, 205 North Mathews, University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801; (217) 244-8297; e-mail: vjarboe@uiuc.edu.
Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Conference. Sponsor: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Baltimore, Maryland: December 10-13, 2001. Contact: Katrina Harris, 2001 Conference, General Physics Corporation, 500 Edgewood Road, Suite 110, Edgewood, MD 21040; 1-800- 364-7974 or (410) 676-8835; fax: (410) 676-8545; e-mail: kharris@genphysics.com; WWW: http://www.2001conference.org.
38th Annual Indian Geophysical Union Convention and Meeting on Natural Hazards and Disaster Management: "Role of Earth System Scientists." Visakhapatnam, India: December 18-20, 2001. Abstracts are due September 30, 2001, and should be sent to P.R. Reddy, Indian Geophysical Union, NGRI Campus, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India; tel: +40-717-2911; fax: +40-717-1564; e-mail: nandula@eth.net or igu123@rediffmail.com.
Hemispheric Conference on Vulnerability Reduction for Populations and Settlements, Natural Resources, and Urban Lifelines and Infrastructure in Trade Corridor Development. Hosts: University of South Florida, Center for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (CDMHA); University of South Florida, Globalization Research Center; and Organization of American States (OAS), Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment. Tampa, Florida: April 18-20, 2002. Contact: CDMHA, University of South Florida, College of Public Health - MDC-56, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33612; (813) 974-2907; fax: (813) 974-9980; e-mail: cdmha@hsc.usf.edu; WWW: http://www.cdmha.org -or- Stephen Bender, Director, OAS Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment, 1889 F Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20006; (202) 458-6295; fax: (202) 458-3560; e-mail: sbender@oas.org.
Third National Seismic Conference and Workshop on Bridges and Highways. Portland, Oregon: April 28-May 1, 2002. Contact: Third National Seismic Conference and Workshop on Bridges and Highways, c/o Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, State University of New York at Buffalo, Red Jacket Quadrangle, Buffalo, NY 14261-0052; (716) 645-3391; fax: (716) 645-3399; e-mail: mceer@ascu.buffalo.edu -or- Michael Higgins, P.E., Regional Manager Eastern Region, Pure Technologies, US Inc., 10015 Old Columbia Road, Suite B-215, Columbia, MD 21046; (410) 309-7050; fax: (410) 309-7051; e-mail: mike.higgins@soundprint.com; WWW: http://mceer.buffalo.edu/meetings/3nsc/default.asp.
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