StormStruck: The Tale of Two Homes
Visitors to Disney World’s Epcot Center now have a chance to play Mother Nature, creating storms and learning about their impact on lives and property at the StormStruck exhibit. While the exhibit, which opened in late August, is a groundbreaking educational opportunity, kids at home also have a chance to mouse around via the StormStruck website. Games like Storm Hero and information about how to survive weather dangers in each state turn children into preparedness advocates.
FEMA on YouTube
Anyone wondering what those crazy kids at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are up to these days doesn’t have to look far—FEMA now has its own YouTube channel where the agency has been posting videos ranging from David Paulison’s personal preparedness efforts to c footage of debris clearing after Gustav. Surprisingly, the group doesn’t have any friends listed yet, but maybe they’re all hanging out at the agency’s MySpace page….
GAO Report on Applying Lessons Learned to Ike and Gustav Recovery
State and local capacity building, strategies for business recovery, and fighting fraud and waste are among the top lessons past disasters can teach hurricane-tattered communities as they begin to rebuild, according to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Instituting a “clear, implementable, and timely” recovery plan rounded out the findings of Disaster Recovery: Past Experiences Offer Insights for Recovering from Hurricanes Ike and Gustav and Other Recent Natural Disasters. To create the report, the GAO interviewed officials and reviewed policies related to six disasters, including the Loma Prieta Earthquake, the Grand Forks-Red River flooding, and Hurricane Katrina.
Robust Resilience
Business continuity doesn’t have to be costly with this bevy of free online trainings—complete with follow-up exams—at your fingertips. Robust Resilience, a coalition of contingency planning companies and the UK government, offers quick tutorials on subjects such as disaster recovery, information technology resilience, pandemic planning, and more. Although sometimes UK-specific, there’s plenty of tips for users abroad as well.
Survivors’ Pantry
Finally the unblinking eye of American consumerism has come to rest on emergency preparedness. While that sounds like a bad thing—and probably is—the latest trend in “party marketing” (think Tupperware, only with food rations) is likely to garner the type of exposure for preparedness efforts that only mainstream marketing can provide. From freeze-dried food and solar-powered radios to hot pink tasers and articles on safely weathering hazards, Survivors’ pantry’s female-targeted premise promises to spread the preparedness word and deliver some nice hostess gifts, too.
StormSmart Coasts
Massachusetts isn’t playing dumb when it comes to managing coastal hazards—it’s created the StormSmart Coasts website to aggregate information and tools for coastal floodplain management. A wealth of information on storms, floods, climate change, and sea level rise is arranged into categories of planning, emergency services, legal and regulatory issues, infrastructure, and grants and funding. Even smarter, healthcare workers, building and public works officials, planning managers, and other stakeholders can browse the site in sections dedicated to their occupational needs.
Community Wildfire Protection Plan Resources
Resources that promote wildfire mitigation, forest stewardship, and planning are hot commodities in communities that could flare up at a moments notice. This site has them all, from case studies to community preparedness guides to best practices. The site, which is a section of the U.S. Forest Service-National Forest Foundation Partnership Resource Center, aims to build collaboration on the community level to reduce wildfire risk and restore forests.