National Disaster Legal Aid
Run by the Pro Bono Net organization, the National Disaster Legal Aid site pulls together resources from the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Disaster Legal Services Program, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, and the Legal Services Corporation to help low and moderate income people deal with legal issues after disasters. The site also recruits volunteer attorneys to help out, and has an up-to-the-minute feed of news articles with a legal focus.
Sesame Street Hurricane Kit
Sometimes when you’re a parent and don’t know what to say, it’s time to snuggle up with the kids and watch a little bit of the old standby. It should come as no surprise that when a Hurricane comes through Sesame Street, the Muppets experience all the emotions you’d expect from real-life kids, and that the adults are much better at talking them through the situation than you might be. And for those of you who were wondering, the storm-track maps reveal that, yes, Sesame Street is still somewhere in hazard-prone New York City.
The Best Books to Read During Hurricane Sandy
Leave it to Eco-Libris, an organization dedicated to reducing the impact of printed books, to bring us one of the stranger observations about a storm that left hundreds of thousands of people without power—the best storm book recommendations flowing on Twitter. Among the hashtags Eco-Libris recommends watching are #sandyreads, #hurricanereads, #booksforthestorm, and #stormreads, or you can just check out the summary list on the site. But be careful—the final recommendation is Dave Eggers’ Zeitoun—which might not be such soothing reading while you’re waiting for things to get back to normal.
Lyrasis Disaster Resources
During disasters, many people find libraries a valuable resource to access information, technology, or even just as a place to hunker down. Sometimes, libraries themselves fall victim to disaster. Lyrasis, a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to sustaining and enhancing libraries, can help. The organization offers resources for disaster assistance, prevention and planning, and response and recovery. So no matter what stage your library is in, Lyrasis can help.
Intermountain West Climate Dashboard
This new effort by Western Water Assessment gives users up-to-date climate graphics as well as intermittent climate briefings. The newly debuted dashboard, which is still in beta, will replace the group’s Intermountain West Climate Summary, so give the creators feedback on how to make their latest undertaking the most useful.