Red Cross Hurricane App
The Red Cross has just added another notch to its belt of tech preparedness tools, this time in the form of a mobile phone application to assist users before and after hurricanes. The app, available on Android and iPhone platforms, has features that include a one-touch “I’m okay” message to your social media sites, location-based alerts from NOAA, Red Cross shelter locations, and a toolkit complete with flashlight, strobe light, and alarm.
Great Southeast Shakeout
The mammoth earthquake preparedness drill that put 12.5 million people at the ready last year is again expanding—this time to the Southeastern United States. The corresponding website has many of the same games and preparedness techniques we’ve become familiar with from other areas, but with new information and resources aimed at getting residents of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia in shape for their drill on October 18, 2011.
Step Up: 2012 International Day for Disaster Reduction
Each year the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction sets aside a day to increase awareness about how we can reduce risk. This year, on October 13, UNISDR is asking women and girls to “step up” to the challenge. This interactive website lets visitors celebrate the many ways women and girls are working to create resilience to disaster and offers resources for those who want to do more.
FEMA Flat Stanley and Flat Stella
The Federal Emergency Management Agency wouldn’t want to fall flat when it comes to teaching kids what to do in a disaster, so it’s employed a popular learning tool to help spread the preparedness news—Flat Stanley and Flat Stella. The Flats are little-kid avatars that can be used to learn new concepts and share project outcomes with kids in the classroom or all over the world. With FEMA on board, kids can download characters and start their preparedness adventure right away.
Weather Services for the Nation: Becoming Second to None
The National Weather Service is stuck in the '90s. That’s the gist of this just-released National Academies report, which assesses the state of the NWS following high-cost modernization efforts completed in 2000. The report committee found that the NWS has again fallen behind the curve thanks to rapid improvements in science and technology, budget constraints, and expanded user needs. The authors suggest the weather agency can get its groove back by focusing on its core capabilities and collaborating with the private sector and other institutions.