OCEAN-OIL
When is ocean oil a good thing? When it stands for the Online Clearinghouse for Education And Networking—Oil Interdisciplinary Learning, a trove of scientific and educational resources on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Part of the Encyclopedia of Earth site, these peer-reviewed articles and resources are submitted by scientists and teachers in an effort to keep the public informed on all aspects of the spill.
Ready, Set, Go!
Why whisper about fire warnings and preparedness, when this new initiative will give your agency a megaphone? Ready, Set, Go! was created to help leverage community respect for firefighters into safe and ready practices for those who live with the threat of wildfire. The website offers support, resources, and collaboration that can help turn everyday firefighters into public outreach experts.
WeatherSpark
It’s a wonder weathermen still have jobs and WeatherSpark might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Although still in beta, the site taps about 4,000 weather stations to let armchair weather watchers create pretty much any type of report, comparison, or map they can think of. And if they can’t, a mere tweet will get the idea into the hopper.
Safety Maps
It’s a simple concept—pick a safe place, plan to meet there in an emergency. Now Safety Maps makes it simpler by helping you create the map, append a message, then print it and stuff it. Whether you’re thrown off your game by disaster stress or just can’t remember where mom said she’d meet you, all you have to do is check your pocket and you're one step closer to safety.
JHAZ: Journal of Hazard Mitigation and Risk Assessment
From linking green building techniques and hazard mitigation to learning the lessons taught by damaging earthquakes, this new journal is aimed at mitigating disaster losses. Published by the National Institute of Building Sciences as part of a push to expand its Multihazard Mitigation Council, the first issue invites readers to join the council, give feedback, and submit articles for future issues.
Public Health Preparedness Capabilities: National Standards for State and Local Planning
State and local planners will now have guidance as they prepare to meet the needs of their communities in a public health crisis. This report, compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, outlines six categories of capabilities—biosurveillance, community resilience, countermeasures and mitigation, incident management, information management, and surge management—that each organization should be able to provide. The report offers step-by-step guidance on assessment, planning, and implementation.