by admin | Aug 20, 2018 | Disaster, Disaster policy, Economics, Floodplain management, Government, Infrastructure, Natural Hazards, Resilience, Wildfire
I should have written this blog post six months ago, but better late than never. Last December, the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), Multihazard Mitigation Council, issued Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: 2017 Interim Report, a welcome update of its...
by admin | May 7, 2018 | Disaster, Disaster policy, Floodplain management, Government, Natural Hazards, Parks, Public policy, Public safety
There is that old saying that, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. To that, one might add that, if you’re thinking about fixing it anyway, you may want to clarify exactly how you wish to improve things and why you think the improvement will be better. In a February 27...
by admin | Nov 12, 2017 | Disaster, Disaster policy, Government, History, Natural Hazards, Public policy, Urban Planning
There was a time not long ago, in human history, when a faraway nation could experience a wrenching natural disaster that most of the rest of us would not know about for months, or even years, afterwards. The idea that anyone else should or could help the stricken...
by admin | Nov 1, 2017 | Climate, Disaster, Disaster policy, Natural Hazards, Public health, Public policy, Public safety, Resilience, Urban Planning
Despite the impression many people may have from watching the news, most disasters do not result in a presidential disaster declaration, and the federal government is not always involved in response and recovery. Many smaller disasters, however, result in a state...
by admin | Oct 18, 2017 | Activism, Careers, Climate, Disaster policy, Natural Hazards, Personal history, Racism, Resilience, Urban Planning
I know. My very title for this blog post sounds to some like yet another naïve stab at kumbaya. Well, stay with me, anyway. We are talking about solving problems in our communities, and the more people who get behind the solution, the more successful it is likely to...
by admin | Oct 14, 2017 | Disaster, Disaster policy, Floodplain management, Government, Housing, Natural Hazards, Resilience, Urban Planning
Amid the whirlwind of disasters this fall—three major hurricanes hitting the U.S., earthquakes and another hurricane hitting Mexico, wildfires in northern California—it is easy to forget that people hit by other disasters as recently as a year ago are still laboring...