Disasters

Tennesee prepares for large emergency drills
Volunteer State finds many willing to lend a hand as emergency planners simulate three different types of disasters; Miami’s volunteer patrol gears up, too
- Read more
IXEurope finishes strong at Data Centre Europe Awards 2007
Company recognized as best in disaster recovery service, datacenter management; Attenda and BladeLogic received much-deserved recognition
- Read more

Policymakers said unprepared for subduction earthquakes
A lack of historical data makes it impossible to predict when these rare disasters will occur; 2004 Indonesian tsunami an object lesson in being unprepared
- Read more
Israel prepares for WMD attacks
Army joins the United States in a computer simulation of a non-conventional missile attack; troops pulled off checkpoint duty to take part in emergency response drills
- Read more

Sources say DHS will be flexible on interoperability grants
With $1 billion soon to be unleashed, DHS says it will support the unfavored 800 MHz band; NTIA argues grants can only be used for technology and equipment
- Read more
Battle over allocation of the 700MHz band looms
TV operators will soon vacate the 700 MHz band, and the FCC is getting set to auction it; pressures grow to allocate portion of the band for public safety uses
- Read more

RAE expands its wireless detection offerings
AreaRAE systems, already a hit with the National Guard, receive a tune-up; new sensors can detect hydrogen chloride, hydrogen flouride, and carbon monoxide
- Read more
Tsunami Institute offers cell phone-based warning system
Inexpensive service provides ample warning to get off the beach; developers look for business partners along the Pacific Rim.
- Read more

British bust plot against Internet
Suspected Al Qaeda operatives planned to infiltrate a major Internet hub and detonate explosives; MI5 creates a critical infrastructure protection unit
- Read more
NYC lags behind in firefighter equipment
Fire department lacks efficient pre-planning and command software; Critical Information Dispatch System offers only 160 characters of text; accurate building maps remain a low priority
- Read more

AIG launches terrorism insurance unit
With the extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act still under discussion, AIG moves into a business its former chief threatened it would abandon
- Read more
Saab wins disaster communications contest
Danish government lauds the Tacticall system for its cheap and portable solution to interoperability problems
- Read more

Homeland security comes to live and on-demand TV
On-demand TV can now be used not only for HBO specials, but also for homeland security programming
- Read more
New modular search and rescue robot
Small robots operate independently but can be combined into a single unit; Hamburg researchers offer solution to communications problems among USRs
- Read more
GPS tracking devices as moral hazard
First American to climb Everest comes out against an Oregon law requiring mountaineers to carry signalling devices
- Read more

The long view

To bolster the world’s inadequate cyber governance framework, a “Cyber WHO” is needed
A new report on cyber governance commissioned by Zurich Insurance Group highlights challenges to digital security and identifies new opportunities for business. It calls for the establishment of guiding principles to build resilience and the establishment of supranational governance bodies such as a Cyber Stability Board and a “Cyber WHO.”
- Read more
Protecting the U.S. power grid
The U.S. power grid is made up of complex and expensive system components, which are owned by utilities ranging from small municipalities to large national corporations spanning multiple states. A National Academy of Sciences report estimates that a worst-case geomagnetic storm could have an economic impact of $1 trillion to $2 trillion in the first year, which is twenty times the damage caused by a Katrina-class hurricane.
- Read more
More than 143 million Americans at risk from earthquakes
More than 143 million Americans living in the forty-eight contiguous states are exposed to potentially damaging ground shaking from earthquakes, with as many as twenty-eight million people in the highest hazard zones likely to experience strong shaking during their lifetime, according to new research. The research puts the average long-term value of building losses from earthquakes at $4.5 billion per year, with roughly 80 percent of losses attributed to California, Oregon, and Washington. By comparison, FEMA estimated in 1994 that seventy-five million Americans in thirty-nine states were at risk from earthquakes. In the highest hazard zones, the researchers identified more than 6,000 fire stations, more than 800 hospitals, and nearly 20,000 public and private schools that may be exposed to strong ground motion from earthquakes.
- Read more
A large Ventura Fault quake could trigger a tsunami
Earthquake experts had not foreseen the 2011 magnitude-9 Japan earthquake occurring where it did, so soon after the disaster, scientists in Southern California began asking themselves, “What are the big things we’re missing?” For decades, seismic experts believed the Ventura fault posed only a minor to moderate threat, but new research suggests that a magnitude-8 earthquake could occur on the fault roughly every 400 to 2,400 years. The newly discovered risk may even be more damaging than a large earthquake occurring on the San Andreas Fault, which has long been considered the state’s most dangerous. Unlike the Ventura fault, the San Andreas Fault is so far inland in Southern California, that it does not pose a tsunami risk. A large earthquake on the Ventura fault, however, could create a tsunami that would begin “in the Santa Barbara Channel area, and would affect the coastline … of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, down through the Santa Monica area and further south.”
- Read more
Coastal communities can lower flood insurance rates by addressing sea-level rise
City leaders and property developers in Tampa Bay are urging coastal communities to prepare today for sea-level rise and future floods in order to keep flood insurance rates low in the future. FEMA, which administers the National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP), is increasing flood insurance premiums across the country, partly to offset losses from recent disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Cities can reduce insurance premiums for nearly all residents who carry flood coverage by improving storm-water drainage, updating building codes to reflect projected rise in sea-levels, moving homes out of potentially hazardous areas, and effectively informing residents about storm danger and evacuation routes.
- Read more
California drought highlights the state’s economic divide
As much of Southern California enters into the spring and warmer temperatures, the effects of California’s historic drought begin to manifest themselves in the daily lives of residents, highlighting the economic inequality in the ways people cope. Following Governor Jerry Brown’s (D) unprecedented water rationing regulations,wealthier Californians weigh on which day of the week no longer to water their grass, while those less fortunate are now choosing which days they skip a bath.
- Read more

Tennesee prepares for large emergency drills

IXEurope finishes strong at Data Centre Europe Awards 2007

Policymakers said unprepared for subduction earthquakes

Israel prepares for WMD attacks

Sources say DHS will be flexible on interoperability grants

Battle over allocation of the 700MHz band looms

RAE expands its wireless detection offerings

Tsunami Institute offers cell phone-based warning system

British bust plot against Internet

NYC lags behind in firefighter equipment

AIG launches terrorism insurance unit

Saab wins disaster communications contest

Homeland security comes to live and on-demand TV

New modular search and rescue robot

GPS tracking devices as moral hazard

More headlines

Who's online

The long view

To bolster the world’s inadequate cyber governance framework, a “Cyber WHO” is needed

Protecting the U.S. power grid

More than 143 million Americans at risk from earthquakes

A large Ventura Fault quake could trigger a tsunami

Coastal communities can lower flood insurance rates by addressing sea-level rise

California drought highlights the state’s economic divide