Disasters

Insurers concerned about hurricane season and want government to step in
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Is San Francisco prepared for the next Big One?
One hundred years ago the earthquake which hit San Francisco killed 3,000, left more than 200,000 homeless, and destroyed more than 28,000 buildings. Is the city ready for the next one?
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Bay Area businesses preparing continuity plans in event of earthquake
The big one was 100 years ago; another one is in the forecast, and businesses are preparing for the worst
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Analysis: FEMA will stay in DHS
There is a post-Katrina debate in Congress over whether or not FEMA should be made an independent agency; better to leave FEMA in DHS — and give it even more responsibilities and capabilities as the nation’s premier disaster response outfit; the important thing is to appoint a competent, selfless director who will whole-heartedly embrace the reality of FEMA as part of DHS and who will observe the proper chain of command
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On-line avian flu preparedness course available
Continuing education: Now there is an online course on how to prepare your company for the avian flu; take a look
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They try harder
Jay Leno said that they found a man in a cave in China whose handwriting was so small, he could put half a chapter of the New Testament on one strand of human hair; but this was only his hobby: His vocation was to write the fine print on rent-a-car contracts; well, Avis Europe hires a U.K. business continuity company to beef up disaster recovery systems in Avis’s Frankfurt, Germany, data center, so all these rent-a-car contracts could survive a disaster
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The meanings of resilience
The meaning of “is”: Many equate “business continuity” with “resilience” — but there are at least four different meanings business people attach to “resilience”; you should address all of them
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Hospital uses adaptive WAN, synchronous backup for efficient, reliable recovery
Here is an example of a hospital implementing a robust disaster recovery system relying on WAN-based synchronous back-up which is at the same time HIPAA compliant
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Reinsurer builds up network, back systems to prepare for any eventuality
This reinsurer has offices in Bermuda, London, Boston, and Paris, and its back-up experiences should be of interest
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Business continuity awareness week
A letter to the business community from the organizers of the 2006 business continuity awareness week

New device allows seeing through fire, smoke, haze
As emergency units rush to the scene of a disaster, they are often frustrated by the obscuring effects of fire, smoke, and haze — all making informed decision making more difficult; a Pennsylvania company is developing a device to help such first responders see through these obstacles
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Trango shows high-performance mesh solution
Trango’s new HD Mesh system is configurable to many critical infrastructure locations. Its most important feature: maintaining strength while growing and adapting to other network systems
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Business continuity salaries on the rise in the U.S.
New survey shows that business continuity executives in the U.S. are making more money each year, and certification may have something to do with it.
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U.K. FSA establishes new group to assess financial sector stability
British agency forms group to discuss the preparedness of the financial sector in the event of a pandemic
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Springfield, Illinois Opens Disaster Recovery Centers
State and federal officials open new disaster relief centers for tornado victims
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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Insurers concerned about hurricane season and want government to step in

Is San Francisco prepared for the next Big One?

Bay Area businesses preparing continuity plans in event of earthquake

Analysis: FEMA will stay in DHS

On-line avian flu preparedness course available

They try harder

The meanings of resilience

Hospital uses adaptive WAN, synchronous backup for efficient, reliable recovery

Reinsurer builds up network, back systems to prepare for any eventuality

Business continuity awareness week

New device allows seeing through fire, smoke, haze

Trango shows high-performance mesh solution

Business continuity salaries on the rise in the U.S.

U.K. FSA establishes new group to assess financial sector stability

Springfield, Illinois Opens Disaster Recovery Centers

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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