Disasters

Buffalo researchers use nano-sensors to locate power outages
Technology will save utilities from block to block searches for downed wires; nanosensors monitor any electrical system that runs on 120 volts — including refrigerators, freezers, home theatre systems, and even home medical systems
- Read more
Sealegs unveils new emergency rescue amphibious craft
Crushing demand for the fiberglass ARC forces the company to open a larger factory; at a price of $58,850, Sealegs sees a great opportunity in the American homeland security market
- Read more

New England planners look to athenahealth to track epidemic health outcomes
Exercise at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center will test an Internet-based approach to handling patient care; ability to provide surge capacity and manage patient records key factors; athenaNet platform supports the system
- Read more
FEMA rapped for failure to maintain emergency housing units
$4 million in units have been rendered unihabitable after officials at an Arkansas storage facility failed to properly store them; Trimarro’s modular homes the biggest victim, in large part due to FEMA’s failure to require proper weather-resistant containers; tarping seen as futile
- Read more

ManTech wins DHS iCAV management contract
Company will build out and integrate the geospatial mapping system intended to provide real-time data on natural and man-made disasters
- Read more
Kiwis look to expand emergency recovery budget
Auckland region asks for a 175 percent budget increase; expenditutes may include an new emergency information management system, a review of early warning systems, and a group operations center
- Read more

Spanish firefighters use software to direct resources, develop tactics
Developed at the Universirt of Grenada, SIADEX system considers fire data along with available resources to propose three plans of attack; constant updates by emergency crews on the ground lead to immediate refinements; technology is almost ready to go
- Read more
FCC declines to consider Cyren Call's public safety band proposal
Improving communication among first responders and rescue units is a pressing topic, and one proposal, advanced by Cyren Call, calls for allocating 30 MHz in the 700 MHz band for public safety purposes; the wireless industry opposes the plan, and the FCC says it contradicts the wishes of Congress
- Read more

OERR
- Read more
TrafficCast launches cellular probe traffic management system
Now deployed in Shanghai, system analyzes GPS and signaling data to report on traffic location and speed; a boon to city planners concerned about congestion, technology could make its mark in the disaster response business
- Read more

Conference Board notes disconnect between C-level and continuity efforts
The most influential executives are the least supportive, while the most supportive are the least influential; Conference Board cites metrics as a major area for improvement
- Read more
Demos study finds six ways to identify successful continuity efforts
Successful companies provide a working model of best practices; holistic, employee-centered approach is paramount; so too is recognizing and accepting a certain amount of risk; sacrificing key business concerns to security needs will always be a losing proposition
- Read more

Red Cross releases business continuity CD-ROM
Moving beyond blood drives and disaster recovery, the Red Cross tries to increase awareness of continuity requirements; besides vendor and communication redundancies, organization emphasizes first aid and office safety; CPR training a must
- Read more
Vigilon opens operation center in Chicago
The State of Illinois is actively seeking homeland security and business continuity companies; the latest to embrace the Windy City is Israeli enterprise security specialist Vigilon, which opens an operation center in Chicago
- Read more
DoD medical records system goes down temporarily
An auditing function is to blame for the 20 minute shutdown of the Clinical Data Repository; records of 8.6 million soldiers and their families at risk; DISA is working hard to create redundancy with local caches and renote data storage
- 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

Buffalo researchers use nano-sensors to locate power outages

Sealegs unveils new emergency rescue amphibious craft

New England planners look to athenahealth to track epidemic health outcomes

FEMA rapped for failure to maintain emergency housing units

ManTech wins DHS iCAV management contract

Kiwis look to expand emergency recovery budget

Spanish firefighters use software to direct resources, develop tactics

FCC declines to consider Cyren Call's public safety band proposal

OERR

TrafficCast launches cellular probe traffic management system

Conference Board notes disconnect between C-level and continuity efforts

Demos study finds six ways to identify successful continuity efforts

Red Cross releases business continuity CD-ROM

Vigilon opens operation center in Chicago

DoD medical records system goes down temporarily

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