Disasters

Engineering Systems Solutions announces successful test of its ForeWarn Universal Communicator
Successful DHS-sponsored simulation is a good sign for company’s ambitious expansion plans; test of the Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network an even better sign for emergency responders nationwide
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Utility and telecom industries press government for national identification cards
Industries want immediate access to emergency sites; interoperability with FIPS-201-1 a critical issue
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Texas groups to offer pipeline emergency course
Innovative program uses a 2,300-foot underground pipeline to simulate oil and gas leaks; course to begin 28 August 2006
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Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International to hold conference in August
The Unmanned Vehicles 2006 Symposium and Exposition will present latest technology, offer technical sessions; Innova Robotics to demonstrate command and control system for mutiple unmanned vehicles
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Professor finds continuity planning improves employee morale
Employees report higher job satisfaction, stronger perceptions of control, enthusiasm for hard work
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Parvus Technology demonstrates wristwatch computer at LandWarNet conference
Zypad WL 1000 can download maps, detect if wearer is injured; although designed for military and industrial purposes, firefighters may also benefit
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UltraStrip Systems changes name to Ecosphere Technologies
A Florida engineering company changes its name; the company has several patents, registered and pending, for homeland security, military, and disaster recovery applications
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Smiths Detection wins contract to supply Army robot with chemical detector
Army will fit iRobot PackBot with Smiths’ Lightweight Chemical Detector (LCD); tests to continue in Alaska
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URS wins FEMA contract for hazard mitigation services
Company will provide engineering assessments, coastal flood analyses, and other pre-disaster and post-disaster services; the five year contract under the Hazard Mitigation Technical Assistance Program is worth as much as $75 million
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DHS official to head business continuity at Bank of America
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TVI announces selection as decontamination system provider for DoD
The contract under the Defense Guardian Installation Protection Program is worth $490,000; company will deploy proprietary fabric shelter structures
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NextEnergy agrees to purchase Titan Energy Development's mobile energy system
The Sentry 5000 will be used as part of DoD’s Advanced Mobile Microgrid Power System.
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FEMA announces plan to replace locks on Katrina trailer homes
After discovering that the same key could open multiple trailers, FEMA offers to pay for new locks; some had only fifty-one possible combinations.
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DHS solicits proposals to repair and maintain the National Warning System
Qualified contractors are encouraged to offer descriptions of services and pricing within fifteen days.
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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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Engineering Systems Solutions announces successful test of its ForeWarn Universal Communicator

Utility and telecom industries press government for national identification cards

Texas groups to offer pipeline emergency course

Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International to hold conference in August

Professor finds continuity planning improves employee morale

Parvus Technology demonstrates wristwatch computer at LandWarNet conference

UltraStrip Systems changes name to Ecosphere Technologies

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Smiths Detection wins contract to supply Army robot with chemical detector

URS wins FEMA contract for hazard mitigation services

DHS official to head business continuity at Bank of America

TVI announces selection as decontamination system provider for DoD

NextEnergy agrees to purchase Titan Energy Development's mobile energy system

FEMA announces plan to replace locks on Katrina trailer homes

DHS solicits proposals to repair and maintain the National Warning System

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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