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Midwest preps for multi-state earthquake drill
Emergency management agencies across the central United States are getting ready for a multi-state earthquake preparedness drill next month; led by the University of Southern California’s Earthquake Center, on 7 February at 10:15 AM CST, more than one million people across nine states will participate in the “Great Central U.S. ShakeOut”
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New Jersey enacts new disaster preparedness law
On Tuesday New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed new legislation into law designed to bolster state emergency preparedness
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FEMA aims to increase emergency preparedness with New Year’s resolution
As the New Year begins the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is ramping up its Ready Campaign, a nationwide effort aimed at increasing emergency preparedness
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2011 natural disasters cost U.S. insurers more than $32 billion
2011 saw U.S. government set record for disaster declarations; the severity of the disasters set a record as well, with twelve separate billion-dollar weather/climate disasters in 2011, with an aggregate damage total of approximately $52 billion (this number reflects both insured and uninsured losses)
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Buffalo – second best prepared city in U.S. for disasters
Buffalo, New York was recently declared the second best prepared city in the United States for a major terrorist attack or disaster in terms of public health
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California lawmakers work to improve utilities’ disaster preparedness
California lawmakers are considering a bill to better prepare public utilities for emergencies and disasters following a series of severe storms that left thousands without power across the state
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Hosting a holiday disaster kit potluck
Cindi Shank, the executive director of the Southwest Colorado chapter of the American Red Cross, is encouraging local residents to host a party where instead of bringing potluck dishes they bring flashlights and bandages
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CBP buys new risk management tool
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Technology Innovation and Acquisition (OTIA) is replacing existing risk management systems with a product from a U.K. company to bolster the department’s risk and opportunity management capabilities
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LA-area hospitals prepare for the big quake
In earthquake-prone California, local hospitals and emergency responders are at hard at work preparing for the next big quake
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Tweeting may help in disasters
Social networks like Twitter cannot help prevent disasters, but can quickly correct misinformation resulting from false rumors, thus preventing possible further loss of lives
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Evaluating California earthquake forecasts
The Southern California Earthquake Center held a competition among seven different earthquake forecasts; an analysis of the competition shows that earthquake prediction remains an imperfect science, but the best forecasts are about ten times more accurate than a random prediction; the findings should help researchers both develop better earthquake forecasts and improve their tools for assessing those forecasts
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NIST offers comprehensive risk assessment guidance for federal information systems
NIST has released two new publications dealing with risk assessment; one is the authoritative source of comprehensive risk assessment guidance for federal information systems, the other, an update to a March 2011 publication, focuses exclusively on risk assessments
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Tsunami-predicting software to help protect coastal communities
New software has been developed to help protect vulnerable coastal communities from the destruction of a tsunami; the mathematical model has created significant interest in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan six months ago
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More than $2.1 billion in DHS preparedness grants announced
DHS announced the final allocation for twelve preparedness grant programs totaling more than $2.1 billion in federal grants; DHS grants were reduced by $780 million for the FY 2010 enacted level, nearly a quarter of FY 2010 DHS grant funding
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Most Americans unprepared for disaster, survey finds
A new survey finds that most Americans are unprepared for major disasters and that they maintain a false sense of security with regard to what will happen if a major disaster or a terrorist attack took place; contrary to reality, almost one-third of respondents believed that during a major disaster, calling 911 would bring help within an hour, while 30 percent said they believed help would come within several hours
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