AMU Emergency Management Public Safety

EDM Week in Review: May 9, 2016

Emergency and disaster management week in review for May 9, 2106

A weekly recap of handpicked emergency and disaster management news, along with analysis and interpretation from our team of experts.


Social Media & EDM

The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) recently [link url=”http://icma.org/m/en/icma/knowledge_network/blogs/blogpost/4623/What_Makes_Some_Local_Governments_So_Successful_at_Social_Media” title=”analyzed social media use by local governments and agencies“] and published its findings as to what makes one agency successful at utilizing social media while others struggle. [link url=”https://amuedge.com/using-social-media-in-emergency-management/” title=”According to the ICMA,“] several key engagement styles and patterns were noted to be consistent among the different agencies that use social networking sites effectively.

[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/study-social-media-is-already-an-effective-tool-during-disaster-events/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/flooding-yep-theres-an-app-for-that/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/scientists-data-from-citizen-seismologists-proving-to-be-valuable/”]


Natural Disasters

A recent report detailed how April natural disasters in the U.S., Ecuador, Japan, Uruguay, China, Myanmar, and other regions across the globe [link url=”https://amuedge.com/april-natural-disasters-hit-global-economy-hard/” title=”brought billions and billions in damages“]. Earthquakes, severe storms, agricultural losses, flooding and other natural disasters combined to make last month [link url=”https://amuedge.com/april-natural-disasters-hit-global-economy-hard/” title=”the most costly April in five years.“]

[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/nepal-building-a-more-resilient-nation/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/disaster-relief-for-ecuador-cash-donations-recommended/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/an-historical-look-at-japans-triple-disaster-on-31111/”]


For McMurray

Scientists are suggesting that the [link url=”http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/science/global-warming-cited-as-wildfires-increase-in-fragile-boreal-forest.html” title=”boreal wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada are a result of climate change and its impacts“].  El Niño has also kept warmer air flowing into the area, with temperatures in the Fort McMurray area higher than normal – sometimes nearly 30 degrees – in the weeks leading up to the fire.  Earlier snow melt due to rising temperatures is causing a drying of trees, increasing the chances for wildfires.  They also noted the 2015 fire season in Alaska as being one of the worst on record – the second largest ever – involving 768 fires and over five million acres burned.

[relink url=”http://edmdigest.com/adaptation/climate-change-in-metaphor-revisited/” url2=”http://edmdigest.com/adaptation/climate-change-adaptation-too-little-too-late/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/study-wildfires-in-alaska-likely-to-increase/”]


Air Pollution

A new World Health Organization (WHO) report warned that [link url=”http://phys.org/news/2016-05-percent-world-city-dwellers-bad.html” title=”80 percent of world’s city dwellers breathe bad air.“] The WHO’s latest air pollution analysis revealed the growing risk of serious health conditions from polluted air, including stroke and asthma. India is home to [link url=”http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-airpollution-idUSKCN0Y30AZ” title=”four of the five cities in the world with the worst air pollution,“] and only 2 percent of cities in poorer countries had air quality that met WHO standards.

[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/study-examines-the-staggering-cost-of-air-pollution/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/more-than-half-of-americans-breathe-unhealthy-polluted-air/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/air-pollution-premature-births-price-tag-hits-4-33-million/”]


FEMA

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is reportedly considering implementing a [link url=”http://www.krdo.com/news/future-disaster-victims-may-have-to-pay-deductible-for-federal-aid/39490642″ title=”‘disaster deductible’“] that would serve to help the Agency recover some of the costs of funds paid to disaster victims. A House emergency management subcommittee held a hearing yesterday morning titled [link url=”http://www.krdo.com/news/el-paso-county-commissioner-testifies-in-washington-dc/39515938″ title=”Controlling the Rising Cost of Federal Responses to Disaster“] to discuss the “disaster deductible” topic in detail.

[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/pausing-to-consider-femas-strategic-foresight-initiative/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/fema-regions-getting-to-know-you/” url3=”https://amuedge.com/fema-encourages-participation-in-americas-prepareathon/”]

Kimberly Arsenault serves as an intern at the Cleveland/Bradley County Emergency Management Agency where she works on plan revisions and special projects. Previously, Kimberly spent 15 years in commercial and business aviation. Her positions included station manager at the former Midwest Express Airlines, as well as corporate flight attendant, inflight manager, and charter flight coordinator. Kimberly currently holds a master's degree in emergency and disaster management from American Public University.

Comments are closed.