Recovery

U.S FEMA to improve disaster relief program to speed help for disaster victims

Mon, 2024-01-22 09:21 — mike kraft

FEMA to overhaul its disaster aid system after decades of criticism

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The agency announced on Friday that it will fundamentally overhaul the way it delivers aid to survivors, launching new programs to provide quick cash payments to those in need and eliminating much of the bureaucracy that hampers aid access.

“This is really a transformational, deeply impactful, meaningful, and historic change in our provision of individual assistance to survivors of natural disasters,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA. “For too long, in the face of too many natural disasters and extreme weather events, survivors have had to overcome many barriers to access to federal assistance.”

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U.S. Government watchdog agency identifies fraud problems in homeowner disaster recovery grant programs

Mon, 2023-08-28 10:37 — mike kraft

GAO Finds Disaster Recovery Grants for Homeowners are Subject to Fraud - HS Today GAO says the decentralized environment in which HUD's disaster block grants operate creates vulnerabilities to different types of fraud. GAO says the decentralized environment in which HUD's disaster block grants operate creates vulnerabilities to different types of fraud. Kylie Bielby Hstoday

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FEMA Allocates over $1 billion to Mitigate Future Disaster Hazards in Puerto Rico

Mon, 2022-11-28 11:22 — mike kraft

Over $1 Billion in FEMA Funds to Mitigate Future Disaster Hazards in Puerto Rico - HS Today To date, over 6,300 projects to rebuild public buildings, roads and other spaces in the communities have benefited from mitigation funds. Homeland Security Today Hstoday

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Country by country, scientists are charting a possible end to the COVID-19 pandemic

Wed, 2021-11-03 09:45 — mike kraft

Analysis: Country by country, scientists eye beginning of an end to the COVID-19 pandemic As the devastating Delta variant surge eases in many regions of the world, scientists are charting when, and where, COVID-19 will transition to an endemic disease in 2022 and beyond, according to Reuters interviews with over a dozen leading disease experts. Julie Steenhuysen Reuters

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Rigorous wildlife disease surveillence needed

Fri, 2020-07-10 19:55 — mike kraft

Rigorous wildlife disease surveillance Evidence suggests that zoonotic (animal origin) coronaviruses have caused three recent emerging infectious disease (EID) outbreaks: severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In the search for an intermediate host for SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19), studies have identified SARS-CoV-2–like strains in bats ([ 1 ][1]) and pangolins ([ 2 ][2]), but these do not contain the same polybasic cleavage site that is present in SARS-CoV-2 ([ 3 ][3]).

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Inside Dominica’s Efforts to Become the World’s First Hurricane-proof Island

Sat, 2019-11-23 18:01 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Lead Image: When Hurricane Maria struck Dominica in September 2017, more than 90 per cent of the island's structures were destroyed and leaves were ripped from trees. Today, the people of Dominica are rebuilding with the knowledge that climate change could mean a future of storms like Maria. PHOTOGRAPH BY GALAXIID, ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

travelandleisure.com - by Cailey Rizzo - November 21 2019

When Hurricane Maria barreled through the Caribbean in September 2017, it destroyed 90 percent of the island of Dominica overnight. When the storm cleared, Dominica didn’t just want to rebuild. From the rubble, the island developed a new goal: to become the world’s first climate-resilient nation.

And, according to a new National Geographic report, the island is on track to do exactly that.

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Dominica’s Indigenous Innovation

Wed, 2019-06-05 21:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CONCEPT DRAWING KALINAGO RESILIENCE HUB CHANNELING CULTURAL BUILDING PRACTICES AND MYTHOLOGY OF THE CENTIPEDE. PHOTO © ILLYA AZAROFF AND + LAB ARCHITECT PLLC

rocagallery.com - by Illya Azaroff - May 21, 2019

. . . Since Hurricane Maria struck in 2017, the tiny island of Dominica is rebuilding with the aim of becoming the first climate resilient and 100% sustainable nation in the world . . . Dominica can unlock the DNA of resilience through the vernacular building practices and rich cultural history of the Kalinago people that first inhabited the island . . .

. . . Rediscovering these historic threads of resilience have been key to developing new master plans for the territory under the Kalinago Institute for Resilience and Regeneration (KIRR), founded by my team together with leading experts and community leaders, including members of the Kalinago council of chiefs, Nichie Louis Patrick Hill and Dr. Michael McDonald. Its mission is to create a thriving Kalinago Territory as a low carbon, resilient region where citizens can live and excel within the carrying capacity of its ecosystems for multiple generations into the future.

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The Flood Was Extraordinary. So Was Australians’ Response.

Sat, 2019-02-09 08:03 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A man helping strangers remove flood-damaged items from their home in a suburb of Townsville, in the Australian state of Queensland, on Thursday. Credit Dan Peled/EPA, via Shutterstock

nytimes.com - by Livia Albeck-Ripka - February 7, 2019

. . . Community support is the biggest predictor of how well people recover from disasters, “over and above the horrors of the trauma” . . .

As climate change makes it likely that disasters will become more intense and frequent, researchers are studying how communities respond, and what they need to be resilient. Being part of a community response can be “protective” . . .

. . . the real danger zone is six to 12 months after a disaster strikes. It is then, experts agree, when the news coverage fades and others seem to move on, that residents who are still struggling with practical issues, like insurance claims, and emotional trauma, can feel abandoned.

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How Storms, Missteps and an Ailing Grid Left Puerto Rico in the Dark

Mon, 2018-05-07 10:25 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A transmission tower and downed lines in the mountainous terrain of eastern Puerto Rico. Workers from the island and throughout the United States have worked to restore power after Hurricanes Irma and Maria last September.

It took months to restore electricity in Puerto Rico after hurricanes dealt a one-two punch. Many homes are still without power, and the system’s future is far from certain.

nytimes.com - by JAMES GLANZ and FRANCES ROBLES - Photographs by TODD HEISLER - May 6, 2018

. . . After Maria and the hurricane that preceded it, called Irma, Puerto Rico all but slipped from the modern era . . .

. . . an examination of the power grid’s reconstruction — based on a review of hundreds of documents and interviews with dozens of public officials, utility experts and citizens across the island — shows how a series of decisions by federal and Puerto Rican authorities together sent the effort reeling on a course that would take months to correct. The human and economic damage wrought by all that time without power may be irreparable.

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For Puerto Rico, the Return to Business as Usual is Slow

Mon, 2018-03-19 08:07 — Kathy Gilbeaux

In Humacao, a city on the eastern coast just north of where Hurricane Maria’s eye passed, power poles and lines still litter the ground in some areas. PHOTO: ARIAN CAMPO-FLORES/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Six months after Hurricane Maria, as many as 7,000 of the island’s small businesses remain closed

wsj.com - by Arian Campo-Flores - March 19, 2018

. . . Though economic activity in Puerto Rico has picked up in recent months, businesses large and small are struggling. Electricity woes continue to plague the island, where 91% of power generation has been restored but the grid is prone to sudden outages. Insurance money has arrived slowly, with $1.7 billion paid in residential and business claims as of Jan. 31—about 40% of the expected total, according to the island’s Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.

And the market is shrinking as a result of an accelerating exodus of Puerto Ricans fleeing conditions on the island.

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