2011 Disaster Costs, Most Ever

According to preliminary estimates from the annual Swiss Re’s sigma team, total insured losses for the global insurance industry from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters reached USD 108 billion in 2011. This is more than double the figure of USD 48 billion in 2010. Claims from natural catastrophes alone reached USD 103 billion in 2011, compared to only USD 43 billion last year. MORE INFO

America the Vulnerable: Inside the New Threat Matrix of Digital Espionage, Crime, and Warfare

Joel Brenner, a former Director of Counterintelligence in the office of the Director of National Intelligence. goes behind the headlines to explore America's next great battleground: digital security. An urgent wake-up call that identifies our foes; unveils their methods; and charts the dire consequences for government, business, and individuals.  MORE at Amazon.com ...

WPS failed during recent East coast earthquake

The Wireless Priority Service (WPS) that is intended to provide priority to emergency government and public safety cell calls failed during East Coast earthquake. WPS compliments GETS the priority system for land lines.

Sounds like the failure might have been in part due to "all of the texting and short messaging occurred on the signal channel,"

MORE INFO

NCS WPS...       NCS GETS...

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The Regional Disaster Resilience Guide 2011 Edition

The 2011 Regional Disaster Resilience (RDR) Guide for Developing an Action Plan (Guide) released in October 2011 is an updated and expanded version of the original guide published in June, 2006 by The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP). The updated guide is a beneficial and usable tool that enables practitioners and experts from government, the private sector, and other interested organizations to develop an actionable strategy and ongoing process to collectively improve capabilities to withstand major events and disasters in today’s complex and interdependent world.  MORE INFO

Document (.pdf)

Open Source Geospatial Foundation...

OSGeo was created to support the collaborative development of open source geospatial software, and promote its widespread use, MORE INFO...

GIS Day 2011

Nov 16, 2011 is GIS Day ... MORE INFO ...

GIS Day Flyer (.pdf) ...

FEMA Seeks to Extend Use of Geospatial, Communications Tech

To improve FEMA capabilities to respond to disasters, the agency is seeking ways to make better use of innovative technologies, including geospatial information systems and communications devices  Part of the agency's strategy in dealing with smaller funds is to examine national priorities and where possible to apply the use of advanced technological solution to those priorities.  READ MORE

Administrator Fugate's Written Statement...

Emergency Alert System National Test

The Federal Communications Commission's joined by FEMA and the National Weather Service, have announced the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) at 2:00 PM on November 9, 2011.

FCC Announcement ...
FEMA Announcement ...

National Prepardness Goal

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate announced the release of the National Prepardness Goal at the annual National Emergency Managers Association (NEMA) Conference in Austin, Texas.   MORE INFO

The NPG  "includes capabilities to safeguard the homeland against acts of terrorism and man-made or natural disasters" and "is focused on actions to protect the citizens, residents, visitors, and critical assets, systems, and networks against the greatest risks to our nation in a manner that allows our interests, aspirations, and way of life to thrive."

The full goal can be found online at www.fema.gov/ppd8.

Download: http://www.fema.gov/pdf/prepared/npg.pdf

Western Disaster Center Bookstore Operational Again !

Thanks to the recent changes to the recent changes in the way California collects on-line sales tax the Western Disaster Center Bookstore is now once again on-line.

The Western Disaster Center is an Amazon.com Associate.  The Western Disaster Center receives a small percentage of sales of books and other items purchased through the Western Disaster Center Bookstore site.  All financial transactions are handled by the Amazon.com secure system.  The Western Disaster Center Bookstore is maintained on the Amazon.com "aStore system" providing our users a secure and familiar Amazon.com user interface.

To go to the Western Disaster Center Bookstore, CLICK HERE...

Nepalese American Group Hosts Hackathon in Response to Recent Earthquake in Eastern Nepal

In anticipation of the next big earthquake in Nepal, Global Nepal Professional Network (GNPN also known as CAN-USA) has used last week’s regional earthquake as a rallying point to bring community members and technology experts together for a Hackathon this Sunday in Oakland, California to create a web portal that helps the community prepare for the next earthquake. Programmers and domain experts are also taking part from other cities, including Los Angeles, Denver and New York.

Hackathon for Nepal
When: Sunday September 25th, 9am to 4pm
Where: Community Health for Asian Americans
255 International Blvd.,
Oakland CA 94606
Or Join us via Conference Call:
Phone: 641-715-3200
Access Code: 327974

MORE INFO ....

Social media: A mixed blessing for disaster response

Social media has limited usefulness in emergency situations when the information is incorrect or malicious, in which case it hinders response efforts, according to a new report from the CongressionalResearch Service, which was released publicly Sept. 13 by the Federation of American Scientists. READ MORE

CongressionalResearch Service's Report (.pdf) ...