The Hurricane Sandy Task Force lays out suggestions such as building a more resilient and modern electric grid, new flood-protection and more stringent building standards in affected areas. The Task Force voiced strong opposition to simply rebuilding to match the pre-Sandy landscape, and encourages the private sector to investigate less vulnerable fuel distributions routes and… Read more
Despite early forecasts and preparations for disasters such as Sandy, our failure to accept and deal with the long-term effects of climate change, specifically global warming, will be an ongoing problem. Political and economic pressures discourage long-term planning, especially at the federal level. The author highlights the lack of water proofing of the NYC subway… Read more
New flood models predict repeat, and possibly more significant, flooding in areas hard hit by Sandy. Five key lessons are offered to guide rebuilding: Protect existing natural borders such as beaches and dunes. Build the natural barriers higher. Rezone flood areas to prevent new home building. Build parks in their place. Be mindful about building… Read more
The report provides an overview on how social media was used in preparation for, in response to, and in recovery from Hurricane Sandy (“Sandy”) in late October 2012. It also discusses processes identified by the first-responder community as best practices; presents examples, themes in applications, and lessons learned; identifies gaps in technology, process, and/or policy; and… Read more
This report follows extensive research by the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) of after action reviews from major disasters of the past decade into lessons learned. The disasters studied were weather-related events that required responding firefighters to assume duties for which they were unprepared or for situations they never anticipated. From analysis of post-incident operational evaluations,… Read more
This report highlights the efforts of two communities to strengthen regulations after catastrophic flood events: Cedar Falls, Iowa and Waveland, Mississippi. Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) are created to guide insurance premiums based on historical floods occurring within either 100 or 500 years, and these case studies are designed to help communities consider how they… Read more
The American Chemistry Council (ACC)-sponsored Chemical Sector Emergency Preparedness Tabletop Exercise (TTX) provided a forum to facilitate discussion and document roles, responsibilities, processes, protocols, and systems used to support an effective public-private response to emerging threats and incidents impacting the Chemical Sector. The purpose of this is to analyze exercise results, identify strengths and potential… Read more
Six-hundred million dollars of federal Sandy recovery funds have been dedicated to 750 buyouts of homes on flood-prone, low lying coastal areas of Staten Island and Long Island. Rising insurance costs and future threats are driving homeowners to accept the buyout offers. Environmentalists hope that the demolitions will allow the nature to act as a… Read more
This report explores the challenges to retrofitting multifamily housing in New York City after Hurricane Sandy and reports the results of a workshop in which designers, engineers and other experts identified cost-effective retrofit strategies for NYC’s multifamily units in the floodplain. Urban areas with similar challenges can use this as an example of how to… Read more
Hurricane Sandy motivated the federal government to examine how it might improve community and infrastructure resilience so that communities are better prepared for existing and future threats, including those exacerbated by climate change. To ensure that federal agencies incorporate key principles of resilience into their formulation, evaluation, and prioritization of infrastructure investments related to Sandy… Read more
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