This newsletter is a compilation of recent disaster ~things~ that I think are cool, important, or otherwise of interest to people who are intrigued with disaster (broadly defined).
There’s a little something for everyone!
CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE. We made it to the end of the month without a major hurricane hitting the United States. We did it, Joe.
(Obviously, we have a way to go but, man, what a needed reprieve.)
The State of Emergency Management
There is currently horrific flooding ongoing in Pakistan where the death toll is already reported to be over 1000 people. A third of the country is flooded. A third. There was also flooding in Seoul and China is in the midst of the world’s most severe heatwave ever recorded.
Las Vegas flooded… twice. The impending US water crisis is not looking great. It does look like we’re doing Polio, Monkeypox, and the COVID merry-go-round simultaneously.
My favorite headline this month was: “The World’s Rivers, Canals, and Reservoirs Are Turning to Dust”. Love that for us. And, the issue I’ve lost the most sleep over this month is the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant that Russia is holding hostage. We’re all just living on the brink of nuclear catastrophe…? Cool?
The Emergency Managers Are Not Okay
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the wave of people who left emergency management after 9/11 and the federal reorganization. I can’t remember the last time I had a conversation with someone in our field without them mentioning they’re exhausted, frustrated, burned out, or the like. Are we headed for another exodus? Is it already happening? Understanding the well-being of the people who do disaster work is important for the sake of the people who do disaster work but also because it contributes to the effectiveness of the work we do and ultimately the effectiveness of the overall emergency management system.
Although people in all kinds of professions have been raising the burnout issue lately, I do think that our field is particularly susceptible. The overwork, the pressure, the lack of resources, and the trauma (even if secondary) all gets wrapped up together.
This is all to say that when Nia D’Emilio from Epicenter Innovation approached me about writing a guest blogpost on burnout in emergency management I immediately said, “yes”. Regardless of where you’re working – public or private sector – this is a relevant topic for us all. There are obvious, huge, structural changes that are needed in this field but, as Nia argues, we also need to re-think our own actions and relationships to our jobs.
I’m the ~Queen~ of working until I burn myself out and I’m very sure most of you do the same thing too. So, I think it’s a good idea for us to start talking about this more and floating some realistic solutions. (Colleen Hagerty wrote the best article I’ve seen on this issue last year.)
In an effort to help facilitate these conversations I’d like to invite anyone who has thoughts on the subject to write a guest post. It can just be your personal experience with these issues, or ideas for solutions. I’d love to hear from people working in all parts of our field and from outside the US as well. You can just reply to this newsletter if you’re interested.
Kentucky Check-In
While no community affected by disaster ever receives the amount of attention and resources they deserve and need, the flooding in Kentucky has fallen from national attention particularly fast. Here are some articles you may have missed on the response and recovery efforts.
In Kentucky Flooding Epicenter, Communities Help Each Other and Wait For Assistance by Katie Myers for Ohio Valley Resource
Governor says FEMA Denying Too Many Requests for Assistance by Bruce Schreiner for The AP
Legal Advocates Applaud FEMA Changes in Kentucky, But Say Transparency Needed by Justin Hicks for Ohio Valley Resource
Flooding in the Sacrifice Zone: Among the Wreckage in Eastern Kentucky by Tarence Ray for The Baffler
Heavy Rain, Steep Slopes and Climate Change Contributed to Catastrophic Eastern Ky. Floods by Ryan VanVelzer for Ohio Valley Resource
Abandoned Mines and Poor Oversight Worsened Kentucky Flooding, Attorneys Say by Phil McCausland for NBC News
In EKy, People Can’t Live On High Ground Because It’s All Owned By Corporate Interests by Joe Childers for the Lexington Herald Leader
Why Climate Change Hits Some Communities Harder Than Others by Brandon Tensley for CNN
Meme Break
Important Disaster Media Coverage This Month
I’d like to jump right into this month’s news with a big ole “fuck you!” to Louisiana AG Jeff Landry. He led the charge among the Louisiana Bond Commission to hold back flood mitigation funding for New Orleans until the city starts enforcing the abortion ban.
Anyway, the Washington Post Editorial Board called for emergency management reform (kind of) and public health reform in the same month! What are they drinking over there, and can we give it to Congress?
Mitigation
Behind the Climate Bill: The High Price of Manchin’s Pipeline Deal in Appalachia by Tom Pelton for Oil and Gas Watch
Surrounded By Fossil Fuels, They Fear Climate Bill Leaves Them Behind by Sarah Kaplan for The Washington Post
Houston Keeps Paving Over The Absorbent Katy Prairie, Even After Devastating Harvey Impacts by Jen Rice for The Houston Chronicle
The Last Days of Isle de Jean Charles: A Louisiana Tribe’ Struggle to Escape the Rising Sea by Tristan Baurick for Nola.com
To Adapt to Climate Change, New York Town Considers A Retreat From The Beach by Samantha Fields for Marketplace
California to Install Solar Panels Over Canals to Fight Drought, A First in the U.S. by Greg Cannella for CBS News
The Coming California Megastorm by Raymond Zhong for The New York Times
Preparedness
Please don’t ask me why, but people are still writing weird articles about that NYC nuclear preparedness video. Everyone is wrong about this (except Andy Cohen). I won’t be taking any questions.
We are continuing to barrel headfirst into various insurance-related crises with no sign from Congress that they intend to address it. I’m sure this will work out fine.
Homeowners Insurance in Florida is a Precarious Mess That Was Years in the Making by Lawrence Mower and Alex Harris for the Miami Herald
Flood Insurance to Rise 122% on Average in Louisiana, Data Show by Mike Smith for Nola.com
Response
A Uranium Ghost Town in the Making by Mark Olalde and Maya Miller for ProPublica
‘I thought I was going to die there.’ What It’s Like To Live With Rising Temperatures in Prison by Hannah Grabenstein and Justin Stabley for PBS News
Hungary Fires Its Top Weather Officials After an Inaccurate Forecast by Jenny Gross for The New York Times
Recovery
City Comptroller Denies Every Single Financial Claim for Hurricane Ida Flooding by Samantha Maldonado and Katie Honan for The City
Displaced WA Flood Survivors ‘In Limbo’ While Awaiting Federal Aid by Rochelle Gluzman for Investigate West
Trying To Keep the Roof on in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley by Michael Esealuka for The Nation
Harvey Cost Many Their Homes and Their Peace of Mind. 5 Years Later, The Damage Lingers by Dug Begley and Sam Gonzalez Kelly for The Houston Chronicle
I strongly recommend the new documentary “Katrina Babies” on HBO. “Children of Climate Change Come of Age in ‘Katrina Babies’ by Drew Costley for The AP
State Farm Will Pay Feds 100 million Over Hurricane Katrina Insurance Claims by Anita Lee for The Sun Herald
Inside the Investigation That Secured a Guilty Plea for 84 Wildfire Deaths by Katherine Blunt for The Wall Street Journal
Volunteers, sweat equity, $4.5 million Rebuild Lafitte A Year After Hurricane Ida by Faimon Roberts for Nola.com
Harvey’s Still Here For Houston’s Historically Black Communities by James Caldwell for The Houston Chronicle
‘It’s been a hard year’: Terrebonne Parish Struggles to Recover After Hurricane Ida by Kezia Setyawan for WWNO
‘The want us gone’: Black Louisianans Fight to Rebuild A Year After Ida by Michael Esealuka for Southerly
The New Orleans Elderly Community ‘left to die’ After a Hurricane by Delaney Nolan for Aljazeera
The Link Between Hurricane Katrina and Anti-LGBTQ Rhetoric by Thomas Lecaque for Dame Magazine
The End Bits
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In case you signed up for this newsletter without knowing who I am (a bold choice!) you can read my book Disasterology: Dispatches From The Frontlines of The Climate Crisis to catch up! You can read a USA Today review here, order it here, or get it as an audiobook here. You can also find more from me on my blog, listen to this episode of Ologies, or follow me on Twitter and Instagram where I impulsively narrate my every thought.
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Dear Samantha,
Your comments on how "Emergency Managers are Not Okay" reverberated deeply with me. I ventured into penning down some thoughts on this matter to share my own layman (rather optimistic) take on some trends with the potential to influence structural and cultural changes.
https://www.thelifesavingcollective.com/p/the-mental-well-being-of-lifesavers?r=ddqjd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Hope that some of the points may have some relevance to the broader discussion, and thank you very much for sharing your thoughts so consistently and with such vigour each time!
Best regards,
Leon Yip