Disasterology: July 2022
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!
Hello Friends,
Last month I sent a meme-less newsletter. I got some ~feedback~ that I should never, ever do that again. Fair. I’m making it up to you with TWO memes this month.
The State of Emergency Management
(The state of emergency management looks particularly bad because I’ve included both June and July here.)
It’s been very hot in the United States. It was so hot in the UK that parts of London caught on fire. Same in Greece, Spain, and Italy. In June, Odessa, TX lost water and yesterday Las Vegas, New Mexico declared an emergency with less than 50 days of clean water left. Sydney flooded. So did southern Iran. St. Louis was hit hard and the death toll from Kentucky is continuing to rise. There was devastating flooding in Montana where the governor pulled a Ted Cruz. (Stop vacationing during disasters!!?!?! Obviously?!?!)
There was a terrible earthquake in Afghanistan and a terrifying glacier collapse in the Italian Alps. The U.S. Virgin Islands received an emergency declaration earlier this week to help deal with an unprecedented influx of sargassum seagrass. This has gotten nearly no news coverage? This is the best I could find.
The big COVID news was Biden testing positive. I was horrified by his nonchalant attitude and his failure to demonstrate an effective response while in isolation. Watching him publicly work through COVID and not wear a mask in photos set a bad example. Monkeypox appears to be here to stay due to another slow and ineffective response (we love to stay on theme?). Public health messaging is once again a nightmare and more funding is needed.
Perhaps if men hadn’t been the ones in charge of conceptualizing what is and is not a disaster, we would recognize that the US Supreme Court taking away the human rights of half the country as a disaster. But that’s none of my business. Here’s how emergency managers should be thinking about abortion access in forced-birth states.
In food related news, Europe is in the midst of a mustard and risotto emergency.
However, I am pleased to report that New York City was NOT attacked with a nuclear weapon as this preparedness ad, which was put out with no context, made some people think. Glad y’all are still with us.
Disaster Policy Season, Baby!
I only cover the most interesting topics in this newsletter which is why the 725pg climate, *checks notes*, I mean inflation reduction bill caught my eye. Manchin had COVID and then, IDK, saw the light? He has agreed to vote on the bill which is, frankly, shocking to me. As a Mainer who has been repeatedly traumatized by Susan Collins constant lying, I personally take the approach of “I’ll believe it when I see it”. Until this is all voted on and signed, let’s be cautiously optimistic.
First of all, stop reading this and go read this really great summary from Amy Westervelt over on Drilled (and also subscribe). I leave the climate mitigation bits up to her expertise. She goes through the climate parts of the bill and points out some red flags. The consensus seems to be this bill is mostly good but should be considered a starting place for serious climate action, not the ending. (The adaptation side seems very weak to me.) You’ll see in her analysis a few disaster-specific issues that I’m going to address here. (There’s also this breakdown of all the EJ investments.)
Okay, so, there is a bunch of funding for programs that will influence emergency management like more forecast funding for NOAA. There’s $121.5 million for the US Fish & Wildlife Service for recovery and mitigation. There are also some hazard mitigation bits like funding for wildfire prevention and $6 billion for NOAA to use on conservation and restoration of coastal habitats (!!!). There are also some good environmental health bits like $3 billion for EJ block grants through the EPA.
As far as I see the only part specifically for FEMA directs them to integrate low-carbon building materials and energy efficiency into construction projects. There are not many details but as a general idea, this seems good? Anyone have a problem with this? Speak up now.
In other disaster policy news, Biden issued new executive actions to help address heat-related needs and announced the 2022 budget for BRIC -- $2.3 billion.
(We love more mitigation funding but we also need more funding for building local emergency management capacity so that the communities that need it most can actually apply for BRIC and we also need FEMA to be extremely transparent on how BRIC-related funding decisions are being made and we also need them to be collecting better data to make publicly available so that certain disaster researchers can keep an eye on what is happening with this funding and make sure it’s actually being used in effective, efficient, and equitable ways that make communities across the country safer but I digress.)
The breaking disaster policy news is that the Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act passed the House yesterday. In what I’m sure will shock you, only a single Republican voted for it. I mean… smh… okay. This one is a slim 558 pages. I haven’t been through the whole thing in detail yet – it’s going to get gutted in the Senate anyway, I assume. Still, there are good things in there like the National Disaster Safety Board, help for federal wildland firefighters, drought assistance, and more.
Meme Break Part I
Research To Check Out
The academic journal Disasters has put out a collection of articles on Decolonising Disaster Studies. These are all free to access and come from a range of perspectives all around the world. If you’re interested in research, this is a really good set of articles to check out.
Book of the Month
Super Volcanoes: What They Reveal about Earth and the Worlds Beyond by Robin George Andrews
This book is an expedition through volcanoes on earth and in space. It’s more of a hazards book than a disaster book but it will leave you with a deep appreciation for volcanoes and their quirks. It’s also a great glimpse into the work volcanologists have done to help us better understand how and why volcanoes behave the way they do. Also a 10/10 cover.
You can learn more about the book here and buy it here.
Meme Break I
Important Disaster Media Coverage This Month
Let’s start with the good news. Congratulations are in order for the state of Oregon where the state agency became a cabinet-level department reporting directly to the governor! Bravo to everyone who made this possible! Now let’s do all the other states that are still trapped in other agencies!
The bad news is, according to this excellent reporting, there is an emergency manager displaying horrific behavior in Colorado. There is no place in emergency management for people who treat others like that. Fire him.
Let’s move on to everything else. I’m feeling very opinionated this month so I added some ~notes~.
Mitigation
There is BIG mitigation news out of Texas. The U.S. Senate approved the Ike Dike. They still need to get the funding though (around $31 billion but probably more).
U.S. Senate approves bill containing Texas’ ‘Ike Dike’ coastal protection project by Erin Douglas for The Texas Tribune
Building Codes are in the news. You love to see it.
Biden wants to fix building codes across the nation. Florida is already ahead of the pack by Alex Harris for the Miami Herald
This America Adapts podcast episode brought in the big guns to talk about flooding – Natural Resources Defense Council and Anthropocene Alliance.
Adapting to chronic flooding: survivors’ stories and actions they take. America Adapts
The approach of not collecting data so FEMA can play dumb about whether their programs are discriminatory (or effective) got more coverage. *side eye*
FEMA home elevation funds could violate civil rights law by Thomas Frank for E&E News
We have a very big Great Salt Lake problem.
As the Great Salt lake Dries Up, Utah Faces An ‘Environmental Nuclear Bomb’ by Christopher Flavelle for The New York Times
Preparedness
Important look at the unlivable conditions in prisons during heat waves.
When the heat is unbearable but there’s nowhere to go by Sarah Sax for High Country News
I cannot emphasize enough that building more LNG facilities throughout Louisiana is a catastrophically bad idea.
As natural gas expands in Gulf, residents fear rising damage by Cathy Bussewitz and Martha Irvine for the AP
I don’t have an NFIP debate in me this month but here…
Biden admin: Stop flood insurance for new, risky homes by Thomas Frank for E&E News
I’m listening…
Undersea internet cables can detect earthquakes – and may soon warn of tsunamis by Jeffrey Marlow for The New Yorker
Response
There is an internal-governmental battle over a cooling center set up for unhoused residents in Spokane. Daily articles are tracking the situation as it unfolds and *eye ball emoji*.
Spokane mayor’s office has plans to dismantle cooling shelter at Camp Hope by Luke Baumgarten & Carl Segerstrom for Range Media
I continue to be speechless over everything about the Uvalde response
Uvalde shooting incident commander says he didn’t know he was in charge, ditched his radios on purpose by Dan Carson for the Houston Chronicle
Bet you didn’t see this coming. “What are we going to do with Florida?”, she wonders to herself multiple times a day.
Florida’s health department undercounted COVID cases and deaths, state audit says by Ian Hodgson for Tampa Bay Times
Recovery
See also: my book Disasterology: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis ;)
How the government is failing Americans uprooted by calamity by Christopher Flavelle for The New York Times
Australia! Are y’all going to do EM reform?!?
Too little, too late: Australia’s disaster response has been… a disaster by Jordyn Beazley for The Guardian
Well, better late than never.
New Orleans city council apologizes to victims of Up Stairs Lounge fire by Brett Duke for nola.com
To be fair, most flood events are an insurance nightmare.
Yellowstone’s historic flooding is an insurance nightmare by Jennifer Kingson for Axios
Let’s end on a good note.
Nearly 100,000 received FEMA aid under new equity policy by Tom Frank for E&E News
Weird Disaster News
Here’s the PG satire piece for the month: FEMA Director Claims Spending Life Preparing For Natural Disasters No Way To Live
Here’s the NSFW, will give you nightmares satire piece for the month: How to Work the Great Molasses Flood of 1919 Into Your Dirty Talk
The End Bits
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