It’s interesting watching savvy municipal employees of all stripes shift from viewing social media as another means of talking to the public, to viewing it as a new way to communicate with the public (two-way communication vs one-way bullhorn). The change is forcing professionals to view themselves as a node in the network of information, […]
Author Archive | Wesley Shaw
Check out the New and Improved Coastal Community Resilience Index
Posted on September 12, 2011
We at StormSmart are big fans of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium’s Coastal Community Resilience Index. For those not familiar with it, the Coastal Community Resilience Index (CRI) is a simple tool that provides a snapshot of a community’s resilience, and can help identify opportunities to improve. Designed to take as little as two hours […]
Will the Next Hurricane Put You Underwater? New Site Shows How Deep
Posted on September 8, 2011
Have a look at the new Miami-Dade County Storm Surge Simulator which lets you click on a map to show where you live and then select the severity of the storm before it shows you just how deep that water will be when that next hurricane hits. You can even select whether you want to […]
No Budget? No Problem. Group Makes Hurricane Safety PSAs on a Shoestring Budget
Posted on September 6, 2011
With no funding (and a little help from the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium), Mississippi’s C-HOST (Coastal Hazard Outreach Strategy Team) group has created some great quick public service announcements. Below is one example, see the C-HOST videos page for more. (Does your group or community want its own StormSmart.org site? Let us know.)
EPA Announces $3 Million in Grants to Improve Health of Gulf
Posted on August 17, 2011
A new Gulf-Based funding announcement in from the EPA: Gulf of Mexico Regional Partnerships Request for Proposals (RFP) 2011 On, August 16, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the release of the Gulf of Mexico Regional Partnerships RFP 2011. The RFP is posted on the Gulf of Mexico Program’s website at: http://www.epa.gov/gmpo/, and at: […]
New, Non-Technical Sea Level Rise Primer for Southeastern US
Posted on August 17, 2011
Finding information on sea level rise that isn’t so vague as to be useless or too technical to understand can be tricky. Gary Mitchum (University of South Florida) has taken a stab at doing so in Sea Level Changes in the Southeastern United States—Past, Present, and Future. You can download a PDF of the report […]
Need an Example? Check Out this Climate Change Adaptation Plan
Posted on August 15, 2011
Not sure how to get started on a climate change adaptation plan? Have a look at what the San Francisco Bay area has drafted with their new “Climate Change Hits Home” report. The plan includes: Anticipated regional impacts Vulnerable areas and adaptation strategies (includes public safety and health, transportation, ecosystems and biodiversity, energy, water management, […]
New Jersey Community Gets Serious About NFIP Compliance
Posted on August 14, 2011
Sea Isle City, NJ isn’t messing around with National Flood Insurance Program compliance issues. The city recently sent out 193 court summons to owners of non-compliant structures (mostly concerning inadequate flood vents and illegal conversions of below-home storage into living space) telling them to get their structures in order. The city’s motivation? The possible benefits […]
New Tool: Coastal CHARM
Posted on August 9, 2011
I saw this impressive tool demonstrated at the Gulf of Mexico Alliance meeting last week. Super excited about it, and very much looking forward to what John Jacob and his Texas Sea Grant/AgriLife Extension Service crew come up with next. Coastal CHARM (Community Health And Resource Management) You can read more about it on the […]
FEMA Study Finds National Floodplains Projected to Grow by 40-45%
Posted on July 27, 2011
As reported in the New York Times, at last week’s Coastal Zone conference in Chicago, FEMA shared some results from a pending study looking at the projected effects of climate change on the National Flood Insurance Program. The short version? It’s not looking pretty, and the challenges won’t be confined to coastal areas either. Floodplains […]