CHANGING LIVES/HELPING FAMILIES – FEMA HAZARD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

A recent James Andreassi article appearing in the Stuart (FL) News on March 23, 2018, incorrectly titled, “FEMA paid $5 million to raise 27 flood-prone buildings along Treasure Coast waterfronts,” describes a program that has helped 25 Treasure Coast families and 1 business recover from and avoid future flood damage.

While focusing upon a $5,000,000 expenditure over a 12-year period, it fails to…

External Stakeholder Workgroup

Hazard Mitigation Assistance

In January 2017, FEMA launched the Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) External Stakeholder Workgroup (ESWG).  The HMA ESWG is comprised of representatives from FEMA regions, states, Indian tribes, territories, and local mitigation stakeholders who share their perspectives on HMA priorities, issues, and program resources, and help inform communication strategies on the HMA programs.  

As part of carrying out their work, the ESWG members have formed subgroups to focus on specific topics.  One subgroup, the Online HMA Knowledge and Support Forum, is working to create an online resource where information can be exchanged, conversations encouraged, and HMA applicants can find peer-to-peer advice and guidance. One aspect of this work is identify and promote HMA project success stories.  As part of this, the ESWG is requesting mitigation stakeholders submit success stories in your community, your organization, or a partner in mitigation you’ve met along the way.

We are looking for success stories with the following in mind:

The success story should not exceed one page.

Please include pertinent and descriptive facts, such as the organization/community name, project description, date of completion, and the HMA grant amount and program (e.g. HMGP, FMA, PDM).

Projects submitted as success stories should have been completed within the last 18 months.

The ESWG is looking for all types of projects, big and small, and for any hazard type to help encourage a wide range of application submittals.

Personal aspects of the project are encouraged including stories illustrating the positive impacts of the mitigation on the community and or/ residents. Examples of this could be an interview with a resident that has benefited from the project, or an account of how the project will avoid disruptions in the community or help speed a post-disaster recovery.  

The success story should make sure to include the URL address/link, if available, for more information and photos on the project.  If a URL is not available, please include the info for a point of contact who can answer questions about the project if needed.

Photos or other graphics of the project should be attached to the same email and submitted along with the success story.

Please submit all success stories by Tuesday, August 15, 2017 to [email protected].  

The Panoramic Survey Telescope Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) 1 telescope on Maui’s Mount Haleakala, Hawaii has assembled a many near-Earth vigilant discoveries of a NASA-funded NEO surveys in 2015. Image credit: University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy / Rob Ratkowski

NASA has formalized a ongoing procedure for detecting and tracking near-Earth objects (NEOs) as a Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO). The business stays within NASA’s Planetary Science Division, in a agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The business will be thankful for organization of all NASA-funded projects to find and burlesque asteroids and comets that pass circuitously Earth’s circuit around a sun. It will also take a streamer purpose in coordinating interagency and intergovernmental efforts in response to any power impact threats.

More than 13,500 near-Earth objects of all sizes have been detected to date — some-more than 95 percent of them given NASA-funded surveys began in 1998. About 1,500 NEOs are now detected any year.

“Asteroid detection, tracking and salvation of a star is something that NASA, a interagency partners, and a tellurian encampment take unequivocally seriously,” conspicuous John Grunsfeld, associate executive for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “While there are no famous impact threats during this time, a 2013 Chelyabinsk super-fireball and a new ‘Halloween Asteroid’ tie ensue remind us of since we need to tarry mindful and keep a eyes to a sky.”

NASA has been vigilant in worldwide plan for celestial salvation for some time, and this business will titillate and lift on those efforts, user with a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other emperor agencies and departments.

In offer to detecting and tracking potentially dangerous objects, a business will emanate notices of tie passes and warnings of any detected power impacts, shaped on convincing grant data. The business also will continue to support with coordination conflicting a U.S. government, participating in a plan for response to an discernible impact threat, user in and with FEMA, a Department of Defense, other U.S. agencies and ubiquitous counterparts.

“The grave investment of a Planetary Defense Coordination Office creates it transparent that a organisation is committed to perform a caring purpose in ancient and ubiquitous efforts for display of these healthy impact hazards, and to be vigilant in plan if there is a need for celestial defense,” conspicuous Lindley Johnson, longtime NEO procedure executive and now lead procedure executive for a office, with a due of Planetary Defense Officer.

Astronomers detect near-Earth objects controlling ground-based telescopes around a star as good as NASA’s space-based NEOWISE infrared telescope. Tracking information are assuming to a tellurian database reliable by a Minor Planet Center, certified by a International Astronomical Union. Once detected, orbits are precisely expected and monitored by a Center for NEO Studies (CNEOS) during NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Select NEOs are offer characterized by resources such as NASA’s InfraRed Telescope Facility, Spitzer Space Telescope and interplanetary radars operated by NASA and a National Science Foundation. Such efforts are point and saved by NASA’s longtime NEO Observations Program, that will continue as a examine procedure underneath a office.

The Planetary Defense Coordination Office is being applauded by a National Science Foundation (NSF), that supports examine and credentials in grant and engineering. “NSF welcomes a augmenting inflection afforded to this infamous activity,” conspicuous Nigel Sharp, procedure executive in a agency’s Division of Astronomical Sciences. “We feeling contemptuous to fortitude a cultivatable partnership conflicting a agencies to pierce all of a resources — both ground-based and space-based — to a examine of this vicious problem.”

With some-more than 90 percent of NEOs exquisite than 3,000 feet (1 kilometer) already discovered, NASA is now focused on expecting objects that are rather bigger than a football domain — 450 feet (140 meters) or larger. In 2005, NASA was tasked with expecting 90 percent of this difficulty of NEOs by a finish of 2020. NASA-funded surveys have detected an estimated 25 percent of these mid-sized yet still potentially dangerous objects to date.

NASA’s long-term celestial salvation goals consolidate building record and techniques for deflecting or redirecting objects that are energetic to be on an impact impetus with Earth. NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission visualisation would imply a efficiency of a seriousness tractor routine of celestial defense, controlling a mass of another vigilant to lift an asteroid rather from a bizarre orbital path. The dilemma NASA-European Space Agency Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) thought concept, if pursued, would imply an impact deflection routine of celestial defense.

Even if impasse is not possible, NASA would produce consultant contention to FEMA about impact timing, plcae and effects to warn puncture response operations. In turn, FEMA would hoop a preparations and response plan compared to a consequences of breezy opening or impact to U.S. communities.

“FEMA is dedicated to defence conflicting all hazards, and a launch of a coordination business will guarantee early display and warning capability, and will offer lift FEMA’s collaborative charge with NASA,” conspicuous FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate.

The visualisation of a executive business to coordinate asteroid display and lessening has been underneath caring given 2010, when an Ad-Hoc Task Force on Planetary Defense of a NASA Advisory Council permitted that NASA “organize for effective transformation on celestial salvation and prepared to respond to impact threats,” and should “lead U.S. celestial salvation efforts in ancient and ubiquitous forums.” In addition, a NASA Office of Inspector General 2014 news resolved that a NEO Observations Program would be some-more “efficient, effective and transparent” if it were nurse and managed in bearing with prevalent NASA examine procedure requirements.

The NEO Observations Program operated on a check of $4 million as recently as trading year 2010. That same year, a President announced a new thought for NASA — a tellurian thought to an asteroid. The President’s trading year 2012 check included, and Congress appropriated, $20.4 million for an stretched NASA NEO Observations Program. The agency’s Asteroid Grand Challenge to find all asteroid threats also launched in 2012. Funding for a NEO procedure doubled to $40 million in 2014, that augmenting a rate of display of new NEOs by 40 percent and jump-started examine into power asteroid deflection techniques.

In 2015, NASA’s NEO Observations Program inspected 54 ongoing projects, including display and tracking campaigns, asteroid characterization efforts and radar projects. Nine studies were saved to try techniques for impact mitigation.

The recently inspected emperor check for trading year 2016 includes $50 million for NEO observations and celestial defense, representing a some-more than ten-fold boost given a derivation of a tide administration.

For unwavering updates on lively asteroids, NASA has an asteroid widget that lists a successive 5 tie approaches to Earth; it links to a CNEOS website with a finish list of new and nearing tie approaches, as good as all other information on a orbits of famous NEOs, so scientists and members of a media and open can line information on famous objects.

Source: JPL

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Natural hazards are something that affect almost everyone on the planet, to some degree. Some areas of the world are more disaster prone than others such as Japan, which is a country that sits on several very active plate boundaries and so is at higher risk of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, but is also at risk of tsunamis as we saw in 2011, due to being very much a coastal nation. Other…

Jefferson Parish is working to build a Preparedness Framework that addresses multiple natural hazards, as well as coordinate planning efforts of various departments including Hazard Mitigation, Public Works, Emergency Management, and Community Development. 

 In an effort to capture Jefferson Parish citizens’ concerns regarding natural hazards, we ask for your input on this online survey (http://goo.gl/forms/XGtthkHAOZ) regarding natural hazard concerns and individual preparedness. 

Residents who live outside of Jefferson Parish are invited to participate in this online survey, as well, as regional input is important when considering natural hazard risk and preparedness.

The survey will provide insight into the greatest natural hazard concern per zip code.  Once the results are analyzed, a map of concerns per zip code will be produced to guide planning efforts based on geographic locations within Jefferson Parish.

Participants may click on the link (http://goo.gl/forms/XGtthkHAOZ ) to complete the online survey.