July 29, 2016 - Last Day to Apply for Houston-Area Flooding Assistance for April 2016 Floods

The City of Houston Disaster Recovery homepage lists Friday, July 29, 2016  as the final day for residents of 16 Texas counties to register with FEMA for assistance for damage/losses due to the April 17-30 floods. See http://www.houstonemergency.org/go/doc/2263/2861890 for more information.

Nuclear Threat to Electronic Communications Sytems

The Commission to Assess the Threat to United States from
Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack has released its latest report entitled Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack: Critical National Infrastructure. According to the report:

The electromagnetic pulse generated by a high altitude nuclear explosion is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences. The increasingly pervasive use of electronics of all forms represents the greatest source of vulnerability to attack by EMP. Electronics are used to control, communicate, compute, store, manage, and implement nearly every aspect of United States (U.S.) civilian systems. When a nuclear explosion occurs at high altitude, the EMP signal it produces will cover the wide geographic region within the line of sight of the detonation.¹ This broad band, high amplitude EMP, when coupled into sensitive electronics, has the capability to produce widespread and long lasting disruption and damage to the critical infrastructures that underpin the fabric of U.S. society.

Public Health and Medical Preparedness

The White House released a new Homeland Security Presidential Directive concerning public health and medical preparedness. The document addresses protecting our nation against a catastrophic health event such as a "terrorist attack with a weapon of mass destruction (WMD), a naturally-occurring pandemic, or a calamitous meteorological or geological event." Directive/HSPD-21 builds upon the four pillars identified in the April 2004 Biodefense for the 21st Century:

• Threat Awareness,
  
• Prevention and Protection,
  
• Surveillance and Detection, and
  
• Response and Recovery.

Minneapolis Bridge Disaster Links

On Aug. 2, 2007 Government Information Librarians at the University of Minnesota Library linked on their homepage reports and data related to the bridge disaster in Minneapolis. The page includes links to both federal and state transportation sites as well as to the American Society of Civil Engineers' 35-W Bridge Collapse site with its report card, action plan, and bridge inspection standards links.

Hurricane Katrina Update

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the United States Senate have now made available an update about Hurricane Katrina entitled Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared.

Are You Now in a Flood Plain?

After Tropical Storm Allison the Harris County Flood Control District and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) created a joint study project (The Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project or TSARP) to help the public understand flood risks. TSARP has just released new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). Check the maps or call the Harris County Flood Control District at 713-722-7227 to see if your property is included in the approximately 10,000 commercial and residential properties newly added to the flood plain, or if you are one of the lucky ones whose property has now been removed. Read TSARP's Quick Reference Sheets and a letter from Mike Talblott, Director of the Harris County Flood Control District, to gain a better understanding of flood insurance as well as how these new maps might affect you. Flood insurance rates will rise dramatically on June 18, 2007 for those living in identified flood-prone areas, but you have six months to lock in cheaper grandfathered rates. Even if your residence or business is outside the official flood plain, though, FEMA advises you to purchase flood insurance since almost two-thirds of the flooding during Allison occured outside the 100 year floodplain. For more information about how to purchase flood insurance, access the National Flood Insurance Web site or call 1-888-379-9531.