National Congress for Secure Communities: Security Update

TOP STORIES

Spotlight on The Katine Project: A Collaboration
July 2010: Over the last three years, the Guardian and Observer has been working with the African Medical and Research Foundation and its sister organization Farm Africa through a program called Katine, named after a rural sub-county in northeast Uganda. The £2.5 million project was launched by Guardian Editor Alan Rusbridger and is jointly funded through donations from Guardian readers and Barclays' community outreach and investment arm.

East Coast Heat Wave Tests Grid Resilience
July 2010: As NPR has reported, a high-pressure system which settled over the East Coast over the week has brought triple-digit temperatures to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states testing the region's electrical grid resiliency. The heat wave has prompted local government officials to take responsive measures to help keep power and water usage down while making sure sensitive groups like the very young and very old, stay cool.

See Something Say Something Campaign Launched
July 2010: The Department of Homeland Security has announced the first phase of a national program called "See Something Say Something" in a partnership with Amtrak through the nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting initiative. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said in the press release, "Implementing a national suspicious activity reporting partnership with Amtrak and expanding the 'See Something Say Something' campaign strengthens our ability to guard against terrorism and crime."

Breaking NEWS

Potential of cyber attack worries congressional leaders ... Congressional leaders are worried about the current state of the nation's cybernetworks and the possibility of a cyber terrorist attack... read more>>

Federal government takes control of oil spill information ... The Department of Homeland Security will take over the informational side of the Deepwater Horizon response operation when BP hands over control the site to the federal government ... read more>>

New report urges federal action against climate change ... A new report by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change has is urging Congress and the federal government to spearhead changes in US policy to mitigate the effects of a changing climate for greater security on the local, state and national level... read more>>

Child obesity harming future military service ... A nonprofit, bipartisan group of retired generals and admirals are calling for greater nutrition in America's schools. New research has found that 25 percent of all children are currently too obese to join the military... read more>>

FCC works to implement rural broadband ... Federal Communications Commission officials is moving to reclaim its authority over broadband Internet service which is in line with an overall implementation of the National Broadband Plan ... read more>>

Hurricane season could complicate cleanup efforts in Gulf ... This year's hurricane season could complicate efforts to clean the oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Recent complications from Hurricane Alex underscore the problems BP is facing ... read more>>

Partnership formed in Texas for response ... Business leaders, government officials and housing advocates gathered in Austin, Texas recently to develop public/private relationships to help Texans stay prepared for and to respond natural and man-made emergencies... read more>>

New compact disaster shelter ... A startup in San Francisco is designing what it calls the "Life Cube" which when compact measures four-feet-tall but can expand into a 12-feet-tall structure complete with the tools and supplies needed for those using the shelter to survive for extended periods of time... read more>>

Rescue team trains to help animals in Kansas ... In Kansas, emergency responders are training with the Kansas State Animal Response Team which was formed four years' ago to help pets during and after a disaster... read more>>

New policy guidelines for FEMA trailers ... FEMA has updated its hurricane policies for the 2008 season. The new policy changes effect the agency's emergency trailer guidelines for state and local government issues as well as for residents who will need them... read more>>

Iowa community begins recovery after devastating tornado ... Residents in one Iowan community are trying to recover from devastating tornadoes which flattened homes and farms. In one town along, more than 222 homes were destroyed... read more>>

Tornado in Colorado kills one ... A freak tornado plowed through a town about 80 miles north of Denver killing one person while the same storm spawned golfball-sized hail... read more>>

Wildfires in CA prompt evacuations ... Hundreds of residents in California have been evacuated after wildfires were ignited along the central Californian mountains. About 1,400 homes were under evacuation orders... read more>>

Military junta allows disaster aid into country ... The military junta in Myanmar has announced it will let all waiting foreign disaster aid groups into the country after a "breakthrough" meeting between the Burmese government and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon... read more>>

Stadiums as shelters in China ... Chinese government officials in Chengdu are trying to cope with the estimated 5 million people who are without shelter after the devastating earthquake and its aftershocks by using stadium as shelters... read more>>

Death toll now 78,000 in Myanmar ... The official death count in Myanmar is now 78,000 with about 56,000 more people missing. The government is still severely restricting access to the country's affected by international aid groups... read more>>

Dams are weakened by quakes in China ... Chinese officials are monitoring damage to more than 400 dams in the Sichuan Province. The fear is that the recent large earthquake has weakened the infrastructure putting even more communities at risk should the dams brake... read more>>

Earthlink shuts down Philly WiFi ... Earthlink announced that it will suspend its wireless Internet network in Philadelphia because it could not find a buyer for the $17 million communications infrastructure... read more>>

Death toll in China continues to rise ... The death toll in China continues to rise as more victims of the worst earthquake to hit the country in 30 years are found... read more>>

Death toll in Myanmar rises ... The death toll in Myanmar has risen to about 32,000 while American relief supplies are being airlifted into the country according to officials. Health officials are worried about disease setting in the displaced and affected populations... read more>>

Other NEWS

Seattle Starts Food Security Program
July 2010: Seattle's Local Food Action Initiative (LFAI) has been working to improve the city's local food system to "advance the City of Seattle's interrelated goals of race and social justice, environmental sustainability, economic development, and emergency preparedness." Begun in 2008, Resolution 31019 was implemented after the city passed Resolution 30990 a "Zero Waste Strategy". LFAI's goals include increase support of local agriculture in the surrounding rural areas as well as in inner-city locations; reduce the carbon footprint of the city's food system; to support strategies to connect major institutions like hospitals, jails and schools to local food sourcing; and to "Build community through developing community gardens, promoting farmers' markets," and involving immigrant communities.

Community Resiliency Report
July 2010: **NB** Thanks to InCaseofEmergency and Recovery Diva for the links and the original stories.

The Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism at Syracuse University has published a paper for communities who are working to "prepare for surprises." Community Resilience: A function of resources and adaptability works to tackle the problem of preparing communities for responses to disasters and challenges - man-made and environmental - through policy change, programs and systems "that help local communities cope with a wide range of threats."

Emergency Response Outreach for non-English Speakers in the South
July 2010: In southern Alabama many shrimping communities along the Gulf Coast are populated by Vietnamese immigrants who do not speak English. Local officials have been working with BP and federal and state authorities to "connect emergency managers with Asian community leaders so they could get to know each other - and each other's needs," Daily Yonder reported. To help, BP recruited Mike Dillabler, "an expert in emergency management and a project director with the Community Foundation of Southern Alabama." Dillaber helped to pair Vietnamese translators with communities who spoke the same dialect so BP "could quickly begin interviewing and training local residents for work related to the spill."

New Standards Announced for Private Sector Preparedness
June 2010: The Department of Homeland Security announced new voluntary accreditation and certification measures program to help the private sector coordinate with DHS in the event of an emergency a press release announced. DHS called the Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program (PS-Prep) a "major milestone" in working with the private sector to achieve one of the goals outlined by the 9/11 Commission. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said "These new standards will provide our private sector partners with the tools they need to enhance the readiness and resiliency of our nation."

The Gulf Oil Spill and the Chesapeake Bay
June 2010: According to the Baltimore Sun though there are initial response plans for cooperation, currently, there is no specific emergency response system for the Chesapeake Bay should there be an accident from an oil spill. William C. Boicourt from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science at Horn Point told the Sun, "There is no functioning [emergency response] system on the Bay in the terms of what we can call operational." Officials with the Coast Guard did tell the Sun there are contingency efforts in coordination with federal, state and local officials to work with the "party responsible" for the accident who is ultimately in charge of cleanup efforts.

Social networks set tone for community information during LA fires
November 17 '08: As wildfires destroy homes in Southern California, social networking sites have been used by community first responders and citizens to spread important information, updates and maps in real-time. The fires have burned more than 1,000 homes, forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate and have claimed over 20,000 acres in the past four days, Reuters reported. CNN reported Monday that at least one of the fires has been linked to human activity.

Researchers announcement advancements in disaster communications
November 10 '08: Researchers working on disaster response communication technologies have announced new advancements in understanding how radio frequencies behave in difficult areas such as collapsed buildings, mine shafts and tunnels, CNN reported. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology told the cable news channel that a "sweet spot" frequency has been found which allows radio communication to travel the farthest.