In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

Andrew Revkin’s terrific DotEarth blog has two interesting posts this week with contributions from two experts on disasters and resilience.
1) In “Lessons In Resilience From New Orleans,” Robert Kates, a scholar studying human development patterns, offered some lessons on building resilient communities derived from the history of New Orleans. The lessons are:
The United States is vulnerable [...]

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Homeland Security Advisory System Task Force Co-Chair Frances Townsend said in an interview last week that even when a final decision is made on the terror color levels there is still work to be done in determining both the content and the distribution methods for best alerting and informing the public on terrorism and other threats.
U.S. [...]

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The most high profile American associated with citizen preparedness may be Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Russel L. Honore who came to national prominence for his work in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In the four years since, Honore has been an outspoken advocate for focusing more national attention and resources on community readiness. In a new book, Survival: How A [...]

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In an interview just before the release of his new book, former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff urges that the terror color codes should be condensed to three levels, calls for the development of a new preparedness course (including first aid, CPR, basic mechanics, and firearms training) for schools across the U.S., acknowledges “he would [...]

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DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano held a “Pen & Pad” availability for reporters and bloggers who cover the Homeland Security Department earlier today (video here). Napolitano previewed some international visits she is making to Europe and the Middle East and highlighted a couple of new DHS initiatives, including her new mission statement of “The Department’s Five [...]

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I recently had the opportunity to interview Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, on the subject of citizen preparedness. Speaking in his Capitol Hill office, Thompson told me that he believes there needs to be more emphasis on public readiness and engagement in the U.S. 
He says he hopes President Obama will [...]

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Monica Schoch-Spana of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Biosecurity, one of the (if not ‘the’) leading authorities on citizen preparedness and engagement, did an interesting interview on the radio show, Homeland Security Inside & Out. In it, she makes some recommendations to the new Administration on bolstering public preparedness and engagement. This week’s show [...]

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Former U.S. Senator Bob Graham (D-Fl), Chair of the Commission On The Prevention Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction On Proliferation And Terrorism says that educating Americans on the threat of WMD’s should be an “urgent” priority of the Obama Administration because without an informed citizenry the nation cannot maximize its security.
Graham’s WMD commission released a report, “World [...]

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With September being National Preparedness Month, I had the opportunity to speak with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff about the issue of citizen preparedness. In the interview, held at DHS headquarters in Washington, just before he headed to the Gulf coast for Hurricane Gustav, Chertoff acknowledged that while the Ready.Gov awareness campaign has made [...]

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As the nation marks the anniversaries of Hurricane Katrina and the September 11th attacks, I spoke with Frances Fragos Townsend, President Bush’s former Homeland Security Advisor, about citizen preparedness. 
In the interview, I asked Townsend for her thoughts and recommendations on how the next Administration should approach the challenge of preparing and informing the public for [...]

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