Disaster Recovery News

Image from FEMA

With fears of impending large-scale natural disasters, top climate scientists from the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), UK Met Office and US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will meet in Boulder, Colorado during the week for the first full session of ACE, the Attribution of Climate-related Events. The meeting is not a brainstorming session to try to prevent catastrophic events. Rather, My Fox Atlanta reports the professionals will put their heads together in an attempt to create a warning system to help predict meteorological disasters.

With the recent deadly flood in Pakistan, Moscow heat waves, Atlantic Ocean storms and severe winter weather, which some are saying is a result of “global weirding,” are trepidations about more frequent and deadlier natural disasters. The goal is to create a reliable warning system that would have the ability to identify the location and indicate the severity of future extreme weather events in a timely manner and, thus, save thousands of lives.

Peter Stott, head of climate monitoring at the UK Met Office, told “The Guardian”:

“These are the sorts of things we need to understand. We need to be able to forecast events weeks or months ahead of their occurrence so people can mitigate their worst impacts. We also need to consider the longer-term context and see if we need to build better sea defenses at a particular location and assess how high dykes or walls need to be. Certainly, one thing is clear: there is no time to waste. The effects of global warming are already upon us.”

While severe weather is an important concern for many, you do not need to be a scientist to plan for it. You can prepare your home and business for the unthinkable today by creating an emergency preparedness plan that includes steps to get you back on your feet and dry wet documents.

Learn more about disaster preparedness.

Image from NOKR website

Many of us have already heard of putting “ICE” in our cell phones, address books, PDA’s, etc. ICE stands for: In Case of Emergency. Next to “ICE”, one is to place the name and phone number of an emergency contact. This is useful for emergency service workers, doctors, civil servants, etc. should they need to call an emergency contact person and one is not able to communicate this information.

There is also a free tool that helps with this type of service; it’s the Next of Kin Registry (NOKR). NOKR’s website states:

“NOKR is the central depository for Emergency Contact information in the United States.

…NOKR provides the public a free proactive service to store your emergency contacts, next of kin and vital medical information that would be critical to emergency response agencies. Stored information is only accessible via a secure area that is only accessible by emergency public trust agencies that have registered with NOKR.”

NOKR has registration forms that can be filled and submitted via fax, US mail, or online. They also provide free decals for ID cards, driver’s licenses, passports, etc. that let others know your emergency contact information can be found with NOKR.

Learn more about planning for an emergency.

People across the United States are scratching their heads at the recent meteorological events.

In the Northeast, umbrellas were out as heavy rains littered the streets and brought uninvited tornados. New York, typically humid and hot, has not had the mercury hit 90˚F at all these summer months. This could be the coolest summer on record for these states-a welcome change for many (Except for the tornados: they weren’t welcome). The upper Midwest is also taking advantage of the cooler weather with lower electric bills, less heat-related medical emergencies and better sleep at night.

Those in the Pacific Northwest sold stores out of air conditioners and fans as record heats of up to 115˚F scorched the atmosphere. The Oregon Zoo had to take extra steps to help their animals stay cool. “Cool spots” were also open to the public if they did not have air conditioning at home.  A “cool spot” is a place that has air conditioning where people could hang-out for a while and get relief from the elements. Fire houses, hospitals, senior centers, etc. were the typical places that opened their doors this week.

Click here to learn more about extreme weather across the United States.

Image by therangonagin CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The people of Wethersfield, Connecticut braced themselves as winds ripped through their town at speeds of up to 100 mph on Friday. If any of the residents suspected a tornado must have passed through the town, they would have been right.

As a result of the strong storm, officials of Hartford County opened up shelters to help those displaced. The tornado toppled trees into houses and roads and caused devastation the people of the town would have never expected. Most people lost power for most of the day-not the ideal way for one to start the weekend. Many people throughout the county are still without power today, but it will hopefully be restored by the end of Sunday.

The debris and fallen trees caused damage to numerous homes. If these homes are not repaired quickly and correctly, they could see damages that extend past what just the trees did. Vulnerable areas of a home are more at risk to be affected by water and mold damage in the future.

Read the full story here.

Shingles on a roof that are torn or blown-off after a storm can allow water to seep through. If the water does not properly dry or there is a lot of moisture in the affected area, the roof’s integrity could be compromised. The damage could even extend to ceilings within a building, causing them to collapse.

More on preventing mold damage.

After a wave of unusually high temperatures, a predicted thunderstorm blew through the western part of Oregon late Thursday afternoon. What was unpredicted was the severity of the storm and the damage it would cause in a matter of hours. As the skies suddenly darkened, rain began to pour and lightening crashed to the earth, splitting trees and even striking a 14-year-old boy that went outside to witness the storm.

Winds were clocked at as fast as 60 mph in some parts of state as residents were warned to stay indoors. Many funnel clouds were spotted and residents of the small town of Newberg swear a tornado made an uninvited visit to their neighborhood, prompting a visit from curious agents from the National Weather Service.

Parts of the Oregon capital, Salem, were underwater as the intense rainfall prompted flashfloods to rush the city. The water was so high in some parts of the city that it covered cars stalled by the flood. Homes and businesses were affected by the flooding and are now cleaning-up as a result of the water damage.

More on the Oregon thunderstorm.

Oregon, being a naturally wet and rainy state, will have to focus on mold control during the flood clean-up. A Salem church affected by the flood waters called in flood restoration specialists that brought in water vacuums and special fans to help dry-out the building.

Learn about recovering from a flood.