Posts tagged with Disasters

In December 2009, my friend Mike Ellis (@EmergCommNetwrk, website) posted an excerpt of Mark Prutsalis’ (@LivingPrepared, website) August 13, 2009 article Use of Twitter as an Emergency Notification Service. Both became relevant this past week when Twitter experienced serious outage issues making its site inaccessible and API unavailable.

In the article, Mark argues that government agencies should not use Twitter as an emergency notification service.  His points are valid and applicable to private sector businesses and non-profit organizations as well.  Read More

The guys at Mashable have put together a collection of some incredible videos and photos from Nashville, TN depicting the damage caused by the flooding over the weekend.

At first, 10-15 seconds doesn’t sound like much time. But if you’ve ever been through a significant tremor, you know that short window of warning is enough to do what you need to get to safety… and would be better than nothing.

Interesting read from Emergency Management: Earthquake Early Warning System Coming to California

I found some really spectacular live footage of the volcano eruption in Iceland that is wreaking havoc with flights across Europe.  The disruption to air service is not just an inconvenience for the airlines.  The impact extends to business travelers who need to meet clients and make sales, shipment of critically important parcels, emergency supplies and organs for transplant.  Read More

I was cleaning up the photo gallery a bit when I came across some pictures that I forgot I had found after thinking I’d lost.

Did you follow that?  Read More

Secretary Napolitano Announces New Proposed Standards for Private Sector Preparedness

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced new proposed standards for a 9/11 Commission-recommended program for the private sector to improve preparedness for disasters and emergencies.

“Preparedness is a shared responsibility and everyone—including businesses, universities and non-profit organizations—has a role to play,” said Secretary Napolitano. “Ensuring our private sector partners have the information and training they need to respond to disasters will strengthen our efforts to build a culture of preparedness nationwide.”  Read More

I remember watching the news and weather closely the night before. The next morning, early on a Saturday, I received a call from the American Red Cross in Indianapolis asking if I was available to help with doing some damage assessments in Morgan County and Martinsville, IN.   Read More