The NOAA Coastal Services Center, as part of their Digital Coast program, has assembled a Coastal Inundation Toolkit. The new “Visualize” section allows users to learn how different types of visualizations can help communities understand their inundation risks and vulnerabilities. The “Picture It” page offers tools and local examples of how photos, maps, and mapping […]
Author Archive | Wesley Shaw
San Francisco Struggles to Protect and Adapt to a Changing Shoreline
Posted on March 26, 2012
As an El Niño winter tears away its shoreline, San Francisco tries to figure out how or whether to protect homes, a $220 million wastewater treatment plant, and a world-famous road. The question facing at least eight local, state and federal agencies boils down to this: With California officials expecting climate change to raise sea […]
If You Were to Raise the Floor of a Basketball Court, You’d See a Lot More Dunks
Posted on March 15, 2012
PBS NewsHour tries for a sports metaphor when describing sea level rise. Watch the video here.
Growing Agreement that Taxpayers Shouldn’t Subsidize Risky Coastal Development
Posted on March 14, 2012
From today’s New York Times: Insurance companies got out of the business of writing flood insurance decades ago, so much of the risk from sea level rise is expected to fall on the financially troubled National Flood Insurance Program, set up by Congress, or on state insurance pools. Federal taxpayers also heavily subsidize coastal development […]
Why Communities Should Consider Total Cost of Ownership When Making Decisions
Posted on March 13, 2012
(From FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate): National Leadership Speaker Series: FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate from U.S. Green Building Council.
QUICK-TIP: Using Google Earth to View FIRMs
Posted on March 12, 2012
Need to quickly check to see which flood zone a property is in? Have Google Earth installed on your computer (it’s free, though you may need administrative rights to install it on your computer)? FEMA has a page explaining how to get those pesky FIRMs into your mapping system. Read about it here: Using the […]
Updated FEMA Hazard Mitigation Planning Training
Posted on March 8, 2012
Related to yesterday’s post, FEMA is now offering an updated 12 hour on-line training for hazard mitigation planning. The goals of IS-318, Mitigation Planning for Local and Tribal Communities (also referred to as Hazard Mitigation Planning) are: Assist participants in undertaking the hazard mitigation plan development process. This plan will meet the needs of your […]
FEMA Updates Guide for Retrofitting Residential Structures
Posted on March 7, 2012
An update to a handy manual. The word from FEMA: The third edition of this document is intended to further aid homeowners in selecting and successfully executing a flood retrofit on their home. Engineering design and economic guidance on what constitutes feasible and cost-effective retrofitting measures for flood-prone residential and non-residential structures are presented. Elevation, […]
Help Florida Businesses Help Themselves (and their Communities) During Hurricanes
Posted on February 14, 2012
Want to help local businesses prepare for the next hurricane? Have a look at Hurricane Biz, free (thanks, BRACE): As part of the Community Partner Initiative the Be Ready Alliance Coordinating for Emergencies (BRACE) is providing an opportunity for workplace managers and business owners to participate in Hurricane Biz – A Workplace Tabletop Exercise at […]
Best Practices for Coastal Louisiana Manual not just for Louisiana
Posted on February 4, 2012
The Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) and the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) recently released the Best Practices Manual for Development in Coastal Louisiana website. What’s novel about this site is that it provides strategies for creating sustainable and resilient coastal communities based on “geotypes” (pick from chenier plain, alluvium, upper riverbanks, middle riverbanks, […]