July 2024
|
|
FEMA Events:
Conferences and Workshops to Note:
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
EPA: Free Climate Change Risk Assessment Technical Assistance
Drinking water, wastewater, water reuse, stormwater utilities and others can receive free climate change risk assessment technical assistance from EPA’s Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU) initiative. Through this process, CRWU will assist about 75 water sector utilities and communities to identify long-term climate change adaptation strategies. The CRWU can also help find funding for these measures. CRWU supports utilities concerned with climate threats such as drought, ecosystem changes, floods, service demand and use, and poor water quality. If you are interested, please contact Aliza Furneaux (furneaux.aliza@epa.gov) by Friday, August 15. EPA will notify the selected utilities by early September. Visit EPA CRWU’s Adaptation Case Studies Map to see how others have addressed water reuse. Some examples include the Water Replenishment District of Southern California, City of San Diego (CA), and Pueblo of Laguna Utility Authority (NM).
Learn more here.
New Liberty Road Community Development Corporation: Houston OEM CERT Training: Empowering Communities and Enhancing Resilience
The EPA’s Nonpoint Source program and Watershed Academy released a web-based training called “Creating Co-Benefits Through Hazard Mitigation Planning and Water Resource Management.” The training helps water quality and hazard mitigation professionals add water quality issues, water resource management, and nature-based practices into state or local hazard mitigation plans (HMPs). Planners from both fields can explore shared interests and benefits. Case studies and real examples show planners how to connect with water resource programs through hazard mitigation planning. Watershed planners can also learn how water resource plans and HMPs can support each other.
Learn more here.
California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services: Tribal and Community-Based Organizations Gain Access to Public Grants and Philanthropic Funding
Philanthropy California and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services have joined to build resilience in the state. They will provide virtual and in-person grant writing training, events, and one-on-one technical assistance. This work will support nonprofits, community-based groups, and tribal organizations as they work to build resilience.
Learn more here.
|
Partner News
National Aeronautics and Space Administration: NASA Announces New System to Aid Disaster Response
NASA presented its Disaster Response Coordination System, on June 13. The system is a vital part of NASA’s Disasters Program. It brings together advanced science, technology, and data from across NASA to help communities decide how to face disaster threats around the globe.
|
NOAA: Help NOAA Coral Reef Watch Document Impacts from the 4th Global Coral Bleaching Event and Calibrate Its Satellite-based Coral Bleaching Heat Stress Products
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coral Reef Watch (CRW) program needs your help! Please share your in-water data and observations of coral bleaching/no bleaching to help NOAA Coral Reef Watch understand observed changes in the coral reef environment during the ongoing global coral bleaching event and to assist the program with analyzing the performance of its satellite-based coral bleaching heat stress monitoring products, which serve all coral reef ecosystem stakeholders worldwide.
You can contribute your in-water data and observations via email (coralreefwatch@noaa.gov), a Google Form, and/or via a more detailed, quantitative observations questionnaire.
|
VOISE: Partners Talk About Declared Disasters and Updates to Multi-Hazard Operations
Following a surge in declared disasters due to springtime storms, FEMA Voluntary Agency Liaisons and the DHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships co-hosted a VOISE Partner call on June 20. The call relayed crucial information from national partners, FEMA, and others supporting recovery work in the impacted states.
Partners had time to share how they supported the 10 affected states. The call also facilitated coordination among federal, state, and nonprofit organizations. The call stressed the importance of working together to aid communities post-disaster.
To subscribe to the VAL newsletter distribution, please email fema-val@fema.dhs.gov.
American Flood Coalition: Local Leaders at AFC Summit Drive Action on Flooding
The American Flood Coalition gathered 43 local leaders in Washington, D.C., to talk about flooding. Leaders came from both inland and coastal areas of Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.
|
Union of Concerned Scientists: Upcoming Coastal Resilience Report Deadlines
Research led by the Union of Concerned Scientists shows that between now and 2050, rising sea levels will flood more than 1,600 critical buildings and services at least twice per year.
|
DRI: Share Your Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence, Climate Change, Cyberattacks, and More!
Guide your profession by taking DRI International’s annual survey. Your input will help create a useful resource for the media, analysts, and everyone concerned with resilience. This year's survey includes new questions on artificial intelligence, one of today’s biggest issues.
|
SmartGrowth USA: Building Resilience in the Face of Extreme Heat
In collaboration with the Partnership for Southern Equity, SmartGrowth America has been raising awareness about the compounding effects of climate change in Atlanta, Georgia. Their efforts focus on examining the interactions between extreme heat, the built environment, pre-existing health conditions, and social inequalities. A recently released video highlights community voices calling for policy and advocacy strategies to create safer and more accessible infrastructure.
|
The Flood Mitigation Industry Association: 2023 Inflation Reduction Act Climate Ready Workforce for Coastal and Great Lakes States, Tribes, and Territories Initiative
The Flood Mitigation Industry Association (FMIA), a 501c3 nonprofit organization, has received notice of being one of the first Department of Commerce/NOAA/Sea Grant "Climate Ready Workforce" grant awardees. The grant will fund the world's first classroom and labs curriculum for a structural elevation and wet/dry floodproofing education program in Louisiana.
This bi-lingual program will be piloted in Lake Charles, LA, which was impacted by two hurricanes back-to-back, during COVID in 2020-21, at the SOWELA Technical Community College. The climate-informed, technically trained apprentice workers will create the first Green Jobs Workforce in the US. The program is designed to be modular and can be placed into any local technical community college where there is a need to build this type of local workforce, such as areas where the upcoming USACE "MEGA" nonstructural home elevation and dry floodproofing of nonresidential buildings will be occur over the next two decades.
|
Rogue Food Unites: Neighbors Unite Market
Rogue Food Unites addresses food insecurity, disaster relief, disaster preparedness, and community resilience through providing healthy food to individuals and communities.
RFU has developed a barrier-free, no-cost mobile farmers market program providing fresh, regional, organic produce, eggs, & natural meats on a regular schedule throughout Southern Oregon.
|
Conversa Corps - Aid Arena: Collaboration for a Resilient Nation
Conversa Corps is a nonprofit focused on building teams for humanitarian aid, disaster response, and local support. The primary tool, Aid Arena, is an online chat and meeting space. Aid Arena lets organizations like NGOs, nonprofits, governments, and private groups connect, communicate, and collaborate during crises.
|
Center for Sea Rise Solutions: Building Coastal Resilience
The Center for Sea Rise Solutions builds coastal resilience competence among decision makers. It does this through knowledge sharing that leads to project coordination. The Center is creating a Regional Advisory Board of coastal resilience experts to serve under-resourced communities.
|
Stories of Resilience: Voices That Inspire
Do you have a story to tell? The RNPN wants to learn more about your journey toward climate resilience. Sharing your wins and challenges can help others learn from your experience. You can submit photos, video, audio, text, or art about your resilience journey.
Are you ready to share? Visit the Stories of Resilience: Voices That Inspire website to learn more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Resources
RNPN: Audiograms Now Available Online!
We are pleased to share that the three audiograms played during the April Partnership Forum are now on the RNPN website. The featured audiograms are:
|
CREW: Insure Against Earthquakes
CREW released new tools to help raise awareness about earthquake risk and resilience, including a brochure on earthquake damage, costs, and retrofits, and social media graphics featuring small business and home preparedness.
|
FLASH: Resilience Policy Resource Guide and Retrofitting Program Playbook
As property insurance markets confront disruption from costly natural disasters and climate risk, resilience strategies offer state insurance regulatory leaders proven solutions to foster stability.
This paper by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Center for Insurance Policy and Research (NAIC-CIPR) and nonprofit Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) details three key strategies many regulators leverage as climate risk and accelerating disasters impact state insurance markets. The strategies include Leadership to Advance Building Code Policy, Creating and Sustaining Retrofitting Programs, and Fostering a Culture of Resilience.
|
|
FEMA: Climate Adaptation Planning for Emergency Managers
|
North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency: NC Heat Action Plan Toolkit
NC Heat Action Plan Toolkit gives local governments concrete tools to address extreme heat. This new resource includes a template plan, recommended actions, sample messaging, and graphics. It explains how to identify the residents most at-risk for heat-related health impacts. The toolkit also provides temperature thresholds, so communities know when to activate their heat management programs.
|
U.S. Global Change Research Program: First National Nature Assessment Announced
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) supports collaboration across 15 federal member agencies. This work helps people learn of the changing Earth system. As part of this mission, USGCRP assesses the state of global change science and its impacts. The Department of Homeland Security has been a member of the USGCRP since February 2023. Many FEMA staff worked as authors on the recently released Fifth National Climate Assessment. The USGCRP has announced it will develop the first-ever National Nature Assessment with authors already selected for the forthcoming report.
|
|
|
|
