Wild card Winter could outdo last years Winter

La Niña will influence weather patterns across the country, for the second winter in a row, but it’s the ‘wild card’ factor that is the less predictable Arctic Oscillation that could produce dramatic short-term swings in temperatures this winter.  La Niña is associated with cooler than normal water temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean and influences weather throughout the world. 

This is bad news for areas like Texas, who was already struggling with a massive drought this summer.   Texas experienced its driest 12-month period on record from October 2010 through September 2011.

However, mitigation and prevtion measure are being taken with this important data.  Data gathered from the model will support local weather forecast office efforts to prepare for and protect the public from weather events. This service is helping the country to become more alert at a time when extreme weather is on the rise.



Article Here:
 http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2011/20111020_winteroutlook.html

East Coast hit with wet, heavy snow

An unseasonal date for a type of storm more associated with midwinter has hit the east coast already, bringing problems to an unprepared community out east.  Communities inland in mid-Atlantic states were getting hit hardest. Heavy snow was falling in western Maryland, and the Frostburg area could receive 8 or 9 inches. Along the Blue Ridge Mountains between Hagerstown and Frederick, significant snowfall was also expected.

Officials warned that the heavy, wet snow combined with fully leafed trees could lead to downed tree branches and power lines, resulting in power outages and blocked roads. The storm also led to delays at several airports Saturday morning. Flights were delayed at Newark, N.J., and flights headed to New York's Kennedy and LaGuardia airports or Philadelphia's airport weren't allowed to depart until early afternoon.

Article Here:
http://www.aolnews.com/story/early-storm-pelts-east-coast-with-wet/2015497/

Bangkok’s Riverside Communities Brace for Floods

                                                       ^ (Chao Phraya River in Bangkok)

The slum communities alongside the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok are expecting high waters and flooding due to recent typhoons and heavy rains.  Community organizers are scrambling to evacuate the elderly and the young before the tide rises too far.  Access to food and knowing where to evacuate to when the floods hit are the main concerns of the local community. This flooding is the most severe disaster to hit the community in over 50 years.

It appears that this community is taking a lot of preventative measures in prevention aid and is preparing for the worst to come, which is one of the most important steps in risk assessment.  Also, it seems that panic has struck many and many citizens are quite fearful, but it is better to be prepared than not to be.  The floods are expected to cost the Thai economy in excess of $6 billion with over 600,000 jobs lost, especially among skilled workers in over a dozen major industrial states inundated by the floods.

Article Here:
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Bangkoks-Riverside-Communities-Brace-for-Floods-132609128.html

Eastern Turkey rocked by powerful earthquake

On Sunday, a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Turkey, collapsing apartment buildings and cutting communications and power in the city of Van and surrounding cities.  Early today, the Prime Minister of Turkey declared the death toll at 264 and the number of wounded at 1,300, as the number keeps rising quickly and the full picture of the damage is still unclear.  After the earthquake, more than a dozen aftershocks were felt, the strongest one at a magnitude of 5.7, shook Van just before midnight local time.

International relations can be a touchy subject when asking for help after a disaster between countries that have a bad history.  Israel, with which Turkey recently downgraded diplomatic relations, offered help dealing with the quake, as did the U.S., Greece and several other nations. Relations between Israel and Turkey have deteriorated sharply over Israel's refusal to apologize for the killing of nine pro-Palestinian activists from Turkey by Israeli commandos last year, when the troops boarded a Turkish aid ship that was seeking to break Israel's blockade of Gaza.  Therefore, politics can become an issue when dealing with emergency relief because not all counties are on the best terms with each other, despite the type of emergency. 


Article here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204777904576650613185173524.html

Papua New Guinea rattled by Earthquake

The U.S. Geological Survey announced an earthquake in Papua New Guinea with a magnitude of 6.7 on Friday afternoon. The quake was centered about 200 miles northeast of Port Moresby and had a depth of 28 miles.  No tsunami warning was issued, according to the Tsunami Warning Center.  Papua New Guinea is on the Ring of Fire that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.  


I was surprised to see this article as the main page for the "world" section of the news.  This earthquake was a moderate one, and caused little damage, which surprises me why they actually did an article on it.  This area is very vulnerable to earthquakes, plus it has high resilience to recover from a quake, so this is nothing new or large in the realm of environmental hazards.




Article Here:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/14/world/asia/papua-new-guinea-earthquake/index.html?hpt=wo_bn4

~*Government Aid Edition! *~ U.S. avoids shutdown of Government

Federal disaster officials realized that they had enough money to pay for hurricane, earthquake, and other disaster recoveries without needing an emergency $1 billion cash infusion, and kicked the date for more decisions until November 18th.  Democrats had argued that cutting the budget to fund disaster relief would set a dangerous precedent. Without having to pay the extra money for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster activities, the Senate eliminated a $1.5 billion cut that House Republicans had made to an energy-efficiency program targeted to carmakers.


This brings up the debate of who should pay for disasters and why.  Currently, many states have easy access to this money when they don't really need it, compared to states who are less vulnerable to disasters yet receive little money.  I believe that this money should come from the state level, because they are the ones who are mainly affected by certain disasters.  In other words, why should citizens in Maine have to pay for earthquake relief in California, each and every time? Yet, if California cannot pay for disaster after disaster, the government should then step in and provide a pool of money for relief.  Also, this stands for a poor example of how a nation this strong would not come together and lend a hand at helping other Americans.


Article here:


http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/27/government-shutdown-averted-with-senate-bill-and-discovery-of-fema-money.html

40 Sq. Miles burned in Nebraska

^Remnants of a hay stack smouldering

Firefighters battled wind-swept grass fires that demolished more that 20,000 acres of farmland and caused millions in farmland and property damage.  It's too early to know an exact dollar amount, but the fire hit as local farmers were harvesting and storing crops for winter.

The fire started after 3 p.m. on Tuesday and was caused by exhaust heat from a combine that was harvesting beans.  Since the land is so hot and dry in that area, just like in Texas, fires easily come and go, adding some additional threats with heavy winds.  An earlier post I made dealt with how a drought has hit Texas, and now the same is lashing in Nebraska.

Article Here:
http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/nebraska-wildfire_2011-10-05

Industies become more aware of Climate Change

*~Risk Management Special!~*

Due to the frequent number of natural catastrophes this year, there is a hot debate between scientists on whether these hazards are fueled by man and are a direct result from climate change. Business have claimed $67 billion from natural catastrophes, compared to $27billion in the same period last year. 

Cliff Warman, head of the environmental practice for Europe, the Middle East and Africa,  has developed a database of severe weather events on a global basis, which allows clients to assess whether a location is less vulnerable to a severe weather event than in the past, and to model the effects in terms of losses if it were affected.  Catastrophe models have been used for some time to help price risk. However, no one could, or would, attribute a particular natural catastrophe to climate change, because if losses associated with a natural catastrophe were attributed to a population of emitters, then someone would be directly liable.  In order to understand how the climate is changing, and price this into insurance and reinsurance, Mr Warman says trends need to be assessed through actuarial data.

 

Mr. Warman says the level of risk, and risk management, is already taken into account when it comes to environmental insurance, which covers events such as site emissions, environmental damage, pollution and risks to human health.

Article here:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c3b6ba70-e506-11e0-9aa8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1Zqmbk7jv