Supplemental General Security & Resilience Highlights – March 12, 2024

The following posts are useful for general awareness of current physical security threats, natural disaster resilience, preparedness resources, mitigation guidance, and other security-related news or updates. These resources have been curated by the WaterISAC analyst team as items of broad relevance and benefit that do not need supplemental analysis at this time.

Natural Hazards/Climate Change

• Floodwaters inundate Maine, New Hampshire for fourth time since December – Washington Post
• Fire threat swells over Plains as massive Texas blaze still burns – Washington Post
• Which states are most at risk for flooding? – Fox Weather 
• Flood risk mapping is a public good, so why the public resistance in Canada? Lessons from Nova Scotia – The Conversation
• What will happen when the next supervolcano erupts, according to NASA – Mashable 
• The U.S. had its warmest winter on record – NOAA
• Climate context of the February 2024 megafire outbreak in Texas – Climate.gov
• How climate change primed Texas to burn – Grist
• Humans have driven the Earth’s freshwater cycle out of its stable state – Smart Water Magazine
• Climate change is warping the seasons – The Conversation

Operational Resilience

• Europe is not prepared for the growing climate extremes it faces, its first risk assessment finds – AP
• Texas requires utilities to plan for emergencies. That didn’t stop the Panhandle fires. – Texas Tribune
• Build a Strong Public–Private Supply Chain Nexus – RAND
• American Water awarded research grant focusing on early warning system for algal blooms – Smart Water Magazine
• Using AI to develop early warning systems for flooding – Smart Water Magazine
• AI, ML Add Resilience, Safety to Aging Power Grid – EE Power

Extremism/Terrorism

• Germany’s top prosecutor takes over Tesla fire investigation, suspecting terrorism –  AP
• The ‘Volcano group’ claiming the arson near Tesla’s German plant – Reuters
• Three Palestinians arrested on terrorism charges by Italian police – Sky News
• Sweden police arrest suspected Islamists believed to prepare attack – Reuters
• The Islamic State on the March in Africa – Washington Institute for Near East Policy