Supplemental General Security & Resilience Highlights – January 21, 2025

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

• ‘Life-threatening’ cold weather to expand southward across the nation, impacting 235 million – AccuWeather
• Historic snow amounts could fall on Florida, Louisiana and Texas as a once-in-a-generation storm hits – CNN
• New wildfires prompt evacuations near San Diego as red flag warnings return to LA – USA Today
• Current Emergency Incidents – Cal Fire
• Half of Australia under heatwave warning as slow-moving cyclone lingers off WA – ABC News (Australia)
• A high-impact week, from a snowy Gulf Coast to shrieking California winds – Yale Climate Connections
• Groundwater threatened by droughts and heavy rainfalls – Smart Water Magazine
• What 3rd case of bird flu with unknown source of infection could mean in fight against disease – ABC News

Operational Resilience

• To mitigate impact of wildfires on communities’ water, report fills gaps in guidance to public drinking water system staff – Purdue University
• No ‘water system in the world’ could have handled the LA fires. How the region could have minimized the damage – CNN
• The Los Angeles Fires And America’s Overwhelmed Water Infrastructure – Water Online
• Israel leads the way in water conservation with smart meter revolution – Smart Water Magazine
• The L.A. Fires Show the Need for Climate Realism – Council on Foreign Relations
• New Tool Streamlines Generator Performance Evaluations – Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Puerto Rico’s Energy Bridge: Natural Gas – RAND
• Moss Landing battery fire sparks calls to improve safety, ‘accountability’ for industry – Utility Dive

Extremism/Terrorism

• FBI offers $50K reward for suspect linked to an eco-terrorist cell – Kiro 7 News
• Why “lone actors” are so hard to find, and how we might get closer – Axios
• UK teenager pleads guilty to murder of Southport girls and ricin, terrorism charges – Reuters
• Before Las Vegas, Intel Analysts Warned That Bomb Makers Were Turning to AI – Wired Magazine
• In Syria, America Should Be Ruthlessly Focused on the Islamic State – War on the Rocks
• Designating Cartels And Other Organizations As Foreign Terrorist Organizations And Specially Designated Global Terrorists – White House