FEMA’s recently published Long-Term Community Resilience Exercise Resource Guide is intended to be a “one-stop-shop” for any jurisdiction or organization looking to conduct a climate-focused exercise. It includes a list of common terms, templates for climate-focused exercises, and resources related to funding, risk assessments, and training.
The U.S. and the international community are facing a terrorist threat environment that “is more dynamic, complex, and fast-moving than ever before,” a senior State Department official told Congress on Tuesday. Speaking before the House Oversight and Reform National Security Subcommittee he and another senior government official described the enduring resilience of foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), like al Qa‘ida and the Islamic State, and the threats they pose to the U.S. and its allies.
This week, FEMA released a new resource guide intended to assist state, local, tribal, territorial, and other community stakeholders to most effectively utilize FEMA’s resources when building resilience and adapting to the impacts of climate change. The guide, FEMA Resources for Climate Resilience, offers resources to help communities identify and assess climate change risk, think about climate change during hazard mitigation planning, finance for mitigation and climate adaptation strategies, and improve community capacity to address climate risks, among others.
The Atlantic hurricane season officially ended last Tuesday, bringing an end to the sixth consecutive above-average season. A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) contends the frequency of Atlantic hurricanes is noticeably increasing. Hurricanes are the most expensive weather disasters impacting the U.S., this year’s season alone is expected to cost more than $70 billion.
As the nation’s infrastructure continues to age along with climate change leading to more frequent extreme weather events, the power grid will face significant stresses and electricity blackouts will become more common. Since virtually all other critical infrastructure sectors rely on electricity to function, including the water and wastewater sector, improving the resilience of the country’s power grid is a critical national security requirement.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan wrote to governors last week to outline the agency’s plans for distributing nearly $50 billion worth of drinking water and wastewater infrastructure dollars that will flow from a bipartisan infrastructure bill that was signed into law last month.
The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season has officially come to an end. This year’s hurricane season was notably active, with 21 named storms (winds of 39 miles per hour or greater), including seven hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or greater) of which four were major hurricanes (winds of 111 mph or greater). Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) accurately predicted the above-average hurricane season in their May and August forecasts.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) just released its updated CISA Services Catalog: Second Edition. The catalog is an all-encompassing guide to all the services and assistance CISA can provide to partners, including those in state and local governments and the private sector. The guide includes more than fifty services CISA offers that organizations can request to help promote their security and resilience. Services include capacity building, information sharing, incident response, risk assessments, and partnership development opportunities.
Mirroring challenges throughout the larger economy, many water utilities and service providers are currently experiencing issues with hiring and supply chains, according to the results of a recent American Water Works Association (AWWA) survey.
Over the past few years, drone usage has proliferated across the world, with many governments and organizations utilizing drones to increase their operational efficiency and reduce risk to human life. However, cheap and readily available drones have also been employed as weapons by terrorist groups and other threat actors. Indeed, despite the benefits of drones, the malign or negligent use of drones poses a significant threat to the public safety and national security, including to critical infrastructure.
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