The theme for the second week of National Preparedness Month is “Build a Kit.” While the “Build a Kit” webpage is primarily oriented towards individuals and families, with recommendations for equipment and supplies that should be included in a basic disaster kit, the separate “Business” webpage provides resources that are more relevant to organizations, including utilities.
As of yesterday, the National Interagency Fire Center reported there were 75 active large wildfires in the West, involving over 2 million acres. Although wildfires are burning in 15 states, California accounts for a disproportionate share of the activity, with 19 total blazes that have consumed over 1.5 million acres. Firefighters there have had success in recent days containing wildfires, assisted by favorable weather conditions.
Notice something different in the banner for today’s Security and Resilience Update? For the rest of the month, WaterISAC will remind its members that September is National Preparedness Month, a time when everyone is encouraged to engage in disaster planning and preparedness. This year’s theme, which has great resonance given recent and ongoing events like Hurricane Laura and the COVID-19 pandemic, is: “Disasters Don’t Wait.
To continue the preparedness and resilience theme, September is also National Insider Threat Awareness Month (NITAM). Established by the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, NITAM aims to increase organizational preparedness of this prevalent and perpetual threat; this year’s NITAM theme focuses on “Resilience.” Through preventing the exploitation of authorized access, organizations can reduce the risk from an insider to cause harm to an organization and its resources.
The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) has released a report providing a global overview of terrorism in 2019 based on its Global Terrorism Database, finding that global terrorist violence has fallen 50% since it’s peak in 2014. This is largely due to continued decreases in attacks within Iraq, the country that has the most impact on global statistics over the last decade.
Multiple errors related to alert software used by Californian counties have shown the challenges and difficulties involved in operating and subscribing to local emergency notification software. In one county, emergency managers had to switch software after their vendor’s solution couldn’t send an alert due to repeated error messages. In another, alert messages were sent out to areas not currently threatened by actives wildfires or had contained incorrect evacuation maps for residents to use.
Brian Harrell, the Assistant Secretary of Infrastructure Protection at DHS CISA, has submitted his resignation to the President. The former director of Electricity ISAC, Harrel joined the agency in 2018, where he oversaw the transition of multiple critical infrastructure protection services provided by DHS underneath the umbrella of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency after the signing of the CISA Act. In his resignation letter, Harrell praised the agency’s work providing assistance to the private sector during multiple incidents, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Every September, National Preparedness Month is a time for families and communities to promote disaster planning and preparedness activities and, with the world continuing to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever to consider pre-planning for major events. This year’s theme is “Disasters Don’t Wait. Make Your Plan Today.” Each week will be dedicated to exploring a different planning activity using resources and videos provided by Ready.gov. The first week walks families through making a communication and evacuation plan for the household.
Replacing the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program, the Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities (BRIC) program focuses on supporting “states, local communities, tribes and territories as they undertake hazard mitigation projects, reducing the risks they face from disasters and natural hazards.” Its guiding principles are community and partnership based, with a special emphasis on large projects and innovation.
The University of Melbourne, in partnership with the Red Cross and government partners, has released the Guide to Post-Disaster Recovery Capitals. Based off a framework of seven community capitals, or community assets, this document aims to assist governments and organizations managing emergency recovery efforts. The guide provides a list of considerations for natural, social, financial, cultural, political, built, and human capitals, creating a checklist for leaders vetting recovery plans.
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