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In The
News
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1. Post-disaster health risks weighed
March 4, 2006
Responders are weighing whether post-disaster
illnesses need to be better tracked.
If people get sick after visiting or returning to a disaster area, health
officials recommend they see their doctor, then report the illness to their
local or state health department. Ideally, states lift significant ailment
trends up to the Centers for Disease Control.
For workers who get sick in a disaster zone, illness and injury data is
collected on a national level by the Occupational Safety and Health Organization
(OSHA).
But those data checkpoints are not the same as a national reporting system
dedicated to a specific disaster, pointed out Dr. Roger Boe, consultant for the
United Methodist Fellowship of Health Care Volunteers.
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2. Personal inventory helps in disasters
SOFTWARE:
New program guides you through each room, and it's free, too.
Saturday, March 4, 2006
By MARY BETH BRECKENRIDGE / Knight Ridder Newspapers
Last year, countless Americans saw their homes and possessions destroyed by
hurricanes.
That should be a wake-up call to the rest of us about the importance of
keeping an inventory of the things we own, in case we ever need to file an
insurance claim.
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3. Latest News Release from Caltrans regarding
SR330Caltrans began a state-funded emergency work contract in
the amount $500,000 today on State Route 330. The route closed when 30
yards of earth and rock began to fall during a mild storm last Tuesday, February
28th. Continuous rock fall has been reported on the slope, which is
located approximately 2 miles uphill from Highland Avenue.
SR-330 will
remain closed from Highland Avenue to Running Springs until the work is
completed. Caltrans geologists recommend that the emergency work include a
wire mesh netting, similar to the ones installed on SR-18 in the Narrows and
SR-138 near the Junction 18/138. The netting will catch falling rock and
debris and will measure approximately 150 feet high and 80 feet wide.
The
duration of the work is expected to last about three weeks, depending on
inclement weather. Residential access will be permitted between SR-18 and
Live Oak Rd., however, no traffic will be permitted downhill from the Running
Springs area.
An alternate route to the Running Springs, Lake Arrowhead
and Big Bear communities is SR-18 from SR-30. Travelers to Big Bear may
also use SR-38 from Interstate 10 (through Redlands and Mentone).
For
updates on Caltrans roadwork please check our website at
www.dot.ca.gov/dist8 or call our Public
Affairs Office at (909) 383-4631.
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4. Keep what works,urge responders
Disaster News
Network
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 7, 2006) —
A Tuesday morning Senate roundtable
discussion offered what has become a rarity these days: kind words for the
Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"For all the criticisms out there of FEMA, the FEMA people we work with on
the ground - the voluntary agency liaisons - are highly effective. They have
spent years building key relationships," said Tom Hazelwood, the United
Methodist Committee on Relief's executive secretary for U.S. response.
FEMA's voluntary agency liaisons, or VALs, initiate and maintain a
working relationship between FEMA and voluntary agencies.
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5. EDITORIAL: Rebuilding
The Bradenton
Herald, Fla.
March 7, 2006 Tuesday
Mar. 7--Mississippians don't want to say it, but they may be lucky that
Hurricane Katrina left them with bare slabs rather than piles of toxic rubble as
in New Orleans.
For much of the 120-mile Mississippi Gulf Coast scoured by Katrina amounts
to a blank canvas for rebuilding better communities. And Mississippi has risen
to the challenge with an enthusiasm that we in Manatee County can only envy as
we struggle to implement "smart growth," especially north of the river.
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6. CA AT HIGH RISK FOR FLOODING
Disaster News Network
March 15, 2006
State officials and disaster responders are warning
northern California residents about potential severe flooding risks should the
levee system in the Sacramento area fail.
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7. Quake centennial leads some to think of insurance
By
Scott Lindlaw, Associated Press
March 19, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO - When Charlie Bott got an offer in the
mail recently for earthquake insurance, he stared long and hard at the bottom
line. Then he threw it away.
"It was way beyond anything you pay for house insurance. Not even in
the same league," said Bott, a nuclear engineer with a baby on the way.
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8. Fighting water, fire and pests
Associated Press
Feb 25, 2006
From ancient China and ancient Rome to the present, the
building point is the same: wood doesn't last unless it is properly
protected.
So, if you want your home to last anywhere nearly as long as the
Coliseum in Rome or the Forbidden City in Beijing, then you will need to take a
few precautions.
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9. Wildfire Danger Called High for Spring
From Times
Wire Reports
March, 17 2006
The wildfire danger will be higher than usual this spring across the
Southwest, much of the Plains and parts of the South, the government warned.
Wildfires have already ravaged broad areas of Texas and Oklahoma this
winter. In its annual spring weather outlook, the National Weather Service said
severe drought and above-normal temperatures across the region were expected to
persist. ADVERTISEMENT
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10. Blasé about the Big One?
March, 12 2006
Californians believe that the state is prone to natural disasters but
aren't particularly motivated to prepare for them, found a poll by the Insurance
Information Network of California and Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.
Only 22% of Californians consider themselves prepared or very prepared for
a disaster. Nearly half of the 800 respondents singled out "common sense" as the
reason to prepare for disaster, but they noted few incentives that would
motivate them to be ready for earthquakes, floods or fires.
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