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  • Idaho School District Teachers Get Radios for Safety Communications

    November 16, 2018 |

    Government Technology |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, Idaho

    A sprawling rural school district in Idaho has placed two-way radios with every teacher that connect directly to first responders and triage bags in every classroom as part of a plan to increase safety and coordination in emergencies across nine different buildings. The idea is to cut down response times from fire and police and deal with emergencies onsite. Teachers train monthly with the radios and the district may add an app would use GPS to locate students if there's an emergency.

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  • Emergency Preparedness for Prisons Isn't Just Sandbags and Non-perishables

    November 02, 2018 |

    New America Weekly |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, New Orleans, Louisiana

    After Hurricane Katrina in 2005 stranded people incarcerated in the New Orleans jail without food or water, the city used the experience not to question its disaster preparedness but instead to rethink who needs to be incarcerated in the first place. By easing policies in cash bail and arrests for petty offenses, the city cut its jail population by two-thirds and replaced its flooded jail with one less than one-quarter the original size. The new policies helped inspire Louisiana to revise its sentencing standards in an effort to end its distinction for having the world's highest incarceration rate.

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  • Houston Looks for a Smarter, More Equitable Path to Hurricane Recovery

    October 22, 2018 |

    Bloomberg CityLab |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

    The city of Houston is changing its approach to measuring the full scope of damage from Hurricane Harvey so it can get help where it is most needed and improve future flood mitigation. Using data from numerous sources, Civis Analytics found unmet housing needs were far greater than initially recorded and low-income areas were hit disproportionately harder, even though recovery funding often goes to areas with higher housing values. Now city officials are working to implement solutions based on the data in order to allocate limited funds where they will be most effective.

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  • Houses intact after Hurricane Michael were often saved by low-cost reinforcements

    October 17, 2018 |

    The Washington Post |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Blountstown, Florida

    Small, cost-effective improvements to home construction were often the difference between houses that suffered small amounts of damage from Florida hurricanes and those that were destroyed. Knowing to ask for extra nails, strong windows, and hurricane clips for their roof, home owners can not only save their homes but save money from decreased insurance and energy costs.

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  • This professor wants to power Puerto Rico with a little help from Reddit

    October 17, 2018 |

    Grist |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Puerto Rico, San Juan

    After Hurricane Maria devastated much of Puerto Rico, much of the country was left without power and some were subsequently left sick due to fumes from generators. After receiving a call from a relative in his home county, Professor Monxo Lopez of New York City’s Hunter College was determined to create affordable solar for his home country.

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  • New tsunami warning system

    October 01, 2018 |

    Public Radio International (PRI) |

    Radio |

    3-5 Minutes

    Response Location: Indonesia, Sulawesi

    The warning system in Indonesia to alert residents of tsunamis could not prevent disaster in Sulawesi because it hasn't worked for six years after many of the surface buoys were vandalized. However, a new system is underway where sensors on the bottom of the ocean detect tsunami waves and send acoustic signals back to shore, giving people 20 to 30 minutes warning to evacuate. A prototype has been installed, with more testing and infrastructure development planned.

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  • As the West burns, a town fields its own amateur firefighters

    September 05, 2018 |

    High Country News |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Dufur, Oregon

    In the town of Dufur, Oregon, local residents have been acting as firefighters to protect their fields and homes, using farming equipment to bury dry vegetation and tanks of water to put out the flames. While this has been the norm for years – because of the length of time it takes professional firefighters to arrive – the recent increase in wildfires is calling into question the safety of this informal fire fighting and figuring out how to work together with professionals.

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  • These Cottages Were Built to Defy Storms—and Pricey Rent—in the Florida Keys

    August 27, 2018 |

    Bloomberg CityLab |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, Florida

    Affordable housing for Florida Keys residents is often vulnerable to damage or destruction by extreme weather. The Monroe County Land Trust has created housing that is both affordable for county residents and built to withstand floods and wind.

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  • How Forecasting Models Are Changing the Way We Fight Fires

    August 17, 2018 |

    Eos |

    Multi-Media |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Salt Lake City, Utah

    The National Weather Service has been helping firefighting crews better prepare for and fight wildfires. They’ve developed a model called the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh-Smoke (HRRR-Smoke) to show where there’s higher smoke density and what direction it’s heading toward. The agency is hoping to continue their work to become better at preventative measures so that towns and cities can prepare ahead of time.

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  • What are coastal nuclear power plants doing to address climate threats?

    August 08, 2018 |

    Ensia |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom, Somerset

    The World Nuclear Association counts 50 nuclear power plants being built, with 150 more in the planning stages. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, nuclear plants on coasts began to be built with contingencies that account for sea-level rise. But new studies suggest that many such plans rely on outdated climate change projections.

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