Hurricane Resource Page

The Hurricane Resource page was developed by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (Office) to provide useful information and links for consumers, media, and other interested parties. Please note – some of these resources were not developed by the Office, and some links will direct you to websites not maintained by the Office. This information will be updated as necessary during the 2013 Hurricane Season.

Predicting What Could Happen if Hurricane Hits

                                                 

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - July 19, 2013

A Sandia National Laboratories team is gearing up for hurricane season, readying analyses to help people in the eye of a storm. The team has two jobs: conducting annual “hurricane swath” analyses of probable impacts on the Gulf Coast and East Coast, and providing quick analyses of crisis response in the face of an imminent hurricane threat to the United States. A swath analysis looks at how a hurricane might interrupt critical services and at impacts to infrastructure specific to an area, such as petroleum and petrochemical industries in Houston or financial services in New York City. It also looks at such things as the economic impact of the storm or how it could upset food deliveries.

Map Mashes Hurricane Information with Energy Infrastructure Data

                                   (FOR THE INTERACTIVE MAP - CLICK ON MAP IMAGE BELOW)

      

emergencymgmt.com - by Sarah Rich - July 11, 2013

This year's hurricane season may prove a bit different for the energy sector, thanks to a newly updated interactive map, pictured (above), made available by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

What was an existing state map launched by the agency last September now includes more than 20 layers of GIS data to plot the nation’s energy infrastructure and resources. The data can be mashed up with real-time tropical storm and hurricane information from the National Hurricane Center, so resources like offshore production rigs, pipelines, coastal refineries power plants, and energy import and exports sites can be monitored as the severe weather occurs, according to the EIA.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

EPA - National Stormwater Calculator

submitted by Albert Gomez

epa.gov

EPA’s National Stormwater Calculator is a desktop application that estimates the annual amount of rainwater and frequency of runoff from a specific site anywhere in the United States (including Puerto Rico). Estimates are based on local soil conditions, land cover, and historic rainfall records.

It is designed to be used by anyone interested in reducing runoff from a property, including

12 Things You Should Have at Home in Case of a Hurricane

            

inhabitat.com - by Yuka Yoneda - July 12, 2013

It's already hurricane season - would you be ready if another Superstorm Sandy hit today? If you hesitated for a moment, you might be one of the many who meant to prepare for the next big storm but then just got sucked into the daily grind and forgot. The good news is that there's still time to gather up the essentials so that you'll be ahead of the game for the next hurricane instead of having to fight some lady for the last pack of batteries at Duane Reade. Read on for the 12 important items you should have at home in case of an emergency situation like a serious storm or other natural disaster. . .

Goodbye, Miami

Miami after Hurricane Wilma in 2005.  Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

submitted by Albert Gomez

By century's end, rising sea levels will turn the nation's urban fantasyland into an American Atlantis. But long before the city is completely underwater, chaos will begin

rollingstone.com - by Jeff Goodell - June 20, 2013

When the water receded after Hurricane Milo of 2030, there was a foot of sand covering the famous bow-tie floor in the lobby of the Fontaine­bleau hotel in Miami Beach. A dead manatee floated in the pool where Elvis had once swum. Most of the damage occurred not from the hurricane's 175-mph winds, but from the 24-foot storm surge that overwhelmed the low-lying city.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Florida International University » FIU engineers monitor Miami-Dade’s first smart highway bridge

http://news.fiu.edu/2013/06/fiu-engineers-monitor-miami-dades-first-smart-highway-bridge/63640?utm_source=News+%40+FIU+Subscribers&utm_campaign=de7a5cc86e-FIU_News_June_18_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a91c244dfa-de7a5cc86e-85203138

http://youtu.be/eVhM-uIXLlg

Motorists driving on the new flyover from eastbound State Road 836 to northbound State Road 826 in Miami travel over one of the first smart highway bridges in South Florida and one of just a handful in the state.

The bridge, which opened to traffic in January, drew the attention of FIU engineers, who approached Miami-Dade Expressway Authority last year with the idea of installing sensors in the bridge to monitor its health.

The Buzz on Native Bees- USGS

 

It’s National Pollinator Week, and ecosystems – whether agricultural, urban, or natural –depend on pollinators, great and small. Pollinators in the form of bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles provide vital, but often invisible, services from supporting terrestrial wildlife and plant communities to supporting healthy watersheds. USGS and federal partners are studying native bees and their behaviors at selected sites across the country.

Bevy of Bees

Tens of millions of Florida bees mysteriously drop dead in one day, beekeepers blame pesticides

http://www.realfarmacy.com/tens-of-millions-of-florida-bees-mysteriously-drop-dead-in-one-day-beekeepers-blame-pesticides/

Bees

(Natural News) Authorities have already ruled out disease, including the infamous “Colony Collapse Disorder” (CCD), as the cause of a recent honeybee holocaust that took place in Brevard County, Florida. The UK’s Daily Mail reports that up to 12 million bees from roughly 800 apiaries in the area all dropped dead at roughly the same time around September 26 — and local beekeepers say pesticides are likely to blame.

Seven50 Third Summit - June 19-21, 2013 - The Future In Focus - Help shape the future of Southeast Florida by weighing in on alternate scenarios for the region!

New York's Sea-Level Plan: Will It Play in Miami?

National Geographic Daily News - June 12, 2013 - Tim Folger

The Brooklyn boroughs of New York are flooded under the Manhattan Bridge as a surge of seawater is pushed into New York City by Superstorm Sandy.

 

A surge of seawater floods New York City streets during Superstorm Sandy, October 2012.  Photograph by Bebeto Matthews, AP Photo

 

 

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's announcement yesterday of a $19.5 billion, multidecade plan to defend New York City against rising seas and severe storms illustrated two truths that resonate far beyond his home city.

First, as the time when we could prevent dangerous climate change slips away, the time for costly investments to protect ourselves has arrived. Second, for some cities, less well situated or less wealthy than New York, protection is going to be extremely challenging—and in some cases perhaps impossible ....

Pompano Beach to Hopefully Join the Resilient Communities for America Campaign

June 17, 2013 will mark the launch of the Resilient Communities for America Campaign, organized by ICLEI, USGBC, National League of Cities, and WWF. 

On June 11, 2013, the City Commission of Pompano Beach will consider having Pompano Beach be an 'Inaugural Signatory' of the campaign.  This honor has been offered to the city of Pompano Beach based on the municipality's strong leadership in support of sustainability and climate resilience initiatives.

Click here to learn more about the program and see the attached pdfs

Learn more about the organizers by visiting:

ICLEI   USGBC   National League of Cities    WWF   

2013 Rising Seas Summit - June 18-20, 2013 - Westin Beach Resort, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Overview

The inaugural Rising Seas Summit will bring professionals from national and local government, industry, academic institutions and environmental NGOs together to highlight the interrelationships between sea level rise, climate change and extreme events.

Understanding, anticipating and adapting to water related threats is critical to national security and a stable economy. Sea level rise will continue to damage coastal ecosystems and inland water systems, and the recent catastrophic impacts of Hurricane Sandy have demonstrated the risks faced by all coastal communities on the U.S. eastern seaboard. These new environmental challenges require that stakeholders share knowledge and work together to reduce and mitigate environmental and social degradation induced by climate change.

Pages

Subscribe to South Florida RSS
howdy folks