Disaster Could Be a Benefit — Sort Of

The Smithsonian Institute blog has an article title that's... unusual:

Italian Supervolcano Could End
Eurozone Crisis the Easy Way

Other news outlets highlight the fact that millions could be killed — but hey, let's look at the bright side!

Now if only the supervolcano under Yellowstone would blow, it could solve our problems! Why hasn't Obama thought of that?

Search & Rescue: Nevermind

It's an all-hands callout! On a weekend, so I'm available!

ASRC FCO for 58yo female on Appalachian Trail north of Harpers Ferry. Ground resources needed for hasty searches and containment. All teams send avails. More details on the way.

10 minutes later...

Subj walked out of woods. All teams stand down.

Weddings vs. Tornadoes

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has published advice on an unusual topic for them: weddings.

CDC’s Wedding Day Survival Guide

"We’re sure it’s just a fluke that wedding season happens to coincide with hurricane season. ... Many of us here at CDC realized that planning for a wedding isn’t that much different from planning for a disaster. ...

[Um... 'Kay. Not sure what that has to do with disease control.]

DC Derecho

It never rains, but it pours. Just two days after we closed up the Red Cross shelter for people affected by the Bladensburg microburst, we had to open several more due to another windstorm. I'm managing one for 150 people, including about 60 kids, most of them very young.

This time it was a derecho, and in the same area the microburst hit, wind gusted up to 79 mph -- once again ripping the roofs off some buildings. [Videos after the jump.]

In this area alone, over a million people lost power. At the same time temperatures have hit the triple-digits. Not-so-fun fact: The disaster type that kills the most people in this area is the heat. (Or the humidity, depending on how you look at it.)

Bladensburg Microburst

I managed a Red Cross shelter yesterday for people in Bladensburg, MD whose homes were destroyed in a microburst Friday. A microburst is a very localized but very intense downdraft, with winds that can be as powerful as a tornado.

Dozens of apartment buildings were severely damaged, and hundreds of people were displaced. Miraculously, there were only 2 minor injuries.

We had less than 20 people who needed to stay in the shelter overnight -- but we fed 150 for lunch! We also had Red Cross Client Services and county Social Services interviewing people all day to find out what aid they needed.

Click here for damage pictures.

Dancing up a Storm

Article in Emergency Management magazine:

Dancing for Preparedness? Flash Mob Spreads the Message

Spreading the emergency preparedness message to the whole community can seem like a daunting task, but Austin, Texas, is getting creative to get the word out. Last week about 50 people gathered as part of a flash mob that danced at City Hall Plaza to encourage people to prepare for the worst. While dancing isn’t usually linked to emergency management agencies and their public awareness activities, the song’s lyrics — which include “This is my plan, and I’m ready to take action. I’m prepared.” — helped spread an important message while making it fun for residents to think about personal preparedness.

Um... 'Kay.

Music video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U96m1devjjw

They're transporting a UFO! Everyone panic!

"A saucer-shaped object on a very wide flatbed truck had some people wondering if the government was moving a UFO in or near Washington, D.C., Wednesday night...

"When motorists snapped photos of the strange object and posted them on Twitter, some people became concerned enough to call local police."

It was actually a military drone.

[Pet peeve: UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object. It's not (necessarily) an alien spacecraft. Even if this was one, it couldn't be a UFO because it wasn't flying!]

Hurricane Agnes Anniversary

The picture at right looks like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, but it was Elkridge, Maryland 40 years ago, after Hurricane Agnes.

Agnes did tremendous damage to the Mid-Atlantic, even though it had weakened to a tropical storm by then. At the time, it was the most costly storm ever, doing over $11 billion in damage (in 2011 dollars). It also killed 128 people.

In Florida, Agnes spawned 28 tornadoes. In DC, it flooded the National Zoo, and the Potomac River rose 15½ feet next to Georgetown. It also caused the greatest flooding ever recorded in Maryland, with bridges washed out in Laurel, and Ellicott City under as much as 14½ feet of water. The entire state of Pennsylvania was declared a disaster area.

A slideshow is after the jump.