One place where I live is in the State of Oregon. A one-acre farm with a 1915 farmhouse. One of my first duties in the morning is to do my “morning patrol” to pickup pinecones in the driveway and look for new mole hills in the yard. I can generally find one new molehill every day. Aggravating for sure, but not the end of the world.

Could Nepal happen here? The short answer is absolutely! Where might you ask? On the slopes and the surrounding valleys of Mount Rainier, here in Washington State which is one of the most dangerous volcanos in North America due to its proximity to people and where they live. Did you know there was a glacial outburst on Mt. Rainier on July 3^rd of this year? Yes, the threat is real, and we have evidence of the threat and the destruction it can bring.

There was an unfortunate shooting that occurred at the Seattle Center during an annual event called the Bite of Seattle. I submitted the following as an Op-ed, but it was not picked up, so I’m sharing it here.

The title of this article is FEMA overhaul now likely as agency gets new leader backed by Congress

More than likely, the mission that needs to be accomplished is to try and rebuild some of the capacity and capabilities that were lost due to the cuts that came rapidly in 2025 when the goal was to gut government staffing because the value of the services being provided was not recognized.

We are living in a technological century. Everything we do will have some form of
technology supporting our collective functions. While voice communications have
dominated public safety operations for a hundred years, there is an opportunity today
to incorporate the visual element into how we operate.

In this podcast we review the highlights from a New Natural Resources Defense Council report, Rebuilding Safer: A Guide to State and Local Adaptation

The podcast guest is Dakota Fisher a Senior Advocate, Adaptation, Environmental Health with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and he works at the intersection of climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, urban and regional planning, data analytics, and community empowerment. At NRDC, he works with state and local partners to development innovative, people-centered solutions that reduce the growing impacts of more frequent and severe disasters.

The World Cup has presented some unique challenges for a multitude of agencies and jurisdictions spread over three nations. Security is a paramount consideration for hosting these games. In this podcast we discuss the complexity of the situation and the need for better coordination and information between all the partners engaged in hosting these soccer matches. There is an opportunity to build on what has been accomplished in preparing for the games. That opportunity should not be squandered.

Just because there are fewer storms predicted, it does not mean storm impacts will not be significant. Tropical storms have proven themselves to be able to spawn many tornadoes and dump copious amounts of rain, causing widespread flooding.

I was asked recently to provide some brief thoughts about technology in the emergency management sphere. This is what I wrote back:

Many people are focused on the ongoing search and rescue operations in Venezuela. With that in mind, I thought I’d give you some background information on the United States capabilities and the challenges that come with collapsed buildings and trying to rescue survivors.

Trust, or most importantly distrust is a huge issue we are facing today.

 Disaster Zone Podcast: The Trust Factor During Disasters

What global warming? There is no such thing as global warming!  Tell that to Europe where temperatures are soaring—and it is June.

I’ve not been watching the news for the past few days. So, I’ve been oblivious to what storms have caused along our Southern Border.

Following reports that the FBI disrupted an alleged plot involving explosive-laden drones targeting the UFC event at the White House, there are questions about how prepared the United States is to defend public gatherings against increasingly sophisticated drone threats.

Disaster Zone Podcast: The gap between federal flood maps and real risk

Flooding continues to be the number on hazard when it comes to disasters. Knowing what area is subject to flooding before a flood, the extent of what that flood impact might be, and then knowing the status of an ongoing flood is critically important. This is the subject of this podcast.

A few years ago, someone sent me a message saying something like, “I know who you are and what you support and I’m not reading your blog anymore!”

I don’t see the information below as a scientific exploration of the topic of disaster costs but the numbers do tell a story.

In a recent blog post I talked about the impact of many years of institutional knowledge walking out the door at FEMA. Where do these people, with that type of experience go?

The question hanging over the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) “Is FEMA prepared to respond to a major hurricane after all the loss of people, leaders and institutional knowledge?”

There have been two significant chemical related disasters in the news in the past few weeks. One in California and another here in Washington State where I live. The one in Washington happened in a smaller and basically rural county. These events can occur almost anywhere at fixed facilities, as these were, or during transportation on roads and rail networks.