Breaking News: Natural Disasters

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Released: 11-Mar-2011 9:00 AM EST
Tsunami and Earthquake Source Available
University of Alabama

A geologist who develops mathematical models to depict precisely how the Earth moves during a quake and who was among the first to survey the origin of the 2004-tsunami-triggering earthquake, deep beneath the Indian Ocean, is available to answer questions about today’s quake and resulting tsunami.

Released: 11-Mar-2011 8:45 AM EST
Japan Earthquake Could Cause Global Economic Fallout
Cornell University

Thomas D. O’Rourke, earthquake expert and professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, comments on the massive earthquake in Japan and its impact on infrastructure. O’Rourke is a member of the Advisory Committee for Earthquake Hazard Reduction, which is the national advisory committee for earthquakes in the U.S. NOTE: Prof. O’Rourke is available for on-camera interviews

Released: 28-Feb-2011 2:25 PM EST
First Responders and Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate Launch a Virtual Social Media Working Group
Homeland Security's Science And Technology Directorate

The DHS Science and Technology Directorate's First Responder Communities of Practice* launches a Virtual Social Media Working Group (VSMWG) to provide recommendations to the emergency preparedness, response, and homeland security communities on the safe and sustainable use of social media technologies before, during, and after emergencies.

Released: 18-Feb-2011 1:00 PM EST
Frequent, Severe Fires Turn Alaskan Forests into a Carbon Production Line
Michigan Technological University

Alaskan forests used to be key players in Mother Nature’s game plan for regulating carbon dioxide levels in the air. But now, American and Canadian researchers report that climate change is causing wildfires to burn more widely and severely, turning Alaska's black spruce forests from carbon repositories to generators of it.

Released: 10-Feb-2011 12:20 PM EST
Spring Flooding Could Swell North Dakota Lake by 50 Square Miles
University of North Dakota

Devils Lake in northeastern North Dakota has risen more than 29 feet since 1993, cost more than $1billion, and inundated towns, farms, and homes. Runoff from heavy snow could swell the glacial lake, which covers 252 sq. miles, by more than 50 sq. miles this spring.

Released: 9-Feb-2011 9:00 AM EST
Photos for the Gulf: Book Brings Together Words, Images to Benefit Gulf Coast
Rowan University

Proceeds from Photos for the Gulf, a collection of 22 images and reflections that depict life on the Gulf Coast, will go to recovery efforts.

Released: 26-Jan-2011 3:00 PM EST
Team Designs Optimal Supply Chains for Disaster Relief
University of Massachusetts Amherst

A major new study on the most efficient design of supply chains for products needed in disasters, major emergencies and pending epidemics has been published by researchers at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Professor Anna Nagurney leads the team.

   
Released: 25-Jan-2011 6:00 AM EST
Rogue Storm System Caused Pakistan Floods That Left Millions Homeless
University of Washington

Last summer’s disastrous and deadly Pakistan floods were caused by a rogue weather system that wandered hundreds of miles farther west than is normal for such systems, new research shows.

Released: 24-Jan-2011 1:35 PM EST
Body Count
Homeland Security's Science And Technology Directorate

A new disaster preparedness tool from Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate calculates casualty estimates.

10-Jan-2011 10:50 AM EST
Are You Medically Prepared for a Natural Disaster?
Health Behavior News Service

How well are Americans with medical disabilities or chronic illness prepared for natural disasters like hurricanes or tropical storms?

Released: 10-Jan-2011 2:20 PM EST
One Year After Haiti Earthquake, Brown School Public Health Expert Iannotti Continues Work on the Ground
Washington University in St. Louis

On Jan. 12, 2010, Lora Iannotti, PhD, nutrition and public health expert at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, was in Leogane, a seaside town 18 miles west of Port au Prince, Haiti, working with local officials on improving the health of Haitian children. That’s when a catastrophic earthquake struck the poverty-stricken country.

Released: 10-Jan-2011 7:00 AM EST
Mapping the Monster: Saving a Town from Disaster
University of North Dakota

A graduate student has used FEMA software in a new way to predict the effects of rising lake levels on Minnewaukan, N.D. Devils Lake has risen nearly 29 feet since 1993, and is in danger of overtaking the town, which was once eight miles from the lake. The maps will help officials and citizens make decisions about whether to relocate all or parts of the town.

Released: 10-Dec-2010 9:00 AM EST
A New Blast Resistant Glass - Tougher and Thinner
Homeland Security's Science And Technology Directorate

Engineers are working to develop a blast-resistant glass that is lighter, thinner, and colorless, yet tough enough to withstand the force of an explosion, earthquake, or hurricane winds . Today's blast-resistant windows are made of pure polymer layers, but this is a plastic composite with an interlayer of polymer reinforced with glass fibers.

Released: 6-Dec-2010 9:00 AM EST
Anesthesia Teams Present Experiences of Responding to Haitian Earthquake
International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS)

Anesthesiologists played a critical role as part of medical-surgical teams responding to this year's devastating earthquake in Haiti, reports the December issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

Released: 6-Dec-2010 5:00 AM EST
Israel's Largest Fire in Decades: List of Experts
University of Haifa

Thousands of acres of the Carmel Forest, adjacent to the University of Haifa, Israel, were engulfed in flames in the fire that turned into a national tragedy - the largest forest fire in the history of modern Israel. Following is a list of experts.

Released: 19-Nov-2010 9:00 AM EST
Mobile Phone Alerts
Homeland Security's Science And Technology Directorate

Emergency alert system messages, usually broadcast over television or radio, are effective at reaching people in their homes, but the Federal Government is now connecting with an increasingly mobile American population. Cell phones are ideal.

15-Nov-2010 1:20 PM EST
Months of Geologic Unrest Signaled Reawakening of Icelandic Volcano
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Months of volcanic restlessness preceded the eruptions this spring of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull, providing insight into what roused it from centuries of slumber.

Released: 17-Nov-2010 12:05 PM EST
Lessons From Deepwater
University of California San Diego

In the 24-hour news cycle era, the Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico already feels like an event from yesteryear, an event that had its 15 minutes of news domination during the summer of 2010 then made room for the next big story once the wellhead was capped.

Released: 25-Oct-2010 5:00 PM EDT
Students Design Community Center from Shipping Containers for Haiti
Iowa State University

Some Iowa State architecture students are creating a community center out of recycled shipping containers in a Haitian village. Last summer, they spent a week in La Croix, a town of about 15,000 people. Now, they're taking an independent study to develop the details of their design--testing ideas and techniques on a "practice" container near campus.

Released: 22-Oct-2010 1:25 PM EDT
Real-Time Emergency Response: Oil Spill Responders Share Information Through Regional Pilot Programs
Homeland Security's Science And Technology Directorate

The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico reminded emergency managers just how critical it is to share up-to-date information in a disaster. When the oil washed up on beaches and threatened lives and property, many agencies had to coordinate rapidly to contain the threat.

Released: 21-Oct-2010 12:15 PM EDT
Supply Chain Management Important to Disaster Relief
Virginia Tech

A professor of business information technology is working on developing new approaches for modeling disaster resilience that will enable decision makers to gain a better understanding of the tradeoffs inherent in managing supply chain operations during a disaster.

Released: 13-Oct-2010 11:25 AM EDT
Can Hungary's Red Sludge be Made Less Toxic with Carbon?
Indiana University

The red, metal-laden sludge that escaped a containment pond in Hungary last week could be made less toxic with the help of carbon sequestration, says an Indiana University Bloomington geologist who has a patent pending on the technique.

Released: 13-Oct-2010 11:05 AM EDT
University Study Links Fetal Distress with Maternal Hurricane Exposure
Society for Risk Analysis (SRA)

Colorado State University finds adverse health effects in second/third trimesters.

Released: 7-Oct-2010 4:35 PM EDT
Modeling Pakistan's Flooding- A Fact Sheet on DSS-WISE
Homeland Security's Science And Technology Directorate

New computer model software is being used to simulate Pakistan's flooding, estimate the drawdown of the floodwaters, and predict how long it will take the waters to recede.

Released: 22-Sep-2010 1:10 PM EDT
‘Citizen Scientists’ Could Help in Response to Environmental Disasters
Virginia Tech

Jules White, with the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, seeks to create a massive data collection system that would rely on information captured by “citizen scientists” who would use devices such as smart phones to take photographic evidence from the site of disaster areas. Once collected at a single source, scientists and other responders could quickly sift through data, and decide how best to react.

Released: 21-Sep-2010 2:00 PM EDT
RTI International to Assess Health Effects in Children Who Lived in FEMA Trailers Following Hurricanes Katrina, Rita
RTI International

To better understand the potential health effects among children who lived in temporary housing provided by the government following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, scientists at RTI International plan to monitor a group of children currently ages 2 to 15 who live in the affected region.

Released: 16-Sep-2010 11:30 AM EDT
Oil Spill 101: What Have We Learned?
Saint Joseph's University

Though the recent oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the BP/Deep Water Horizon oilrig explosion is no longer leading headlines, this fall, the disaster will be a major topic of conversation and study in environmental science classrooms around the country.

Released: 2-Sep-2010 2:25 PM EDT
Nova Southeastern University Expert Available on Oil Rig Safety
Nova Southeastern University

Cecilia Rokusek, Ed.D, R.D., project manager for NSU’s Center for Bioterrorism and All-Hazards Preparedness, which recently received a $1.6 million N.I.H. grant to help train oil industry workers and others in related industries to better prepare for and respond to oil spills and hazardous materials events.

Released: 2-Sep-2010 2:00 PM EDT
Stress Management with Chilean Miners Is Tricky
University at Buffalo

A psychologist at the University at Buffalo says research on traumatic experiences pinpoints sources of stress that the trapped Chilean miners and their rescuers will need to manage in the weeks and months ahead, and offers ways of dealing with them.

Released: 31-Aug-2010 4:00 PM EDT
UNC’s Hurricane Experts Track, Respond to and Study Major Storms
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

With Hurricane Earl on a path to brush the North Carolina coast and as the hurricane season reaches its traditional peak, experts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill can help members of the media who need knowledgeable commentary on topics ranging from the current storm outlook to emergency response efforts. UNC researchers often are on the frontlines of such efforts when storms strike, and the University is a major center of hurricane-related research.

Released: 30-Aug-2010 10:00 AM EDT
Post-Katrina St. Bernard Parish Police to be Studied
University at Buffalo

A University at Buffalo researcher will spend the next two years studying post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the long-term effects of Hurricane Katrina on police officers who worked during the disaster.

Released: 23-Aug-2010 12:15 PM EDT
Disasters Tough on People with Disabilities, Mental Disorders
American Psychological Association (APA)

Psychologists have analyzed decades of research and found that disaster response strategies should address the needs of the population affected, specifically those with disabilities and mental disorders.

Released: 20-Aug-2010 12:25 PM EDT
Katrina Anniversary a Reminder of Lessons Not Learned
Wake Forest University

As the nation prepares to mark the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina next week, there is mounting evidence that important lessons have yet to be learned from the deadly storm, says Wake Forest University Law Professor Sidney Shapiro, one of the country’s leading experts on regulatory policy.

Released: 16-Aug-2010 1:35 PM EDT
No Evidence of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in 'Good Morning America' Samples
Texas Tech University

More science needed say researchers after testing for oil in seafood from Bastian Bay, La.

Released: 4-Aug-2010 4:05 PM EDT
Texas Tech Researcher to Senate: More Science Needed to Understand Oil Dispersants
Texas Tech University

The unprecedented use of dispersants on the oil spill has created a massive ecotoxicological experiment of which the full impact is yet to be determined, a Texas Tech University researcher testified Wednesday.

Released: 16-Jul-2010 1:00 PM EDT
SAMHSA Responds to Emotional Health Problems Related to Gulf Oil Spill
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA)

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is providing public education messages to raise awarness about how to recognize signs and symptoms of emotional health problems and where to go for help.

Released: 15-Jul-2010 12:05 PM EDT
Sources for News Coverage of Hurricane Katrina’s Fifth Anniversary
Tulane University

Hurricane Katrina and the resulting levee breaches inflicted more than $650 million in damages and losses to Tulane, closing the university for an entire semester and dispersing 13,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff throughout the country. The website http://tulane.edu/k5/index.cfm tells the story of Tulane’s Katrina experience and the sources below can give a firsthand account of Tulane and New Orleans’ remarkable recovery from the country’s worst natural disaster.

Released: 15-Jul-2010 9:00 AM EDT
A Safe Room? a New Home Entertainment System? Choose the First
Homeland Security's Science And Technology Directorate

For 18 horrific hours on April 3, 1974, a cataclysmic group of tornados spun through and sacked 13 states and one Canadian province, ravaging some 900 square miles and killing 148 people. An iconic photo snapped afterwards speaks a thousand words: amid devastation, one thing remained intact: an interior bathroom of a single house, whose walls had not been connected to the rest of the house.

Released: 13-Jul-2010 1:00 AM EDT
Earth Disasters: A Future Vision of Response and Recovery Tools
Secure World Foundation

A future look into the unrealized potential of remotely sensed data for disaster scenarios, including what is becoming known as community remote sensing, or cloud computing.

Released: 11-Jul-2010 8:05 PM EDT
Marine Expert: Clean-Up Efforts, Public Missing Full Impact of Gulf Oil Spill
Cornell University

Paula Mikkelsen, a visiting fellow in Cornell University’s department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology who spent 20 years as a marine biologist at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce, Fla., warns that the damage from the Gulf oil spill runs far deeper than oil-covered beaches and surface slicks.

Released: 7-Jul-2010 4:20 PM EDT
Scientists Call on Bird Watchers to Monitor Nests for Signs of Oil
Cornell University

As oil washes ashore along the Gulf Coast, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is asking birders to keep an eye on nesting birds – not just near water, but hundreds of miles inland.

Released: 7-Jul-2010 1:05 PM EDT
Wetlands Expert: It’s Too Early to Assess Oil Spill Effects
Indiana University

Indiana University professor Christopher Craft says the doom-and-gloom predictions for the Gulf oil spill's effects on coastal wetlands are premature.

Released: 30-Jun-2010 12:55 PM EDT
Scientists Develop New Approach to Predicting Losses from Disasters
Society for Risk Analysis (SRA)

Study provides tools to better predict, assess, and manage natural and man-made catastrophes.

Released: 30-Jun-2010 11:50 AM EDT
Oil Platform Managers’ Competence Is Key to Containing Damage During Crises
Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP)

Crisis management is primarily dependent upon the decision-making ability of those in lead command positions.

Released: 28-Jun-2010 4:30 PM EDT
Ecotoxicology Book Slated to Become National, International Bestseller
Texas Tech University

A wildlife ecotoxicology reference book co-edited by Texas Tech researchers is projected to become a national and international bestseller, according to the book’s publishers.

Released: 28-Jun-2010 11:30 AM EDT
Researchers Predict Larger-Than-Average Gulf "Dead Zone"; Impact of Oil Spill Unclear
University of Michigan

University of Michigan aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia and his colleagues say this year's Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" is expected to be larger than average, continuing a decades-long trend that threatens the health of a $659 million fishery.

Released: 25-Jun-2010 1:15 PM EDT
APS Urges Greater Federal Investment in Energy Efficiency Research & Development as Worst Oil Spill in U.S. History Grips Nation
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

The American Physical Society, a leading organization of physicists, presses congressional leaders to increase research investments for future energy technologies that will strengthen energy security and reduce the likelihood of disastrous effects associated with fossil fuel exploration as evidenced by the BP oil spill.

Released: 24-Jun-2010 4:40 PM EDT
New AHRQ Guides Offer Hospitals Advice on Emergency Evacuation, Assessment and Recovery
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Two new guides now are available to help hospital administrators make important decisions about how to protect patients and health care workers and assess the physical components of a hospital in a catastrophic event.

Released: 23-Jun-2010 12:35 PM EDT
Lifting Offshore Drilling Embargo Puts Entire Gulf Coast at Risk
Cornell University

Jeffrey J. Rachlinski, Cornell University Professor of Law and an expert in environmental law, comments on the recent court decision to lift a federal embargo on deep-water oil drilling.

Released: 23-Jun-2010 11:00 AM EDT
Environmental & Occupational Health Expert Available to Discuss Potential Health Effects of Gulf Oil Spill on Clean-up Workers, Volunteers
Rutgers University

A UMDNJ environmental and occupational health expert on human exposure to toxic substances has recommended strategic training and monitoring of workers and volunteers exposed to the Gulf oil spill to identify, and possibly mitigate, human health risks.



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