Yesterday Google launched the new Google Crisis Response project: Google Public Alerts, a platform designed to bring you relevant emergency alerts when and where you’re searching for them. 

See full article: http://blog.google.org/2012/01/public-alerts-now-on-google-maps.html

Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in collaboration with the Mitre Corporation, released the Common Weakness Enumeration version 2.0 (or CWE v2) – a dictionary of software weaknesses and their associated mitigation practices developed by the experts from government, industry and academia from across the software security community.

http://blog.dhs.gov/2011/06/securing-tomorrows-software.html

Just released from Minot State University: http://www.mouseriverflood2011.net/index.php

Published 22 June 2011

On Monday a senior Department of Energy official said that the long-term nuclear storage facility in Yucca Mountain, Nevada was no longer a viable option; Daniel Poneman, the deputy Energy Secretary, said, "We do not see Yucca Mountain as a solution here. It is time to turn the page and try to find a better set of solutions"; in 2002 Congress approved Yucca Mountain as the designated long term storage site for nuclear waste from atomic reactors in the United States and preparations were under way for the deep underground facility, but in 2010 President Obama withdrew funding for the project

Tunneling at Yucca Mountain // Source: freedomsphoenix.com

Wow! I guess the alternative being; storing all spent fuel waste onsite at all domestic reactors is a better solution? Or maybe we should shut down all nucs and the coal plants so we can produce only 35% of our energy needs. How is that domestic energy policy working for you?

A recent photo from an airport in Chile were an active volcano is creating major disruptions to air travel.

Two teams and their robots were actually in the U.S. when disaster struck. They were at "Disaster City," at Texas A&M University. "Disaster City" hosted American and Japanese researchers that jointly tested their bots using a mock-up terrain that simulates the same kind of environment that researchers will find on the battered eastern coast of Japan.

Emergency workers from around the world receive training in Disaster City, a Texas ghost town made up of derelict buildings, wreckage, and debris; they learn how to deal with major fires, earthquakes, floods, and terrorist attacks. George Bennett, the inventor of Disaster City, says that as far as floods, hurricanes, fires, and the like are concerned, rescue teams are usually well prepared nowadays. "But when it comes to terrorism, to exploding buildings, massive pieces of concrete and steel wreckage and massive numbers of victims -- how do you prepare people for something like that? --- Our emergency responders are being asked to do more and more, and before Disaster City there was no place that offered the possibility of training them for that"

Full article: http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/first-responders-train-disaster-disaster-city

In March, a powerful storm pummeled New Jersey, forcing police, utility and emergency crews to scramble as the severe weather sapped power, delayed trains and triggered floods. But publicly available information about the storm’s effects was scarce, and citizens searching for updates were left high and dry.

To avert such communication failures in the future, Morris County, N.J., has activated a shared emergency information network, using social media tools — Facebook and Twitter — to deliver crucial updates around the clock.

This is a great example of leveraging technology to provide widespread distribution of information!

See the entire article at: http://www.emergencymgmt.com/safety/Emergency-Alert-System-Social-Media.html

For the first time in history a tropical storm watch was issued for the Cape Verde Islands.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/MIATCPAT1.shtml