Time to Change This Problem: "Sandy Created a Black Hole of Communication"

Interesting article from Jim McKay at Emergency Management "Sandy Created a Black Hole of Communication", especially on the absence of certain "self-help" organizations that might have been useful in the pre-disaster hours:

Adam DuBrowa/ FEMA

The lessons from Sandy have been repeated over and over: Communities should be prepared to be self-sufficient for close to 10 days. That means having food, water, batteries and flashlights, among other things. Batteries were especially important during Sandy or perhaps more importantly, ways to charge them.

The challenges of Sandy emphasized the need for community leaders to become informed about how their communities can help themselves during disasters. Questions about to what degree local, state and federal agencies are responsible immediately following a disaster and which agencies or levels of government were responsible for certain services was a source of confusion for some communities.
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She said that although the community understands what a nor’easter is, many residents were still at home waiting for a knock on the door. “You’re looking at a community that, from what I could see, didn’t have a strong CERT [Community Emergency Response Team],” Thompson said. “There was no FEMA, no Red Cross, no [Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster], no CERT. I don’t know who they thought was coming.”
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.... “The public has a general misconception of what FEMA does,” she said. “They believe FEMA is going to come in and help in a physical way. And they don’t recognize the responsibility of the local and state [agencies] as far as who provides things.”

Under $10 radio

There's a lot of stuff in the article, but one of the keys is that people need to have radios (talking AM and FM type) that can be powered by cranking and/or solar cells. I have suggested before that a priority ought to be placed on getting small radios out to the afflicted area as soon as possible after a disaster - see "Radios for Peace" and Great minds and Communications.

The local government or the state or, as a last resort, the federal government needs to set up a broadcast channel to get useful information out to the areas affected, with translators for those communities that lack English skills (the acquisition of which really ought to be encouraged amongst our population).

Under $20 radio

For information about CERT, see here. People who are used to being catered to by their government are always in trouble with the fan gets hit.

“The preparedness materials say you should have batteries and radios, but when we arrived seven days after the storm struck, those batteries are dead,” Thompson said. Preparing for three to five days is old, and “educated” people say be prepared to be self-sufficient for 10 days," Thompson said.

Under $2 radio

Self-powered radios can be inexpensive - here's one from Radio Shack for $19.97American Red Cross Microlink FR170 Emergency Radio and a place where you can buy a radio-flashlight combo for under $10 in bulk.

Further, if you really want to go cheap - there are these ear-bud, 2 AAA battery FM radios (with light, too!) for under $2 in bulk. I got one of those once as a gift from an organization for which I do some work on occasion. It worked fine. In fact, several year later, it still works when I remember to put in batteries. And those are "retail" prices, too, so I suspect there are even cheaper paths to follow.

Somali Pirates: August 2010 Attacks, NATO Warnings and Counter- Piracy

Poor sea conditions have slowed pirate activity in the Gulf of Aden and off the eastern Somali coast for the month of August. In addition, the number of international pirate-hunting naval forces is having an impact.

Multi-national efforts stops pirates, as reported here:

Japanese, EU and NATO forces cooperated on Sunday to intercept pirates who were preparing to attack ships in the Gulf of Aden, the NATO counter-piracy task force said.

A Japanese Maritime Self Defence (JMSDF) aircraft spotted a pirate skiff with seven suspected pirates on board and alerted a helicopter from the Danish warship Esbern Snare under NATO command, which intercepted the skiff.

"Subsequently the suspected pirates threw their weapons overboard and surrendered," a NATO statement, released in London, said.

An Italian helicopter from another vessel under NATO command provided support for the operation.

Crew members from an American warship, the USS Kauffman, also in NATO's counter-piracy operation, boarded the skiff and found a ladder pirates used to board ships "and other pirate-related paraphernalia," the statement added.

NATO August 2010 reports (purple= warning; orange= weapons fired; red = hijacking)

August. 28 2010

WARNING Gulf of Aden

Latitude: 12 17N Longitude: 04459E

Alert number 403 / 2010.

At 1449 UTC a Pirate Action Group consisting of ONE ARMED SKIFF was reported in position 12 17 N 044 59 E.

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August. 22 2010

WARNING Gulf of Aden

Latitude: 13 26N Longitude: 049 41E

Alert number 402 / 2010.

At 0417 UTC 22AUG a white skiff with weapons was reported in position 13 26N 049 41E.

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August. 19 2010

WARNING, Gulf of Aden

Latitude: 13 46N Longitude: 050 02E

Alert number 401 / 2010.

At 1007 UTC 19AUG a Pirate Action Group consisting of one skiff and one dhow was reported in position 13 46N 050 02E.

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18. August 2010

WARNING, Gulf of Aden

Latitude: 13 11 N Longitude: 049 06 E

Alert number 400 / 2010.

At 1453 UTC 18AUG a skiff was reported in position 13 11 N 049 06 E.

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17. August 2010

WARNING, Gulf of Aden

Latitude: 12 59N Longitude: 048 15E

Alert number 399 / 2010.

At 0434 UTC 17 AUG one skiff was reported in position 12 59N 048 15E

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9. August 2010

WARNING, Gulf of Aden

Latitude: 13 20N Longitude: 049 46E

Alert number 398 / 2010.

At 0513 UTC 1 skiff was reported attempting an approach to a merchant vessel in position 13 20 N 049 46E.

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4. August 2010

WARNING Red Sea

Latitude: 15 48N Longitude: 041 25E

Alert number 396 / 2010.

At 1445 UTC 04 AUG 10 a merchant vessel was attacked by 5 white skiffs, each with 7 POB, in position 15 48N 041 25E. Weapons were fired.

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3. August 2010

WARNING, Pirate Attack, Gulf of Aden / IRTC

Latitude: 12 56N, Longitude: 048 08E

Alert number 395 / 2010.

At 0324 UTC 03 AUG 10 merchant vessel is currently under attack by 1 skiffs in position 12 56N 048 08E. Red hulled skiff, 6 POB, weapons fired.

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02 August 2010

Warning, Pirate Attack, Gulf of Aden

Latitude: 13 02N, Longitude: 048 54E

Alert number 394 / 2010

At 0420 UTC 02 AUG 10 a merchant vessel was hijacked in position 13 02N - 048 54E.

The counter-piracy effort is still mired in legal confusion, resulting in sort of pirate "catch and release" program as reported here:

International maritime laws again prevented authorities from prosecuting pirates captured by Danish warship Esbern Snarre over the weekend in the Aden Gulf.

According to Nato’s maritime command, the warship was summoned by a ship sailing under the Panama flag on Saturday, after it reported attacks by pirates.

When the Esbern Snarre and US carrier Winston Churchill arrived at the scene, the Panama-registered ship and a Norwegian ship were both under attack from Somali pirates. A helicopter sent out by the Esbern Snarre fired warning shots and the pirates fled in their boats towards the Somali coast.

Yet despite finding both knives and ammunition shells on board the pirates’ vessels, defence minister Gitte Lillelund Bech told news bureau Ritzau that there was not enough evidence to prosecute the pirates and that they were released. Bech said that neither the American nor Danish forces actually saw the pirates open fire on the two ships.

Nato forces have had a difficult time bringing pirates in the Arabian Sea to trial due to the often conflicting and complex national and maritime laws.

Clicking on the images may increase their size.

Haiti: Doesn't matter who gets the credit - does it?

First, a news report from here:

Relief organizations are finding ways around the bottlenecks.

At the port, the American Red Cross created a "boat bridge" to unload supplies from a Colombian Red Cross ship offshore, said David Meltzer, the group's senior vice president for international services.

Now, some pictures with captions:




As seen here:

KILLICK, Haiti (Jan. 30, 2010) Sailors aboard the Colombian navy logistics ship ARC Cartagena De Indias (BM 161) transfer humanitarian aid donated by the Colombian Red Cross to Landing Craft, Mechanized (LCM) 14. The landing craft is assigned to Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 2 and embarked aboard the amphibious dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44). Cartagena De Indias and Gunston Hall are conducting humanitarian and disaster relief operations as part of Operation Unified Response after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake caused severe damage in and around Port-au-Prince, Haiti Jan. 12. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Martine Cuaron/Released)

And

KILLICK, Haiti (Jan. 30, 2010) A Colombian navy sailor directs a crane operator while transferring humanitarian aid from the Colombian navy logistics ship ARC Cartagena De Indias (BM 161) to Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM) 14. The landing craft is assigned to Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 2 and embarked aboard the amphibious dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44). Cartagena De Indias and Gunston Hall are conducting humanitarian and disaster relief operations as part of Operation Unified Response after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake caused severe damage in and around Port-au-Prince, Haiti Jan. 12. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Martine Cuaron/Released)

Now, I'm sure that either we are talking about another "boat bridge" or my understanding of "created" is not the same as Mr. Meltzer's, 'cause I don't believe asking the US Navy for help is part of a "creative process."

Thank goodness the supplies were moved - however it happened.

I would like to see the photos of the Red Cross "boat bridge," though.

I do like the Red Cross.