With more extreme weather on horizon, FEMA resilience program’s dollars to double

The Biden administration is doubling federal funding to $1 billion this year for state and local pre-disaster mitigation efforts through a nascent Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) program meant to “categorically shift the federal focus from reactive disaster spending and toward research-supported, proactive investment in community resilience,” according to an announcement this week…

‘Cyclones, pandemic present cascading risk scenario’

Cyclones draw their energy from warm waters, which is why they form over warm pool regions where sea-surface temperatures are above 28 degrees Celsius. The Arabian Sea used to be relatively cooler, but at the time of formation of ‘Tauktae’, SSTs were 30-31 degrees Celsius.

‘Tauktae’ clearly demonstrates the relationship between global warming and the genesis of cyclones.

The challenge lies in managing the cascading risks emanating from the interaction of the Covid-19 pandemic with cyclones. Integration of pandemic warning systems with multi-hazard early warning systems for natural and biological hazards will be the key, going forward…