Every emergency management program, at every level of government and business has to hire new people to replace those that leave for other opportunities or for expansion purposes. The typical terms used in hiring are Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA).

We are “blessed” to live in interesting and historic time. Many a book will be written about the first 25 years of the 21st century. In disaster terms there will certainly be a chapter or two written about climate change and its impact on the size, frequency and duration of natural disasters.

have no facts, only a few educated guesses about what might have happened a week ago at the rally where former President Trump was speaking. Thus, I will call it pure “conjecture” on my part, without an ounce of actual information. No, it is not a conspiracy theory!

Wildfires in this era of heat are hard to put out and then they can be everywhere at once. Now there is another category of wildfires, those that will not die.

The old goat is still learning! Today I learned a new term for “Dust Storm” which in today’s parlance is called a “Haboob.”

Summer is here and heat waves are sure to come.

There is a timely movie release coming to theaters this summer. Given all the tornado activity we have had in 2024, there will likely be significant interest in Twisters.

There is something wrong with the Texas electrical grid. The system there is either very unlucky or very fragile when disasters strike that state.

One of the topics they delved into more deeply is the need for more, what I will call, pure leadership training for emergency managers.

We are coming off of a horrific weekend with the attempted assassination of former President Trump, along with the death and serious shooting injuries to two other rally attendees.

With the above in mind, do we really need more guns?

Via new research, it appears that the section of the Cascadia Subduction Fault just off the Washington State Coast may be more dangerous than other areas of the fault.

As we continue to see summer temperatures soaring over 100 degrees, understand that those temperatures will impact the ability of helicopters to lift what would be normal loads, or not fly at all.

I’ve been writing about the home insurance crisis that has been brewing for years. Well, the first wave of inability to acquire affordable house insurance is here!

If you don’t believe in climate change and sea rise, maybe you might believe in shore subsidence.

In large organizations like the Federal Government, the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing, and standards and rules are not mutually supporting. This is coming to an end with one particular flood related aspect of disasters.

There have been two media references of late about how the cost of insurance is driving up the inflation rate. This is true for cars and homes/property.

One of the more common functions we as emergency managers perform is issuing warnings and ordering evacuations of people who are in dangers way. With that function being common, one particular area that I suggest almost everyone has a challenge with is assisting with the evacuation of people with disabilities.

The recent rain and flooding event from a series of “typical” rainstorms has brought to the forefront the challenges that come when ideology and science conflict.

“Summer’s here and the time is right for…” The rest of the verse is “dancing in the streets” but then with the heat and other hazard issues, the song could be rewritten to say, Summer’s here and the time is right for flooded streets!”

It is an unfortunate loss of local history and likely many family traditions of going down to the Dam Store to pick up some groceries or grab something to eat. A destination for parents riding along with their children on bicycles.