I’m not doing much hiring these days, but I did in the past. We tried to be careful about what questions we asked in a job interview. It is not just the individual questions you ask in an interview, but also how the interview is structured and if there is a panel assisting you, then what is the process for scoring each candidate.

While I write this the Eastern Seaboard is getting snow which is to be followed with cold temperatures. And, there is another storm brewing—this one on the West Coast and it will be hitting Southern California.

I’m always learning new things about organizations involved with our emergency management functions. I stumbled across this organization, United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC)

In a single word my predictions for 2025 can be summed up in one word—“Unpredictable.”   In December I wrote this blog post, An Interesting Time in History

Usually, we read about studies that either identify an increase in hazards around a particular type of disaster or a new unknown, until now, hazard. More tornadoes, more destructive hurricanes, etc. We are starting out 2025 with one “good news” hazard story.

Why is it that Puerto Rico continues to have major issues with the generation and transmission of electrical power?

It is not often that I get the chance to write about another nation’s approach to disaster readiness. See this Guardian article, In Sweden, we’ve been told to prepare for war. But will 21st-century citizens still rally for the common good?

Disaster help can never come too soon. It doesn’t make a difference on the type of disaster that happens, the damages are there, and people need and want help right away. In most cases they would prefer it to be instantly.  Unfortunately, government is not a shake and bake organization.

This topic is definitely on the lighter side. However, I found the segment on Prime Video’s series on Mega Manufacturing to be very interesting.

With the passing of President Jimmy Carter there are many reflections being written on his legacy. For me, the thing that stands out is that he will be remembered most for how he used his prominence after he left the White House. No one has been as selfless as he in being a servant to many.

Hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the tragedy caused by the Indian Ocean Tsunami. Around 250,000 people died in 2004, many were vacationers on holiday.

Watching the “drone news” over the past few months has convinced me that collectively, we are in deep do-do when it comes to “officials” and their messaging to an ever-increasing nonbelieving population. The bottom line is that we’ve lost the trust of many average people.

The title of this blog post is a question that I’ve pondered many times before. I really appreciate the information on that topic provided in this Washington Post article, Why seas are surging

The US House of Representatives need to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) in order to keep the government funded beyond December 20, 2024. Turn on the news to get the latest on machinations that are ongoing. Speaker of the House is having to rely on Democrats to pass any bill since a segment of the Republican Cause is opposed to any such measure being passed. It is a “shut it all down” approach.

This issue of homeowners having their insurance carriers drop them is going to continue and heat up as more disasters cause more costly damages. The current state of affairs is shared in this New York Times article, Insurers Are Deserting Homeowners as Climate Shocks Worsen

The COVID Pandemic caused a great work experiment. Millions of “nonessential workers” were sent home and when and where possible worked remotely.

Another school shooting has happened. This one about 40 miles north of where I grew up. This time it was a Christian School, much like the Seventh Day Adventist school shooting from only a week or two ago.

Trust is a very basic aspect of our society’s functioning. When we get to a stop light we trust that others are obeying the red light as we enter on green. People pay their taxes and they expect that government will equitably disburse those funds to programs approved by our elected officials.

The news about drones being seen in the night sky over New Jersey is the first widescale news about drones being spotted across a wide area of a state (now expanding to other states) and drawing national attention. Drones are no longer a novelty in American airspace.

The 2024 hurricane season has been a memorable one, especially with the impact that Hurricane Helene had on the mountainous areas of North Carolina. Now, even months after the hurricane and the rains are gone, the search and recovery for missing people continues and small pieces of the community infrastructure are beginning to be pieced back together.

What can we learn from that disaster and how those lessons can be applied to our own situation here in earthquake country? The disaster and the hazards may be different, but the experiences we see being played out in North Carolina can be instructive to our own geographical setting.