preparedness

Prepositioned For Disaster – Lessons From Military Sealift Command

From hurricanes to tsunami’s earthquakes, today’s levels of population growth coupled with global climate change is putting an increasing number of people at risk. What is not changing rapidly is the development and implementation of ideas to mitigate crisis.

What seems most promising is the idea that, rather than create new plans for new problems, borrow the ideas and resources from others. A good example of this is technology. Nearly two years ago we mentioned the use of Twitter to help locate victims and coordinate response efforts during crisis. Twitter already worked great for locating friends at nearby bars, so it was just a matter of rethinking it’s use as an emergency tool.

So what other systems are already in place to provide rapid support on a global scale? Specific to this blog… What maritime systems are already in place to provide rapid support on a global scale? In a post titled Urgent Solutions ~ Fast, Flexible, Scalable, Now, Joost Bonsen suggests the use of continerized solutions to support relief efforts in Haiti. He writes:

I’ve written before about the usefulness of containerized infrastructure and floating infrastructure – e.g. hospital ships, power generation barges, containerized health clinics, and more. Devastation in post-quake Port-au-Prince — and, btw, in other disaster-struck or war-ravaged recovery zones — demands that we invest heavily in ramping up and deploying many more of these urgent solutions, certainly as an essential part of rebuilding Haiti properly. Here’s further examples of fast, flexible, scalable, and re-deployable container-systems which are all needed now. First of all, water desalination and purification, for instance this HOH-USA unit…

While the idea has merit you must also consider the logistics involved in locating and transporting highly specialized containers. First, ships do not move at great speed and it takes time to load them. Second, finding containers designed for special missions and relocating them to a single port is a time consuming task regardless of the availability of a ship to put them on.

But the truth is that this idea is already being effectively implemented on a global scale by the US military in the form of prepositioned ships. For those unfamiliar with the program, propositioned vessels are commercial ships contracted by the military to sit idle at locations throughout the world. Although these ships rarely move, they are crewed with a full compliment of mariners and loaded down with all the items needed by troops engaged in conflict (Trucks, generators, food, desalination plants, medical supplies…) The thought being that, if a war breaks out, ships will be nearby and ready to supply the military at a moments notice.

If the idea works for the military, why couldn’t it work for humanitarian missions? I propose that, along with the Army and Navy, that the US Coast Guard be given a budget for prepositioning ships throughout the world. The cargo aboard these ships, however similar, would have a distinctly different mission… to be always ready so others might live.

Tags: · Haiti, military_sealift_command, preparedness

Great Links for Tracking Hurricanes

With Hurricane Gustav now a Category 4 and gaining strength, the 2008 season is really starting to peak in strength. So gCaptain has put together a list of the best hurricane tracking website to help keep you informed and stay safe. Below are links and graphs we are using to track Gustav

IBISeye.com tracks any active tropical depression, tropical storm or hurricane with accompanying news and any watches or warnings. Click on the map to interact.

Weather Underground provides forecasts for the US and the world with a fast, easy to use interface. The site is full weather maps, graphics and radar images, including a great tropical weather section with satellite maps, sea surface temperatures and hurricane advisories.

Of course NOAA has some of the most extensive, accurate and up to minute information to help track storms and provides official US weather, marine, fire and aviation forecasts, warnings, meteorological products, climate forecasts and information about meteorology. NOAA’s National Hurricane Center will provide you with everything you need to know to stay safe and knowledgable.

The US Navy NOGAPS Weather Forecast is another great resource for tracking storms with information provided by the US Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System.

Of the countless sites out there to help track weather, these are just a few of our favorites, so hopefully this will help everyone with their hurricane tracking needs. After all the best way to stay safe is to stay informed so if anyone out there knows any other great resources you prefer, we would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

LINKS:

IBISeye.com Hurricane Tracking

Weather Underground’s Tropical Weather Page

NOAA’s National Hurricane Center

US Navy NOGAPS Forecast

All these links can also be found in gCaptain Tools Section

Tags: · hurricane, noaa, preparedness, track-hurricanes, Weather

Twitter Yourself From Disasters

If we only had one technology related wish for 2008 it would be that every mariner watched this video. Reminder: This is important people!

FROM WIRED:

While micro-messaging service Twitter may be one of the best tools for citizen reporting in emergencies such as the Southern California wildfires, the service’s real usefulness is its ability to get messages to users’ friends and family and provide evacuation updates — even when cell networks are overloaded, according to homeland security consultant W. David Stephenson.

As important as the updates you wrote about, they’re nowhere near as important as using Twitter to let your family know you’re ok (instead of cell calls, which every time they’re used in disasters end up crashing the network — and don’t get through, either): because they’re packet based, they’re cued up until they can route around obstacles or gaps in the network, and the 140-character limit means they take up a tiny amount of bandwidth, leaving it for those who need it most.

Even cooler, Stephenson tells THREAT LEVEL, are the Red Cross’s Twitter channels.

* The redcross channel lets them push information during a mass evacuation. Since cellphone customers can sign up for Twitter ‘on the fly,’ they will encourage evacuees to text ‘FOLLOW REDCROSS’ to 40404, and sign up for updates. The messages will include information about where the shelters are, distribution sites, and other contact info.

* The safeandwell channel is used more for inbound communication. Those who text ‘FOLLOW SAFEANDWELL’ to 40404 will automatically be followed back. That means they can send their private information as a Direct Message to the American Red Cross. (’D SAFEANDWELL Larry Melman, 205-xxx-xxxx, 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Bay Minette, is safe in a shelter.’) That maintains the privacy of the individual, and also serves to funnel the information to a centralized database.

Stephenson shows how to use Twitter in emergencies in this episode of his video series 21st Century Disaster Tips You Won’t Hear From Officials: