Emergency management

A man carries an elderly woman as people continue to leave Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. 

Managing the aftermath: Part I

Critical State

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into humanitarian needs in wartime. Policymakers and practitioners need to start adapting now to handle wars on the scale expected in the future, according to authors Brittany Card, Rob Grace, and Tarana Sable.

Plumes of smoke rise in the vicinity of Lake Steffen caused by a wildfire, near Rio Villegas, Argentina, Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021.

Fire and climate change are altering Patagonia’s ecosystems

Climate Change
A fire still burns in a home destroyed by the Marshall Wildfire in Louisville, Colorado, Friday, Dec. 31, 2021.

Colorado’s catastrophic winter firestorm may be a sign of more to come

Environment
Merkel stands at a podium flanked by two German flags.

Merkel reverses plan for strict Easter lockdown in Germany

Top of The World
Firefighters control a spot fire near Bredbo, south of the Australian capital, Canberra, Feb. 2, 2020.

California and Australia look to Indigenous land management for fire help 

The Big Fix
A man in a wheelchair is evacuated during a storm

Hurricane evacuation of nursing home residents still an unsolved challenge

Natural disasters

Hurricane season is here. For frail, older people, the decision to flee to a safe location or ride out the storm at home often comes down to life or death. What can long-term care administrators learn from past hurricanes about the dangers of evacuation?

Donald Trump holds up on hand while standing behind a podium

What happens if Trump declares a state of emergency to get his border wall?

Politics

President Donald Trump has raised the prospect of declaring an emergency over the current crisis at the US-Mexico border. What would that entail, exactly?

boats rescue pets from a flood

How social networks can save lives when disasters strike

Environment

Researchers have found that social networks, especially connections to those beyond immediate family, influence decisions to leave or stay in place before disasters.

A man sweeps the entrance of a boarded up store before Hurricane Florence comes ashore in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, Wednesday

Before hurricane season began, feds moved $10 million from FEMA to ICE

The Department of Homeland Security notified Congress earlier this summer that it was transferring $10 million from FEMA to ICE to pay for the detention and transfer of undocumented immigrants. The World speaks with Mary Small of the nonprofit group, Detention Watch Network.

Port Arthur Texas flooding

FEMA maps lack up-to-date information on flood risk

Environment

With all the extreme weather the US has experienced lately, it seems important to know if one’s area will flood when hard rains fall and rivers rise. But Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood maps contain inaccurate information.