Student HAZUS projects at UWF

In our never ending search for interesting things for the HAZUS User Community, HAZUS.org has stumbled on "Applications in GIS at the University of West Florida (UWF)" ...

The class is currently working with HAZUS-MH and the students are presenting their projects on-line using Blogger. Amber Bloeche who is the coordinator of the UWF Online Certificate Program reports they installed HAZUS-MH on a virtual machine for students to access GIS software from a terminal server and despite a few glitches, it is working well! Students log into a remote server and have full access to ArcGIS Desktop, Microsoft Visual Studio and ERDAS Imagine!

We encourage the HAZUS user community to follow the students posts and offer their help and encouragement.

UPDATE ...

HAZUS.org and the folks at UWF have prepared a "HAZUS Success Story" summarizing the UWF efforts to develop a virtual on-line HAZUS-MH training system. HAZUS.org believes that this approach is the future of HAZUS-MH training. HAZUS.org has offered this "HAZUS Success Story" to FEMA for inclusion on the FEMA HAZUS Resources. DOWNLOAD
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The New Orleans Hurricane Protection System: Assessing Pre-Katrina Vulnerability and Improving Mitigation and Preparedness

Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans and surrounding areas in August 2005, ranks as one of the nation's most devastating natural disasters. Shortly after the storm, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers established a task force to assess the performance of the levees, floodwalls, and other structures comprising the area's hurricane protection system during Hurricane Katrina. This book provides an independent review of the task force's final draft report and identifies key lessons from the Katrina experience and their implications for future hurricane preparedness and planning in the region.

Now available on the HAZUS.org Bookstore...

HAZUS Posters Selected for the 2009 ESRI Map Book

The ESRI Map Book is the only publication dedicated to acknowledging the important and innovative accomplishments of GIS users around the world. Volume 24 of the ESRI Map Book will be published in conjunction with the 2009 ESRI International User Conference.

Two HAZUS posters from the FEMA HAZUS Resources have been selected for inclusion in the Volume 24 of the ESRI Map Book:

HAZUS Evaluation of 1906 Magnitude Earthquake in Today's Environment: Displaced Households

HAZUS Evaluation of 1906 Magnitude Earthquake in Today's Environment: Economic Loss

A new NOAA Report touts "Authoritative Assessment of National, Regional Impacts of Global Climate Change Details Point to Potential Value of Early, Aggressive Action"

NOAA Press Release

More Info...

Another viewpoint ... Systematic Misrepresentation of the Science of Disasters and Climate Change

2009 Hurricane Season: A Readiness Guide for Critical Infrastructure Partners

June 23, 2009 Webinar

With the onset of the 2009 Hurricane Season, Critical Infrastructure / Key Resources (CIKR) partners are working together to be prepared and ready to quickly respond and restore operations. As part of the Department's Hurricane Preparedness Month, Mr. Chris Anderson, Director, Contingency Planning and Incident Management Division, will discuss coordination processes that are currently in place for the 2009 hurricane season. Mr. Anderson will discuss the most current information on the capabilities the Office of Infrastructure Protection has established to ensure CIKR owners and operators receive timely and accurate responses to requests for information or assistance.

The Webinar will also cover national level CIKR reporting; CIKR capabilities & field level staff support; and the various tools (modeling, simulation, GIS, impact imagery) that are available to enhance critical infrastructure preparedness and response.

Register for the June 29th webinar...

FEMA in Focus

Did you know FEMA has its own Twitter account ... FEMA in focus, MORE INFO

You can also follow HAZUS.org on Twitter, MORE INFO

HAZUS-MH MR3 Service Patch 3 is NOW AVAILABLE!!!

HAZUS-MH MR3 Service Patch 3 (SP3) is now available for download. With this update HAZUS-MH is certified to operate on Windows XP SP3 and either ArcGIS 9.2 SP5 or ArcGIS 9.3 SP1.

Service Patch 3 includes 20 enhancements in the flood model. Among the most significant of these are the integration of updated regression equations for all 50 states and optimization of annualized loss calculations.

View FEMA HAZUS-MH MR3 SP3 Release Notes

Download HAZUS-MH MR 3 SP3 (note this is a large file, ~600MB file)

MR4 Status ... back in early May HAZUS.org reported that HAZUS-MH MR4 is expected to be delivered to FEMA in the latter half of June ... Patch 1 for MR4 is planned for late August ... CDMS 2.5 is planned for a late June or early July delivery.

HAZUS.org is starting to get comments on this post. Comments are moderated but can be anonymous. Get your opinion heard and help others with this download and installation. Click on the "comment" link at the end of this post.
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Its Now Offically Hurricane Season ...

June 1st marks the official start of the 2009 Hurricane Season ...

NWS National Hurricane Center...

Go there...

Related ... Authorities are warning that residents of hurricane regions are even more apathetic than last year, READ MORE

Related ... Interview with new FEMA Director Craig Fugate discussing how prepared are we for this year’s hurricane season? Craig Fugate, LISTEN

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