The EPA Water Security Division has released its Earthquake Interactive Maps, the final component of a set of earthquake preparedness resources for water utilities. The tool highlights earthquake and liquefaction risks throughout the U.S. and also describes utilities’ experiences with earthquake mitigation.
On October 5, the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 was signed into law as part of a bill reauthorizing the FAA. The act includes several changes to FEMA’s programs to create an improved focus on pre-disaster mitigation. The act authorizes the National Public Infrastructure Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program. This fund will be capitalized through a six-percent set-aside from the Disaster Relief Fund.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced the release of its “Strategy for Protecting and Preparing the Homeland against Threats from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) and Geomagnetic Disturbance (GMD).” As discussed in the Strategy’s introduction, extreme electromagnetic incidents caused by an intentional EMP attack or a naturally occurring GMD – also referred to as “space weather” – could damage significant portions of critical infrastructure, including water and wastewater systems.
A major report issued earlier this week by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) paints a more dire picture of the immediate consequences of climate change than previously thought. The IPCC found that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, the atmosphere will warm up by as much as 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) above preindustrial levels by 2040, resulting in raised sea levels that will inundate coastlines and intensified droughts, among other effects.
The U.S. House Homeland Security Committee has released a report entitled Terror Gone Viral 2.0 to capture the scope of the Islamic State’s activities by providing a high-level examination of plots and attacks linked to the group that targeted Western countries, including the U.S. According to the report, between 2014 and 2018 the Islamic State has been linked to a total of 243 incidences, averaging five per month.
Late last week, the Trump Administration released the newest version of the National Strategy for Counterterrorism, focusing on threats posed by Iran (which it says “remains the most prominent state sponsor of terrorism”) and Islamist terrorist groups like the Islamic State and al Qa’ida. The previous National Strategy for Counterterrorism, released in 2011 by the Obama Administration, focused largely on the threat posed by al Qa’ida following the death of Osama bin Laden.
The U.S. House Homeland Security Committee has published its Terror Threat Snapshot for October 2018. It indicates there have been 159 cases of homegrown jihadist cases in the U.S. since 2013. As with other snapshots, it details news and other developments regarding counterterrorism efforts, including disrupted terror plots and judicial cases involving suspected and convicted terrorists. It also addresses Islamic State-linked terrorist incidents in Europe, including the September 28 arrest of seven individuals in the Netherlands for plotting a “large scale event.”
FEMA has released a new set of continuity brochures. These brochures cover subjects that are of interest to both FEMA's federal and non-federal continuity partners. Some of these brochures are updates to those originally published in 2014 while others are new, reflecting the evolution of the continuity program. The titles include:
On Wednesday, October 3, FEMA and the Federal Communications Commission will conduct a nationwide Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) test of the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The WEA portion will start at 2:18 p.m. ET, followed by the EAS portion at 2:20 p.m. ET. The WEA test message will be sent to cell phones that are connected to wireless providers participating in WEA.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP) has published the latest version of its Partnership Bulletin, which provides a snapshot of upcoming training and exercise opportunities, critical infrastructure events, and key announcements. Some of the events include:
- A reminder that October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which will also have weekly themes that will be reinforced via events and social media messaging;
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