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Senate advances $36.5 billion disaster relief package

The Senate on Monday gave a preliminary OK to a $36.5 billion hurricane relief package that would provide Puerto Rico with a much-needed infusion of cash and keep the federal flood insurance program from running out of money to pay claims.

The 79-16 procedural vote set the stage for a final vote, most likely on Tuesday.

The measure also provides $18.7 billion to replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency's rapidly dwindling emergency disaster accounts. On Monday, FEMA announced more than $500 million in aid to Puerto Rico, including $285 million to help restore power and water services to the devastated island. An additional $16 billion would permit the financially troubled federal flood insurance program to pay an influx of Harvey-related claims.

But the bill rejects requests from the powerful Texas and Florida congressional delegations for additional money to rebuild after hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Florida Democrat Bill Nelson, whose state's citrus industry endured significant losses during Irma, sought to add $3 billion in immediate agriculture assistance to the measure, but was denied by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who said money for crop losses would be in subsequent aid measures.

Senate passage on Tuesday would send the measure to President Donald Trump for his signature.

There was urgency to move the measure swiftly — rather than add more money to it at this time — because the government's disaster response and flood insurance reserves are running out. Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said that would happen "in a matter of days" without action.

Still, members of the Texas and Florida delegations in Congress are unhappy because the measure failed to address extensive requests for additional hurricane rebuilding money. Texas, inundated by Harvey in August, requested $19 billion, while Florida sought $27 billion.

"I'm pretty disappointed with what the House sent over," Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn said last week. But later, after speaking to both Trump and White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, Cornyn said he was promised that the White House would issue another disaster aid measure next month for Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. A fourth, and perhaps final, measure is likely to anchor a year-end spending bill.

"The victims of these hurricanes can continue to count on our support," McConnell said.

Up to $5 billion of the measure's total could be used to assist Puerto Rico's central government and various municipalities that are suffering unsustainable cash shortfalls as Maria has choked off revenues and strained resources. An additional $150 million would help Puerto Rico with the 10 percent match required for FEMA disaster relief.

5 former presidents call for unity at hurricane relief concert in Texas

More than one-fourth of the island's residents don't have potable running water and only 17 percent have electricity, according to FEMA. Just 392 miles of Puerto Rico's 5,073 miles of roads are open. Conditions in the U.S. Virgin Islands are bad as well, with widespread power outages.

But Trump last week graded his response to the Puerto Rico disaster a 10 on a scale of 10.

"President Trump seems more concerned about claiming credit for a job well done than the actual situation on the ground deserves, particularly in Puerto Rico," Leahy said. "This is the hard part of governing," he added. "We dig in for the long haul, we stop patting ourselves on the back."

The measure currently before the Senate contains $577 million for wildfires in the West that forced agencies to tap other reserves for firefighting accounts and FEMA money.

Republicans delayed action last year on modest requests by President Barack Obama to combat the Zika virus and help Flint, Mich., repair its lead-tainted water system. But they are moving quickly to take care of this year's alarming series of disasters, quickly passing a $15.3 billion relief measure last month and signaling that another installment is coming next month.

Damage is still being assessed and final cost estimates for recovering and rebuilding from this year's hurricane season are not in yet. Some House conservatives are becoming restive at the high price tag for the disasters, which come as the deficit is growing.

Emergency Proclamation Issued Declaring Kaua‘i a Disaster

Emergency Proclamation Issued:

Gov. David Ige today issued an emergency proclamation for the County of Kauaʻi after unprecedented rains caused flooding and a series of landslides on Kūhiō Highway.

“We’ve mobilized to assist Mayor Carvalho and his emergency management team. The Hawaiʻi Guard and the City and County of Honolulu are preparing to help Kauaʻi with search and rescue operations as crews continue to clear the roadway,” said Gov. Ige.

The proclamation authorizes the expenditure of state monies as appropriated for the speedy and efficient relief of damages caused by this weather event.

Radar imagery 4.15.18. PC: NOAA/NWS

Flood Warning Extended

The National Weather Service in Honolulu has extended the Flash Flood Warning for the island of Kauaʻi until 4:45 p.m. on Sunday, April 15, 2018.

At 1:28 p.m., intense rainfall with rates at least 4 to 5 inches per hour continued over north and east Kauaʻi. The heaviest rainfall has spread east and will produce a rapid and significant rise in the Kapaʻa Stream and Wailua River water levels.

This is in addition to the severe flooding ongoing in Hanalei River.

Road access west of Princeville is not possible and several communities are isolated due to washed out roads.

Emergency managers are advising the public to avoid any unnecessary travel to north and east Kauaʻi until further notice.

State mobilizes response to Kauaʻi floods and landslides

Governor David Ige this morning assembled state emergency management leaders to assist Kauaʻi County’s response to serious flooding and landslides on that island.

In a video conference with the Kauaʻi Emergency Management Agency, first responders, and Mayor Bernard Carvalho, the governor committed to providing all available resources to helping Kauaʻi residents.

“In a situation like the Kauaʻi flooding, the response begins at the county level,” Ige said, “but we’re coordinating help from around the state. Based on the county’s needs, we may also bring in other state agencies like DLNR to provide specialized skills and personnel. I especially want to recognize our Department of Transportation personnel who worked all night to try to keep access open to these affected areas.”

The governor’s emergency proclamation provides relief for damage caused by this weekend’s floods and landslides. Authorities continue to monitor conditions across the state as the weather system makes its way south along the island chain.

At the same time, Adjutant General and Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency Director Arthur “Joe” Logan agreed to an initial commitment of Hawaiʻi National Guard personnel to work with county first responders in canvassing and assessing affected areas, and helicopters to assist in survey flights and rescues, if necessary.

Logan said the National Guard would continue to monitor conditions on Kauaʻi and confer with Kauaʻi County officials to determine what additional assistance may be needed.

HI-EMA Administrator Thomas L. Travis is working with Honolulu City and County Department of Emergency Management officials to determine what assets Oʻahu DEM can provide to assist Kauaʻi County.

Ige thanked the first responders and others who worked through the night to address the mounting challenges brought by the heavy rains. “This is a team effort,” Ige said. “Nobody goes through this kind of disaster alone.”

Red Cross Response:

American Red Cross volunteers opened shelters at Hanalei Elementary, Kapa‘a Middle School, and Church of the Pacific in Princeville at 8 p.m. on Saturday night for those affected by flash flooding and landslides on the north shore.

Air rescue operations have commenced on the North Shore area of Kauaʻi. The Kauaʻi Fire Department is coordinating with the US Coast Guard to provide air and search and rescue operations on the North Shore. A Honolulu Fire Department helicopter and rescue crew is being deployed to provide support. Red Cross has set up a reception center/shelter at the Church of the Pacific to receive evacuees from the North Shore.

How to prepare if 60-foot tsunami strikes Washington coast

Are you ready for a potential tsunami? Learn how you can get prepared.

Tsunami and earthquake experts visited two sites in Grays Harbor County Wednesday to help residents learn how they can be prepared for a potential disaster.

The event held at noon at the Ocosta Junior High was packed. It included participation in a drill at the school's recently built vertical evacuation structure, which is part of a school building. That structure, built to survive a magnitude 9 earthquake, is also built to survive a tsunami with students and residents. It's believed to be the only vertical evacuation structure built so far in North America, but others are in the planning stages.

The presentation is part of a six-stop tsunami road show on the Washington coast and Olympic Peninsula. It will feature officials from Washington Emergency Management, the Washington Geological Survey, the National Weather Service, the University of Washington/Sea Grant and Grays Harbor County Emergency Management.

Washington coastal areas are particularly at risk from seismic activity in the Cascadia Subduction Zone. A study published in March found a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Grays Harbor County could cause a 60-foot tsunami to inundate parts of Southwestern Washington.

Officials expected high interest in the event following the powerful earthquake off the coast of Alaska in January that triggered a tsunami watch in Washington.

“Given how events unfolded, we think it's even more imperative to help people understand the advantages of having a NOAA Weather Alert Radio, the difference in tsunami alert levels, near source vs distance source tsunamis and when the tsunami sirens will be activated,” Keily Yemm, tsunami program coordinator for the Washington Emergency Management Division, said in a statement.

Disaster Management Research Roadmap for the ASEAN Region

The ASEAN region is one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world, and extreme climate events are projected to increase in frequency and intensity due to climate variation and change.
We have seen the impacts that proper preparation and resilience -building efforts can have in the face of disaster events. The APEC Climate Center believes that science and policy, when merged and effectively utilized together, can truly enhance disaster risk reduction and disaster management. Through the ASDMP project, funded by the Republic of Korea government, the APEC Climate Center has worked closely with the AHA Centre, ASEAN Secretariat, and the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management to enhance DRR and DRM in the region.

This research roadmap provides a guideline on a potential process that will help achieve the ASEAN region’s goal of becoming a global leader on disaster management by 2025. The ASDMP project team has travelled the ASEAN region to ensure the reflection of local knowledge in this roadmap, and surveys have been distributed widely in an attempt to fully understand the status of DRR and DRM in the region.

This roadmap has identified key research and initiatives that need to take place in the short and long term on both the country and regional level, in order to greatly enhance resilience to disasters in the ASEAN region.

APCC would like to thank the Republic of Korea government, AHA Centre, ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management, and the respective governments of the ASEAN Member States for their active participation and support throughout the project duration.

Dr. Hong-Sang Jung Executive Director APEC Climate Center

Message from the ACDM Chair

The ASEAN region sits between several tectonic plates, which cause many extreme climate events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. Also being between the Pacific and Indian oceans causes seasonal typhoons. The ASEAN region is prone to almost all types of natural disasters including typhoons, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, forest fires, epidemics, and droughts. These extreme climate events often transcend the boundaries of individual nations, and that is why we must work together across boundaries to limit the potential damages of these events.

Therefore, the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025 stipulates on the paragraph D.1. that: A Disaster Resilient ASEAN that is able to Anticipate, Respond, Cope, Adapt, and Build Back Better,
Smater, and Faster.

I still remember my participation in the Kickoff Workshop for the ASEAN Science-Based Disaster Management Platform Project (ASDMP), which was taking place between 30th-31st March 2016 in Busan, Korea.

One of the above-mentioned workshop’s objectives is to Increase APCC’s network in the ASEAN region to increase the likelihood of cooperation and collaboration not only on the ASDMP Project but also on the future needs/projects. Today the objectives have been translated into concrete work. The Research Roadmap is an outstanding result, because this Disaster Roadmap management creates hope for all ten ASEAN Member States to use this as a guiding process for achieving the goal of becoming a global leader on Disaster Management by 2025.

On behalf of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management I would like to extend my gratitude and sincere thanks to the Republic of Korea Government, APCC, ASEAN Secretariat, AHA Center, and the respective organisations, and especially all of the experts for their close and fruitful contributions to the Research Roadmap.

https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ASEAN-Region_Disaster-Management_0228_optimize.pdf

Mr. Prasong VONGKHAMCHANH
Director General of Social Welfare Department
Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare of Lao PDR
Chair of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management

Essential to avoid disaster of hard Irish border, says Tony Blair

Tony Blair has accepted that Britain and Ireland will have to work around rather than reverse Brexit in order to prevent a hard border on the island and preserve the Good Friday agreement.

While stressing he was still “passionately opposed” to Brexit and regarded the UK leaving the EU as a “profound mistake”, the former prime minister said that the two countries would have to “overcome the challenge” posed by the British departure from Europe.

Speaking at an event in Belfast on Tuesday to mark 20 years since the signing of the Good Friday agreement peace accord, Blair said it was essential to avoid the disaster of a hard border reappearing on the island post-Brexit.

On the challenges Brexit will pose for Ireland, Blair said: “We are just going to have to work at it [Brexit] and overcome it. I wish it wasn’t happening but it is and we are just going to do our best to circumvent it.”

He also urged the current generation of Northern Ireland’s political leaders “not to cast aside” the gains of the Good Friday agreement peace deal.

Commenting on the present deadlock between unionism and nationalism in Northern Ireland, Blair said: “Where we are may not be where we want to be but it’s a much better place from where we were.

“This is the most important thing I would say right now to those people today who are in positions of responsibility: try to work your way through the present impasse, give it your all, start working at it, don’t ever give up because what you are doing is vital, it is important.”

There was discord even within the Irish nationalist representatives at the conference to commemorate 20 years of the agreement. Adams confirmed that Sinn Féin wanted a “border poll” on a united Ireland.

Seamus Mallon, the former Social Democratic and Labour party deputy leader and former deputy first minister, said calls for a referendum on Irish unity posed dangers.

Mallon said it would be a “bloody disaster” if any referendum on a united Ireland could be won by a simple majority of 50% plus 1.

In such a scenario, Mallon warned, Ireland would inherit a fearful, recalcitrant large unionist minority on the island.