This is Cat Tales, the e-newsletter of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, for July/August 2015. Included in this issue: New ICLR publication: Risk reduction status of homes reconstructed following wildfire disasters in Canada; An update on urban flood-related projects at ICLR; Wanted: New products to lighten the financial burden placed on taxpayers from disasters; and, Preliminary losses for 1H 2015 $37 billion, number of victims rise: Swiss Re.
Humboldt County Firewise Mapping Project - Final reportJerry Dinzes
Prepared by Humboldt State students, this report discusses the benefits of Firewise mapping and community fire management programs. Prepared By: Jerry Dinzes, Eileen Nunez, Chibu Okezie, Hether Ward
ICLR Friday Forum: Risk reduction status of recovering wildfire impacted comm...glennmcgillivray
On Friday, May 15, 2015 ICLR held a Friday Forum workshop entitled 'The risk reduction status of recovering wildfire impacted communities in Canada' led by retired Parks Canada fire expert and consultant Alan Westhaver.
More than 722 homes were destroyed, thousands of local residents were subjected to untold suffering, and over $1 billion in insured losses resulted when wildfires burned into Kelowna, BC (2003) and Slave Lake, AB (2011). Wildland/Urban Interface (WUI) disasters can be averted if residents take proactive measures (i.e. FireSmart) to reduce the risk of home ignitions. Recovery efforts following the Kelowna and Slave Lake catastrophes provide an opportunity to ask an important question: “To what degree have homeowners actually adopted FireSmart measures to mitigate the risk of future wildfire losses?” To answer that question a recent investigation, sponsored by ICLR, examined homes and properties rebuilt following the 2003 and 2011 wildfires. Modified hazard assessments were conducted on nearly 450 of these homes to evaluate 20 hazard factors related to structural, vegetation/fuel, topographic, and ignition potential. This session provided insight into the WUI fire problem, and results of the unique study were presented.
Humboldt County Firewise Mapping Project - Final reportJerry Dinzes
Prepared by Humboldt State students, this report discusses the benefits of Firewise mapping and community fire management programs. Prepared By: Jerry Dinzes, Eileen Nunez, Chibu Okezie, Hether Ward
ICLR Friday Forum: Risk reduction status of recovering wildfire impacted comm...glennmcgillivray
On Friday, May 15, 2015 ICLR held a Friday Forum workshop entitled 'The risk reduction status of recovering wildfire impacted communities in Canada' led by retired Parks Canada fire expert and consultant Alan Westhaver.
More than 722 homes were destroyed, thousands of local residents were subjected to untold suffering, and over $1 billion in insured losses resulted when wildfires burned into Kelowna, BC (2003) and Slave Lake, AB (2011). Wildland/Urban Interface (WUI) disasters can be averted if residents take proactive measures (i.e. FireSmart) to reduce the risk of home ignitions. Recovery efforts following the Kelowna and Slave Lake catastrophes provide an opportunity to ask an important question: “To what degree have homeowners actually adopted FireSmart measures to mitigate the risk of future wildfire losses?” To answer that question a recent investigation, sponsored by ICLR, examined homes and properties rebuilt following the 2003 and 2011 wildfires. Modified hazard assessments were conducted on nearly 450 of these homes to evaluate 20 hazard factors related to structural, vegetation/fuel, topographic, and ignition potential. This session provided insight into the WUI fire problem, and results of the unique study were presented.
Jones, N.P., E.K. Noji, F. Krimgold and G.S. Smith 1990. Considerations in the epidemiology of earthquake injuries. Earthquake Spectra 6: 507-528.
In July 1989, a workshop entitled "Earthquake Injury Epidemiology for Mitigation and Response" was held at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. The aim of the workshop was to gather a group of interested professionals, all directly or peripherally interested in the research, planning, mitigation, and response aspects associated witgh earthquake-induced injuries and deaths, to lay the foundations and begin to develop a research agenda for this emerging field.
THE “BEST SOLUTION SET” IS THE FRAMEWORK OF DISASTER RESILIENCE. To anticipate and plan for the full spectrum of what can happen, and build capacity FOR preparedness, protection, early warning, emergency response, and recovery in every community. To inform, educate, train, and build equity in all sectors of the community. Powerpoint courtesy of Dr Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction
On May 21, 2021, ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'Climate Disclosure, Litigation and Finance'"Climate Disclosure, Litigation and Finance' is a forthcoming chapter in 'Canada in a Changing Climate: National Issues'. In this webinar, chapter authors Paul Kovacs, Gordon McBean, Gordon Beal, Maryam Golnaraghi, Pat Koval and Bohan Li examined the evolving climate risks for businesses and governments.
Climate change is now widely regarded as an environmental and an economic issue. While the policy discussion about climate change emphasizes the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to better cope with the impact of extreme events, the business community is increasingly focused on the physical and transition risks and opportunities presented by climate change. The research team will discuss how managing the risks and opportunities associated with climate change affect a company’s ability to access capital, deliver products and services, hire and retain employees and achieve positive financial performance.
Paul Kovacs is the Executive Director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction.
Professor Emeritus Gordon McBean is with the ICLR and Department of Geography and Environment, Western University and the past President of the International Council for Science and former ADM of the atmospheric component of Environment Canada.
Gordon Beal, CPA, CA, M.Ed., is the Vice President of Research Guidance and Support for Chartered Professional Accountants Canada and a member of Canada’s National Climate Change Adaptation Platform Plenary.
Dr. Maryam Golnaraghi is the Director of Climate Change and Environment at The Geneva Association, a platform of Group CEOs of largest insurance companies, a non-resident senior fellow at The Atlantic Council and serves on a number of boards and advisory councils in the US, Canada and the UK.
Patricia Koval, JD, is a Board Director of a number of companies in the United States and Canada, a former partner of a major Canadian law firm, and a member of the Ontario Advisory Panel on Climate Change.
Dr. Bohan Li is a research associate at the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction.
MaxxSpy is the most powerful Mobile phone spy and track software allows you to keep track of ALL the activities of any Android phone. The application is super easy to install on the target phone you want to monitor. This state-of-the-art application works in stealth mode which means that it will never be found on the monitored phone. It starts uploading the monitored phone's usage information and its exact location instantly which can be viewed by logging in to your MaxxSpy account area from any computer in the world within minutes.
Jones, N.P., E.K. Noji, F. Krimgold and G.S. Smith 1990. Considerations in the epidemiology of earthquake injuries. Earthquake Spectra 6: 507-528.
In July 1989, a workshop entitled "Earthquake Injury Epidemiology for Mitigation and Response" was held at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. The aim of the workshop was to gather a group of interested professionals, all directly or peripherally interested in the research, planning, mitigation, and response aspects associated witgh earthquake-induced injuries and deaths, to lay the foundations and begin to develop a research agenda for this emerging field.
THE “BEST SOLUTION SET” IS THE FRAMEWORK OF DISASTER RESILIENCE. To anticipate and plan for the full spectrum of what can happen, and build capacity FOR preparedness, protection, early warning, emergency response, and recovery in every community. To inform, educate, train, and build equity in all sectors of the community. Powerpoint courtesy of Dr Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction
On May 21, 2021, ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'Climate Disclosure, Litigation and Finance'"Climate Disclosure, Litigation and Finance' is a forthcoming chapter in 'Canada in a Changing Climate: National Issues'. In this webinar, chapter authors Paul Kovacs, Gordon McBean, Gordon Beal, Maryam Golnaraghi, Pat Koval and Bohan Li examined the evolving climate risks for businesses and governments.
Climate change is now widely regarded as an environmental and an economic issue. While the policy discussion about climate change emphasizes the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to better cope with the impact of extreme events, the business community is increasingly focused on the physical and transition risks and opportunities presented by climate change. The research team will discuss how managing the risks and opportunities associated with climate change affect a company’s ability to access capital, deliver products and services, hire and retain employees and achieve positive financial performance.
Paul Kovacs is the Executive Director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction.
Professor Emeritus Gordon McBean is with the ICLR and Department of Geography and Environment, Western University and the past President of the International Council for Science and former ADM of the atmospheric component of Environment Canada.
Gordon Beal, CPA, CA, M.Ed., is the Vice President of Research Guidance and Support for Chartered Professional Accountants Canada and a member of Canada’s National Climate Change Adaptation Platform Plenary.
Dr. Maryam Golnaraghi is the Director of Climate Change and Environment at The Geneva Association, a platform of Group CEOs of largest insurance companies, a non-resident senior fellow at The Atlantic Council and serves on a number of boards and advisory councils in the US, Canada and the UK.
Patricia Koval, JD, is a Board Director of a number of companies in the United States and Canada, a former partner of a major Canadian law firm, and a member of the Ontario Advisory Panel on Climate Change.
Dr. Bohan Li is a research associate at the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction.
MaxxSpy is the most powerful Mobile phone spy and track software allows you to keep track of ALL the activities of any Android phone. The application is super easy to install on the target phone you want to monitor. This state-of-the-art application works in stealth mode which means that it will never be found on the monitored phone. It starts uploading the monitored phone's usage information and its exact location instantly which can be viewed by logging in to your MaxxSpy account area from any computer in the world within minutes.
This is Cat Tales, the e-newsletter of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, for March/April 2015. Included in this issue: Under development: The growing use of planning tools, including development permits, to address wildfire risk to communities; New Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes formed; Book excerpt: Flood Forecast; and, ICLR’s Paul Kovacs opens Premiers’ climate change summit.
Grand Challenges for Disaster ReductionFrancisYee1
The Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction outlines a ten-year
strategy crafted by the National Science and Technology Council’s
Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction (SDR). It sets forth six Grand
Challenges that, when addressed, will enhance community
resilience to disasters and thus create a more disaster-resilient
Nation. These Grand Challenges require sustained Federal
investment as well as collaborations with state and local
governments, professional societies and trade associations, the
private sector, academia, and the international community to
successfully transfer disaster reduction science and technology
into common use.
To meet these Challenges, the SDR has identified priority science and technology
interagency implementation actions by hazard that build upon ongoing efforts.
Addressing these implementation actions will improve America’s capacity to prevent and
recover from disasters, thus fulfilling our Nation’s commitment to reducing the impacts
of all hazards and enhancing the safety and economic well-being of every individual
and community. This is the wildland fire-specific implementation plan. See also sdr.gov
for other hazard-specific implementation plans.
Living behind the Launceston levee: insights from a community surveyNeil Dufty
Levees are used in Australia and across the world as a structural means to reduce flood risks. However, people protected by levees can develop a false sense of security believing that the levee is fail-proof or might only fail in extreme flood events. This optimism can lower flood preparedness levels and lead to increased urban development in flood-prone areas. This can magnify flood risk behind the levee—a phenomenon known as the ‘levee paradox’ or ‘levee effect’. This article analyses the results of a community survey conducted with residents and businesses located behind the levees in Launceston, Tasmania. The survey revealed a widespread low level of flood-risk awareness and elevated optimism about the protection afforded by the levee system. However, there were no significant and direct relationships between the possible levee paradox causal factors and the low levels of preparedness identified. This does not rule out the levee paradox, as more complex psychological interrelationships could be involved. Emergency management planning should consider the high proportion of people (over one-third) who stated they would require assistance during a flood in the Launceston levee-protected areas.
Climate Change Adaptation Techniques for the Piedmont. S. Shufordtriadsustain
Overview of climate change adaptation techniques with a focus on natural hazards faced in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina. These hazards may become more acute due to climate fluctuations.
This is Cat Tales, the e-newsletter of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, for January/February 2015. Included in this issue:
• ICLR releases new book: ‘Cities adapt to extreme rainfall: Celebrating local leadership’
• Intensity-Duration-Frequency under Climate Change Tool rollout
• U.S. establishes new federal flood risk management standard to account for climate risks
• New ICLR publication: Best practices guide: Management of inflow and infiltration (I&I) in new urban developments
This is Cat Tales, the e-newsletter of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, for January/February 2015. Included in this issue: ICLR releases new book: ‘Cities adapt to extreme rainfall: Celebrating local leadership’; Intensity-Duration-Frequency under Climate Change Tool rollout; U.S. establishes new federal flood risk management standard to account for climate risks; and, New ICLR publication: Best practices guide: Management of inflow and infiltration (I&I) in new urban developments.
This paper contains a status report on completed actions as the Institute enters the third year of its five year strategic plan, and sets out actions to guide the Institute’s research and outreach efforts for the coming year.
A Life Cycle Hazard Assessment (LCHA) Framework to Address Fire Hazards at th...Global Risk Forum GRFDavos
6th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2016 Integrative Risk Management - Towards Resilient Cities. 28 August - 01 September 2016 in Davos, Switzerland
Evaluating ecological outcomes in the Regional Land Partnerships Program: A pilot monitoring, evaluation and research (MER) network.
This three-year project will trial Australia’s first MER network by implementing a pilot network – to promote national-scale learning about bushfire recovery across different ecosystem types, and the
ecological effectiveness of post-fire interventions.
Typhoon Vulnerability Assessment of Barangay Calunasan, Calape, Bohol.pptxjedemerichjumawan1
This presentation is a vulnerability assessment conducted by college researchers for a disaster risk reduction and management project. It contains data from respondents of Barangay Calunasan, Calape, Bohol, Philippines and analyzed by the researchers for their assessment on Barangay Calunasan's vulnerability to typhoons. The researchers adopted the use of a Likert Scale in their analysis.
i HOW FIRE DEPARTMENTS RESPOND TO DISASTERS eve2xjazwa
i
HOW FIRE DEPARTMENTS RESPOND TO DISASTERS
by
Student X
This Thesis is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Bachelor of Science degree in Public Safety Management
Great College Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida
Fall, 2015
ii
DEDICATION
I would like to thank my wife Lindsey Perrotta for all of the help she has given
me throughout this research proposal, she was phenomenal in helping me complete this
project by answering questions for me and taking care of the children while I worked on
the project.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge Lindsey Perrotta for helping with the project, and
Professor Davis for providing guidance and the template for the project.
iv
ABSTRACT
This research proposal will answer the question of how prepared fire departments
are to respond to major disasters, by utilizing SOP’s SOG’s and mutual aid. It will
discuss problems that lie within these guidelines, such as communication issues, and
different equipment issues. The research proposal will also take a look at how well the
local fire department is prepared for any major incidents that arise, based on a small
population group, and a survey provided by the researcher to this group.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication ii
Acknowledgements iii
Abstract iv
Chapter 1 Introduction 6
Chapter 2 Review of Literature 8
Chapter 3 Methodology and Procedure 13
References 16
6
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Often times disaster strikes on an extremely large scale, a scale that is too big for
one agency to handle. When these types of disasters strike multiple agencies come
together to mitigate the incident. One of the biggest challenges to mitigating incidents
when multiple agencies are brought together is finding the middle area based on how all
the agencies operate, since many agencies have different operations. Scoppetta (2008)
stated that having capability and flexibility are vital components of being prepared for
natural disasters and when multiple agencies that come together have these qualities
disasters are mitigated with relative ease.
Background Context
Often time’s major disasters are too large for one municipal fire department to
handle and these departments call upon mutual aid. The mutual aid will almost always
have different literature and training on how to respond to these incidents, which can lead
to major complications on scene. By utilizing national models and outlines on how to
respond to incidents these problems are often curbed, however the challenge is getting all
agencies to have training once and a while to cover these models. This research project
w ...
2.4 Flood resilience at individual property level (R.Craig)Stevie Swenne
Presentation of Robbie Craig (DEFRA) on 'Flood resilience at individual property level' during the conference 'Environmental challenges & Climate change opportunities' organised by Flanders Environment Agency (VMM)
ICLR Friday Forum: Earthquake Early Warning (April 22, 2022)glennmcgillivray
On April 22, 2022, ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar title 'Earthquake Early Warning", led by Henry Seywerd, Program Manager for the Earthquake Early Warning at Natural Resources Canada.
Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) provides the ability to give warnings seconds to tens of seconds prior to the arrival of strong shaking from a major earthquake allowing the initiation of protective actions. EEW is available in many earthquake-prone countries around the world including Japan, Turkey, Mexico, and the United States. Natural Resources Canada is developing a national earthquake early warning system for Canada to cover the west coast of BC, the corridor from Ottawa to Quebec City, and other areas in Canada. The system will involve the installation of 400-600 new sensor stations, fast communication links, and new data centres for the creation of alert messages. The Canadian EEW system will be closely integrated with that operated by the US Geological Survey and use the same software packages; this will ensure consistent cross border alerts, which is particularly important in SW British Columbia. Alert messages will be distributed to the Canadian public via the National Public Alerting System. In addition, customized alerts will be available for the use of critical infrastructure operators and others to allow them to implement automated protective actions for facilities and equipment. The system is currently under development and expected to be producing alerts in 2024.
Henry Seywerd, Program Manager for the Earthquake Early Warning at Natural Resources Canada, is heading a project to establish a national system for providing rapid warnings to mitigate the effects major earthquakes. He has been involved in emergency management at NRCan for over ten years including managing the refurbishment of the Canada’s seismic monitoring network, and leading its nuclear emergency response team. Prior to joining NRCan Henry has held diverse positions in industry and research including the development of equipment for medical imaging and performing fundamental research in high energy physics.
ICLR Friday Forum: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (March 11, 2022)glennmcgillivray
On March 11, 2022, ICLR conducted a Friday Forum Webinar titled 'What are some key findings relevant to the Canadian context from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report – Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adoption and Vulnerability?" led by Linda Mortsch.
IPCC Assessment Reports are considered the gold standard for information on climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. In February 2022, the second of four reports in the sixth assessment cycle - Working Group II’s Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability - was released. It represents the culmination of an exacting process where experts review and assess climate change information in order to provide a synthesis for decision-making that is policy-relevant but not policy prescriptive. This presentation addresses three topics. It begins by describing the unique IPCC assessment process. Next, it highlights key, overarching findings from the report’s Summary for Policy Makers (SPM), which has received governments’ approval. Lastly, it focuses on the North America Chapter providing details relevant to the Canadian context on a wide range of topics such as water resources, forest fires, cities, and economic sectors.
Linda Mortsch has devoted much of her career to addressing climate change issues and facilitating adaptation planning and decision-making in water resources, coastal zones, wetland ecosystems and urban areas. She has expertise collaborating with stakeholders to assess impacts, vulnerability, and resilience, and initiate adaptation. Her 1992 research project “Adapting to climate variability and change in the Great Lakes Basin” was one of the first to engage stakeholders and explore adaptation to climate change in Canada. Since 1989, Linda has played a role in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. For the sixth assessment cycle, she was the Convening Lead Author for the North America chapter. Now retired from Environment and Climate Change Canada, Linda has an adjunct appointment in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo. She continues to undertake studies that support adaptation capacity building and help meet the challenges of moving from adaptation planning to implementation and from incremental to transformative changes. Linda received the 2009 University of Waterloo, Faculty of Environment, Alumni Achievement Award in recognition of professional achievement and distinguished environmental and community leadership.
ICLR Friday Forum: Functional Recovery for Lifeline Infrastructure Systems (F...glennmcgillivray
On February 25, 2022 ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'Functional Recovery for Lifeline Infrastructure Systems', led by Craig A. Davis, Ph.D., P.E., G.E. of C A Davis Engineering.
Engineers design buildings and lifelines mostly to protect life safety, with few provisions to safeguard post-disaster functionality and recovery. Codes evolve, so older infrastructure tends to be less safe than new. As a result, natural disasters can damage utilities and transportation infrastructure (commonly called lifelines), kill and injure users, displace residents, close businesses, and cause other economic and socio-cultural harm. We cannot completely eliminate these risks, but we can improve community resilience by designing and retrofitting our lifelines with codes, standards, and policies that focus on post-disaster recovery. Engineers speak of these developing requirements and policies as “functional recovery,” meaning that we hope to design or modify lifelines to better ensure fast restoration of at least there basic functionality, even before all repairs are completed. Functional recovery requires acknowledging and accounting for the way lifelines interact—water service can rely on electricity and vice versa—so a functional recovery framework must ensure common degrees of reliability between interacting lifelines. In the United States, an effort is underway to develop recovery-based goals and functional-recovery design and retrofit guidelines and standards. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology are leading the development of recovery-based objectives for earthquake design, with consideration for future applications to other natural hazards.
Dr. Davis is a professional consultant on geotechnical, earthquake, and lifeline infrastructure system resilience engineering. He currently leads the development of functional recovery and operability concepts for lifeline infrastructure systems. Before opening a consulting firm, he led efforts to improve disaster resilience at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He has written over 180 technical publications and has investigated numerous earthquakes.
ICLR Friday Forum: Risk as analysis and risk as emotion (Jan 21, 2022)glennmcgillivray
On Friday, January 21, 2022 ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'Risk as analysis and risk as emotion', with Dr. Lucy Jones, founder and Chief Scientist of the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society.
Long before engineers existed, human beings evolved the concept of risk and appropriate responses to it. Psychologists have shown that we have parallel processing systems for risk, the analytical and the affective. The analytical is logical and slow, bringing reason and scientific deliberation to hazard management. The affective is our fast, instinctive and intuitive reactions to danger. Our survival has often depended on the affective system and thus we are wired to only act when our emotions are involved. Because unseen risks are more frightening, we take more precautions against nuclear accidents and earthquakes than other risks that are far more likely to kill us, such as car accidents. This talk will explore the various emotions that govern our response to risk and how this information can be used to encourage mitigation.
Dr. Lucy Jones is the founder and Chief Scientist of the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society, with a mission to foster the understanding and application of scientific information in the creation of more resilient communities, and a Research Associate at the Seismological Laboratory of Caltech. With a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Language and Literature from Brown University and a Ph.D. in Geophysics from MIT, Dr. Jones has been active in earthquake research for decades, furthering earthquake risk reduction, including 33 years of federal service with the US Geological Survey. Her work at the USGS included developing the methodology for estimating the probability that an earthquake will be a foreshock to a bigger event, leading the creation of a national science strategy for natural hazards research, creating the first American major earthquake drill, the Great ShakeOut, that has expanded to now encompass over 60 million participants around the world in 2019 and writing over 100 published papers on statistical seismology and integrated disaster scenarios.
ICLR Friday Forum: Development, Responsibility + Creation of Flood Risk in Ca...glennmcgillivray
On December 10, 2021, ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'Development, Responsibility, and the Creation of Flood Risk in Calgary, Alberta', led by Dr. Tim Haney, Mount Royal University.
Why do developers continue to build homes near rivers? Should municipal governments allow it? Should real estate agents be required to disclose a home's location in a floodplain? These are some of the questions we will explore in this talk. Based on interviews with Calgarians affected by the 2013 Southern Alberta Flood, Dr. Tim Haney's research looks at how they view the construction of new housing near Calgary's rivers, how they attribute responsibility for these new forms of risk, how they view developers and municipal government, and what they believe should be done to protect residents from flooding. The talk was based upon Dr. Haney's new article "Development, Responsibility, and the Creation of Urban Hazard Risk," and uses theory from urban political economy to understand and frame the ongoing creation of risk in Calgary.
Timothy J. Haney is Professor of Sociology at Mount Royal University in Calgary, and holds the inaugural Board of Governors Research Chair in Resilience & Sustainability. From 2014 to 2919 he served as the founding Director of the Centre for Community Disaster Research at MRU. He's a sociologist of disaster, environment, cities, and science, and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon. His research covers topics such as risk perception, social inequalities in disaster recovery, climate change beliefs, post-disaster environmental views, and urban politics. His research has been published in journals such as the Journal of Urban Affairs, Environmental Sociology, Disasters, Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, and The Sociological Quarterly. Dr. Haney lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and takes classes of MRU students to New Orleans to learn about disaster recovery while serving the community.
ICLR Friday Forum: Quantifying Risks for Canadian Homeowners Using Quake Cat ...glennmcgillivray
On November 19, 2021, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction held a webinar title 'Quantifying Financial Risks for Canadian Homeowners Using Earthquake Catastrophe Models", led by Katsuichiro Goda, PhD, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Multi-hazard Risk Assessment, Faulty of Science, Western University.
Earthquake insurance plays a pivotal role in the recovery from earthquake disasters and protects people from financial risks that damaging earthquakes pose. Currently there are significant earthquake insurance gaps between West (British Columbia) and East (Quebec). This presentation will discuss the quantification of financial insurance risks for Canadian homeowners. Possible causes of the earthquake insurance gap problems, such as risk perception and affordability, are investigated using the state-of-the-art earthquake catastrophe models and consumer survey results.
Dr Katsuichiro Goda is an Associate Professor and a Canada Research Chair in Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. His research is focused on catastrophic earthquake-related multi-hazard risk management from economic and societal viewpoints. He has received international recognition on his high-quality research through various awards and grants, including a prestigious 2012 Charles F. Richter Early Career Award given by the Seismological Society of America and a Humboldt Research Fellowship Award for experienced researchers by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He received the 2017 IASSAR Early Achievement Research Award given by the International Association for Structural Safety and Reliability.
ICLR Friday Forum: How Media Reports on Disaster Events (October 15, 2021)glennmcgillivray
On October 15, 2021, ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'Disaster Coverage: How Media Reports on Disaster Events', led by Kevin Quigley, PhD, Scholarly Director, Professor, School of Public Administration, Dalhousie University.
Media narratives play an important role in how we understand disaster events and how we hold public officials to account for their response. While media coverage of high impact-low probability events seems dramatic, in fact, it’s quite nuanced. Different types of events generate different types of coverage. Pandemics generate high volume and alarming media coverage. So, too, do terrorist attacks and industrial failures. In contrast, terrorist plots and natural disasters generate medium- to high-volume coverage that is mildly negative and at times positive towards officials. Media cover cybersecurity very little. This presentation will review the patterns and reflect on their consequences.
Kevin Quigley is a public administration scholar who specializes in risk governance and critical infrastructure, focusing in particular on public sector responses to rare and high impact events, such as pandemics, natural disasters, industrial failures and cyber and terrorist attacks. Dr. Quigley has published two critically acclaimed books on critical infrastructure, including his most recent, 'Too Critical to Fail: How Canada Manages Threats to Critical Infrastructure' (co-authored with Bisset and Mills) which was shortlisted for the 2018 Donner Prize, awarded for the best public policy book by a Canadian.
On September 24, 2021, ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'An evidence-based approach for Coastal Flood Risk Assessments', led by Nicky Hastings, Project Lead for the National Scale Geohazard Risk project within the Public Safety Geoscience Program at Natural Resources Canada
Canada has the longest coastline globally, approximately 243,000 kilometres of diverse geographies and geomorphologies, including fiords, arctic tundra, river delta's, bluffs and sandy or rocky beaches. The impacts of coastal flooding, tsunamis and related hazards vary across these landscapes. Approximately 6,570,000 people live in communities along Canada's coast. Many of them depend on the ocean to make their living in fisheries, shipping or other related industries. Our work applies science and technology (S&T) to advance operational capabilities, assess and model coastal hazards and risks at various scales across Canada. These assessments can better inform decisions that will reduce current and future risks and help communities adapt to a changing climate to become more resilient to these hazards. This presentation provides insights into a three-year collaborative project that brings together researchers and practitioners to work, share, demonstrate, provide guidance and integrate coastal flood models across Canada. These models are used to inform risk reduction decisions build resilience, support return on investment evaluations and buy-in for disaster risk reduction.
Nicky Hastings is the Project Lead for the National Scale Geohazard Risk project within the Public Safety Geoscience Program at Natural Resources Canada. Over the last 14 years, she has worked with a team to develop and adapt risk assessment methods to assess Canada's earthquake and flood risks. Nicky works closely with internal and external partners to better understand how scientific knowledge can inform decision making. Several initiatives are underway in the risk project, including a new five-year project under the Emergency Management Strategy that operationalizes evidence based methods to evaluate and prioritize earthquake risk reduction measures and other natural hazards.
ICLR Friday Forum: Part 1 - Canada’s National Guide for WUI Fires (August 20,...glennmcgillivray
On Friday, August 20, 2021, ICLR hosted a two-part webinar titled "The National Guide for Wildland Urban Interface Fires (Part 1), and an Impact Analysis of the National WUI Guide (Part 2).' Part one was led by Dr. Noureddine Bénichou, a Principal Research Officer at the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada.
Part 1: Canada’s National Guide for Wildland-Urban Interface Fires
A National Guide for Wildland-Urban Interface Fires, the first of its kind for Canada, was recently published by the National Research Council of Canada as part of the Climate-Resilient Buildings and Core Public Infrastructure (CRBCPI) initiative. The Guide is intended to mitigate the growing risk of damage and loss due to WUI fires by improving the resilience of buildings and communities to wildfire. Drawing on recent wildfire research, existing codes, standards and guidelines, and new insights from international experts, the Guide provides comprehensive support for the WUI areas of Canada, including information on hazard and exposure assessment, vegetation management and construction measures, and community planning, resources and outreach.
ICLR Friday Forum: Part 2 - National WUI Guide Impact Analysis (August 20, 2021)glennmcgillivray
On Friday, August 20, 2021, ICLR hosted a two-part webinar titled "The National Guide for Wildland Urban Interface Fires (Part 1), and an Impact Analysis of the National WUI Guide (Part 2).' Part two was led by Dr. Keith Porter, co-principal of SPA Risk LLC, an applied-research firm specializing in multihazard disaster risk to buildings and lifelines.
Part 2: National WUI Guide Impact Analysis
With NRC support, ICLR collaborated with SPA Risk LLC and several stakeholders to examine the impacts of following NRC’s WUI Fire Guide. Following the Guide for new construction can produce benefits that exceed the approximately $5/square-foot costs by 32:1, and more when one can rely on vegetation management. Retrofitting existing buildings, with somewhat higher costs, can save up to 14:1 in high-hazard locations. Application of the WUI Guide across Canada would add $125 billion to construction and retrofit costs over 10 years but avoid $500 billion in future losses, create 20,000 jobs, save 2,300 lives, avoid 17,000 nonfatal injuries, and protect $1 billion in tax revenues. The impact analysis suggests that the guide makes good financial sense for Canada.
ICLR special webinar: Observations from the 07/15/2021 Barrie Tornado (July 2...glennmcgillivray
On July 28, 2021 ICLR conducted a special webinar titled 'Observations from the July 15, 2021 Barrie Tornado' led by Greg Kopp of Western University Engineering, ImpactWX Chair in Severe Storms Engineering, and Project Leader of the Northern Tornadoes Project.
In this session, Dr. Greg Kopp reviewed findings he and his team documented while conducting an investigation of the aftermath of the July 15 tornado in Barrie, Ontario. The EF2-rated storm damaged approximately 150 homes, with 71 deemed by the City as “too dangerous to enter.” Dr. Kopp and his team arrived in Barrie within hours of the storm.
Dr. Greg Kopp is the ImpactWX Chair in Severe Storms Engineering and a professor in Western University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He received a B.Sc.M.E. from the University of Manitoba in 1989, a M.Eng. from McMaster University in 1991 and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto in 1995. His expertise and research relate to mitigating damage to structures during extreme wind storms such as tornadoes and hurricanes. He works actively to implement research findings into practice, currently serving as Chair of the ASCE 49 Standards Committee on Wind Tunnel Testing For Buildings and other Structures, and as a member of various other Building Code committees. A former Canada Research Chair in Wind Engineering, he is also the lead researcher for the Three Little Pigs Project at The Insurance Research Lab for Better Homes.
On July 16, 2021 ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'Edmonton's approach to stormwater flood management', led by Susan Ancel, Director of One Water Planning for EPCOR Water Services in Edmonton, Alberta. EPCOR has developed a $1.6 billion Stormwater Integrated Resource Plan (SIRP) to mitigate the impacts of flooding in the community. SIRP envisions all stakeholders – citizens, businesses, industry, the City of Edmonton and EPCOR working together to build a flood-resilient future. The goal is to Slow, Move, Secure, Predict and Respond to flooding events to prevent or reduce the impact. EPCOR’s planned flood mitigations projects will take 20 years to complete. The types of projects that are included in SIRP include dry ponds, low impact development, tunnels, combined sewer separation, outfall control gates, inflow/infiltration reduction, building flood proofing, increased sensors and automatic controls and emergency response equipment. The plan was developed through consultation with Climate Change Adaptation, Insurance and Financial sector groups across North America.
Susan Ancel is the Director of One Water Planning for EPCOR Water Services in Edmonton, Alberta. In her prior role, she was Director of Stormwater Strategies, where she was responsible for developing an Integrated Resource Plan for flood mitigation that considered capital and operational risk mitigation planning, as well as the interrelationships between utilities, insurance, disaster response agencies and the public. Prior to her Stormwater Strategies role she was the Director of Water Distribution and Transmission for EPCOR. Susan is a Mechanical engineer with over 30 years’ experience with the municipal utility sector. She has also served on numerous industry committees including the Board of Directors for the Geospatial Information Technology Association (GITA) from 2001 to 2007 and was President of GITA in 2006. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Canadian Water Network.
ICLR Friday Forum: Floodplain mapping over Canada: performance at inundation...glennmcgillivray
ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar on June 18, 2021 titled 'Floodplain mapping over Canada: Investigating performance at inundation level and understanding dynamics of population flood exposure', led by Dr. Slobodan Simonovic, Director of Engineering Studies, ICLR/Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Western University.
Surface runoff estimates from atmospheric re-analysis datasets are increasingly preferred by hydrologists for modelling floods in regions where traditional observations are not sufficiently available. This presentation explores the fidelity of four widely used re-analyses runoff products as hydraulic forcings to a flood inundation model in describing inundation dynamics over Canada. The re-analysis obtained runoff is used with the Catchment-based Macroscale Floodplain (CaMa-Flood) global hydrodynamic model, to derive high-resolution floodplain maps for 100 and 200-yr return periods. The floodplain maps derived from each reanalysis dataset are compared with the regional developed or ‘benchmark floodplain maps’ over six selected flood-prone basins (test basins) in Canada through a set of performance statistics. Using the superior reanalysis runoff dataset, a few historic flood events over the test basins are simulated and subsequently compared with MODIS satellite-derived floodplain information. We notice that more than 75% of the inundation is precisely captured for these events.
The second part of the presentation will focus on the use of four global population datasets (together with census data from Statistics Canada as the reference), their performances and skill in flood exposure assessment across Canada. The flood exposure is quantified based on a set of floodplain maps for Canada derived from the CaMa-Flood global flood model. To obtain further insights at the regional level, the methodology is implemented over six flood-prone River Basins in Canada. We find that about 9% (3.31 million) and 11% (3.90 million) of the Canadian population resides within 1 in 100-yr and 1 in 200-yr floodplains.
This work (i) strongly supports the need for careful selection of a re-analysis dataset while performing inundation modelling for large regions: and (ii) also highlights the need for careful selection of population datasets for preventing further amplification of uncertainties in flood risk. The results derived from this study may be useful for flood risk management and contribute to understanding other disaster impacts on human-environment interrelationships.
ICLR wildfire season forecast 2021 (May 20, 2021)glennmcgillivray
This is a forecast of the 2021 wildfire season led by Richard Carr from the Canadian Forest Service. The webinar summarizes the current conditions in Canada and provided a forecast for the 2021 wildfire season.
ICLR Friday Forum: Driving resilience forward with research (April 16, 2021)glennmcgillivray
On April 16, 2021, ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'Narrow the Path of Damage: Driving resilience forward with research', led by Anne Cope, PhD, Chief Engineer at the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.
Severe weather disrupts lives, displaces families and drives financial loss. Anne Cope, PhD, Chief Engineer at IBHS, discussed the Institute’s latest research investigating wind, wind-driven rain, hail, and wildfire. From how wildfires burn to how hail damages a roof, top-tier science delivers actionable insights for the insurance industry and homeowners. Anne will demonstrate how IBHS is working to motivate resilience through research to drive down losses and support thriving communities.
Anne D. Cope, PhD, P.E., Chief Engineer: Dr. Anne Cope joined IBHS in 2009 just a few months before the groundbreaking for the construction of the IBHS Research Center in Richburg, South Carolina. As the Chief Engineer, she leads the development of research programs to improve the performance of structures in hurricanes, wildfires, severe thunderstorms, and hailstorms as well as the team of engineers, scientists, and skilled craftsman who conduct research on full-scale homes and commercial buildings. She is responsible for the team’s implementation of research findings into building codes and standards.
Prior to joining IBHS, Dr. Cope was a project manager and structural engineer with Reynolds, Smith & Hills, Inc., designing projects for NASA, Department of Defense, and commercial launch operations. Dr. Cope’s research encompasses topics ranging from the full-scale simulation of wind effects on buildings to detailed studies of the vulnerabilities of buildings to natural hazards and the development of damage prediction models. She is also a proud veteran of the United States Army. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Clemson University, and her doctorate from the University of Florida. She is a registered professional engineer in Florida and South Carolina.
On Friday, March 19, 2021, ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'Solutions for Tantramar marshes flooding', led by Dr. Jeff 0llerhead, Professor, Geography and Environment Department, Mount Allison University.
Most former salt marshes in the Tantramar region of Atlantic Canada are now protected by dykes and are used primarily for agriculture. This has been true for decades to centuries and, as such, their elevation can be as much as 2 m below that of undyked salt marshes in the region. The key environmental drivers shaping the marshes are changing over time with climate change. The rate of relative sea level (RSL) rise is accelerating and there is some evidence that storms are becoming more frequent and sea ice is diminishing. The risk of a catastrophic dyke failure and associated flooding increases each year. Risk from inland flooding is also increasing.
Possible solutions include a combination of: (i) raise and reenforce the dyke system, (ii) realign existing dykes and restore salt marshes to provide natural protection, and (iii) remove existing dykes and allow the system to return to a natural state. The highest priority for managing our salt marshes should be to provide them with sufficient accommodation space into which they can transgress naturally.
Jeff 0llerhead is a member of the Geography and Environment Department at Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB. He is a coastal geomorphologist who studies beaches and salt marshes. In recent years, he has been particularly involved in designing and monitoring salt marsh restorations in the upper Bay of Fundy.
ICLR Friday Forum: Canmore: Working toward a FireSmart community (Feb 26, 2021)glennmcgillivray
On February 26, 2021, ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar title 'Town of Canmore: Working Towards a FireSmart Community, led by Kerri Martens, Deputy Chief of Canmore Fire Rescue and Stew Wilkenshaw, owner/operator of Montane Forest Management.
The Town of Canmore is located in southwestern Alberta between Calgary and Banff. The Bow Valley had a rich wildfire history and has evolved from centuries of wildfire. Wildfire exclusion for the past 80+ years and development in the Town of Canmore has resulted in a wildland/urban interface fire threat that requires attention.
Stew Walkinshaw and Keri Martens discussed the wildland/urban interface threat within and surrounding the Bow Valley and the steps that have been taken over the past 20+ years to reduce the threat.
Keri Martens
Keri Martens, MA, is the Deputy Fire Chief of Canmore Fire Rescue. She has been involved in the fire service for over 20 years, originally starting her career as a paid responder and then taking on the position of Fire Chief for the Lake Louise Fire Department in Alberta. Keri took on the role of Deputy Chief with Canmore Fire Rescue in 2018 where her responsibilities include overseeing the Town’s FireSmart program including the implementation of the Home Assessment program along with yearly FireSmart Forums for community residents.
Chief Martens sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs and chairs the CAFC’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. She holds a Masters degree in Disaster and Emergency Management and is a member of Canada Task Force 2. Keri is married with 2 children and enjoys all the recreational perks of living in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Stew Walkinshaw
Stew Wilkenshaw is owner/operator of Montane Forest Management, based out of Canmore, and provides FireSmart specialist services to the Town of Canmore. He has specialized in FireSmart community planning and wildland/urban interface fire operations in western Canada since 1993.
ICLR Friday Forum: What's that sound?: Residents' reaction during a tsunami e...glennmcgillivray
On January 15, 2021, ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'What's that sound?: How Residents Responded During a Tsunami Evacuation on Vancouver Island and How Similar Evacuations Might be Improved", led by Ryan P. Reynolds, MGIS, PhD, Post Doctoral Research Fellow, School of Community and Regional Planning, University of B.C.
It’s 3am on an early Tuesday morning, and you wake to the sound of a warning siren. You realize it’s your community’s tsunami warning system, and listen as it broadcasts instructions to evacuate the tsunami inundation zone and seek shelter on higher ground. You aren’t sure if you live in the inundation zone or not. What do you do? Dr. Reynolds conducted parallel door-to-door and online surveys to better understand how Port Alberni residents responded to this exact scenario on an early January morning in 2018. He wanted to learn how and when residents learned about the tsunami warning, what actions they took to respond, and where evacuees sought safety. We also wanted to explore residents’ views on how the evacuation was conducted by emergency officials and how the event may have changed their perceptions of tsunami risk in the community. In this webinar, findings were discussed from over 450 public surveys and interviews with 11 community and regional emergency officials in the Alberni Valley and highlight some best practices to improve future evacuations.
ICLR Friday Forum: Safety + serviceability of mass timber buildings for wind ...glennmcgillivray
On December 11, 2020 ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'Ensuring safety and serviceability of tall mass timber buildings for wind', led by Dr. Girma Bitsuamlak of Western University.
The past two decades have seen the continuing global recognition of tall-wood buildings as a sustainable alternative to address urban densification and sprawl issues. Recent design strategies are using wood as the primary construction material for tall buildings. Alan Davenport’s wind-load-chain indicates that the wind response of structures is governed by their aerodynamic features (shape), wind speed and direction (micro-climate), and dynamic properties (weight, stiffness, and damping). The use of wood panels to construct the lateral and gravity systems of the tall-wood building makes them lightweight and less stiff than buildings made from conventional construction materials. Frequent exposure to wind-induced oscillations can cause discomfort to occupants and deflection related serviceability problems.
A coordinated wind research program was launched in January 2016 between FPInnovations, The University of British Columbia, and Western University. The research program includes aerodynamic and aeroelastic investigations of dozens of tall-wood building case studies in the boundary layer wind tunnel laboratory. It also includes a tornadic wind load study at the WindEEE dome. This talk summarized the main findings of the research program. For all case studies, safety and serviceability criteria were satisfied. However, for heights exceeding ninety meters, either aerodynamic optimization, or supplemental damping, or “wind bracing” through different hybridization techniques is required to satisfy the serviceability criteria of the 2015 National Building Code of Canada.
Girma T. Bitsuamlak, PhD, PEng, F CSCE
Professor and Canada Research Chair in Wind Engineering at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Research Director at Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Lab. (BLWTL) and WindEEE Research Institute, Site leader at SHARCNET, Western University.
ICLR Friday Forum: Reducing the risk of fire following earthquake in B.C. (No...glennmcgillivray
On November 13, 2020, ICLR conducted a Friday Forum webinar titled 'Reducing the risk of fire following earthquake in the Lower Mainland, B.C.' led by Dr. Charles Scawthorn.
The Lower Mainland of British Columbia has significant risk due to earthquakes and the fires that follow them. Modeling was performed that accounted for fire department response, water system damage, weather and other conditions and the growth and ultimate final burnt area of fires. The resulting losses are estimated to be from nil to about C$10 billion. These are median estimates – there are significant probabilities of greater or less damage and the range is a function of the specific earthquake scenario (i.e., location and magnitude), time of day, weather and other factors. This loss would be almost entirely insured and would have a very significant impact on the Canadian insurance industry. Fire losses would come on top of shaking and other losses which would be insured to a lesser extent. A leading global reinsurer has stated that losses of this magnitude would likely result in failure of some insurers, would entail secondary and contingent losses, and could conceivably lead to financial contagion.
This risk need not be tolerated and indeed the Province of British Columbia, City of Vancouver, and regional agencies such as Metro Vancouver and BC Hydro have implemented excellent programs to reduce this risk. Further actions however can still be taken to reduce the risk of fire damage and include creation of a regional portable water supply system, providing secondary water supplies for high-rise buildings, and improvements in the region’s energy infrastructure. In this respect two actions have been de rigueur in other regions, and should be considered in the Lower Mainland: (a) a review of the overall seismic vulnerability and reliability of major energy facilities; (b) review of the gas distribution operator’s ability to control and isolate its transmission and distribution networks in the event of a major earthquake, and consideration by the operator of incorporating an automatic gas shutoff device in gas meters.
This webinar presented the modeling and results, and discussed opportunities for mitigation.
Charles Scawthorn (cscawthorn@sparisk.com ) is Principal of SPA Risk LLC and is internationally recognized as an authority for the analysis and mitigation of natural and technological hazards. He retired in 2008 as Professor and head of the Earthquake Disaster Prevention Systems Laboratory, Kyoto University (Japan), has been Visiting Professor at Stanford, Beijing Normal and Waseda (Tokyo) Universities and is now Visiting Researcher, Univ. California at Berkeley. He consults with the global insurance industry, the World Bank, local/state/federal agencies and Global 1000 corporations.
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. It marked the decline of absolute monarchies, the rise of secular and democratic republics, and the eventual rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. This revolutionary period is crucial in understanding the transition from feudalism to modernity in Europe.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Introduction to AI for Nonprofits with Tapp NetworkTechSoup
Dive into the world of AI! Experts Jon Hill and Tareq Monaur will guide you through AI's role in enhancing nonprofit websites and basic marketing strategies, making it easy to understand and apply.
The Roman Empire A Historical Colossus.pdfkaushalkr1407
The Roman Empire, a vast and enduring power, stands as one of history's most remarkable civilizations, leaving an indelible imprint on the world. It emerged from the Roman Republic, transitioning into an imperial powerhouse under the leadership of Augustus Caesar in 27 BCE. This transformation marked the beginning of an era defined by unprecedented territorial expansion, architectural marvels, and profound cultural influence.
The empire's roots lie in the city of Rome, founded, according to legend, by Romulus in 753 BCE. Over centuries, Rome evolved from a small settlement to a formidable republic, characterized by a complex political system with elected officials and checks on power. However, internal strife, class conflicts, and military ambitions paved the way for the end of the Republic. Julius Caesar’s dictatorship and subsequent assassination in 44 BCE created a power vacuum, leading to a civil war. Octavian, later Augustus, emerged victorious, heralding the Roman Empire’s birth.
Under Augustus, the empire experienced the Pax Romana, a 200-year period of relative peace and stability. Augustus reformed the military, established efficient administrative systems, and initiated grand construction projects. The empire's borders expanded, encompassing territories from Britain to Egypt and from Spain to the Euphrates. Roman legions, renowned for their discipline and engineering prowess, secured and maintained these vast territories, building roads, fortifications, and cities that facilitated control and integration.
The Roman Empire’s society was hierarchical, with a rigid class system. At the top were the patricians, wealthy elites who held significant political power. Below them were the plebeians, free citizens with limited political influence, and the vast numbers of slaves who formed the backbone of the economy. The family unit was central, governed by the paterfamilias, the male head who held absolute authority.
Culturally, the Romans were eclectic, absorbing and adapting elements from the civilizations they encountered, particularly the Greeks. Roman art, literature, and philosophy reflected this synthesis, creating a rich cultural tapestry. Latin, the Roman language, became the lingua franca of the Western world, influencing numerous modern languages.
Roman architecture and engineering achievements were monumental. They perfected the arch, vault, and dome, constructing enduring structures like the Colosseum, Pantheon, and aqueducts. These engineering marvels not only showcased Roman ingenuity but also served practical purposes, from public entertainment to water supply.
Palestine last event orientationfvgnh .pptxRaedMohamed3
An EFL lesson about the current events in Palestine. It is intended to be for intermediate students who wish to increase their listening skills through a short lesson in power point.
Digital Tools and AI for Teaching Learning and Research
Cat Tales July/August 2015
1. New ICLR publication
Risk reduction status of homes reconstructed following
wildfire disasters in Canada
e-newsletter of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction
Volume 9, Issue 4
July/August 2015
ICLR Board of Directors
Kathy Bardswick (Chair)
The Co-operators
Barbara Bellissimo
State Farm
Charmaine Dean
Western
Louis Gagnon
Intact
Andy Hrymak
Western
Paul Kovacs
ICLR
Kenn Lalonde
TD Insurance
Sharon Ludlow
Aviva Canada
Sean Murphy
Lloyd’s Canada
Gene Paulsen
Peace Hills
Brian Timney
Western
Johnathan Turner
Swiss Re
Philipp Wassenberg
Munich Re Canada
ICLR’s latest study looks into an
aspect of wildfire disaster mitigation
and recovery that has not been
previously investigated. While
previous research has focused on
wildfire risk mitigations that
homeowners should implement,
those that they intend on
implementing, or their attitudes
towards mitigation and risk, this
investigation sought to answer the
question “To what degree have
homeowners actually adopted and
implemented FireSmart measures
to mitigate the risk of future wildfire
losses?”
The two worst wildland/
urban interface (WUI) fire disasters
in modern Canadian history, the
2003 Okanagan Mountain
Provincial Park wildfire at Kelowna,
British Columbia, and the 2011 Flat
Top Complex of wildfires at Slave
Lake, Alberta, occurred within a
decade of each other. Each was a
tragedy of national scale.
However, these
catastrophic circumstances also
offered a rare occasion to better
understand and
improve upon
the effectiveness
of community
wildfire
protection
and risk
mitigation/
education
programs. This
study assessed
current wildfire
hazard
at 445 homes reconstructed since
these wildfires against
recommended FireSmart®
guidelines. This comparison created
a reliable measure of the degree to
which FireSmart guidelines have
been accepted and adopted by
homeowners.
This study focused on
hazard mitigations applied by
residents at, or very near to, private
homes. It did not assess the broad
scale wildfire mitigations being
applied by Kelowna or Slave Lake
authorities on public lands, such as
extensive fuel treatments, fire
guards, public education initiatives,
and other FireSmart activities
identified in their progressive
Community Wildfire Protection
Plans. The latter actions are also
important and complementary to
mitigations employed in backyards
by local residents.
In general, results of this
investigation showed that a few
FireSmart solutions have
been widely adopted by
homeowners, others in part, ►
Inside this issue:
New ICLR publication 2
Flood-related projects
at ICLR
3, 4/7
Wanted: New
products
5
Preliminary losses:
1H2015
6
2. 2
and some very little or not at all.
The degree of adoption for
known risk mitigations varied
between geographic areas,
between different categories of
wildfire hazards, within
categories of related hazard
factors, and spatially within the
home ignition zone. Equally
important, the study revealed
similarities among levels of
adoption for some risk
mitigations. Differences between
urban centres and more rural
settings were minor. Overall,
twice as many wildfire hazard
factors received a poor adoption
grade, than those that attained
an “excellent” rating.
Specifically, the degree
to which guidelines have been
adopted at private homes was
rated good at Slave Lake, but fair
to poor at Kelowna study sites.
Only conditions at Slave Lake
study sites could be confidently
rated as “FireSmart.” Present
conditions at Kelowna study sites
could result in a repeat of 2003
events in those neighbourhoods.
Spatial analysis of
hazards within the home ignition
zone revealed that the greatest
degree of hazard, and lowest
compliance with guidelines,
existed in the most critical area
(i.e. the home and the first 10m
beyond). Without exception, it
was concluded that the lowest
levels of compliance pertained to
guidelines for mitigating hazards
associated with vegetation/fuel
conditions in all fuel layers, and
in all three FireSmart Priority
Zones. Nearly 60% of all wildfire
hazards were attributed to
deficiencies in vegetation/fuel
mitigations, whereas the hazard
apportioned to each of the
structural, ignition site, and
topographic categories of
hazards ranged from 17% to
10%.
Altogether, the
investigation resulted in sixteen
recommendations. These
address levels of FireSmart
adoption; communication,
awareness, and community
engagement; vegetation
management; home construction
and building materials;
miscellaneous ignition factors;
and the wildfire hazard
assessment system itself.
The author made nine
key recommendations in the
study.
While investigation
results warrant optimism that
persistent programs of wildfire
risk education and awareness
are making progress to alleviate
some important hazard factors, it
is apparent that we are failing in
regard to other hazard factors,
including some of the most
critical. This study justifies
concern that low FireSmart
adoption likely prevails in
hundreds of other fire-prone
communities across Canada.
Wildland/urban interface
disasters are expected to
become more frequent in the
future. Adapting current
programs to promote increased
adoption of wildfire risk mitigation
and to reduce the risk of
catastrophic losses should
become an urgent priority for
insurers, urban planners,
municipal administrators,
researchers, fire prevention
educators and public safety
officials at all levels of
government.
‘Risk reduction status of
homes reconstructed following
wildfire disasters in Canada’ can
be downloaded at www.iclr.org
CT
Risk reduction status of homes cont...
Author
Alan Westhaver, M.Sc. Principal,
ForestWise Environmental Consulting
Ltd., Fernie, B.C.
Alan Westhaver holds degrees in forestry
and wildlife biology from the University of
Montana. He recently retired following 34
years of service to Parks Canada, 27 of
them as a senior wildland fire manager.
His passion for the wildland/urban
interface runs deep. He is a past
president of Partners in Protection, served
on its Board of Directors (1992-2012), and
co-chaired the working group that
developed and published the original
FireSmart manual: Protecting Your
Community from Wildfire in 1999.
Between 1999 and 2012, in conjunction
with the Foothills Research Institute and
the Municipality of Jasper, he planned,
managed, and implemented a
comprehensive community wildfire
protection program for the Town of
Jasper, Alberta. The project merged
ecological restoration and wildfire
protection objectives and involved more
than 1,000 hectares of mechanical and
manual forest treatments. It was lauded
for its many innovations with regards to
communications, community
engagement, and environmental
sensitivity. This real-world experiment
resulted in his 2006 M.Sc. thesis which
integrated knowledge from wildland fire
behavior, forestry, wildlife biology and
social sciences to produce ecologically
based fuel treatments attuned to the
aesthetic concerns of WUI residents - and
well supported by the public. Since
retirement, Alan continues to provide
services in the fields of wildland fire
behavior analysis, community wildfire
protection, FireSmart training, and
environmental impact assessment
through his Fernie-based consulting
company. Alan and his wife, Lisa, spend
much time camping, cycling and
exploring, and are beginning to develop a
fondness for the desert.
3. 3
ICLR continues to engage in a
wide range of activities aimed at
reducing basement and urban
flood risk for communities across
Canada. Much of this work is
related to ICLR’s focus on lot-
level mitigation, but specific
projects on management of urban
flood risk through improvement of
infrastructure have been a
growing emphasis for ICLR. This
article briefly summarizes some
of the ongoing urban flood
mitigation work at ICLR.
Lot-level mitigation measures:
Scientific evidence on
reliability and maintenance
ICLR is partnering with Prof.
Andrew Binns of the School of
Engineering at the University of
Guelph to study several aspects
of lot-level flood mitigation
measures. The first part of this
project, which began in August,
involves developing an apparatus
and to measure long-term
reliability issues and maintenance
requirements for backwater
valves. Future work will involve
testing various types of
backwater valves (e.g., valves
placed in the interior and exterior
of homes, bladder-type valves,
among other products), as well
as several other aspects of lot-
level flood mitigation (for
example, reliability of sump pump
systems, issues related to
sanitary laterals and issues
related to the complexity of
basement flooding, such as how
gravel beds beneath floor slabs
contribute to basement flooding
and regional sewer backup risk).
Testing will take place at UWO’s
Insurance Research Lab for
Better Homes in London, Ontario.
The project is being
guided by a technical committee
comprised of municipal
wastewater and stormwater staff
and insurer representatives.
Initial results of the project should
be available in early 2016 and will
inform continued ICLR outputs
aimed at the public and technical
audiences, including ongoing
work on building code issues.
Building the case to manage
Inflow/Infiltration (I&I) in new
urban subdivisions
ICLR and the Regions of Peel
and York are currently working
with Norton Engineering to
develop evidence concerning
infiltration/inflow1
rates in new
urban developments. Though
common sense would suggest
that brand new developments
would have negligible amounts of
excess water entering sanitary
systems, the experience of many
municipalities suggests that I/I
rates are much higher in new
developments than would be
expected. This work was
motivated by the experience of
several southern Ontario
municipalities with new
subdivisions and by the recent
ICLR report authored by Prof.
Ted Kesik (U of T) entitled Best
Management Practices for the
Management of Inflow and
Infiltration in New Urban
Developments.
Project team members
are currently rounding up sanitary
sewer flow monitoring data from
new subdivisions collected by
various municipalities in Ontario.
The intent of
the project is
to provide
evidence to
promote
regulation of
I/I in new
develop-
ments and to
identify
issues
related to
construction
and
inspection
practices that may affect I/I rates.
Public and stakeholder
education
Development of public and
technical resources to assist both
the public and professionals
involved in the management of
urban flood risk continues to be
one of the core activities of ICLR.
Currently, ICLR is building its
capacity in this area through in
three areas, including:
Development of accessible
information on lot-level
measures;
The ongoing “Showcase
Homes” program, and;
Social marketing research in
partnership with Credit Valley
Conservation Authority.
Over the last few months, ICLR
released a new guide entitled
Focus on Sump Pumps. The
guide outlines various important
aspects related to the proper
installation and maintenance of
sump pumps for homeowners.
ICLR is currently developing the
second in this series of
publications, entitled Focus on
Backwater Valves. Further,
basement flooding continues to
be an emphasis of ICLR’s
Showcase Homes program, with
recent basement flood retrofits
completed in Burlington
(December 2014) and Windsor
(May 2015). ►
An update on urban flood-related projects at ICLR
By Dan Sandink, Manager, Resilient Cities and Research, ICLR
An example of I/I, as identified through
flow monitoring in a sanitary system
(Kesik/ICLR 2015)
4. 4
ICLR is working with
Credit Valley Conservation
Authority on the development of a
social marketing strategy focused
both on lot-level green
infrastructure measures and
basement flood mitigation. This
project will identify opportunities
to identify social marketing
approaches to encourage
homeowners to mitigate flood
risk. Specifically, the work aims to
identify internal motivators that
affect homeowner decisions to
undertake property
improvements. Typically
programs aimed at homeowner
risk reduction activities focus on
the technical advantages of
mitigation measures – like
reducing risk and reducing
contributions of stormwater to
municipal systems through
downspout disconnection. There
is evidence to suggest, however,
that property owners may be
more likely to engage in home
improvement activities for other
reasons, for example improving
the aesthetics of their homes and
properties.
The goal of the work will
be to identify factors that motivate
homeowners to undertake risk
reduction measures, aside from
the traditionally emphasized
technical reasons, and use these
motivators to promote mitigation
activities. The work will also
identify how contractors and
suppliers,
including
home
improvement
stores and
plumbers,
can be
better
motivated to
encourage
homeowners
to undertake
risk
reduction
work.
Understanding and promoting
best practices
Cities Adapt to Extreme Rainfall,
released in December 2014,
continues to generate interest in
ICLR’s work related to
management of urban flood risk.
The book was sent to municipal
councils and mayors across
Canada, including Calgary,
Brampton, Edmonton, Gatineau,
Halifax, Hamilton, Kitchener,
Laval, Longueuil, Mississauga,
Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City,
Saskatoon, Surrey, Vancouver,
Windsor, Winnipeg, Regina and
St. John’s. In several cases,
municipal public servants
requested copies to be provided
directly to city councils to educate
them on urban flood, I/I, and
stormwater management issues.
So far ICLR
staff have been
invited to give
dozens of
presentations
based on the
book to local,
provincial and
national
groups. Later
in 2015, ICLR,
in partnership
with Health
Canada, plans
to release the
second book in
this series, this
time focusing on 20 case studies
of cities management of extreme
heat risk.
Improving building codes and
standards
ICLR continues its involvement in
building code issues related to
management of urban flood risk,
including advising code officials,
provincial and federal code
professionals on various issues
related to management of urban
flood risk through adaptation and
implementation of building and
plumbing codes. ICLR staff have
recently joined a Underwriters’
Laboratories of Canada/ULC
technical committee focused on
the development of standards on
methods designed to reduce
sewer backup risk, including
backwater valves. The first task
of the committee is to develop a
technical standard on “smart”
systems designed to mitigate
basement flood risk (specifically,
sensor controlled, electronic
systems that rely on air-filled
bladders to block sewer
connections during sewer backup
events). The technical committee
will also explore the development
of standards related to other
aspects of lot-level sewer backup
risk reduction, including
alternative measures to
backwater valves. ►
An update on urban flood-related projects at ICLR cont...
Window well installation in the Burlington
home, November 2014.
ML-FR4 backwater valve installation in
Windsor home.
5. 5
This year may go down as the
worst year ever for wildfires in
British Columbia. While, to date,
insured damages have been
relatively low (despite 29 homes
being lost in Rock Creek),
suppression costs have been well
above average. Indeed, the
province blew through its $63
million wildfire fighting budget by
the end of June, and Premier
Christy Clark has estimated that
suppression costs may reach
$400 million for the year.
Suppression costs are
also up in Alberta which, by mid-
August, had already experienced
a year’s worth of wildfires (1,600
so far). And Saskatchewan isn’t
faring much better, with estimates
that suppression costs will
exceed $100 million when all is
said and done, significantly
higher than the $56 million
budget set aside for 2015.
But with insured damage
nowhere near that experienced in
Kelowna in 2003 and Slave Lake
in 2011, why should the industry
care about high wildfire
suppression costs?
In ‘Narrowing the gap
between insured and economic
damage from natural
hazards’ (http://bit.ly/1ERW5Nl) I
wrote that the insurance
coverage gap spells opportunity
for the (re)insurance
industry. In essence,
the gap exists – in
part – either because
the proper insurance
products have yet to
exist or because no
one from the (re)
insurance industry
has reached out (to
governments in
particular) to offer
solutions to fill voids
in coverage.
But the
Canadian (re)
insurance sector has
shown that it is capable of great
innovation.
A number of years ago, a
block of reinsurers provided a
fairly simple stop-loss product to
the province of Alberta that was
designed to kick in should wildfire
suppression costs exceed a
certain level (the state of Oregon
has been purchasing such
coverage from Lloyd’s of London
for several decades). The product
was only in force for a year or two
before the province opted not to
renew. Nothing quite like it had
been seen in Canada before, and
nothing has been seen like it
since. But it shows the type of
(dare I say it) ‘out of the box’
thinking that is possible.
There is nothing stopping
such a product from being put
into place again. What’s more, it
can be used as a model for other,
similar products.
Imagine a cover that
kicks in if snow or debris removal
expenses exceed a certain
threshold, or one that reimburses
a municipality or utility if overtime
costs exceed a certain amount
because of an extreme weather
event (like the 2013 Christmas
ice storm in the GTA).
How about a simple stop-
loss cover that kicks in if federal
Disaster Financial Assistance
Arrangements (DFAAs) exceed a
certain amount, or what if the
DFAAs were laid off to the
reinsurance industry altogether?
How about a product that
provides coverage for municipal
assets such as roads, sewers
and culverts, which generally fall
outside the usual products
offered by traditional insurance or
reciprocal exchanges?
What about a parametric
cover that kicks in if a rainstorm
or snowstorm of a certain size
affects a community?
Or how about a cat bond
for a city or province?
The possibilities aren’t
endless, but there are many of
them to be sure. And while some
solutions may require blazing
wholly new trails, other solutions
– like those involving simple stop-
loss covers and other traditional
reinsurance products – can easily
borrow from the past.
Essentially, when a
natural disaster strikes, taxpayers
are – in one way or another – left
holding the bag.
Why not leverage the
capital strength and expertise of
the (re)insurance industry and
lighten the financial burden that is
placed on citizens?
In many cases, it’s not
hard to do.
We’ve
already proven that
we can think
innovatively in the
area, we just need
to do a better job of
reaching out, and
explaining the
possibilities.
CT
Wanted: New products to lighten the financial burden
placed on taxpayers from disasters
By Glenn McGillivray, Managing Director, ICLR
6. 6
According to preliminary Swiss
Re sigma estimates, total
economic losses from natural
catastrophes and man-made
disasters reached USD 37 billion
in the first half of 2015. The
global insurance industry covered
nearly 45% (USD 16.5 billion) of
these losses, which is higher than
the previous 10-year average
cover of 27%. Around 18,000
people lost their lives in disaster
events in H1 2015, up from more
than 4,800 in the first half of last
year. The earthquakes in Nepal,
and a heatwave in India and
Pakistan, claimed the highest
number of victims.
Natural catastrophes
caused total economic losses of
USD 33 billion in the first half of
the year, well below the USD 54
billion in H1 2014 and also the
average first-half year loss over
the previous 10 years (USD 99
billion). Of the overall insured
losses, USD 12.9 billion came
from natural disasters, down from
nearly USD 20 billion in H1 2014
and again below the average first
-half year loss of the previous 10
years (USD 25 billion). The
costliest natural catastrophes for
the insurance industry resulted
from severe winter weather and
thunderstorms in the U.S. and
Europe. In February, a winter
storm in the northeastern U.S.
caused
insurance losses
of USD 1.8
billion, the
highest loss of
any event so far
this year. Man-
made disasters,
meanwhile,
triggered an
additional USD
3.6 billion in
overall insurance
losses in H1
2015.
Disaster
events claimed
many lives in the
first six months
of 2015. In all,
around 18,000
people lost their lives. There were
more than 9,000 fatalities in the
earthquakes that struck Nepal in
close succession in April and
May, the largest loss of life due to
any natural catastrophes so far
this year. The quakes also left
many people homeless. The
economic losses in Nepal are
estimated to be more than USD 5
billion. Of those, only around
USD 160 million were insured
losses.
"The tragic events in
Nepal are a reminder of the utility
of insurance," says Kurt Karl,
Chief Economist at Swiss Re.
"Insurance cover does not lessen
the emotional trauma that natural
catastrophes inflict, but it can
help people better manage the
financial fallout from disasters so
they can start to rebuild their
lives".
In the same region, India
and Pakistan were hit by a
severe heat wave in May and
June. Temperatures soared to
48°C, the highest recorded since
1995. It is estimated that more
than 2,500 people died in India
and 1,500 in Pakistan as a result
of the extreme heat.
Another factor in the high
number of victims of disaster
events in the first half of this year
is the number of migrants who
have died attempting to reach
Europe from conflict zones in
northern Africa, often in
unseaworthy vessels. In search
of a better life, sadly these people
have instead lost their lives as
the boats capsized while carrying
them across the Mediterranean.
CT
Preliminary losses for 1H 2015 $37 billion, number of
victims rise: Swiss Re
7. 7
Climate change and
stormwater management
design standards
IDF curve information is typically
calculated based on historical
rainfall events and does not
account for the impacts of climate
change, and information on how
climate change might affect the
frequency of extreme rainfall
events has historically been out
of reach of most municipal
infrastructure managers. The
intention of the IDFCC tool was to
provide access to a standardized
IDF curve update process that
incorporates Global Climate
Model outputs, thus allowing
users to easily assess the
potential impacts of climate
change on local extreme rainfall
information. This information can
then be used to assess
infrastructure vulnerability and
design infrastructure that can
better cope with rainfall
intensities that are expected
under changing climate
conditions.
The IDFCC tool currently
has over 280 registered users
from various sectors, including
municipal, provincial and federal
governments, conservation
authorities, and the consulting
sector. The tool is publicly
accessible and can be found at
http://www.idf-cc-uwo.ca.
Development of the tool was
facilitated by funding from the
Canadian Water Network and
ICLR.
Conclusion
ICLR has engaged with
stakeholders from across Canada
to promote urban flood mitigation,
and continues to develop new
information to support
homeowners, municipalities and
insurers in the management of
urban flood risk. Additional urban
flood work not summarized in this
article include:
Support and involvement in
the multi-year, multi-million
dollar FloodNET project,
which brings together flood
researchers from across
Canada to work on a variety
of flood related projects,
including flood warning
systems and urban
stormwater management
issues;
Providing technical support
for the City of Calgary’s
project on assessment of
flood mitigation measures;
Ongoing partnership with
Green Communities Canada
to provide technical support
and training for “guides” who
inspect homes for basement
flood risk and mitigation
factors, with events held in
Kitchener/Waterloo, Calgary
North Bay, Hamilton, and
planned events in Barrie and
St. Catharines;
Flood-related workshops as
part of ICLR’s ongoing Friday
Forum workshop series,
including upcoming
presentations by Alberta
WaterSMART on flood
mitigation activities in Alberta,
and;
Recent academic
publications on the topic of
urban flood management and
flood insurance.2
CT
Notes
1) Inflow/infiltration (I/I) is excess water
that enters municipal sanitary sewer
systems. I/I is one of the most
important causes of sewer backup
during extreme rainfall events. I/I
also results in capacity and
operational issues at wastewater
treatment plants and can cause
serious environmental problems,
including the release of raw sewage
into lakes and streams during
extreme rainfall events.
2) Sandink, D. (2015). Urban Flooding
and Ground-Related Homes in
Canada: An Overview. Journal of
Flood Risk Management. DOI:
10.1111/jfr3.12168
3) Sandink, D., Kovacs, P., Oulahen,
G., and Shrubsole, D. (2015). Public
Relief and Insurance for Residential
Flood Losses in Canada: Current
Status and Commentary. Canadian
Water Resources Journal. DOI:
10.1080/07011784.2015.1040458
An update on urban flood-related projects at ICLR cont...
20 Richmond Street East
Suite 210
Toronto, Ontario
M5C 2R9
Tel: (416) 364-8677
Fax: (416) 364-5889
www.iclr.org
www.basementfloodreduction.com
Mission
To reduce the loss of life and property
caused by severe weather and earthquakes
through the identification and support of
sustained actions that improve society’s
capacity to adapt to, anticipate, mitigate,
withstand and recover from natural
disasters.
Western University
Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel
1151 Richmond Street
London, Ontario
N6G 5B9
Tel: (519) 661-3338
Fax: (519) 661-3339
www.iclr.org
www.basementfloodreduction.com
Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction