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Preliminary Allocations - Sandy Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) Funding

CLICK HERE - full list of preliminary allocations.

Governor Cuomo announced that $200 million has been awarded to more than 450 healthcare and human service providers and other community-based organizations following the impact of Superstorm Sandy. The federal Superstorm Sandy Social Services Block Grant is designed to cover unreimbursed expenses resulting from the storm, including social, health and mental health services for individuals, and for repair, renovation and rebuilding of health care facilities, mental hygiene facilities, child care facilities and other social services facilities.

The grants will provide approximately $65 million for repair, rebuilding and renovation costs resulting from Superstorm Sandy; $52 million for unreimbursed operating costs during and after Sandy; $70 million for ongoing or new services to meet the continuing needs of Sandy-impacted New Yorkers; and $11 million for other eligible health and social services costs.

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FEMA to Ask States to Account for Climate Change in Disaster Plans

FEMA to Ask States to Account for Climate Change in Disaster Plans

Switchboard, the Natural Resources Defense Council staff blog, has published a report on the recently announced changes to FEMA’s Blue Book.

According to Switchboard, FEMA plans to edit its guidelines to require state governments to consider climate change when making their hazard mitigation plans. The article says a revised draft from FEMA is expected to be available to the public as early as summer this year.

The Blue Book, as it is commonly known, is FEMA’s State Multi-Hazard Mitigation Planning Guidance document. It was created to help states understand the mitigation planning regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations.

The Switchboard article explains that until now, FEMA has not required state governments to consider climate change and its potential impacts when preparing their hazard mitigation plans. These plans are made by governments “in order to assess their risk of natural disasters and to identify and implement actions they can take to reduce those risks”.

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NYDIS: OEM Update - Weather - Bitter Cold - Low Temperatures and Wind Chills (Citywide)

From: NYC OEM <***@***.***>
Date: January 22, 2014 at 2:09:24 PM CST
Subject: Update - Weather - Bitter Cold - Low Temperatures and Wind Chills (Citywide)

Wed Jan 22 14:57:45 2014 
STATUS: Open - Active 
PROGNOSIS: Monitoring 
Weather-Cold/Snow 
Citywide  1/21- 1/24

(OEM Weather Distribution List)

SYNOPSIS

Intensifying low pressure well south of long island will move farther out to sea through tonight as weak high pressure builds from the west.  A weakening Alberta Clipper will move through on Thursday . . . followed by a high pressure ridge building in through the end of the week.  Another Alberta Clipper low will pass late Saturday . . . reinforcing the cold air across the area.  Unsettled weather is possible during the beginning of next week. 

TEMPERATURES

Today: cold; high around 15°F with wind chill values as low as 13 below (-13°F); lows around 6°F with wind chill values as low as 5 to 10 below (-5°F to -10°F). 

Thursday: cold; highs in the lower 20s with wind chill values as low as 8 below (-8°F) in the morning; lows around 9°F with wind chill values as low as 8 below (-8°F) after midnight. 

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Rooftop Farm in New York City Grows 50,000 Pounds of Organic Produce Per Year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTC_X1gblRE

watch the full video here:http://permaculturenews.org/2014/01/0...

By Ecofilms

“That view behind me is not a painted backdrop!” said Geoff Lawton to the camera. But the view looked great from where I was standing. Brooklyn Grange is a rooftop farm with a magnificent view looking over the Manhattan skyline.

Sitting on a concrete roof, totaling 2.5 acres and producing more than 50,000 pounds of organically-grown vegetables each year, you need to walk its length to appreciate how vast this rooftop garden truly is in scale.

We had been given one hour to film this place. The sun was setting. We were in the “magic hour” to film and needed to hurry. There was a lot to do.

Geoff walked down the narrow lanes of planted vegetables. Four to six inches of dirt was all the plants were allowed to grow in—very well drained dirt that resembled sharp river sand. It didn’t look like a normal loamy soil to my untrained eye.

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Reworking New York's Flood Map Post-Hurricane Sandy

      

The new map could put twice as many homes in the flood zone and raise premiums for many homeowners.

propublica.org - by Al Shaw - June 12, 2013

. . . while Sandy’s water has long receded and the bulldozers have left, a residual effect for homeowners along the city’s coastline still lurks quietly beneath the surface. It comes in the form of a July 2012 law called the Biggert-Waters Act, which will end subsidized rates for property owners who are remapped into more severe flood zones, increasing their flood insurance premiums 20 percent a year until they reach market rates, and will apply those higher rates for newly purchased property.

The potential increases, which proponents say are necessary to sustain the National Flood Insurance Program, are not widely understood by residents, and may be catching them unprepared.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Biggert-Waters Act - Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012

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