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John Echeverria | September 25, 2018

From Surviving to Thriving: Coastal Storms, Private Property, and the Takings Issue

This post is part of CPR's From Surviving to Thriving: Equity in Disaster Planning and Recovery report. On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall on the New Jersey shore, claiming dozens of lives and destroying or damaging more than 300,000 homes. Properties along the shore were especially hard hit, with many oceanfront homes lifted off their […]

Rebecca Bratspies, Sarah Lamdan, Victor Flatt | September 24, 2018

From Surviving to Thriving: Disaster in Disaster: The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act Must Be Enforced

Sarah Lamdan, Professor of Law at CUNY Law School, co-authored this post, which is part of CPR's From Surviving to Thriving: Equity in Disaster Planning and Recovery report. This chapter is excerpted from a law review article that is forthcoming in U. Arkansas Law Review, titled "Taking a Page from FDA’s Prescription Medicine Information Rules: Reimagining Environmental […]

Joel A. Mintz | September 21, 2018

From Surviving to Thriving: The National Environmental Policy Act and Disasters

This post is part of CPR's From Surviving to Thriving: Equity in Disaster Planning and Recovery report. In August, 2017, Hurricanes Harvey and Irma brought widespread devastation to the southeastern United States, destroying buildings, flooding neighborhoods, and taking lives. Harvey shattered the national rainfall record for a single storm, dropping over 50 inches of rain in a […]

Joel A. Mintz, Victor Flatt | September 20, 2018

From Surviving to Thriving: Hazardous Waste and Disaster Preparedness

This post is part of CPR's From Surviving to Thriving: Equity in Disaster Planning and Recovery report. What Happened According to the Houston Chronicle, there were more than 100 releases of hazardous substances into land, air, and water during and after Hurricane Harvey. At least one dozen of the Superfund sites listed in or near Houston were […]

Victor Flatt | September 19, 2018

From Surviving to Thriving: Emergency Waiver of Health, Safety, and Environmental Rules

This post is part of CPR's From Surviving to Thriving: Equity in Disaster Planning and Recovery report. Click here to read previously posted chapters. On August 23, 2017, Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency as Hurricane Harvey approached the Texas Coast. That state of emergency was ultimately expanded to 60 counties in Texas. Emergency […]

Katie Tracy | September 18, 2018

From Surviving to Thriving: Worker Health and Disaster

This post is part of CPR's From Surviving to Thriving: Equity in Disaster Planning and Recovery report. Lachlan Brain, a 22-year-old electrical lineman from Tennessee, traveled to Houston following Hurricane Harvey to help with the relief effort, working for T&D Solutions, a company that specializes in maintaining and repairing power lines and related equipment. While working inside a bucket truck on August 25, 2017, Brain leaned across an electrical line, came into contact with a live wire, and was electrocuted. Line personnel and first responders attempted to revive him unsuccessfully, and Brain died.

Evan Isaacson | September 17, 2018

From Surviving to Thriving: Stormwater Infrastructure and Management: Unsafe for Human Contact

his post is part of CPR's From Surviving to Thriving: Equity in Disaster Planning and Recovery report. As millions of Americans in Houston and throughout Florida and Puerto Rico are acutely aware, the most dangerous aspect of a hurricane is the water. In Houston, the 50 inches of water that fell over the course of a few days broke records and overwhelmed the city’s flood control system. In Florida, Hurricane Irma’s storm surge ravaged coastal communities hundreds of miles up and down the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. And in Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria dumped more than two feet of rain in some areas, generating floodwaters more than a dozen feet high in low-lying areas throughout the island.

Joseph Tomain | September 14, 2018

From Surviving to Thriving: Energy Infrastructure: Beyond Repair

This post is part of CPR's From Surviving to Thriving: Equity in Disaster Planning and Recovery report. We have seen the pictures before. A man and his dog, both wet and disheveled, gliding down the middle of a residential street in a rowboat past downed power lines. As they drift, they pass the tops of cars parked at the curb, immobile. As they drift further, they see a woman and child standing on the roof of a darkened house, dazed. Is the child missing a toy or maybe a pet? Is the woman missing a spouse or maybe a child?

David Flores, Maxine A Burkett | September 13, 2018

From Surviving to Thriving: Relocation and Migration

This post is part of CPR's From Surviving to Thriving: Equity in Disaster Planning and Recovery report. The 2017 hurricane season demonstrated the “second disaster” phenomenon. Climate-fueled storms are the first, named disaster. The second disaster is the tragedy that results from the lack of preparedness of decision-makers — at all levels — who have failed to plan in a manner consistent with the risks presented.