Mega Disaster Costs Mounting - Proof of the Wobble

Want more Proof of the Earth Wobble? Check out high costs of recent Mega Disasters! In the Billions or possibly Trillions!

What Financial Institutions can pay for disasters on this scale? Your local or national government? The private sector such as insurance companies or private industry? Both? You?

While billions of $dollars are made available for ‘disaster relief funds’, the common man is struggling financially in the lowering Economy. Yet the price tags of Mega Disasters keeps going up! This reveals that money IS SOMEWHERE, however it has been re-allocated to pay for these and more predicted future disasters!

How much cash would help the common man? Just ONE of those billions could help the common man in their communities to prepare for the coming Pole Shift! How about re-allocating funds to the common man AFTER the Announcement to prepare for the coming Pole Shift?

Don't expect any miracles! Relief Funds are designed in concept to preserve the 'Status Quo'. They only reach communities and the common man AFTER the fact, not before. Hints of this are in the articles below.

Can funds for disasters dry up? Yes! Eventually costly disasters will drain funds out as mega disasters have been increasing since before 2003! http://www.zetatalk.com/theword/tword09o.htm

On May 19, 1999, the Associated Press reported that disasters cost the United States more than $500 billion in the past 20 years, and rising, a record cost.

Has the world's economy been affected in any way yet? Yes!

2013 now carries already a $100 billion dollar price tag! Self sufficiency and the barter system may be a good idea soon.

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Cost of natural disasters ‘out of control’ as US clean-up bill hits $100 bn

http://tcktcktck.org/2013/05/cost-of-natural-disasters-out-of-contr...

May 24, 2013 As figures from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NDRC) estimate the US government paid out nearly $100 billion in the aftermath of drought, floods and fires last year, the UN Secretary General has warned that economic losses caused by natural disasters are “out of control”.

Speaking in New York at the launch of a new UN report on the business case for disaster risk reduction, Ban Ki-Moon warned that the economic losses from disasters are being underestimated by around 50%.

He said:

Our startling finding is that direct losses from floods, earthquakes and drought have been underestimated by at least 50%. So far this century, direct losses from disasters are in the range of $2.5 trillion. This is unacceptable when we have the knowledge to reduce the losses and benefit from the gains.

The report (pdf) – a partnership with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and consultancy Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) – offered a stark warning to the world’s business community that these costs will continue to escalate in coming years. It warned companies must start mitigating for the potential impacts that they face.

The globalisation of the world’s economy over the past 40 years has led to a rapid increase in disaster risk in all countries – both rich and poor – argued the report.

For example, the 2011 Thailand floods affected a number of electronic component manufacturers with Sony and Toyota forced to close regional factories. Intel had to cut $1 billion from its quarterly profit projections in the wake of the floods.

And while governments bear responsibility for measures to mitigate disasters, Ban warned that the private sector also has a critical role to play. It accounts for 70-85% of worldwide investment in new buildings, industry and critical infrastructure.

He said:

Economic losses from disasters are out of control and can only be reduced in partnership with the private sector which is responsible for 70% to 85% of all investment worldwide in new buildings, industry and small to medium sized enterprises. The principles of disaster risk reduction must be taught at business schools and become part of the investor’s mind-set.

A US case study

The warning from the UN has been further amplified by new estimates from the NDRC showing the US government paid out $96 billion in the aftermath of drought, floods and fires last year.

This was the country’s biggest non-defense related spending and works out at around $1,100 per taxpayer. The US government spent more in 2012 cleaning up after natural disasters than they did on education or health, they said.

Superstorm Sandy, drought-induced crops failures, floods and forest fires all contributed to the costs.

Overall the insurance industry estimates that 2012 was the second costliest year in US history for climate-related disasters, with over $139 billion in damages. While private insurers covered about 25% of these costs ($33 billion), the federal government and its public insurance enterprises picked up the majority of the bill.

Dan Lashof, co-author of the report and director of NRDC’s Climate and Clean Air Program said:

While Congress debates the federal budget, our government is spending more responding to extreme weather made worse by climate change than we are to educate our kids or take care of our bridges and roads. In fact, this single-ticket expense now tops the list of non-defense discretionary federal spending. And taxpayers are shouldering more of the burden—they are spending three times more than private insurers to pay for recovery from climate damages.

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1st Half 2013 Natural Disasters Cost $85 Billion

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2013/07/25/29960...

A mid-year natural disaster analysis from Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, puts economic losses from global natural disasters at $85 billion, higher than the $75 billion for the same period in 2012, but “around 15 percent lower than the 10-year (2003-2012) average of $100 billion.

Insured losses for the period reached $20 billion, lower than the $25 billion for the 1st half of 2012, and, the report said, “approximately 20 percent below the 10-year average of $25 billion. Roughly 50 percent of the insured losses resulting from natural disaster events were recorded in the United States.

“Around 24 percent of global economic losses during the first half of 2013 period were covered by insurance, a figure slightly below the 10-year (2003-2012) average of 28 percent, and due to multiple significant catastrophe events occurring in areas where insurance penetration or specific peril coverage remained low.”

Ranked by the size of the losses, the “five largest economic loss events in 1H 2013 were: The Central Europe floods during May/June ($22 billion); the China earthquake on April 20 ($14 billion); the Brazil drought ($8.3 billion); the U.S. severe weather outbreak from May 18-22 ($4.5 billion); and the China drought ($4.2 billion).”

Ranked in terms of insured losses, there were seven billion-dollar insured loss events in the first half of 2013: “the Central Europe floods during May/June ($5.3 billion); the U.S. severe weather outbreak of May 18-22 ($2.5 billion); the U.S. severe weather outbreak of March 18-20 ($1.25 billion); the U.S. severe weather outbreak of May 26-June 2 ($1.20 billion); the Australia floods during January ($1.04 billion); the Canada floods during June ($1.0 billion), and a U.S. winter storm in early April ($1.0 billion).”

More Spending costs are listed here: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0882823.html

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Billion Dollar U.S. Weather Disasters, 1980–2013

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0882823.html

The U.S. has sustained 123 weather-related disasters during the 1980-2012 period in which overall damages and costs reached or exceeded $1 billion at the time of the event. Twelve occurred during 2011 alone—the most for any year on record, with total costs being approximately $52 billion.

Two damage figures are given for events prior to 2002: the first represents actual dollar costs and is not adjusted for inflation. The second (in parentheses) is the dollar cost normalized to 2002 dollars using a GNP inflation/wealth index. The total normalized losses for the 99 events are over $725 billion.

Sources include Storm Data (NCDC publication), the National Weather Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, other U.S. government agencies, individual state emergency management agencies, state and regional climate centers, and insurance industry estimates.

View the entire list here: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0882823.html

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Extreme weather costs nation billions in 2012

http://beyondseasonsend.org/extreme-weather-costs-nation-billions-i...

Only 2011 brought more billion-dollar natural disasters to the U.S. than did 2012.
2012 was the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States, a full one degree Fahrenheit hotter than the previous record and 3.2 degrees F hotter than the 20^th century average. The fourth warmest winter was followed by a record-breaking warm spring, the second-warmest summer and an unusually warm autumn.
A year-long drought struck 22 states, enveloping more than half the continental land mass. Crops withered in the nation’s breadbasket and the effects of scant precipitation were widespread, from threatening barge traffic on the Mississippi River to an unusual December wildfire in the snowless Colorado mountains. At the end of the year more than 62 percent of the continental U.S. remained in the pernicious grip of drought, causing scientists to predict widespread drought conditions would persist into the first quarter of the new year.
Summer wildfires burned more than 9.2 million acres, more than twice as much as the average 40 years ago. The third smallest snow pack on record led to an early and long season of dry conditions.
Two hurricanes making landfall in the U.S. made the billion-dollar disaster list: slow-moving Isaac flooded Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, while superstorm Sandy caused damage in 14 states up the Atlantic seaboard. Flooding in New York and New Jersey was cited by some as a harbinger of likely future disasters caused by rising sea levels.
Between late April and early July, severe weather comprising high winds, thunderstorms, tornadoes and hail lashed eight regions in the U.S., from the Southwest, over the Rockies, across the Plains, into the Southern Plains, through the Midwest and the Ohio Valley, and into the Northeast.

In March and April, three tornado outbreaks spawning scores of tornadoes ravaged communities in the Midwest (Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa); Texas; and the Ohio Valley and Southeast (Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia).

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Why were there few Scientific Warnings of Earth Change Anomalies before?

Where were the scientists years ago to warn us and industry of impending doom of Earth Changes? After all, don't big companies make money when everything is stable? $ $ $ Disasters are costly for everyone! Is something ELSE unexpected in the mix? Companies would want to keep making profits from the valuable information and avoid negative Earth changes while they conducted their businesses. Where was the valuable information before?

The Ning has noted even more weather anomalies here! https://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blogs/wild-weather

Is Anyone Awake?

Proof of the Earth Wobble

The Sun is now 'brighter' according to the Zetas!

http://www.zetatalk.com/index/blog0531.htm

During the entry of Planet X into our inner solar system in 2003, there was a notable increase in brightness from the Sun.
People reported being sunburned more readily, not being able to look at the Sun as it rose and set as they had been used to doing.
On Dec 11, 2005 the Zetas confirmed Sun scald since 2003, scattered white light from the Sun causing sunburn and early crops and a white Sun, all due to the disbursing of light through the tail of Planet X, which had arrived in 2003.

ZetaTalk: Sun Scald, written Dec 11, 2005

An ultra-glaring Sun was noted in 2003, when Planet X roared into the inner solar system from the direction of Orion, and screeched to a halt as it neared the Sun and the repulsion force clicked in. The tail of Planet X, not affected by the repulsion force, maintained its momentum and wafted past the Sun to deliver red dust and odd atmospheric changes to the Earth. In the Summer of 2003, it was noted that people sunburned more readily, construction workers long used to working out of doors, noted an unusual tendency to burn. Crops likewise matured two weeks early that year in many places, and comments about the intense brightness of the Sun were common. What causes the Sun scald, the intense brightness that does not translate into increased heat and cannot be correlated to solar activity or sun spots? A fog bank, with a light shown on it, appears to be evenly lit, because the light is scattered and bouncing back to the observer. Is there more light, or simply scattered light?

If the Sun is no longer yellow, it is because all light rays are scattered, and the steady state of yellow is interfered with. You formerly looked at the setting Sun without distress, the yellow or orange Sun, though the Sun was still in view and its rays were coming into your eye with full force.It is the loss of your yellow Sun that is affecting your eye's ability to look at the Sun, thus the perception of increased brightness, as the Suns rays, scattered, are presenting the same mix to your eye that high noon presents. Likewise with the rays that created sunburn, which normally are not bent toward the observer at sunset or at other than high noon, but now are scattered to arrive at one's skin. The time of day is no longer a protection from sunburn. This will only get worse, as the tail continues to turn toward the Earth.

Could a brighter Sun be causing Climate Change or the so-called Warming theory? No!

This article below, mentioned on Zeta Talk just about sums up the theory...

Brighter sun adds to fears of climate change
March 26, 2006
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2104022,00.html

The amount of sunshine reaching earth is increasing, accelerating the pace of climate change, scientists have found. Researchers will present their findings to the European Geophysical Union conference in Vienna next week. They reverse a 30-year trend. Measurements of sunshine levels between 1960 and 1990 had shown a decrease in the amount of sunshine reaching the earth, a phenomenon known as global dimming. This was thought to have been caused by dust, smog and other pollutants, mainly from industrialized western countries. The pollutants, known as aerosols, reduced sunshine levels by absorbing and scattering solar radiation and promoting the formation of clouds that reflected radiation back into space. Sunshine levels had been decreasing by 2% a decade between 1960 and 1980 - a total decline of about 6%. Now they are going up again. Perhaps this is why our Swiss glaciers are melting. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, has collated measurements from 400 sites worldwide and found an increase in sunshine at 300 of them, sited mainly in Eurasia and the Polar regions. Some showed a decline in sunshine since 1990, largely in fast-developing countries such as China and India.

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Questions Mount: Brighter Sun? Is this causing Climate Change? How?

If a brighter Sun is the cause of Atmospheric Climate Changes, then why are Earthquakes happening SIMULTANEOUSLY to these Atmospheric Climate Changes? Why did an uptick start in 2003, the same year the Zetas said PX arrived in our Solar System? http://www.zetatalk.com/index/blog1114.htm

Is something ‘anonymous’ in the mix, which is not yet defined in the Global Warming Theory concerning Earthquakes?

Can the Sun's Rays Warm Earth's Crust, causing Quakes? No. Physically impossible!

Can Earthquakes be caused by the Sun ‘warming’ the atmosphere first, then the atmosphere warming the crust at the same time? No.

Any geologist can tell you that warmth from Sunlight or air does not penetrate rock, nor can it warm soil much more than a foot during the brightest day. Cloudy days even less. To test this statement, lift up a rock sitting in bright sunlight at noon, and feel the ground soil underneath it. It will be cool to the touch!!

Even a thin fabric umbrella shields Hot Sun by creating cool shade below!

Wine cellars or caves keep wine at constant cool temperatures! Caverns are Very Cool Places!

Here is some more information about cavern temperatures. Caverns temperatures vary only slightly:

http://www.nps.gov/wica/naturescience/cave-meteorology.htm

Significant amounts of heat can enter a cave in four possible ways. Heat may enter from the overlying rock, from the underlying rock, from air flowing into the cave, or from water flowing into the cave. We will look at each of these four possibilities, and discuss how each affects the weather in Wind Cave.

First, let's look at how heat enters the cave from the rock above it. The flow of heat through the sandstone and limestone overlying Wind Cave's passages is extremely slow. Temperature fluctuations of over 60°F between day and night are not uncommon on the surface, but if we were to monitor the temperature only two feet below the surface on such a day, the fluctuation in temperature would be only about 1°F. Therefore, it does not stay warm long enough during the day, nor does it stay cool long enough during the night, to significantly change the temperature of the rock only two feet underground. The same principle holds true for seasonal temperature fluctuations as well, although the depth at which temperatures begin to stabilize is greater. Seasonal temperature fluctuations of 80°F are reduced to only l°F at a depth of about 50 feet. So if a cave's only source of heat was from the overlying rock, its temperature would approximate the mean annual surface temperature for its area. It appears this is rarely the case. At Wind Cave for instance, the mean annual surface temperature is 47°F, yet the temperature in most parts of the cave (away from the tour routes) is 55°F. Where is all this extra heat coming from? The answer appears to be from below!

Further technical details are available here: http://www.nps.gov/wica/naturescience/nss-bulletin.htm

You can even use your cool basement for Free Air Conditioning!

If you live in an old house and have a basement and a second floor window then you’re in luck. Whether or not your have air conditioning you can follow these five steps and stay cool without raising your energy bill.

Close all of the windows and doors in the house,
Open one window on the uppermost conditioned space in your house,
Place a small window fan fitted to the window (optional),
Open one window in the farthest corner of the basement or the north side of the lowest floor,
Sit back and feel the cool breeze stream through your house.

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Comment by Ovidiu Pricopi on November 24, 2021 at 1:31am: Agricultural disaster after record rains cause catastrophic floods in British Columbia, Canada

British Columbia has declared a state of emergency on November 17, 2021, after several days of heavy rain caused catastrophic floods in parts of the province. At least 1 person has been killed but officials fear the death toll will rise.

Another atmospheric river event hit British Columbia and parts of the U.S. Northwest over the past weekend, dropping record-breaking rain. Parts of the region received more than 2 months of average rainfall in just 48 hours, causing rivers to overflow and low-lying plains to flood.¹

The resulting floods destroyed roads and bridges, submerged homes and farmland, leaving at least 1 person dead.

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said hundreds of farms have been affected provincewide, many in the Fraser Valley. Nearly in tears, she described the widespread flooding as an agricultural disaster.²

The region has been one of the hardest hit by floods, with evacuation orders still in effect for the city of Abbotsford -- home to roughly half of all the dairy farms in British Columbia.

In addition, thousands of animals have perished in the floods and the government says it will work to get veterinarians into farms to treat animals. Some of the animals that escaped the floods are expected to be euthanized.

Some highways were closed after numerous landslides, including Highway 7 from Hope to Vancouver where as many as 100 vehicles were trapped between two landslides.¹

As of November 18, nearly 20 000 people are still out of their homes across the province.

https://watchers.news/2021/11/18/agricultural-disaster-record-rainf...

https://watchers.news/2021/11/18/agricultural-disaster-record-rainf...

Comment by Ovidiu Pricopi on October 24, 2021 at 3:26am: The next “water bomb” or heavy rainfall over Flanders could cause damages estimated at around €2 billion, and could affect up to 100,000 people in the region, a recent analysis found.

July’s deadly floods mainly ravaged Wallonia, and although they affected fewer areas in Flanders, where the water in the Meuse and Demer basins rose to extreme heights, a recent analysis highlighted the possible disastrous impact of another similar “water bomb” exploding over the region.

“The first analysis was very alarming. The damage would be estimated at €2 billion, with 50,000 to 100,000 people affected. We must arm ourselves against frequent periods of (extremely) high precipitation,” said Flemish Minister of Mobility and Public Works Lydia Peeters.

https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/190394/flanders-water-bomb-co...

Comment by SongStar101 on May 12, 2019 at 12:14pm: Last year's [2018] wildfires were the most expensive in California history

Most of the $12bn in damages relate to the Paradise fire, which killed 85 and destroyed nearly 19,000 buildings

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/08/california-2018-wil...

pic source

Insurance claims have topped $12bn for the November wildfires in California, making them the most expensive in state history.

The figure released on Wednesday by the insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, covers the fire that destroyed the town of Paradise and two southern California blazes.

Most of the damages relate to the Camp fire, which killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 19,000 buildings in Paradise.

California experienced some of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in its history in 2017 and 2018. A series of sweeping fires in late 2017 had been the most expensive, with claims topping $11.8bn.

The increasing destruction is making it harder and more costly for people to obtain homeowners insurance.

The insurance department has started collecting data on policy non-renewals to better assess patterns and locations where coverage is being dropped, Lara said earlier this year.

“Wildfire has long been part of California’s landscape, and insurers understand that California faces major wildfire risk,” said Nicole Mahrt-Ganley of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, which represents about 60% of the nation’s property casualty insurance market.

“Insurers continue to be committed to doing business in California,” she added in a statement noting that the state’s market is one of the nation’s largest.

California lawmakers are grappling this year with ways to address the cost and destruction of wildfires.

Pacific Gas & Electric, the state’s largest utility, filed for bankruptcy in January, saying it could not afford potentially tens of billions of dollars in liability costs related to fires.

State law makes utilities financially liable for damages from wildfires caused by their equipment, even if they are not found to be negligent.

Comment by SongStar101 on October 12, 2018 at 12:42pm: Brutal Hurricane Michael caused about $8B in insured losses

https://cbs12.com/news/nation-world/brutal-hurricane-michael-caused...

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — An insurance company that produces models for catastrophes is estimating Hurricane Michael caused about $8 billion in insured losses.

Boston-based Karen Clark & Company released the estimate Thursday. It includes the privately insured wind and storm surge damage to residential, commercial and industrial properties and automobiles. The figure does not include losses covered by the National Flood Insurance Program.

Michael made landfall as a 155 mph (250 kph), Category 4 storm Wednesday afternoon in Mexico Beach, Florida. The hurricane left a path of destruction through the Florida Panhandle and entered Georgia as a Category 3 storm.

KCC estimates that nearly half of insured loss from Michael occurred in Florida's Bay and Gulf counties. Total damages from storm surge are estimated to be $3.7 billion, of which about ten percent will be insured.

Comment by SongStar101 on August 10, 2018 at 10:31pm: The Government Is Running Out of Money to Fight California’s Wildfires

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-government-is-running-out-of-mone...

The state has already borrowed funds to try to pay to halt the wildfires. But it’s going to get worse.

On Monday, the Mendocino Complex Fire became the largest wildfire in California’s history. It’s scorched more than 300,000 acres, and has grown to about ten times the size of San Francisco. The neighboring Carr Fire has burned through more than 173,000 acres, claiming seven lives.

Those are just two of the 17 fires that have thrust California into the worst wildfire season in state history. They’ve also raised a crucial question: Does the U.S. Forest Service—the agency tasked with preventing and suppressing fires on federal land—even have the money to keep fighting them?

It’s not good news. The U.S. Forest Service’s fire suppression budget has been struggling to keep pace with worsening wildfires for years, according to Jennifer Jones, a spokesperson for the agency. Jones explained via email that Congress appropriates fire suppression funds each year based on a rolling average of the prior decade, and that the agency could draw on emergency supplemental funds in times of need.

But as fires have grown larger and more destructive—and more people have built homes on fire-prone land—two problems arose. The first is that the 10-year average grew larger each year, Jones said, which meant that “the Forest Service could request less funding for other programs, including research [and] prevention.”

The second, she added, is that “in almost every year since 2000,” both the budget and the supplemental funds were no longer enough to cover the cost of fighting the fires. This forced the agency to take funds from other parts of the Forest Service’s budget.

“It’s just getting harder to fight fires. They cost more, they’re more dangerous, and they’re happening at a larger frequency.”

— Jeffrey Kane, associate professor of fire ecology and fuels management at Humboldt State University

In 2017—a “historic high” for fire suppression costs, she said—expenses hit $2.4 billion. According to Trump’s 2019 budget proposal, this required the Forest Service to take $527 million from other programs. The proposal noted that this borrowing “impedes the missions of land management agencies to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire and maintain healthy functioning ecosystems.” The fire costs were projected to increase by $500 million to $1 billion in the next five years, Jones added, which would consume as much as 67 percent of the agency’s budget by 2021.

Thankfully, that won’t happen. That’s because of the “fire funding fix” included in March’s omnibus package. The fix will provide for the appropriation of a fixed, yearly budget of $1.011 billion for fire suppression, and for the appropriation of additional funding—beginning at $2.25 billion, and rising $100 million per year through 2027—if that $1.011 billion is spent.

That fix, however, won’t go into effect until 2020. The emergency supplemental funds won’t be available in 2018 or 2019, either, although Congress appropriated an additional $500 million for 2018.

As of Wednesday, the Mendocino Complex Fire and the Carr Fire were only 47 percent contained, and still growing. It’s still possible that more wildfires could strike this year.

And these fires will only get worse in years to come. As The Daily Beast reported previously, global climate change is inextricably linked with the hot, dry weather conditions that make wildfires more common, more dangerous, and more difficult to contain.

“It’s just getting harder to fight fires,” Jeffrey Kane, an associate professor of fire ecology and fuels management at Humboldt State University, told The Daily Beast. “They cost more, they’re more dangerous, and they’re happening at a larger frequency. And that’s largely—not all, but largely—associated with climate change.” Hotter temperatures, Kane explained, will dry out fuels like leaves, trees, and branches more quickly, leaving them more susceptible to catching fire.

And while this “fire funding fix” may resolve the budget problems for suppressing existing fires, experts are concerned that Trump’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2019 will gut vital prevention and research programs that underscore suppression efforts, meaning that the government will have to keep shelling out billions for suppression in the years to come.

Despite the obvious uptick in wildfires, The Sacramento Bee reported that the Trump administration proposed slashing the section of the U.S. Forest Service’s budget dedicated to tree clearing and forest prevention by tens of millions of dollars.

“We don’t do enough each year, and each year goes by, and the fire deficit keeps going up.”

— Jeffrey Kane, associate professor of fire ecology and fuels management at Humboldt State University

This is against the protests of many experts, who claim that even at current levels, federal funding isn’t doing enough to prevent the start and spread of deadly wildfires.

“Currently we don’t do [forest management work] sufficiently enough to see a major, broad scale impact on reducing wildfires,” Kane told the Bee, which also reported the independent Little Hoover Commission’s conclusion that “California’s forests suffer from neglect and mismanagement, resulting in overcrowding that leaves them susceptible to disease, insects and wildfire.”

Part of the cuts to the Forest Service’s budget—which, under Trump’s proposal, would lose $46 million in research funds—include the elimination of the Joint Fire Science Program, a research effort between the Forestry Service and Interior Department agencies. The proposal has concerned scientists, including Kane—who called the Program “one of the best models of public funding being used to inform land management practices in a very applied way.”

He added that “It’s never been that much money, relatively speaking, and yet I think it’s had a lot of benefit.”

Kane explained that the Joint Fire Science Program funded major studies (he participated in one) designed to identify which fire prevention treatments—like cutting down limbs, also known as thinning, or strategically burning older trees before they’re hit by a wildfire, known as prescribed burning—are most effective. Reveal added that the Program has funded 280 projects conducted by 1,045 scientists in the past decade, and that those projects’ findings have been vital in on-the-ground prevention efforts. One example is New Mexico’s Ute Park Fire, where many homes avoided damage after the county implemented a fuel reduction plan based on studies the program sponsored.

Even if Congress salvages the program, Reveal notes, the financial uncertainty wrought by Trump’s budget proposal has already forced it to pause next year’s research. Funding for fire research was dwindling for years before Trump’s drastic budget proposal, going from $13 million per year before 2011 to only about $3 million per year for fiscal year 2018.

What’s more, all of these programs only impact federal land, leaving states largely to fend for themselves in terms of fire prevention and management.

California has actually been quite proactive compared to the Trump administration; Governor Jerry Brown signed an executive order that implemented a bevy of projects to improve fire management and prevention on state lands. But the federal government owns about 40 percent of California’s land; the state can only do so much—especially if Trump’s budget plan passes.

Cassandra Moseley, research professor and director at the University of Oregon’s Institute for a Sustainable Environment, isn’t particularly concerned about this. “This Congress, both sides of the aisle, have not shown themselves not particularly interested in the president’s budget,” she told The Daily Beast.

But the House and the Senate also appear reluctant to provide sufficient funding. Although they have largely rejected Trump’s massive cuts, the Bee reports that the Senate only included $5 million for removing trees, brush, and other flammable materials that fuel expanding wildfires in their budget proposal, despite the fact that the House reportedly proposed $20 million. The deadline for approval is September 30th.

There is hope. The case of the Cranston Fire, for example, suggests how infrastructural damage could be reduced if the U.S. Forest Service was funded more fully. Before the Cranston Fire stuck the small town of Idyllwild, the Bee reported, the forest service had cut down overgrown and dead trees, applied flame retardant, and conducted prescribed burns. They were approximately three-quarters of the way finished when the fire struck in late July. But because of their efforts, they managed to contain 96 percent of the fire in the weeks that followed. Only four structures were severely damaged, and no one was killed.

Currently, the Forest Service only performs that kind of treatment on 1-1.5 percent of federal land in California, the Bee notes. Until more money is allocated to preventing fires across the state, the Cranston Fire will likely be the exception, not the rule.

“If we can apply treatments to an area—through a wide range of means—then we can be effective in reducing the impacts,” Kane said. “And we just can’t do that much. I assume part of that is a funding issue, part of that is just a prioritization issue, and part of that is the overwhelming scale at which we need to do work at. It’s just too much, we don’t do enough each year, and each year goes by, and the fire deficit keeps going up.”

Comment by SongStar101 on January 9, 2018 at 12:17pm

US shatters record for disaster costs in 2017

See source link for videos!: http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/08/us/2017-costliest-disasters/index.html

(CNN)2017 was the costliest year ever for weather and climate disasters in the United States, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration announced Monday, totaling $306 billion. The previous record year, 2005, saw $215 billion in disasters.

Highlighted by a string of hurricanes that pounded the southeastern US coast in August and September, as well as devastating wildfires that torched large swaths of Northern and Southern California, 2017 saw 16 weather events that each topped a billion dollars in damage.

This ties 2011 for the most billion-dollar weather events to occur in a single year, but their extreme nature and the breadth of disaster types really set last year apart.

"In 2017, we have seen the rare combination of high disaster frequency, disaster cost and diversity of weather and climate extreme events," said Adam Smith, lead researcher at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.

"The U.S. has endured billion-dollar impacts from six of the seven disaster categories we track," he said: drought, flood, freeze, severe storm, tropical cyclone, wildfire and winter storm. There hasn't been a year when all seven disaster categories have seen a billion-dollar disaster.

2017 lacked only a billion-dollar winter storm -- though we almost certainly had one in the first week of 2018 with the major nor'easter termed a "bomb cyclone."

A hurricane season for the record books

One year, three devastating hurricanes 02:09

Hurricanes are the costliest weather events, responsible for about half of the total losses among all US billion-dollar disasters despite accounting for less than 20% of the total events since 1980.

This certainly proved true in 2017, when the US and the Caribbean islands endured back-to-back-to-back ... -- all of them now ranking among the top five costliest disasters -- which were the main drivers behind the year becoming the costliest on record.

Hurricane Harvey

The first billion-dollar hurricane disaster of the year was Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in Texas on August 25, becoming the first Category 4 storm to make landfall in the US since Hurricane Charley in 2004.

But Harvey will be long remembered, not for destructive winds up to 150 mph, but for the historic floods it unleashed on the Houston area.

What Hurricane Harvey left behind 04:26

Harvey set a record for the highest rainfall total -- (up to 60 inches -- observed in a landfalling tropical system in the US, and a whopping 6.9 million people experienced at least 30 inches of rain, according to NOAA's report.

Driven by extreme rain and flooding, the total estimated costs for Hurricane Harvey have reached $125 billion, making it the second-costliest single weather disaster after 2005's Hurricane Katrina, which had damages of $161 billion.

But it wasn't just the amount of rain and massive flooding, it was the fact that the bulk of the precipitation was centered on one of the most populated cities in the country.

"The biggest reason for the large cost from disasters in 2017 has been location," said Steven Bowen, director of analytics and impact forecasting for reinsurance giant Aon Benfield. "The historic volume of rain simply overwhelmed the local infrastructure in place and flooded areas that some folks never assumed would be flooded."

Bowen said this meant that less than 20% of Harris County homeowners had National Flood Insurance Program policies.

"Harvey is the closest modern disaster comparison we have in relation to Katrina in terms of damage costs," Smith said.

One hurricane disaster on the scale of Harvey is enough to set a year apart, but 2017 was just getting started.

Hurricane Irma

While Harvey was still pouring rain on Texas and Louisiana, meteorologists began tracking a wave in the eastern Atlantic that would form Tropical Storm Irma on August 30. The storm quickly strengthened and became a powerful Category 5 on September 5.

See Hurricane Irma's wrath hit Florida 01:02

After devastating parts of the Caribbean and Cuba, Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys early September 10, slowly moving up the peninsula, leaving a path of destruction.

"Irma devastated the Florida Keys with its high winds and storm surge after flattening the US Virgin Islands -- St John and St Thomas -- among other Caribbean islands," Smith said.

In the Keys, 25% of the buildings were destroyed, and 65% were significantly damaged, but the damage was not confined there.

A harrowing journey through the Florida Keys 02:52

Jacksonville, in the northeast corner of the state, and Charleston, South Carolina, saw near-historic levels of storm surge, causing significant coastal flooding.

Irma's damage in the US totaled $50 billion, making it the fifth-costliest weather disaster on record.

It also set a record: "Irma maintained a maximum sustained wind of 185 mph for 37 hours, the longest in the satellite era," Smith said.

Irma also triggered evacuation orders for 5.6 million people along both sides of the Florida peninsula, probably the largest mass exodus in US history.

Hurricane Maria

Unfortunately, the record hurricane season wasn't finished.

Tropical Storm Maria formed September 16 and intensified at an exceptional rate, doubling its strongest winds from 80 miles per hour (a Category 1) to 160 mph (Category 5) in only 24 hours.

Maria was the fourth storm in a month's time to undergo a process known as rapid intensification, which can turn a minimal tropical storm into a destructive major hurricane in less than a day, and Maria did it in record fashion.

"Maria tied Hurricane Wilma (in 2005) for the most rapid intensification, strengthening from tropical depression to a Category 5 storm in 54 hours," Smith said.

Maria unleashed its fury first on the tiny island nation of Dominica as a Category 5 packing sustained winds of 160 mph.

Just over 24 hours later, a high-end Category 4 Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, giving the United States a record three Category 4 or greater storms making landfall in one year.

Trees, fences fall as Maria hits Puerto Rico 01:03

Though Maria took only about 12 hours to traverse the small island, the combination of high winds and up to 37 inches of rain left Puerto Rico devastated.

"Maria was similar to Irma in its maximum wind damage, yet Maria was comparable to Harvey in the feet of rain it dumped across Puerto Rico," Smith said, "as flooding compounded the wind damage."

Interruptions to commerce and standard living conditions are still ongoing and will be sustained for a long time, according to NOAA, and the estimated damages for the storm are $90 billion -- the third most-expensive hurricane in US history.

CNN has remained on the ground in Puerto Rico and has reported extensively on those still without power as well as the death toll, which is the much higher than reported.

Historic wildfire season in the West

Flames engulf California wine country 01:40

But 2017 will also be remembered for the way years of drought combined with strong winds to create numerous historic firestorms in the Western states, namely California.

"In addition to these hurricanes, the US had a historically damaging wildfire seasons with over 9.1 million acres burned and damages up to $18 billion," Smith said.

NOAA groups all the western wildfires from the year into one billion-dollar weather disaster, even though 2017 featured multiple massive fires that each would have caused at least $1 billion in damages.

Six of the 20 most destructive fires in California history occurred this year.

During the month of October, "over 15,000 homes, businesses and other structures across California" were destroyed, according to NOAA.

"The combined destruction of the Tubbs, Atlas, Nuns and Redwood Valley wildfires represent the most costly wildfire event on record," NOAA said Monday, "also causing 44 deaths."

Santa Ana winds returned to California in December, bringing another round of disastrous fires.

The Thomas wildfire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties grew uncontrolled for days, topping 280,000 acres and becoming the largest single fire in California history.

Disastrous wildfires burned over 9.8 million acres across multiple Western and Northwestern states during 2017, well more than the 10-year average of 6.5 million acres, according to NOAA.

Montana was also hit hard, with more than 1 million acres burned during the year.

Becoming more common

NOAA has been tracking billion-dollar disasters since 1980, and it has seen a clear upward trend in their number and severity.

Comment by SongStar101 on December 31, 2017 at 8:39am: The most devastating 6 weeks our planet has ever seen (video)

https://youtu.be/CMJ7ksX8-0Q

Comment by SongStar101 on September 17, 2017 at 10:40am: U.S. Forest Service wildfire tab tops record $2 billion and blazes continue to rage

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/09/15/business/u-s-forest-se...

WASHINGTON – The Forest Service has spent more than $2 billion battling forest fires around the country — a record as wildfires blacken the American West in one of the nation’s worst fire seasons.

Wildfires have ravaged the West this summer with 64 large fires burning across 10 states as of Thursday, including 21 fires in Montana and 18 in Oregon. In all, 48,607 wildfires have burned nearly 13,000 square miles (33,586 square kilometers).

The fires have stretched firefighting resources, destroyed more than 500 homes and triggered health alerts as choking smoke drifted into major Western cities.

The Forest Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is the nation’s primary firefighting agency.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the severe fire season means officials “end up having to hoard all of the money that is intended for fire prevention, because we’re afraid we’re going to need it to actually fight fires.”

The emphasis on firefighting means that money for prescribed burns, insect control and other prevention efforts is diverted to putting out fires in what Perdue called a self-defeating cycle. The end result is that small trees and vegetation remain in the forest for future fires to feed on.

“That’s wrong, and that’s no way to manage the Forest Service,” Perdue said.

The Agriculture Department has been asking Congress for years to change the way firefighting is funded so the Forest Service does not have to raid non-fire programs in bad years.

The spending figure announced Thursday marks the first time wildfire spending by the Forest Service has topped $2 billion. The previous record was $1.7 billion in 2015.

The figures do not include spending by Interior Department agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service, nor do they include spending by state and local governments.

The Interior Department says it has spent at least $391 million with several weeks left in the fire season. The previous record for combined federal firefighting costs was $2.1 billion in 2015.

Some previous years have had bigger areas burn but lower costs to fight fires.

“The level of continuous activity and the length of the fire season is driving our costs,” Forest Service spokeswoman Babete Anderson said.

Parts of the West have suffered through above-average fires for months, she said.

This year’s fires have renewed discussions about thinning overgrown forests to reduce the risk.

Forest fuels are at “powder keg levels,” said Paul Hessburg Sr., a Forest Service research landscape ecologist.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Tuesday directed land managers and park superintendents in his department to be more aggressive in cutting down small trees and underbrush.

Comment by SongStar101 on May 30, 2017 at 8:04pm: Canadian Federal government cutting back on disaster assistance as floods become more severe

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/federal-...

Even as the cost of flood damage has risen in recent years, the provinces have been forced to shoulder more of the burden because the federal government has made it harder for them to qualify for compensation from its disaster relief fund.

“The (federal) government doesn’t want to be in the business of disaster assistance anymore,” says Jason Thistlethwaite, assistant professor at the University of Waterloo. “It’s too expensive.”

After a natural disaster like the current severe flooding affecting parts of Quebec and Ontario, provinces can apply to the federal government to reimburse some of their costs through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) program. In 2015, the Conservative government tripled the amount a provincial government had to spend on disaster relief to qualify for federal compensation. A province’s total relief bill must now be greater than $3.07 per capita before it can apply to Ottawa for funding. In Quebec, for instance, that threshold is about $25 million.

The change was made because Ottawa was doling out far more DFAA money than planned, Thistlethwaite said.

During a premiers’ meeting last summer, the provinces called on the federal government to restore funding for floods and other natural disasters. The changes, they argued, “substantially reduced the federal government’s share of disaster-related costs, offloading these onto individuals, provinces and territories.”

On Wednesday, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s office said her government “remains committed” to that request.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s office told the National Post the decision to raise the thresholds was made by the previous government.

In a statement this week, Conservative MP Steven Blaney, public safety minister when the change was made, said he was proud to have modernized the program to “ensure that emergency relief funding continues to be available to Canadians in a more sustainable way.”

Every threshold in the cost-sharing formula was raised at that time. Previously, the federal government would reimburse 90 per cent of costs above $5 per capita — about $41 million in Quebec. Now, that threshold is $15.17 per capita — roughly $124 million in Quebec.

The federal government has indeed been paying out far more than it planned for flood relief in recent years.

Last year, the parliamentary budget officer predicted the disaster assistance program would pay out more than $900 million a year over the next five years, including $673 million a year for flood damage — vastly more than the $100 million a year originally budgeted.

Thistlethwaite said the provinces are also trying to lessen their own costs, by promising assistance only for losses that can’t be insured. Since the major floods in Calgary and Toronto in 2013, many Canadian insurance companies have begun offering overland flood insurance to homeowners.

Now that that’s available, Thistlethwaite said, “everyone is going to pass this on, ultimately to the homeowner.”

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, he believes, as long as people know when they’re at risk of flooding — which many don’t.

“The part that’s missing in this entire story is that we haven’t done a good job educating homeowners.”

But even if Canadians understand the issue, they may be reluctant to open their wallets. A recent survey Thistlethwaite conducted found that while 83 per cent of respondents believe Canadians are responsible for protecting their own property from flood damage, only 23 per cent were interested in buying flood insurance.

Though Ottawa has scaled back its commitment to disaster relief, it has begun to put more emphasis on funding mitigation projects that could help prevent floods in the first place. In 2014, the Harper government launched a national disaster-mitigation program with $200 million earmarked for risk assessments, flood mapping and other projects.

But last summer, the premiers claimed that amount was “not adequate” to protect against floods, and called for more.

Thistlethwaite said that money has also been difficult to access.

“It’s a poorly designed program,” he said. “The intent is correct, but it’s completely under-resourced and it’s not utilized.”

This year’s federal budget included a new $2-billion fund for disaster mitigation and climate-change adaptation. Few details have been released about how and when that money will be spent.

The federal government has agreed to pick up the tab for the deployment of Canadian Armed Forces personnel to help with the flood response in Quebec. It is also donating $1 million to the Canadian Red Cross to help with relief efforts.

Comment by SongStar101 on April 13, 2017 at 9:11pm: 2017 Off to Destructive Start (over $5 billion in 3mo): Severe Weather Reports Tally 5,000+, More Than Double the Average

https://weather.com/storms/tornado/news/severe-weather-hail-tornado...

The U.S. has endured a destructive start to 2017 from the multiple severe weather outbreaks since January.

There have been 5,372 preliminary reports of severe weather across the United States in 2017 through April 8, according to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center (SPC). That figure includes reports of tornadoes, large hail and wind damage.

This is more than than double the average of 2,274 for the same period of time during the past 10 years (2007-2016). In that decade, only 2008 had about the same number of severe weather reports by this point in the year with 5,242.

The animation below shows how the occurrences of wind damage, large hail and tornadoes have piled up month-by-month this year. Portions of the South have been hit the hardest, but the Midwest has also seen a high concentration of severe weather reports.

Wind damage has accounted for about 61 percent of the 5,372 severe weather reports, followed by large hail with 29 percent and tornadoes at 10 percent.

Seventy-one of 100 days have featured one or more reports of severe weather from Jan. 1-April 10, according to SPC's database. Monday marked the 26th consecutive day with at least one severe thunderstorm report logged in the U.S.

Seven states have yet to see a report of severe weather in 2017: Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Vermont.

Severe thunderstorms are largely responsible for the record number of U.S. billion-dollar weather-related disasters in the first three months of 2017. Three separate severe weather outbreaks have caused damage of a billion dollars or more, NOAA says.

(MORE: Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters of 2017)

This year has also been unusual in how far north severe weather, including tornadoes, has occurred for so early in the year.

Massachusetts was hit by two EF1 tornadoes Feb. 25, one near Conway and another near Goshen. No other February tornadoes are known to have struck the state during that month in the historical record.

Just over a week later, Minnesota experienced a similar rare early-season event when severe thunderstorms spawned three EF1 tornadoes March 6. Those were the earliest known twisters for a calendar year in the state by nearly two weeks.

(MORE: Tornado-Related Deaths in 2017)