As usual, these are the articles I stumbled on over the past week and helped me understand the current situation. Preference is given to articles that are most directly related to emergency management.
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The Atlantic: The Public Is Astonishingly United
I think this is an important article to show that the majority of Americans do understand the need to stay at home and keep businesses closed despite what the disproportionate coverage of protests implies.
New York Magazine: There Is Still No Plan
Just your weekly reminder there is no effective plan for how to manage the long-term response to the pandemic.
Last Week Tonight: Coronavirus VI: Testing
This is an excellent overview of where we are with testing and why this remains such a fundamental problem.
The Washington Post: Arizona halts partnership with experts predicting coronavirus cases would continue to mount
This article highlights the really horrifying decisions being made in Arizona where there seems to be a complete shutout of scientific experts. Related to emergency management, they claim to be using information from FEMA to make their decisions about hospital capacity, etc.
The New York Times: How Kushner’s Volunteer Force Led a Fumbling Hunt for Medical Supplies
Speaking of FEMA… reporting done this week helped to illuminate the involvement of Jared Kushner and his “volunteers” at FEMA. See this article in the Washington Post too.
The Washington Post: In the early days of the pandemic, the U.S. government turned down an offer to manufacture millions of N95 masks in America
This article highlights the confusion and overlapping responsibilities among federal agencies and the lack of urgency in the initial months of the response.
LibrarianShipwreck: A failure of the imagination – COVID-19 and catastrophe
This is an excellent piece of writing about how to understand the pandemic and other risks.
Quartz: One US town weathered a flood, a tornado, and its first COVID-19 death on the same day
Although we haven’t had a major disaster during the pandemic yet there have been a number of large emergencies and smaller disasters across the country. This article looks at one town that got hit particularly hard.
The New York Times: Coronavirus Makes Cooling Centers Risky, Just as Scorching Weather Hits
There has been a lot of focus on wildfires and hurricanes during the pandemic but our new reality affects all types of extreme weather.
The News & Observer: ‘This is a yo-yo.’ COVID-19 hits families still suffering from Hurricane Florence
Really excellent article illustrating the standstill many who are undergoing recovery are experiencing. I wrote more about this on Twitter.
Chattanooga Times Free Press: Samaritan Center helping East Hamilton County tornado victims 'by proxy'
Related to the article about Florence these last two articles look at the impact the pandemic has had on disaster volunteerism. We are walking into a really serious problem with the loss of our national volunteer capacity.
WRCBtv: Hamilton County officials desperate for volunteers to help with tornado clean-up efforts