Upcoming Events: Oct. 27, 2005
GWU/SAIC Homeland Security, Emergency and Risk Management Forum
Topic: Disasters/Catastrophes and Mitigation: The Road Ahead
Presenter: Dr. William H. Hooke
When: Thursday - October 27, 2005 4:00 - 6:00
PM
Where: GWU Marvin Center, Room 307 (800 21st Street
@ H Street NW, Washington, DC)
The George Washington University Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management (ICDRM) is proud to announce the second Homeland Security, Emergency and Risk Management Forum of the 2005 - 2006 academic year on Thursday, October 27, 2005. We are also proud to announce that for the sixth consecutive year, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), is providing financial support for the forum series.
Presentation Description:
Dr. Hooke will pose and discuss the following four topics/questions focused
on the need for and limitations to mitigation directed activities for current
and future Disasters/Catastrophes.
- For years, even decades, experts have seen this disaster coming, not just in broad terms, but
in some detail. Why were these warnings unheeded?
- The Katrina scenario is not unique. Many other cities and regions of the United States face natural
hazards and future calamities of comparable or greater consequence, which are just as inevitable. What
can and should be done to lessen both the scope and impact of these
slowly brewing disasters?
- On a considerably shorter time frame - the few days immediately
before, during, and just after Katrina's landfall - decision makers
and policy officials operated in an information deficit. What actions
are needed to build the decision support infrastructure required for
emergency response and recovery on this scale?
- Private enterprise - both the large corporations and the small businesses in this region - represented not only a major vulnerability (hundreds of thousands in the region lost their jobs; worldwide, energy prices spiked; international access to U.S. grain exports was interrupted), but also a great, largely untapped asset for rebuilding and recovery - and for a host of disaster reduction actions far prior to any catastrophe. In the short run, how can private enterprise best be given the tools it needs to rebuild? Over the longer term, how can the private sector engage more fully, and more effectively, in disaster prevention, preparedness, and recovery actions nationwide?
Brief Bio:
Dr. William H. Hooke is a Senior Policy Fellow and the Director of the Atmospheric Policy Program and Chair of the National Academies Disasters Roundtable Steering Committee. He has been with the Atmospheric Policy Program since June, 2000. His current policy research interests include: natural disaster reduction; historical precedents as they illuminate present-day policy; and the nature and implications of changing national requirements for weather and climate science and services. He also directs AMS policy education programs, including the AMS-UCAR Summer Policy Colloquium, and the Congressional Fellow Program.
Additional Information:
Refreshments will be served during the 4:00 - 4:30 PM social period and the forum will commence promptly at 4:30 PM. There is no registration fee for the forum series, however we do request that you RSVP to Sergio De Cosmo, Research Assistant, The GWU Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management. Email to sdecosmo@gwu.edu is preferred, however, please feel free to call with any questions to 202-994-6736.
