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The Association of State Floodplain Managers, Dewberry, URS Corporation and In cooperation with the Congressional Hazards Caucus and the co-chairs of the Floods are the second most deadly natural disaster in the U.S. after heat waves. On average, 140 lives and $6 billion worth of property are lost every year. Extremely catastrophic events such as the 1927 Mississippi flood which breached 145 levees killing 245 people and the 2005 Hurricane Katrina flooding, which caused $200 billion in damage, put significant additional burdens on multiple communities and the nation. This briefing will focus on the federal Flood Hazard Mapping Program and how mapping modernization is helping to reduce risks. Understanding the management, science, engineering and implementation of flood maps is one step to reducing risk. In addition, education and public outreach to local communities about flood maps can help save lives and mitigate damage. Agenda Moderator: William Anderson, Associate Executive Director in the Division on Earth and Life Studies and Director of the Natural Disasters Roundtable at the National Academies/ National Research Council Participant Biographies William Anderson is associate executive director in the Division on Earth and Life Studies and director of the Disasters Roundtable at the National Academies. From June 1999 to June 2001, he served as senior advisor in the Disaster Management Facility in the Infrastructure Division at the World Bank. For more than twenty years, he held various positions at NSF, including program director, section head, acting division director, and senior advisor. While at NSF, he was responsible for developing natural hazards research programs that included the social sciences and for providing oversight for such large-scale research activities as the NSF-funded earthquake engineering research centers and the cooperative program on wind engineering. Anderson has held concurrent assignments with the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President and the Department of State. Prior to his appointment at NSF, Anderson was a professor of sociology at Arizona State University. He also taught at Ohio State University and Kent State University. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from Ohio State University. While at Ohio State, he served as field director at the Disaster Research Center where he directed teams conducting research on the impacts of natural and technological disasters. Anderson currently serves on the advisory board of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland, and on the executive advisory board of the Mid-America Earthquake Center at the University of Illinois. Doug Bellomo, P.E. is a civil engineer with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Washington, DC. He is currently the Director of the Risk Analysis Division within the Mitigation Directorate of FEMA. Division responsibilities include flood hazard mapping as part of the National Flood Insurance Program, Risk Assessment, Mitigation Planning, as well as the National Hurricane and Dam Safety programs. Mr. Bellomo is a professional engineer and holds a B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering. He has been working with flood hazard and other mitigation issues for about 14 years. Sponsors The Hazards Caucus Alliance, an informal network of organizations concerned about reducing the risk of hazards, invites your participation in this public briefing and in future Caucus events. For more information about the Caucus, the Alliance or future events, please contact Maeve Boland 703-379-2480 ext. 228; boland@agiweb.org.
Contributed Linda Rowan, AGI Government Affairs Staff. Posted: April 11, 2008 Please send any comments or questions about this web site to Maeve Boland. |
