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  • Officials patched and prayed while pressure built on Houston's dams

    Following Hurricane Harvey, Houston officials are taking steps to better prepare the city for flooding. Two damns, Addicks and Barker, have long been in need of repairs to increase their capacity and resilience, and after decades of putting it off – and thousands of homes flooded – the city is hoping to invest in one of the large-scale remedies that have been recommended in the past.

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  • Harvey overwhelmed some levee systems. Future storms could do worse.

    The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey left many Houston residents questioning the efficacy of one of the city’s only protections, the Levee Improvement Districts (LID), responsible for providing flood protection. In neighborhoods prone to flooding, there has been much debate about the actual protection the current levees provide, leading many to call for solutions like the expansion of the LIDs through elections (rather than appointees) or raising the levees.

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  • How Do I Protect My Students from Gun Violence?

    Preventing school shootings is difficult, but there are basic strategies that can curtail them and lessen loss of life. Those include limiting school access and making all visitors check in, ensuring intercoms and other technology work, but also working to prevent suicide so someone doesn't engage in a shooting to get themselves killed. Schools also need procedures in place for any crisis to ensure everyone is communicating and coordinating and children are reunited with approved family members.

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  • The Missing Maps

    In Malawi and other countries around the world, thousands of towns are not mapped. There is often no financial incentive to do so. However, unmapped areas face many challenges, especially because they are harder to reach after a natural disaster. Missing Maps is trying to help. The project holds map-a-thons in cities such as Beirut and London, and these events use the power of communities to map the world on a massive scale. Over 45,000 volunteers have mapped the homes of over 50 million people in less than three years.

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  • Scientists in Mexico Scramble to Deploy Seismic Sensors

    Scientists in Mexico are deploying instruments to create a network using GPS, pressure and seismic data, to track the movement of tectonic plates with the goal of creating models of earthquakes and tsunamis that would help mitigate loss of life in the next disaster. The decision to focus on the Guerrero Gap was prompted by the 2011 quake and resulting tsunami that devastated parts of Japan. That came from an event similar to what happens in the Gap, prompting a Japanese scientistic group to invest in the research in Mexico.

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  • In flood-prone South Asia, early warning systems buy precious time

    South Asia is prone to flooding during monsoon season, this can lead to deaths and building damage. SMS warning systems have recently been implemented in order to warn residents when they are in danger, the system has a lot of room to grow but it has proven to be helpful in reducing deaths.

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  • Inside the Organization Helping Immigrant Communities Survive Hurricane Harvey

    Ethnically-specific disaster relief services are especially prudent in the city of Houston where more than one in five residents report speaking English less than "very well." An organization called Boat People SOS (formed in the 1980s to aid Vietnam War refugees coming by boat) is providing critical support to the Vietnamese population in the city, directing them to shelters, hospitals, food, and even FEMA funds later on. This article talks about the role the nonprofit played in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

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  • Fiji's Climate Champion Speaks Up for Women in the Wake of Cyclones

    After a huge cyclone devastated a remote Fijian village, Eta Tuvuki worked to open communication channels between women and public officials. Her efforts are not only making women's voices heard, but they allow for the dispersal of critical information during disasters.

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  • Madagascar skirted famine – barely. Now, it's boosting resilience before drought returns.

    Drought in Madagascar grows worse each year as its minimal public infrastructure and extensive poverty slow efforts by the UN and various NGOs for food and water distribution. But in recognizing the severity of the cyclical water shortages, organizations are piloting new approaches. These include solar pumps from portable groundwater sources; distribution and cultivation of drought- and rot-resistant seed strains for staple crops; cash-stipends for "productive goods," delivered by phone to bypass the problem of damaged roads -- which are building newfound resilience among residents.

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  • How Mongolia's nomads are adapting to climate change

    Mongolia’s nomadic, pastoral families are banding together to strengthen their resilience in the face of climate change. With their economic livelihoods dependent on livestock production, they feel the effects of warming temperatures more than many. By combining their resources and communally managing their pastures, they’ve been able to be less vulnerable to severe weather.

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