Disaster Leeches

It is unfortunate, but there are nefarious individuals and companies who prey on people after a disaster. There are those that actually go around the nation following in the wake of disasters to create even more pain and suffering for people that fall prey to their alleged expertise at disaster repairs, insurance paperwork, dealing with the Feds, etc.

This LA Times story, Chasing a disaster chaser; complaints swirl around recovery firm details how difficult it is to bring these people to justice.

I actually recall when the National Disaster Summit came to Seattle and we were wondering, "Who is this guy, it this summit legit, etc.?" The answer was clearly no!

Bill Gates Tries to Stop Hurricanes

Interesting story here. Since I'm not the scientist, I can't really judge, but I'm thinking REALLY BIG ocean, and ...not that easy to tame.


One force of nature vs. another: Bill Gates tries to stop hurricanes
By Todd Bishop on July 9, 2009 at 11:44 AM PDT, Puget Sound Business Journal

Recent patent filings have shown Bill Gates and his friends exploring subjects as diverse as electromagnetic engines and beer kegs. Now they're thinking even bigger -- trying to stop hurricanes.

Microsoft's chairman is among the inventors listed on a new batch of patent applications that propose using large fleets of vessels to suppress hurricanes through various methods of mixing warm water from the surface of the ocean with colder water at greater depths. The idea is to decrease the surface temperature, reducing or eliminating the heat-driven condensation that fuels the giant storms.

The filings were made by Searete LLC, an entity tied to Intellectual Ventures, the Bellevue-based patent and invention house run by Nathan Myhrvold, the former Microsoft chief technology officer. Myhrvold and several others are listed along with Gates as inventors.
The diagram at right is from one of five related patent applications made public this morning. So how exactly do they plan to stop hurricanes? Here's an excerpt from the filing that explains the diagram.
Vessel 100 is a tub-like structure having one or more walls 110 and a bottom 115. Vessel 100 may be held buoyant in the water by one or more buoyancy tanks 120 which may be used to maintain the buoyancy of vessel 100 and further may be used to control the height of walls 110 above the water level. Vessel 100 also includes a conduit 125 whose horizontal cross section is substantially smaller than the horizontal cross section of the tub portion 130 of the vessel defined by walls 110. In an exemplary embodiment, conduit 125 extends well below the ocean surface including depths below the ocean's thermocline.

In most circumstances, most of the sunlight impinging on the ocean surface is absorbed in the surface layer. The surface layer therefore heats up. Wind and waves move water in this surface layer which distributes heat within it. The temperature may therefore be reasonably uniform to depths extending a few hundred feet down from the ocean surface. Below this mixed layer, however, the temperature decreases rapidly with depth, for example, as much as 20 degrees Celsius with an additional 150 m (500 ft) of depth. This area of rapid transition is called the thermocline. Below it, the temperature continues to decrease with depth, but far more gradually. In the Earth's oceans, approximately 90% of the mass of water is below the thermocline. This deep ocean consists of layers of substantially equal density, being poorly mixed, and may be as cold as -2 to 3.degree. C.

Therefore, the lower depths of the ocean may be used as a huge heat/energy sink which may be exploited by vessel 100. When vessel 100 is deployed at sea, waves 135 may lap over the top of walls 110 to input warm (relative to deeper waters) surface ocean water into tub 130. Tub 130 will fill to a level 140 which is above the average ocean level depicted as level 145. Because of the difference between levels 140 and 145, a pressure head is created thereby pushing warm surface ocean water in a downward direction 150 down through conduit 125 to exit into the cold ocean depths (relative to near surface waters) through one or more openings 155. In an exemplary embodiment, the depth of opening 155 may be located below the ocean's thermocline, the approximate bottom of which is depicted as line 160. This cycle will be continuous in bringing warm surface ocean water to great depth as ocean waves continue to input water into tub 130. If many of vessel 100 are distributed throughout a region of water, the temperature of the surface of the water may be altered.
"Many" is the important concept there at the end.

Gates, Myhrvold and associates aren't the first to propose reducing the ocean's surface temperature as a means of suppressing hurricanes, said David Nolan, an associate professor of meteorology and physical oceanography at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
"Every couple of years there's a news story that gets picked up for some hurricane-suppression idea," Nolan said via phone this morning. "They’re all kooky in their own way. Some of them are more plausible than others, but they all face an enormous problem of scale. ... You would have to cover an incredible area with this effect to reduce the temperature of the ocean by a significant amount."

Of course, a big difference in this case is that one of the people making the suggestion is one of the world's richest men. But don't look for Gates to fund the deployment of thousands of these vessels. One of the patent filings proposes paying for the equipment through the sale of insurance policies in hurricane-prone areas, in addition to funding from state, federal and local government agencies. [Like that is ever going to happen!]

Patent watcher "theodp," who tipped us off to the filings, says he was reminded of "The Simpsons" as he read through them. "The richest man in the world hatches a plan to alter weather and ecology in return for insurance premiums and fees from governments and individuals," he writes. "It's got kind of a Mr. Burns feel to it, no?"

The hurricane-suppression patent applications date to early 2008, but they were first made public this morning. These and previous Searete LLC patent filings are believed to result from brainstorming sessions regularly held by Intellectual Ventures, in which Gates has been known to take part. It's not clear how or when Intellectual Ventures might go forward with any of these ideas.

Solving Persistent Gaps in Emergency Management Efforts Regarding Children

In case some one is "up early" here on the West Coast, or for those in other time zones, listening in might be a bit easier.

Dr. Michael Anderson, Vice-Chairperson of the National Commission on Children and Disasters, will be interviewed live on Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s radio news show “Mississippi Edition.” Dr. Anderson will discuss the Commission’s recommendations on solving persistent gaps in emergency management efforts regarding children.

Who: Dr. Michael Anderson, Vice-Chairperson
What: Live Radio Interview
When: Friday, July 10, 2009
8:30 a.m. CST/9:30 a.m. EST
Where: MPB Radio (live stream available at http://www.mpbonline.org/radio/index.htm)

Background: The National Commission on Children and Disasters is an independent Commission conducting a comprehensive study to examine and assess the needs of children as they relate to preparation for, response to, and recovery from all disasters.

Dr. Anderson’s bio can be found on the Commission’s website at: http://www.childrenanddisasters.acf.hhs.gov/about_commissioners.html#Anderson

Smart Electricity Grid Aims to Increase Energy Efficiency--and Vulnerability

This Government Technology Magazine Article Smart Electricity Grid Aims to Increase Energy Efficiency provides some good background if you are wondering what all the hype is about "Smart Grid" technology.

A byproduct unfortunately is it will also increase our vulnerability to cyber attacks. Some are pointing the finger at North Korea as the source of the latest outbreak of cyber attacks that happened just this week.

Countering cyber attacks will mean more cooperation between the public and private sectors. Stopping e-commerce is one of the goals of these attacks, and just about all of our commerce these days has a cyber connection of one sort or another.

I believe in an "all-hazards" approach, but for cyber you might have a different cast of characters in your EOC. Start building those relationships now so that you can practice before an event. Previously I shared how for TOPOFF 2 we had a pre-event that simulated a cyber attack and it was eye opening to see what it would take for people and organizations to start coordinating when they normally would be in competition, each working in their organizational silos.

Exercise Shake-n-Quake 2009

Somewhat reminiscent of the California Great Shakeout Exercise, Pierce County, Washington State has scheduled an earthquake exercise for this coming October, using the Tacoma Fault as their earthquake dujour scenario.

Their Shake-n-Quake web site has a few details on how businesses and private citizens can participate. I'm sure the web site will expand as the exercise gets closer.

Using technology like this to reach more people and encourage them to "play along" is a good example of what we can do now in the 21st Century.

White House Hosting H1N1 Summit

The media may have moved on to Michael Jackson, but the medical community and public safety officials remain concerned about what will happen in the future with the H1N1 flu virus. This is a good example of how we can't be driven by the public's attention span (which I read once was about 11 days--maybe the Jackson saga is about over--other than the book deal). It will be interesting to see if this summit even makes the national evening news. There certainly would have been no coverage two days ago. Note the availability of a webcast on the linked web site after the event.

White House to hold H1N1 Summit On July 2 the White House announced an H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit to be held on July 9 at the NIH. The hosts of this all-day event include Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan. The announcement for this event was issued the same day as the highly-publicized panel discussion on H1N1 held at AAAS headquarters. An archived webcast of the latter will be available shortly on the event's website.

The announcement above was shared by Bill Cumming, who is my unpaid researcher. Thanks Bill!!