Latest news with #disasterPreparedness
Washington Post
08-07-2025
- Washington Post
After Camp Mystic, what parents can ask camps about extreme weather prep
After the devastating flash floods swept through Kerr County, Texas, last week killing at least 27 campers and counselors at Mystic Camp, parents the country may be wondering: Is my child safe at summer camp? Statistically, camp in the United States is very safe. As has long been the case, the most common injuries are cuts and broken bones that occur during regular camp activities. Recent national statistics aren't available, but New York state tallied that among the 900,000 campers last summer, 550 experienced reportable injuries. None were fatal. But climate change, while making summers more intense, is altering the summer camp experience. Some camps are moving to restrict or cancel sports and outdoor activities during the hottest parts of the day to avoid heat stroke, replacing them with indoor, less-active alternatives. Camps in Minnesota have jury-rigged air filters and distributed N95 masks to reduce wildfire smoke exposure. In Ohio, some nights have been too hot for campfires. As the world faces more frequent extreme weather, understanding a camp's risk, and how well it's prepared, will only become more vital. After all, traditional summer camps are, by design, exposed to nature — and natural disasters. Jeff Rubin, a disaster-preparedness instructor and former emergency manager for Oregon's largest fire district, said he 'got a hollow feeling' when he saw the first reports of the flooding in Kerr County. As a young EMT in 1987, he had responded to another flood there, about 30 miles from Mystic Camp. In that incident, 10 teenagers from a Christian camp died when their bus and van were swamped by the Guadalupe River and its tributaries. A tragedy like that, or what happened at Mystic Camp, shouldn't dissuade parents from sending their kids to camp, he said. It should encourage them to dig deep into how well a camp is prepared for extreme weather and other emergencies. 'Risk is a function of hazard and vulnerability,' he noted. I spoke with experts and camp owners across the country about how to know if the camp you choose is safe. Not going to camp has risks, too. Children's academic and health outcomes tend to decline over the summer break, according to a 2024 peer-reviewed study in the journal Children, with measurable decreases in cardiovascular fitness and physical activity. By contrast, research suggests that even a few weeks of camp confer striking benefits: Kids return home fitter, with reduced body mass index and waist circumference, and stronger social and emotional skills (they're even more likely to excel at school and less likely to commit crimes). If you had to pick one form of extreme weather to worry about, though, it should be heat. It's the leading weather-driven cause of death in the United States — responsible for more deaths than hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires combined. 'Heat is probably the most dangerous because it occurs the most frequently,' said Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications research at First Street Foundation, a climate-risk nonprofit organization. 'It's something anyone going to summer camp is going to have to deal with.' Children are uniquely vulnerable: They absorb more heat from the environment and are less able to cool off because they sweat less and produce more heat while exercising. That makes the trend toward hotter, humid days potentially debilitating or even deadly for them. Rich Moss, who owns Camp Lenox in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts with his wife, Stephanie, said hot days, now more frequent than a few decades ago, mean mandatory water breaks and moving indoors. 'In a funny way, we almost treat it as a rainy day,' he said. 'We bring them inside to get out of the sun.' For other forms of extreme weather, it depends on the location, Porter said. In the Northeast, extreme rainfall is worsening as the atmosphere warms. The West is seeing more frequent, severe wildfires. Southeastern and Gulf states like Texas are experiencing virtually unprecedented riverine flooding from slow-moving torrential storms. In the Appalachians, fires are burning where they rarely did before. Government resources can give you a snapshot of the past: The Federal Emergency Management Agency's hazards map and county emergency plans (often called natural-hazard mitigation or emergency preparation plans) rank vulnerability to different hazards and emergency services preparation. For more current risk assessments, First Street's free tool offers Zip-code level data for flood, fire, wind and heat risk. 'As a parent, you can get a really good understanding of the risks in those areas,' Porter said. 'If you don't know what you're looking for, these indicators can push you to ask more questions.' Only half of parents in a national survey by Ipsos Public Affairs in 2022 said they were 'very confident' they could determine whether a camp was safe and healthy for their children. But parents don't need to figure this out alone. Government agencies such as health departments inspect and certify summer camps for safety, similar to day cares, ensuring they meet minimum state standards. The American Camp Association has also certified about 4,000 camps — about 15 percent of the total in the United States — that follow the 'most up-to-date, research-based standards' for safety, including coordinating with local emergency-response professionals and conducting regular risk assessments for the camps. Camps should inform parents, as well. At Camp Lenox, Rich and Stephanie Moss say they spend hours speaking with parents before their 350 campers arrive, sending out safety information and updating a text and email alert system — one they have not yet had to use — to reach parents in an emergency. Ultimately, asking pointed questions of the staff and owners, Rubin said, gives you the best sense if they are trained and prepared for these risks. 'All of this involves work: a little focused web searching, maybe a phone call or two,' Rubin said. 'The benefit is asking focused rather than general questions of the camp.' Instead of asking whether a camp is prepared for emergencies, he suggested asking how often campgrounds have flooded and what steps have been taken to protect against floodwaters. 'If they don't know how vulnerable they are to, say, flood, wildfire, wildfire smoke, earthquake or tsunami, or if they can't specify specific policies and procedures,' Rubin said, 'that'd be a red flag.' Here are a few questions to ask before you enroll your child:
New York Times
02-07-2025
- New York Times
Hundreds of Small Earthquakes Rattle Remote Islands in Japan
Across the last two weeks, a sparsely populated string of islands in southwest Japan has experienced more earthquakes than it has people, recording more than 800 tremors strong enough to be felt on land. The U.S. Geological Survey registered a 5.6-magnitude quake on Wednesday afternoon in the Tokara Islands, a string of 12 islands between Japan's main island and Okinawa. The Japan Meteorological Agency, which uses its own scale of seismic intensity, has recorded 870 quakes since June 21. All of the quakes have been at least 1.5 on the Japanese scale, meaning they are strong enough to be felt by some people. Earthquakes stronger than 5.0 on the scale can topple bookshelves and other furniture. The nonstop shaking has been unusual even for earthquake-prone Japan, rattling more than 600 people who live on the islands. Several of the islands were formed from undersea volcanoes, luring visitors with natural hot springs. The Japan Meteorological Agency has not offered an explanation for the recent increased activity, but the formation of a new volcanic island can sometimes follow small pinpointed earthquakes. Two years ago, a small island sprouted up near Iwo Jima, a Japanese island in the Pacific Ocean, from the eruption of an undersea volcano that lasted for weeks. Because of Japan's frequent earthquakes, the authorities and general public are well-prepared for disasters. But the Tokara Islands' remote location means emergency responders have to use helicopters to get there, as it takes more than 6 hours to reach Nakanoshima, the largest of the islands, by ferry. Residents on one of the islands, Akusekijima, told The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, that they had lost sleep since the tremors began. There was no risk of tsunamis, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on Wednesday, but it warned people on the islands to beware of falling rocks and landslides.
Khaleej Times
26-06-2025
- Khaleej Times
Hundreds of earthquakes rattle Japanese island chain
A remote island chain in southern Japan has been rattled by more than 470 earthquakes since Saturday, the national weather agency said on Thursday, calling for residents to stay alert. No major damage has been reported from the series of quakes with a strength of at least one -- slightly perceptible to people seated quietly indoors -- on Japan's seven-point seismic intensity scale. As of Thursday morning, 474 such earthquakes had been observed around the Tokara island chain, south of Kyushu, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. "Seismic activity has increased. As this region has experienced extended periods of earthquake activity in the past, please be vigilant against earthquakes that cause strong shaking," it said in a statement. The largest tremors recorded since Saturday were two magnitude-5.1 quakes, one on Sunday and one on Tuesday. They had a seismic intensity of four on the Japanese scale -- described as an earthquake in which "most people are startled", dishes rattle and "hanging objects such as lamps swing significantly". A similar period of seismic activity in the Tokara area was seen in September 2023, when 346 earthquakes were recorded within 15 days, according to public broadcaster NHK. Seven of the 12 remote Tokara Islands are inhabited, with around 700 residents in total. The islands, some of which have active volcanoes, are reached by a ferry that runs twice weekly in good weather. "An earthquake of up to magnitude-6 strength could take place, so please be vigilant," Hisayoshi Yokose, a marine volcanology specialist and associate professor at Kumamoto University, told NHK. Japan is one of the world's most seismically active countries, sitting on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific "Ring of Fire". The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, experiences around 1,500 jolts every year and accounts for around 18 percent of the world's earthquakes. The vast majority are mild, although the damage they cause varies according to their location and the depth below the Earth's surface at which they strike. On New Year's Day 2024, more than 400 people died after a massive earthquake hit the Noto Peninsula in central Japan, including "quake-linked" deaths as well as those killed directly in the disaster. The January 1 quake and its aftershocks toppled buildings, caused fires and knocked out infrastructure at a time when families were celebrating the new year.
Al Arabiya
26-06-2025
- Al Arabiya
Hundreds of earthquake rattle Japanese island chain
A remote island chain in southern Japan has been rattled by more than 470 earthquakes since Saturday, the national weather agency said on Thursday, calling for residents to stay alert. No major damage has been reported from the series of quakes with a strength of at least one -- slightly perceptible to people seated quietly indoors -- on Japan's seven-point seismic intensity scale. As of Thursday morning, 474 such earthquakes had been observed around the Tokara island chain, south of Kyushu, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. 'Seismic activity has increased. As this region has experienced extended periods of earthquake activity in the past, please be vigilant against earthquakes that cause strong shaking,' it said in a statement. The largest tremors recorded since Saturday were two magnitude-5.1 quakes, one on Sunday and one on Tuesday. They had a seismic intensity of four on the Japanese scale -- described as an earthquake in which 'most people are startled', dishes rattle and 'hanging objects such as lamps swing significantly.' A similar period of seismic activity in the Tokara area was seen in September 2023, when 346 earthquakes were recorded within 15 days, according to public broadcaster NHK. Seven of the 12 remote Tokara Islands are inhabited, with around 700 residents in total. The islands, some of which have active volcanoes, are reached by a ferry that runs twice weekly in good weather. 'An earthquake of up to magnitude-6 strength could take place, so please be vigilant,' Hisayoshi Yokose, a marine volcanology specialist and associate professor at Kumamoto University, told NHK. Japan is one of the world's most seismically active countries, sitting on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific 'Ring of Fire.' The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, experiences around 1,500 jolts every year and accounts for around 18 percent of the world's earthquakes. The vast majority are mild, although the damage they cause varies according to their location and the depth below the Earth's surface at which they strike. On New Year's Day 2024, more than 400 people died after a massive earthquake hit the Noto Peninsula in central Japan, including 'quake-linked' deaths as well as those killed directly in the disaster. The January 1 quake and its aftershocks toppled buildings, caused fires and knocked out infrastructure at a time when families were celebrating the new year.
NHK
21-06-2025
- NHK
Quake safety project gives tourists shaky tea experience in Japan
Tourists visiting Japan got a chance to experience a tea ceremony in an earthquake -- safely simulated. The Omotenashi Bosai project in Osaka's Minato Ward offered the shaky encounter on Saturday to promote the safe evacuation of foreign travelers in a disaster. It took place in an earthquake simulator truck. A tea-ceremony room with tatami mats and a hanging scroll was set up on the bed of the truck. The experience began with a woman wearing a kimono showing participants how to have sweets and tea in a traditional manner. The shaking that soon ensued simulated quake intensity of seven, the highest on the Japanese scale. Participants looked frightened and tried to grab onto the tatami mats and floor cushions. A woman who came from the United States to visit her relatives in Japan said a real earthquake would be scarier. She said that it was good to be reminded that disasters can happen even while you're on vacation overseas.
