Emergency and Disaster Management Commons^™

Genomic Characterisation Of Human Monkeypox Virus In Nigeria, Ousmane Faye, Catherine B. Pratt, Martin Faye, Gamou Fall, Joseph A. Chitty, Moussa M. Diagne, Michael R. Wiley, Adesola F. Yinka-Ogunleye, Sola Aruna, Ebitimitula N. Etebu, Neni Aworabhi, Dimie Ogoina, Wari Numbere, Nwando Mba, Gustavo Palacios, Amadou A. Sall, Chikwe Ihekweazu

University of Nebraska's National Strategic Research Institute: Publications

Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is a large, double-stranded DNA virus belonging to the Orthopox genus in the family Poxviridae. First identified in 1958, MPXV has caused sporadic human outbreaks in central and west Africa, with a mortality rate between 1% and 10%.1 Viral genomes from west Africa and the Congo Basin separate into two clades, the latter being more virulent.2 Recently, MPXV outbreaks have occurred in Sudan (2005), the Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo (2009), and the Central African Republic (2016).3 A suspected outbreak of human MPXV was reported to WHO on Sept 26, 2017, by …

An Examination Of Midwestern Us Cities’ Preparedness For Climate Change And Extreme Hazards, Qiao Hu, Zhenghong Tang, Martha Shulski, Natalie Umphlett, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Frank E. Uhlarik

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The increasing occurrence of extreme weather and climate events raised concerns in regard to hazard mitigation and climate adaptation. Local municipal planning mechanisms play a fundamental role in increasing a community’s capacity toward long-term resiliency. This study employs the content analysis method to evaluate the 95 selected cities located in the US Federal Emergency Management Agency Region VII and examine how these local plans, including local comprehensive plans (CPs), hazard mitigation plans (HMPs), and local emergency operations plans (EOPs), prepare communities for climate change and possible extreme events. Results indicate that local plans delineated multiple resources and diverse strategies to …

Preparing For The Future: 2017–2018 Annual Report

University of Nebraska's National Strategic Research Institute: Publications

3 Letter from the Executive Director Robert Hinson

4 About NSRI-- Combatting WMD. Focusing on Deterrence.

6 Key Accomplishments/ Highlights of Business Operations Research Focus Areas

8 Nuclear Detection and Forensics

10 Active and Passive Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction

12 Detection of Chemical and Biological Weapons

14 Consequence Management

16 Mission-Related Research

18 Education & Training

20 Student & Faculty Engagement

22 NSRI/NU Key Journal Articles, 2017–2018

23 NSRI Board of Directors

Creation Of Micro/Nano Surface Structures On Silver Using Collinear Double Femtosecond Laser Pulses With Different Pulse Separation, Nicholas Roth, Craig Zuhlke, Edwin Peng, Scott Hansen, Jeffrey E. Shield, Dennis Alexander

University of Nebraska's National Strategic Research Institute: Publications

Self-organized mound-like micro/nanoscale structures are reported for the first time on silver using a dual-pulse femtosecond laser surface processing technique. The dual-pulse laser processing technique reported in this paper uses femtosecond laser pulse pairs with a controlled temporal delay between the leading and trailing pulses. Using dual pulses at higher fluence values, mound-like micro/nanostructures have been created on silver samples for the first time. Formation of the self-organized microstructures is shown to be dependent on the time delay between the leading and trailing pulses. Mound-like microstructures do not develop on silver for overlapped pulses or using single-pulse femtosecond laser surface …

Bridging The Gap: Joint Fire Science Program Outcomes, Stephen W. Barrett

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

The Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) has funded an impressive number of research projects over the years. However, the number of projects does not necessarily provide an accurate picture of the program’s effectiveness. Over the last decade, researchers have collected data and conducted several studies to determine whether the results of JFSP-funded projects are reaching potential users and informing management decisions and actions. Those studies have helped identify issues and influence changes within the program. Early studies pointed out the need for a boundary-spanning organization to improve delivery of science information, which resulted in the establishment of the Fire Science …

Secretarial Order 3336 Science Priorities: The Role Of Science Past, Present, And Future, Stephen W. Barrett

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Within sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems, which are home to more than 350 species of plants and animals, potentially more frequent and severe fires are causing an increased threat to human safety, property, rural economies, and wildlife habitat. In particular, the habitat of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), an iconic sagebrush-dependent species, is at risk. In response to this reality, on January 15, 2015, Secretary Sally Jewell signed Secretarial Order 3336 (S.O. 3336), titled “Rangeland Fire Prevention, Management, and Restoration.” The main purpose of the order is to implement enhanced policies and strategies for managing rangeland fire and …

Threat Assessment And Management In Higher Education In The United States: A Review Of The 10 Years Since The Mass Casualty Incident At Virginia Tech, Eugene R.D. Deisinger, Mario Scalora

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2016 American Psychological Association. Used by permission.

Challenging The Political Assumption That “Guns Don’T Kill People, Crazy People Kill People!”, Heath J. Hodges, Mario Scalora

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Every time an infamous mass shooting takes place, a storm of rhetoric sweeps across this country with the fury of a wild fire. “Why are we letting these people carry guns?” “Why were they not hospitalized?” “The government needs to crack down on this issue!” What is the government’s response to these cries of concern? Politicians and the media attempt to ease public fears by drawing tenuous connections among a handful of poorly understood tragedies. The salient commonality is that these high-profile shooters had some history of mental illness. A cursory review of the Internet will paint a troubling picture …

Broadening Campus Threat Assessment Beyond Mass Shootings, Brandon A. Hollister, Mario Scalora

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Record reviews of public figure, primary/secondary school, and workplace threateners and attackers displayed the importance of noticing pre-incident behaviors and intervening to prevent violence. General crime prevention strategies did not appear applicable. Similarly, campus threat assessment research has considered targeted violence as distinctive and unable to be reviewed within general collegiate samples, which has related to questions about the prevalence, predictiveness, applicability, and reporting of pre-incident behaviors. This article applies general criminological and crime prevention findings to these questions and presents campus threat assessment methodologies informed by these fields. With college student surveys, pre-incident behaviors have appeared predictive of general …

Graduate Research Innovation Awards Encourage Young Scientists To Ask Bold Questions, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

The Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP), in partnership with the Association for Fire Ecology, offers Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN), awards yearly to a handful of top-quality graduate students conducting research in fire science. GRIN awards are intended to nurture the next generation of fire and fuels scientists and managers, enhance their professional development, help them become engaged with their community of peers, and equip them to tackle the fire and fuels management challenges of today and tomorrow. To earn a GRIN award, master’s and doctoral students are invited to submit succinct four-page proposals for original research in fire ecology, management, …

Building Trust, Establishing Credibility, And Communicating Fire Issues With The Public, Josh Mcdaniel

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

With more people than ever living in the vicinity of the wildland-urban interface, communicating wildland fire management activities and building trust with the public is paramount for safety. Although the time and resources it takes to build and maintain the public’s trust may seem daunting, it may be one of the most important factors determining the long-term viability of a fire management program. Trust is built over time through personal relationships with citizens and communities and also by demonstrating competence and establishing credibility. When trust and confidence have been established, managers can enjoy strong support of fire and fuels management …

Capturing Fire: Rxcadre Takes Fire Measurements To Whole New Level, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Models of fire behavior and effects do not always make accurate predictions, and there is not enough systematically gathered data to validate them. To help advance fire behavior and fire effects model development, the Joint Fire Science Program is helping fund the RxCADRE, which is made up of scientists from the U.S. Forest Service and several universities who orchestrate and collect data on prescribed burns in the southeastern United States. The RxCADRE-prescribed burns are yielding a comprehensive dataset of fire behavior, fire effects, and smoke chemistry and dynamics, with measurements taken systematically at multiple, cascading scales. RxCADRE data will help …

Climate Change Tipping Points: A Point Of No Return?, Elise Lequire

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Summer 2012 saw records fall for intensity of drought and number, size, and cost of wildfires in the Central and Western United States, and the climate forecast calls for more of the same in the near and distant future. When wildfire breaks out, emergency responders decide their immediate strategy based on past experience and quick judgment calls. But in the long term, land managers need to plan for a warmer climate on a time scale of decades, or even a century or more, to better reflect the life span of trees and forests. Studies supported by the Joint Fire Science …

Cheating Cheatgrass: New Research To Combat A Wily Invasive Weed, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Cheatgrass and its cousin, red brome, are exotic annual grasses that have invaded and altered ecosystem dynamics in more than 41 million acres of desert shrublands between the Rockies and the Cascade-Sierra chain. A fungus naturally associated with these Bromus species has been found lethal to the plants’ soil-banked dormant seeds. Supported by the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP), researchers Susan Meyer, Phil Allen, and Julie Beckstead cultured this fungus, Pyrenophora semeniperda, in the laboratory and developed an experimental field application that, in some trials, killed all the dormant soil-banked Bromus seeds, leaving none to germinate the following year. The …

Bark Beetles And Fire: Two Forces Of Nature Transforming Western Forests, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Bark beetles are chewing a wide swath through forests across North America. Over the past few years, infestations have become epidemic in lodgepole and spruce-fir forests of the Intermountain West. The resulting extensive acreages of dead trees are alarming the public and raising concern about risk of severe fire. Researchers supported by the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) are examining the complicated relationship between bark beetles and wildfire, the two most influential natural disturbance agents in these forests. Are the beetles setting the stage for larger, more severe wildfires? And are fires bringing on beetle epidemics? Contrary to popular opinion, …

Knowledge Exchange: A Two-Way Street, Elise Lequire

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

The best available science is of little use if it gathers dust on the shelves of library stacks or is deeply embedded on an obscure website. A key part of the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) mission is to ensure research on wildland fire science is readily available to practitioners in a useful format so it can help support sound management decisions. The JFSP has made great inroads in this arena on a national level, but managers short on time often have to sift through an overload of information that may not be specific to their region. In the next …

Preparing Tomorrow’S Fire Professionals: Integration Of Education, Training, And Experience Through Science-Management Partnerships, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

In this issue of Fire Science Digest, we explore the career and preparation challenges faced by forest and rangeland fire professionals, both new and seasoned. As the job description grows more complex, a well-rounded background in current and emerging areas of fi re science and fi re management becomes critical. Today’s top professionals are approaching retirement, and tomorrow’s fi re professionals need to be adequately prepared to succeed them.

After The Fire Is Out, Elise Lequire

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Even before firefighters have left a burn site, a second wave of specialists is deployed. Their task: to assess the burn site; determine the level of risk to life, property, and ecological resources; and determine quickly the most effective postfire treatments for emergency stabilization and initial rehabilitation of the site. For the past 13 years, the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) has funded research on this critical phase of work, which often goes unnoticed after the fire is out. With support from the JFSP, scientists have made great strides in improving the tools available to assess postfire risks and evaluate …

Campus Safety: Assessing And Managing Threats, Mario Scalora, Andre Simons, Shawn Vanslyke

Mario Scalora Publications

Since the shootings at Virginia Tech, academic institutions and police departments have dedicated substantial resources to alleviating concerns regarding campus safety. The incident in Blacksburg and the similar tragedy at Northern Illinois University have brought renewed attention to the prevention of violence at colleges and universities.

Campus professionals must assess the risk posed by known individuals, as well as by anonymous writers of threatening communications. The authors offer threat assessment and management strategies to address the increased demands faced by campus law enforcement, mental health, and administration officials who assess and manage threats, perhaps several simultaneously.

A Powerful New Planning Environment For Fuels Managers: The Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

The Joint Fire Science Program, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group Fuels Management Committee, and Sonoma Technology, Inc. are unveiling the prototype of a new planning environment that will help fuels specialists negotiate the confusing array of planning tools. The new framework, dubbed the Interagency Fuels Treatment Decision Support System, or IFT-DSS, organizes fuels-planning software and data into a seamless user environment. IFT-DSS offers users access to powerful modeling software from within a well-designed, intuitive graphical user interface, and it provides a common platform for the further development of fuels-planning software tools. The name may not slide easily off the tongue—you …

The Rothermel Fire-Spread Model: Still Running Like A Champ, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

In 1972, aeronautical engineer Richard C. Rothermel, of the USDA Fire Sciences Lab at Missoula, Montana, developed a method for modeling the spread of wildfire. The model became widely used, and although the ensuing years have brought many technological innovations, it is still the engine of the predictive tools used by fire behavior officers today. The Joint Science Fire Program (JFSP) is pleased to offer Dick Rothermel’s story as a tribute to a significant accomplishment, and also to showcase some of the current work at the Fire Sciences Lab.

Diagnosis Of The July 6, 2002 Ogallala, Nebraska Flash Flood, David B. Radell, Mark R. Anderson, John W. Stoppkotte, James R. Mccormick

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

During the early morning hours of 6 July 2002, a mesoscale convective system (MCS) traversed southwestern Nebraska and produced more than 40 cm of precipitation, resulting in a flash flood that closed Interstate 80 and caused one fatality near Ogallala, Nebraska. Regional climatology yields that this flash flood ranked first in precipitation amount for a 24 hour period over the past one hundred years. Synoptic and mesoscale features similar to other flash flooding events and conducive to extremely heavy precipitation were in place over the Central Plains, including a weak upper level ridge, high precipitable water values (180% of normal), …

Biodosepr-2006 Consensus Committee Report On Biodosimetric Methods To Evaluate Radiation Doses At Long Times After Exposure, Steven L. Simon, Ian Bailiff, André Bouville, Paola Fattibene, Ruth A. Kleinerman, David C. Lloyd, Stephen W.S. Mckeever, Alexander Romanyukha, Alexander V, Sevan’Kaev, James D. Tucker, Albrecht Wieser

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

The requirements for biodosimetric techniques used at long times after exposure, i.e., 6 months to more than 50 years, are unique compared to the requirements for methods used for immediate dose estimation. In addition to the fundamental requirement that the assay measures a physical or biologic change that is proportional to the energy absorbed, the signal must be highly stable over time to enable reasonably precise determinations of the absorbed dose decades later. The primary uses of these biodosimetric methods have been to support long-term health risk (epidemiologic) studies or to support compensation (damage) claims. For these reasons, the methods …

Nebraska Behavioral Health All Hazards Disaster Response And Recovery Plan, Denise Bulling, James S. Harvey

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The process resulting from this grant has created the expectation that behavioral health is a natural partner in disaster response planning in the state of Nebraska. Partners in the planning process have expressed a fear that lack of continued funding at some level will place the progress made to date in jeopardy. The SAMHSA funding made available for this capacity development has already resulted in the development of relationships that made possible the following: • Nebraska received its first FEMA CCP grant in May 2004. • Nebraska received its second FEMA CCP grant in August 2005, to serve displaced survivors …

Responding To Katrina: A Mental Health Guide To Providing Culturally Competent Mental Health Services To Evacuees And Their Support Systems, Leon D. Caldwell

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

There is no doubt that the devastation levied by hurricane Katrina is unprecedented in the lifetime of a vast majority of Americans’. The loss and damage to property is no comparison to the loss of human life and the damage to the human spirit experienced by the victims of hurricane Katrina Many mental health practitioners will heed the call to volunteer their expertise and time to assist victims and evacuees through the Red Cross and other organizations. The purpose of this abbreviated guide is to assist those practitioners with limited experiences with African American and economically disadvantaged clients and consumers …

Nebraska Behavioral Health Situation Manual – Avian Influenza, Keith F.Hansen, Denise Bulling

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Purpose This exercise gives participants an opportunity to evaluate current response concepts, plans, and capabilities for a behavioral health response to an Avian Influenza outbreak. The exercise will focus on key state and local coordination, critical decisions, risk communications and the integration of external assets necessary to minimize the psychological effects of an Avian Influenza outbreak.

Scope This exercise examines the role of assets from Behavioral Health, Public Health, Agricultural, and other entities in Nebraska. Processes and decision making are more important than minute details.

Design Objectives Exercise design objectives are focused on improving understanding of a response concept, identifying …

A Recommendation For An Enhanced Fujita Scale (Ef-Scale)

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Background

National Weather Service (NWS) personnel who are responsible for rating tornadoes have expressed frustrations in applying the Fujita Scale in a consistent and accurate manner. Weak links in a structural system or a slow-moving storm sometimes lead to an overrating of a tornado event. Several technical articles suggest that wind speeds associated with some descriptions of damage are too high. For example, a 260 mph wind speed is not required to completely destroy a well constructed house and blow away the debris. The damage occurs at significantly lower wind speeds. Minor et al. (1977) and Phan and Simiu (2003) …

Estimating The Probability Of Severe Convective Storms: A Local Perspective For The Central And Northern Plains, Preston W. Leftwich Jr.

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration: Technical Reports and Related Materials

Summary and Conclusions

A procedure to estimate probabilities of the occurrence of severe convective storms within local areas has been described. Probabilities were based on a simulated climatology and the relative frequency of severe convective events when a selected site was contained within an operational Outlook or Watch. Combined data from five local areas were used to develop a general model for local probabilities within the central and northern Plains region. Attachment of probabilities to specific products placed values within a framework familiar to both forecasters and "end-users." Application of results in an operational scenario demonstrated representative local probabilities and …

Antelope Creek, Dead Mans Run And Middle Creek: Salt Creek Basin, Volume Ii: Summary Report, United States Army Corps Of Engineers, Omaha District

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

Antelope Creek and Dead Mans Run, right bank tributaries of Salt Creek, rise within the Lincoln metropolitan area near the town of Cheney, and 84th and A Streets, respectively. These streams flow in a northwesterly direction and drain 14 and 10.5 square miles, respectively. Middle Creek, a left bank tributary of Salt Creek, rises in eastern Seward County and drains 100 square miles as it flows in an easterly direction to join Salt Creek in Lincoln. Urban development in these valleys is concentrated within the Lincoln city limits. Elsewhere the valleys are rural in character, with the land devoted to …

Antelope Creek, Dead Mans Run And Middle Creek: Salt Creek Basin, Volume Ii: Technical Appendix, United States Army Corps Of Engineers, Omaha District

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

This report on Antelope Creek, Dead Mans Run, and Middle Creek is the second in a series of flood plain information reports being prepared for streams in the Lincoln, Nebraska metropolitan area. Volume I of this series, published in August 1964, described flood hazard areas of Salt Creek Haines Branch, and Beal Slough.

This Technical Appendix, covering Antelope Creek, Dead Mans Run, and Middle Creek, is presented in four sections. Section A presents information applicable to all three streams. Sections B, C, and D are devoted to information applicable to the individual streams.