Preparing for Widespread Power Outages: What Local First Responders Need to Know - In Public Safety
By Dennis Porter, alumnus, Homeland Security, American Military University
On April 21, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee discussed an issue that many states and local governments aren’t addressing: The possibility of a widespread grid power outages that would cause people to be out of electricity for long amounts of time.
According to an article in SC Magazine, the chairman of the committee, Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Penn.), told members that they need to start helping states and local governments prepare for such an event. During the same meeting, Craig Fugate, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said his agency was working with the Department of Energy to develop federal plans to respond to long-term power outages. Part of this operational plan, he said, would address national safety threats caused by long-lasting electrical power outages.
While congressional committee meetings on this subject demonstrate that federal authorities are starting to think about such a disaster, not enough discussion is happening at the state and local level.
Article Detail - Domestic Preparedness
by
Wed, June 15, 2016 For the first time since the demise of the civil defense program of the Cold War, the federal government has made one of the most significant modifications to its emergency preparedness message. A three-day emergency kit is no longer sufficient to prepare for emerging threats, whether coming from Earth or from space.
Article Detail - Domestic Preparedness
The InfraGard National Members Alliance(INMA) 2016 Annual Congress and Conference will be part of a joint Conference with ASIS International and (ISC)2. In an unprecedented move, InfraGard will co-locate their Congress and first annual Conference with ASIS and (ISC)2 on September 12-15 in Orlando, Florida.
Full release: https://americansecuritytoday.com/11339-2/
** SPACE IS LIMITED ** CLICK HERE TO REGISTER **
Date & Time: Thursday, June 16, 2016 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm
Venue: Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (TRANSTAR)
Address: 6922 Katy Road, Houston, TX 77024
Topic: Securing the Texas Grid
Speaker: Ron Jacobus, TX Senator Bob Hall’s Office
For over a decade, experts have warned that the U.S. electric grid is vulnerable to physical, cyber and electromagnetic (EMP) threats. However, unlike physical and cyber, the threat from an EMP to the nation’s electric grid has all but been ignored by government and the electric industry. At present, more than eleven comprehensive studies have detailed the seriousness of the EMP threat. Several well-esteemed scientists have detailed both the seriousness of the EMP threat and the relatively low cost to secure our electric grid infrastructure from it. During this period of increased solar storm activity and a growing unpredictability between geopolitical rivals, the U.S. electric power grid's vulnerability to electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack and geomagnetic solar storms is a clear and present danger to both the State of Texas and the greater physical, economic, and societal fabric of the United States. However, unlike the other 48 continental states, Texas has the ability to secure its portion of the electric grid from the threat of EMP. That is why Mr. Jacobus decided to host a solutions-based summit aimed at developing a framework from which we can protect the Texas Grid.
In the meantime, while the legislative process continues and the gap between legislation and implementation remains, it is imperative that the State's emergency management planers are prepared to address the unique challenges that first responders would encounter following an EMP event.
by DR. PETER VINCENT PRY June 2, 2016
Few Americans have heard of Roscoe Bartlett--but all Americans may someday owe him their lives. The former congressman from Maryland's 6th District, who on June 3rd celebrated his 90th birthday, is the modern Paul Revere of electromagnetic pulse (EMP).
It is a safe bet that most or all readers of Family Security Matters now know about the EMP threat. Indeed, more Americans may know about EMP than about Paul Revere, a situation Roscoe would certainly disapprove!
Roscoe Bartlett took EMP out of the classified shadows. There its potentially paralyzing effects on military forces and civilian critical infrastructures were deeply understood only by a small number of nuclear strategists and specialists.
The American people now know about the existential threat that is EMP because of Roscoe Bartlett.
Full article: http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/roscoe-bartlett-american-hero?f=must_reads
Five universities have partnered and collaborated to establish the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium. The consortium is organized around the Community Cyber Security Maturity Model (CCSMM) that emphasizes cyber-security as being the responsibility of the "whole community". The whole community includes the public and private sectors as well as any individual within the community who accesses the internet or a computer network. The consortium members include The Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), The Texas Engineering Extension Service in the Texas A & M University system, U of Memphis, The Criminal Justice Institute (CJI), University of Arkansas System, and Norwich University.
A huge solar superstorm fries hundreds of high-voltage transformers, shutting down the nation’s electrical power grid. A hostile nation or a group of terrorists detonates a nuclear weapon above the U.S. atmosphere, raining gamma rays and causing massive blackouts.
While these sound like sci-fi movie plots, some scientists and government officials think either scenario could actually occur and end up disabling the country’s electrical grid for weeks, months or years, leaving telecommunications and emergency services severely disrupted and affecting the food supply, sanitation and drinking water.
Full article: http://empactamerica.org/states-work-protect-electric-grid-catastrophic-disturbances/
A contractor walks through an electrical transmission substation in Ohio. (AP photo)
(CNSNews.com) – Two weeks after North Korea threatened to launch nuclear strikes against the U.S., the Government Accountability Office(GAO) reported that the federal government has still not implemented all of the recommendations made eight years ago to prevent catastrophic blackouts caused by an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack.
The recommendations were made in 2008 by the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electro-Magnetic Pulse Attack (EMP Commission).
Full article: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-hollingsworth/gao-report-us-remains-vulnerable-emp-attack
Texas State Senator Bob Hall hosted a summit on electric grid security. State and national experts addressed critical security concerns from high-impact threats that could cause a nationwide critical infrastructure collapse for a month or more. The summit addressed the Texas electric grid’s vulnerability to electromagnetic pulse (EMP), geomagnetic solar storms, and the interplay of cyber-attacks; discuss emergency preparedness and emerging protective technologies; and highlighted state and federal legislative EMP protection and electric grid security efforts.
Link to conference video archives: http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/members/dist2/dist2.htm
Day 1 http://tlcsenate.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?clip_id=11049
Day 2 http://tlcsenate.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?clip_id=11051
