Hill Heat

The Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response & Recovery chaired by Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) will hold a hearing to hear from stakeholders about local and Federal capacity to respond a range of disasters from severe weather events to terrorist attacks. The hearing will also serve as an opportunity to discuss emerging threats, including the significant risks of climate change to our country’s preparedness, and the actions the Federal government – particularly DHS and FEMA – should take to address these challenges in order to build a more resilient nation.

• Orlando Rolón, Chief of Police, City of Orlando (Testifying on behalf of the Major Cities Chiefs Association)
• George Dunlap, Chairman, Board of County Commissioners, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (Testifying on behalf of the National Association of Counties)
• Chris Currie, Director, Homeland Security and Justice Team, U.S. Government Accountability Office

THE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS will meet in OPEN SESSION, HYBRID FORMAT to conduct a hearing entitled, “Disaster Recovery Assistance – Authorization of the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Program.”

Rescheduled from December 9th.

• Michael A. Sprayberry, Senior Advisor For Emergency Management, Hagerty Consulting
• Matt Mayer, President, Opportunity Ohio

On Wednesday, October 6, at 10:00 AM ET, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold an oversight hearing to examine the response by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Hurricane Ida.

• Major General William H. “Butch” Graham, Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Brigadier General Thomas J. Tickner, Commanding General, North Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Colonel Stephen F. Murphy, Commander, New Orleans District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Bangladesh dated with a nightmare as cyclone Sidr ripped through the southwestern coast late Thursday, killing over 700 people and demolishing houses, crops, vegetables and trees alike along its trail of devastation over an area of thousands of square kilometers.

Packing winds over 220km an hour, the fierce tropical storm roared across the shoreline after it hit landfall at the Khulna-Barisal coast at 7:30pm Thursday, cutting off all communications and utility services across the country.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my 47 years life,” Khalilur Rahman, a government official in Patuakhali, told The Daily Star over telephone last night. “It was a panic beyond description. People found no way but to keep on screaming as long as the cyclone ran rampage here.”

Storm surge is usually the biggest killer in Bangladesh cyclones, and was responsible for the vast majority of the 140,000 people killed in the 1991 Bangladesh Cyclone. This storm struck eastern Bangladesh as a Category 5 cyclone—the only Category 5 cyclone on record to hit the country. The triangular shape of Bengal Bay funnels high surges into the apex of the triangle where Bangladesh sits, and the shallow bottom of the bay allows extraordinarily high storm surges to pile up. The maximum storm surge from Sidr was probably 20-25 feet, and affected the regions near and to the right of where the eye made landfall. The eye fortunately came ashore in the Sundarbans Forest, the world’s largest forest of mangrove trees. This region is the least populated coastal area in the country. Storm surge levels of 10-20 feet probably affected the provinces of Barguna and Paruakhali, which are more heavily populated. Undoubtedly, the storm surge killed many more people in these provinces, and Sidr’s death toll will go much higher. However, Bangladesh has done a much better job providing shelters and evacuating people during cyclones since the 1991 storm. Over 650,000 people did evacuate from Sidr, and it is unlikely the death toll will put the storm on the list of the world’s deadliest cyclones of all time.

The International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies has launched an emergency appeal for support.