Survey of Hurricane Preparedness Finds One-Third On High Risk Coast Will Refuse Evacuation

According to a new survey of people in high-risk hurricane areas conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health Project on the Public and Biological Security, one-third (31%) of residents say if government officials said they had to evacuate due to a major hurricane this season, they would not leave. This is an increase from 2006 when 23% said they would not evacuate.

The survey was conducted in eight states—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas—and only included residents of counties within 20 miles of the coast. The poll included a special sample of the New Orleans metropolitan area.

The top reasons people give for not evacuating involve issues of safety and security. Three-quarters (75%) say their home is well-built and they would be safe there. Over half (56%) feel that roads would be too crowded, and slightly more than one in three (36%) feels that evacuating would be dangerous. One-third (33%) worry that their possessions would be stolen or damaged while one in four (27%) say they would not evacuate because they do not want to leave their pets.

“Public officials need to be concerned that the further we get from the severe hurricanes of 2005, the less willing people are to evacuate,” says Robert Blendon, professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health. “Officials need to remind people that many homes are vulnerable to major storms. They also need to ensure safe evacuation routes are available and the public is aware of them.”

These findings are based on interviews conducted June 18 - July 10, with 5,046 adults in high hurricane risk counties in eight states.

Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Study May Lead to New Therapies for Binge Eating Disorder

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) psychologists have developed an animal model for the binge eating disorder, which affects an estimated one in 20 Americans. The Sprague-Dawley rat model could lead to the identification of physiological mechanisms that distinguish different types of eating disorders and to the creation of new, targeted drug therapies.

In the study, published in the April issue of the International Journal of Obesity, UAB psychologists identified rats who are predisposed to binge on large quantities of palatable food – sugary and high-fat junk foods – in a short period of time. Eating a large amount of palatable food in one sitting, however, did not predict susceptibility to become obese, just as some human binge eaters become obese while others remain lean.

With the animal model, UAB psychologists want to determine the genetic and neurochemical differences that characterize lean from obese binge eaters and obese individuals who don’t binge. This should ultimately lead to more targeted preventative measures and treatment strategies for people with binge-eating disorders and obesity, said the study’s author UAB psychologist Mary Boggiano.

Although binge eating disorder is the most common of all eating disorders, affecting 5 percent of the U.S. population, it does not have a formal mental health diagnosis due to a lack of research. Obesity and binge-eating disorders such as bulimia and binge-purge anorexia affect 40 percent of the population. But often patients are given the same set of treatments regardless of the condition or disorder.

Boggiano assigned rats as "binge prone" or "binge resistant" based on the amount of palatable food, (Oreo cookies), they consistently ate when given a choice between the cookies and regular chow. When only chow was offered, none differed in their intake of chow, but when cookies were presented, the rats ate more cookies. The binge-prone groups’ penchant for junk food may be driven by taste rather than by a preference for any one macronutrient, such as carbohydrates or fats, since they also ate more Froot Loops and Crisco, which do not contain any fat or carbohydrate, respectively.

To the psychologists’ surprise, the amount of junk food the rats ate, whether binge prone or binge resistant, was not predictive of whether the rats became obese. In fact, obesity and obesity resistance was equally represented in both the binge prone and binge resistant groups.
The finding is consistent with humans in that not everyone who frequently craves or eats junk food is obese. The lean binge-prone group resembles bulimia nervosa patients who generally do not gain weight, while the binge-prone obese group parallels patients who binge and gain weight, typical of binge-eating disorder. The binge-resistant obese group mirrors two-thirds of the obese population who consume a high number of calories but do not binge.

Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

NOAA Provides Critical Lead Time for Southeast Tornadoes

Tornadoes that tore across the Southeast on Thursday struck after significant advance warning from NOAA's National Weather Service, according to the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Preliminary Tornado Warning lead times -- the amount of time between the issuance of a Tornado Warning and the touchdown of a tornado -- ranged from 12 to 55 minutes, providing critical time for the emergency message to sound NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio and television, and tornado sirens, the agency says.

For Enterprise, Ala., the preliminary tornado lead time is 18 minutes, NOAA says.

New storm-based warnings, introduced operationally by NOAA's National Weather Service last month, helped to better pinpoint the path ofyesterday's tornadoes resulting in extended lead times and a reduction inthe area warned, as compared to the previous county-based warning method. The tornado warning that included Enterprise, Ala., included a 71% reduction in areas that did not need the warning.

Starting today teams of National Weather Service meteorologists will beon the ground conducting damage surveys in order to determine the exactwind speed, width and path of each twister.

NOAA is not forecasting another severe weather outbreak in the coming days, but encourages residents across the country to purchase a NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards receiver at electronic retailers or online as an essential method of receiving potentially life-saving severe weather warnings.

Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Alabama Woman Sentenced to More Than Six Years in Prison for Katrina Fraud

Lawanda T. Williams, also known as Lawanda Johnson, was sentenced to more than six years in prison for defrauding the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of more than $267,000 and for aggravated identity theft following Hurricane Katrina, U.S. Attorney Deborah Rhodes of the Southern District of Alabama announced.

Williams was sentenced to 75 months in prison, and was ordered to pay full restitution to FEMA in the amount of $267,377. In addition, Williams was ordered to forfeit all of the property she purchased with the proceeds of her Katrina fraud, including four automobiles, real estate, televisions and other electronics.

Williams pled guilty in September 2006 to making false claims to the government, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with 28 fraudulent claims for disaster assistance she made to FEMA after Hurricane Katrina. Williams admitted that her residence in Jackson, Ala. was not damaged by the hurricane and that she filed 28 fraudulent claims for Katrina assistance, falsely claiming to have lived at various addresses in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida. In those applications, Williams admitted using Social Security numbers of other people and providing FEMA with fraudulent and fictitious documents that purported to prove her ownership of property she did not own.

"Ms. Williams used Hurricane Katrina and the relief efforts as an opportunity to make hundreds of thousands of dollars by lying and by stealing other people's identities," says Rhodes. "The Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force is actively working to bring to justice those who took advantage of the recovery efforts to enrich themselves."

Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. It made landfall along the Gulf Coast in late August 2005, laying waste to New Orleans and the surrounding region. The government response, particularly from FEMA, was widely criticized.

In September 2005, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales created the national Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force, designed to deter, investigate and prosecute disaster-related federal crimes such as charity fraud, identity theft, procurement fraud and insurance fraud. The Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force, chaired by Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Alice Fisher, includes members from the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the Postal Inspector's Office and the Executive Office of United States Attorneys, among others.

The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General, the FBI, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Costello.


Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Enter your Email





Preview Powered by FeedBlitz