Name: New Georgia disaster handbook busts myths but ignores climate change
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New Georgia disaster handbook busts myths but ignores climate change

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Mary Landersmlanders@savannahnow.comView CommentsJust in time for the heart of hurricane season, a new handbook is helping Georgians prepare for natural disasters of all sorts.But the new disaster handbook avoids any mention of ongoing climate change, which worsens many of the Peach State’s storms, floods and heat waves.Mona Behl, associate director of UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, said that when Georgia began its work on the handbook two years ago, the Hawaii handbook on which it was modeled did not include a climate change chapter. Hawaii added that issue to its fourth edition, out this year.“Since our handbook is a living document, we hope to improve the future editions by integrating more resilience and adaptation options for Georgia residents,” Behl wrote in an email. “For now, we want to make sure that we are able to provide timely, science-based information to all Georgia residents so as to help them prepare, plan and respond to natural hazards that impact our state.”The University of Georgia’s Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, in collaboration with several federal, state and local partners developed “The Resident’s Handbook to Prepare for Natural Hazards in Georgia.” It’s available online at .The 124-page handbook provides information on emergency preparedness, evacuation planning, and steps that residents can take to protect their life and property from hurricanes, thunderstorms, flooding, wildfires and winter storms.“I think a lot of people, they know it's gonna be an active (hurricane) season. And they know that they need to do something to get prepared, but they don't really know what to do,” said Pam Knox, an agricultural climatologist at UGA who helped write several chapters. “And so the advantage of having a handbook like this is that people can look at this and see what are the recommendations for things that they can do ahead of time.”Knox said the sections she wrote on climate change were edited out of the final draft, perhaps for lack of space, but that she wasn’t included in that decision-making process.“One argument is that people should be taking the same precautions, regardless,” Knox said. “We don't know that hurricanes are going to become more frequent. But we do know that they're likely to be more destructive. And we do know that they're likely to move slower and bring more rain so we could be more likely to be affected by a Florence-type event, where, you know, it just goes really slowly and we get socked with a lot of rain.”The handbook’s first section addresses enduring myths related to disasters. David Donnelly, Savannah’s director of emergency management, said he frequently hears the one that claims the Georgia Bight — the deep westward swoop of the coast — protects coastal communities from hurricanes.It doesn’t.“Yeah, this Georgia Bight exists,” Donnelly said. “That somehow because we're on this curve on the coast that storms pass us by. That's not the case. I mean, we've had three major storms in this area at the end of the last century, and certainly, if it happened before, it can certainly happen again.”He talking about the 1890s, when multiple storms made direct hits on the Georgia coast.“Most of the people that live along the Georgia coast now have never been through a storm like that,” Knox said.And if you point to Matthew and Irma as your badge of experience, remember that Irma was a tropical storm when it hit Georgia. And Matthew stayed off the state’s coast as it moved north.Donnelly noted that Savannah is partnering with Georgia Tech and others on an ongoing sea level sensors program that’s all about the effects of climate change in Savannah.Future editions of the handbook might address climate change directly, he said.“I would think , you know, this (handbook) would be updated maybe not annually, but in a couple years just to keep it fresh and then include things like climate change,” he said.The collaborators are currently seeking sponsors for the print version of the handbook, which they expect will be available in October.Editor’s note: This article was updated Sept. 10, 2020 to include Mona Behl’s full title of associate director of UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant.View Comments

Mary Landersmlanders@savannahnow.comView CommentsJust in time for the heart of hurricane season, a new handbook is helping Georgians prepare for natural disasters of all sorts.But the new disaster handbook avoids any mention of ongoing climate change, which worsens many of the Peach State’s storms, floods and heat waves.Mona Behl, associate director of UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, said that when Georgia began its work on the handbook two years ago, the Hawaii handbook on which it was modeled did not include a climate change chapter. Hawaii added that issue to its fourth...

New Georgia disaster handbook busts myths but ignores climate change

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