Preparing for Natural Disasters in the Age of COVID-19

Preparing for Natural Disasters in the Age of COVID-19
A boy paddles a kayak down a flooded street in Midland, Mich., May 20, 2020 (Photo by Katy Kildee for Midland Daily News via AP Images).

Historic floods washed over swaths of Michigan after a dam breach earlier this month, just days after a major typhoon struck the Philippines. Last week, Cyclone Amphan slammed into eastern India and Bangladesh, killing dozens of people. And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting a busier-than-normal Atlantic hurricane season, which officially kicks off on June 1. The timing, obviously, couldn’t be worse.

For this week’s interview on Trend Lines, WPR’s Elliot Waldman is joined by Samantha Montano, an assistant professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, for a conversation about the challenges of preparing for, and responding to, natural disasters during the coronavirus pandemic. You can follow all of Montano’s disaster-related insights by following her on Twitter @SamLMontano.

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Relevant Articles on WPR:
‘It Was Always Going to Be Horrible.’ Britain’s Former Top Emergency Planner on COVID-19
Why Societies Are Resilient to Disasters Like COVID-19
Dorian Is the New Normal. Here’s How the Bahamas and the Caribbean Can Prepare
The Caribbean Shifts to a Regional Approach in Adapting to Climate Change

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Trend Lines is produced and edited by Peter Dörrie, a freelance journalist and analyst focusing on security and resource politics in Africa. You can follow him on Twitter at @peterdoerrie.

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