by admin | Feb 4, 2026 | Chicago, Climate, Coastal Management, Disaster, Florida, Hurricanes, Insurance, Iowa, Journalism, Movies, Parks, Personal history, Restaurants, Sports, Tornado, Urban Planning, Weather
It was about 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, January 25, when my United Airlines flight from Sarasota, Florida, landed at O’Hare International Airport, and I finally started getting text messages again. The very first one was from Angel, our 22-year-old grandson, whom I had...
by admin | Aug 5, 2025 | Activism, Books, Business, Chicago, Climate, Colorado, Disaster, Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure, New Orleans, Religion, Renewable Energy, Volunteerism
I had a dream a few weeks ago. Most of my dreams are fleeting and inconsequential. Not so this time. My overladen subconscious mind took me to this empty room, then made me fill it with all that had happened since my “alleged retirement”[1] from the American Planning...
by admin | Dec 26, 2024 | Careers, Climate, Disaster, Disaster Recovery, Education, Floodplain management, Hazard Mitigation, History, Iowa, Natural Hazards, Personal history, Public policy, Resilience, Retirement, Texas, Urban Planning, Weather
About the time the rising Cedar River crested in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on June 13, 2008, a torrential downpour from an incoming thunderstorm joined forces with it to create the perfect flood. In the previous flood of record in the city, the river had reached 20...
by admin | Nov 4, 2024 | Climate, Coastal Management, Disaster, Emergency Management, Floodplain management, Florida, Geography, Hurricanes, Natural Hazards, Resilience, Weather
Barrier islands serve a purpose in nature’s scheme, offering a barrier of sorts to the movement of storm surge and high tides to the continental mainland. In both the Southeastern U.S. and the Texas Gulf Coast, such islands abound, but we have often ignored the power...
by admin | Jul 7, 2024 | Business, Chicago, Climate, Cooking, Economics, Energy Conservation, Environment, Government, Public health, Public policy, Technology
Just a month ago, I encountered a problem my wife had previously experienced in April while I had been out of town. At that time, puzzled by why our gas oven seemed not to work, she had to wait until I returned from a conference in Minneapolis and teaching a FEMA...
by admin | Mar 8, 2024 | Chicago, Christianity, Climate, Energy Conservation, Environment, Government, Infrastructure, Public policy, Renewable Energy, Resilience
Almost all content on this blog is written by me. On rare occasions, I have hosted a guest writer when I decided it was appropriate. In this case, I am sharing an announcement from my own church, which is entering an agreement with the City of Chicago for a grant to...
