St. Johns County third-graders visit manatees in the wild as part of an 18-lesson curriculum

“I’m totally putting this on Instagram,” one third-grader said as he took out his smartphone to take a picture of the large aquatic mammal swimming along Blue Spring in Orange City, Fla. “Wow! That one is so big!” screamed another student while tapping his teacher to get her attention. Students’ faces were in awe as…

In response to Congressional action, NFIP stops planning for rate increases to "grandfathered" properties

Due to inclusion of language in an omnibus funding bill signed by President Obama on January 17, 2014, the Federal Emergency Management Agency recently released an advisory document which indicates that FEMA has stopped any planning to implement section 207 of the Biggert-Waters Act. Section 207 of BW12 instructed the National Flood Insurance Program to…

FEMA Now Considering Sea-Level Rise in Mitigation Grants

In late December of 2013, FEMA formally announced that it will now allow state, territorial, or tribal applicants for hazard mitigation assistance to include sea-level rise in their applications. Hazard mitigation assistance grant applicants have to demonstrate, via a benefit-cost analysis, that the proposed project will save as much or more money than it costs…