Moving beyond definitions, this volume looks at the "iron triangle" within critical infrastructures: power, telecom, and finance. It introduces the concept of CIs as industrial and enterprise "risk conductors," highlighting the fact that a CI failure can propagate an impact throughout an enterprise. This text rethinks the concept of a CI according to contemporary factors, providing guidance for mitigating risk within the framework of national economies.

Protecting the U.S. from terrorist attacks requires a collective effort between government and the private sector. Using helpful case studies and exercises, this book presents invaluable instruction on how to establish, implement, and reinforce terrorism awareness and readiness while maintaining regulatory compliance with national critical infrastructure interests. It reviews threat factors, risk mitigation, readiness plans, prevention approaches, human factors, and training methods.

BAGHDAD - Five American soldiers and two members of the Iraqi security forces were killed Friday in a brazen suicide truck bombing at one of the entrances to the main military base in the northern city of Mosul, a United States military spokesman said.

It was the deadliest attack against American soldiers here in 13 months and the second in Mosul since February, when four soldiers on patrol were killed in a suicide car bomb attack. While only nine Americans were killed in March - the lowest since the invasion in March 2003 - Friday's attack punctuated a recent rise in violence throughout the nation, including a string of bombings in Baghdad over the past five days. 
 

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August 17-21, 2009 

The three-day fight to snuff out Oklahoma's devastating wildfires ended early Sunday when steady rains moved through the state, finishing off flames firefighters couldn't reach.
The Oklahoma Mesonet recorded rain at each of its stations late Saturday and early Sunday, including more than an inch from midnight to late morning Sunday at all stations in the counties hardest hit by fire: Oklahoma, Carter and Stephens.

Since Thursday, no one was reported injured and no inhabited structures have been reported burned due to the fires, said state Emergency Management Director Albert Ashwood.

"We're looking into recovery at this point," Ashwood said. "FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) teams are coming in Monday (today), and we'll look at the individuals (needing assistance) and also the local fire departments to make sure we get all their expenses taken into account."

 

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FRANKFORT - Whether it's tornadoes, torrential rain or ice-encrusted trees and power lines, weather emergencies seem to hit Kentucky all the time.

But state officials also want to be prepared for the possibility of a disease outbreak, a hazardous chemical spill or a campus crisis.

That's why Brig. Gen. John Heltzel, the head of Kentucky's Division of Emergency Management, is going to practice new scenarios this summer and ramp up rescuers' response times.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The worst sound Eric Funkhouser said he has ever heard was a 10-second "voom" followed by a man's screams.

A tornado hit Funkhouser's home in Murfreesboro, about 30 miles southeast of Nashville, on Friday, part of severe storms that spawned tornadoes across the Southeast that has been blamed for three deaths and dozens of injuries.

"It sounded like seven freight trains and 22 vacuum cleaners all going at the same time," Funkhouser said yesterday as he returned to what is left of his home and neighborhood.

Funkhouser ran outside and found his neighbor John Bryant laying in Funkhouser's front yard, covered with blood and screaming.

"He kept saying that his wife and baby were out there with him and he had to find them," Funkhouser said.

The Boston Police Department's SWAT team, drilled to handle volatile situations on land - not to mention in buildings and on rooftops - trained for the first time last week with its maritime counterpart from the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard's Boston-based Maritime Safety and Security Team, a SWAT-style operation established after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, worked with the city's specialized police squad to familiarize its members with offshore and in-harbor vessel-boarding tactics, water survival skills, ship-clearing methods, and other maneuvers, said Lieutenant Commander Daniel Deptula, who leads the maritime team.

That Coast Guard team, one of a dozen based in the nation's major ports, handles harbor defense and coastal security above and beyond the Coast Guard's traditional search-and-rescue and maritime-law duties.

In addition to preparing for the possibility of a water-borne terrorist attack, the team escorts high-profile vessels and monitors Boston Harbor during special events, such as the 2004 Democratic National Convention or the upcoming Sail Boston, which brings tall ships to the city.

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Gov. Charlie Crist asked the president on today for federal aid to remove debris and repair roads, bridges and other public property ravaged by storms and floodwaters across 11 north Florida counties. But Crist signaled he would probably expand his request later because the flooding isn't over.

In a letter to President Barack Obama, the governor also requested hazard mitigation grants for the entire state and direct federal assistance to save lives and property where needed, including flood plain mapping assistance, swift water rescue support and food and water for flood victims.

A series of storms and overflowing rivers across Florida's northern tier has produced record and near-record floods over the past two weeks, matching or topping those caused by Tropical Storm Fay in the same region last August.

"Altogether, these series of severe weather systems has resulted in the second major disaster to hit north Florida in the last 12 months," Crist wrote.