It's no secret that extensive property-related data can enable a greater level of risk awareness and location intelligence, reducing risk for insurers and improving customer communications and service.

California’s Thomas Fire is roughly 45 percent contained and is now considered the third largest wildfire in state history, authorities say.
Firefighters battling the fire northwest of Los Angeles are working against another high winds.

(TNS) - Only a decade ago, the idea of using flying cameras to solve crimes seemed like something out of a made-for-TV science fiction film.

Today, however, fiction has become a reality, and police agencies across the country increasingly are turning to these miniature aerial platforms to help in their work.

Defined in legal terms as unmanned aerial systems, but more commonly known as drones, they're also helping survey storm damage, checking hard-to-reach areas on bridges and towers, showing off real estate or scouting out possible construction sites.

But it's their use by police and other law enforcement agencies where drones have received the most public attention.

(TNS) - When the phone rang at 4:50 a.m. Thursday, I woke up on high alert. No one calls that early with good news.

When I saw the caller ID said “CSUN Emergency,” my heart started racing. My youngest son, Cameron, attends California State University-Northridge. High alert shifted to dread.

It turned out the call was just to inform us that CSUN was canceling classes that day due to poor air quality and transportation issues stemming from the massive Southern California wildfires. What a relief. But there was no chance I would go back to sleep without finding out how close the fires were to CSUN’s dorms and what the strategy was for putting the fires out.

Research conducted by a team of U.S-U.K. scientists and engineers shows federal flood maps underestimate at-risk Americans by more than 27 million people.

The group is called Fathom, and they presented their research at the 2017 American Geophysical Union Meeting on Dec. 11 — research they say fills in “vast amounts of missing information” in current federal flood risk assessments.

When tragedy strikes, a quick response is critical. And that includes organizations with employees impacted by the situation.

Experiences with recent and ongoing examples, such as Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, wildfires in the western U.S., and a number of other natural disasters, demonstrate the need to act fast, which requires having a plan in place before something happens.

Construction of a new spillway at the Oroville Dam in northern California—the largest dam in the U.S.—is underway and is expected to be completed sometime in 2018, according to the California Department of Water Resources. The dam replaces the previous spillway, which was damaged by heavy flooding in February.

Problems at the Oroville Dam began, when the dam’s main sluice was damaged after a winter season of record rain and snowfall, following five years of drought. Torrential rainfall caused water levels to rise so quickly that large amounts needed to be released to prevent the dam from rupturing and sending a wall of water to the communities below.

When it comes to record management and customer notifications, the legal requirements for businesses are vastly different from state-to-state. Take for example California, where businesses are required by law to immediately notify a state resident if his or her personal information has been acquired by an unauthorized user. Most states have similar laws. In Alabama, however, there is no state law requiring a business to notify customers of a data breach.

But only doing the bare minimum of what is legally required can still leave your business vulnerable to reputational harm, loss of customers and disruption of business processes that may prove catastrophic in the long run. Ask yourself this: If it were your data stolen, would you want or even expect to be notified?

The hot, dry Santa Ana winds whipping up the unseasonably fierce wildfires ravaging Southern California have come at the worst time, at the end of a long dry spell.

The combination of savage Santa Anas and tinder-dry plants have ignited large wildfires in the region this week, upending lives at a time when many people were preparing for the winter holidays, officials said.

It served as a reminder that parts of California increasingly face a year-round threat of flames.

“There is no fire season anymore,” said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Scott McLain, adding that this was particularly true in Southern California.

In the aftermath of the Northern California wildfires, on Nov. 20, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones directed the California Department of Insurance to issue a formal notice to insurers, licensed public adjusters and admitted carriers to make sure all claims adjusters assigned to wildfire claims, including those not licensed in California, are properly trained on the California Unfair Practices Act, Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations, and all laws relating to property and casualty insurance claims handling.

The guidance continues to be important as Southern Californians deal with wildfires in the Los Angeles area.