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FlexLite Stroller, Lizette
Item No. 24551099
$100.00 $40.00
Additional Information
So lightweight it's a breeze...
The FlexLite Stroller makes travel and transport easy for parents with its one second, one hand quick fold. But convenience does not come with sacrifice. Your child will ride comfortably, enjoying multi-position recline, full-coverage canopy with peek-a-boo window, and front swivel locking wheels.
Additional features include: large parent cup holder with additional storage for items such as keys and cell phone, easy in-and-out with bonus child cup and snack holder, large storage basket with access from any side, and compact, self-standing fold for super convenient portability.
Child Specs
- Weight: up to 50 lbs.
- Maturity: up to 50 lbs.
Product & Shipping Specs
- Package Width: 9.25
- Package Weight: 19.8414
- Package Depth: 27.359
- Package Height: 19.296
Use & Care
Read all instructions and warnings on the product, product labels, and instruction manuals before use.
Cleaning Instructions
- Plastic and metal parts may be wiped clean with mild soap and water.
- Take care not to damage any labels.
- The harness can be wiped clean with mild soap and water. Allow harness to air dry.
- Do not immerse buckle in water or lubricate.

subset: commoncrawl


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Prices, specials, features and availability subject to change.
Contact for details
We're glad you are visiting our community - you will find valuable information about us as you explore this site. Finding a new home that reflects your lifestyle is important, and you'll find that Taravue Park exemplifies our commitment to Distinct Living. Great amenities, professional management, and convenient location all add up to an incredible living experience.Taravue Park is conveniently located near several major highways, great restaurants and less than 5 minutes from St. Louis ' premier South County shopping mall! Stores include Borders, Dillard's, Hollister, J.C. Penny, Macy's and many more!Taravue Park is located directly off of Barracksview Road near the intersection of interstates 270/255 and 55. Please call for an appointment today.
Lease terms are variable. Please inquire with property staff.
Pet Policy: 60 Pound Weight Limit. Maximum 2 pets per apartment. $30.00 pet rent. $150 pet deposit. Restrictions: Weight (60 lbs)and aggressive breed restrictions may apply.
Dogs Allowed. Cats Allowed. Breed Restriction. Call for service animal policy.
304 units
Check Availabilityor call
Staff of taravue park apartments are very rude and short with you. Heating and cooling units barely work and c Read Moreost a fortune when you receive your electric bill. I like the location and the outside of the apartments are nice and it is a perfect size for what I need right now. Would never live here long term.
June 04, 2015
Always good about responding to service requests and easy to approach with issues.
June 03, 2015
I gave it this rating because of the location but other than that it was nice for the area it was in. Was a go Read Moreod experience.
May 19, 2015
We appreciate you taking the time to provide feedback! We are happy to hear that your experience was good!
Great services
December 16, 2014
Thank you for your positive feedback!
Would have given a better rating, but wouldn't be able to justify it with the condition of the laundry room. I Read Moret's been deteriorating ever since I first moved in. I haven't visited lately, it's been over 9 months since I used their facility. Maybe it's been remodeled. I just take my laundry elsewhere, it's more convenient and cleaner. But besides that, everything else is good.
December 16, 2014
Thank you for your feedback! We take stride in our apartment community and will be updating the laundry room in 2015. Stay tuned!
Monday-Friday: 9:00am-6:00pm
Saturday: 9:00am-5:00pm
Sunday: 12:00pm-5:00pm
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Berliner Philharmoniker Open Air 2016
The Berliner Philharmoniker and Deutsche Bank invite you
Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra
Mariano Domingo Conductor
Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon Rattle Conductor
Jörg Thadeusz Presentation
Nicolas Ruegenberg
Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra , Mariano Domingo Conductor
Syrian Symphonic Music
Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra , Mariano Domingo Conductor
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 2 D major op. 73
Berliner Philharmoniker , Sir Simon Rattle Conductor
Antonín Dvořák
Slavonic Dances (Selection)
Berliner Philharmoniker , Sir Simon Rattle Conductor
Dates and Tickets
Sat, 27 Aug 2016, 16:00
Kulturforum Berlin
In addition to the traditional opening concert in the Philharmonie, the Berliner Philharmoniker, together with Deutsche Bank, are also welcoming in the new season at the Kulturforum – with a orchestral programme composed of works by Johannes Brahms and Antonín Dvořák. The Second is Brahms's most popular symphony, and it is an extremely cantabile work. On the occasion of the successful premiere, which took place during the 4th Philharmonic Concert in the Great Hall of the Vienna Musikverein on 30 December 1877, Eduard Hanslick wrote in the Neue Freie Presse: "The Second Symphony appears like the sun to warm connoisseurs and lay people alike; it belongs to everyone who longs for good music, whether they can comprehend the most difficult or not." Undeniably, Brahms's dense motivic-thematic work presents itself in the Second, as compared to his First Symphony, more effortlessly, naturally and artfully, giving the music its direct accessibility. Thus it comes as no surprise that Sir Simon and the Berlin Philharmonic selected precisely this work for their concert at the Kulturforum: music of "high-spirited superior humour […] with sound effects of delightful beauty" (Konstitutionelle Vorstadt-Zeitung).
The same could be said about the eight Slavonic Dances that follow on the programme. In them, Antonín Dvořák did not make use of existing dance melodies – unlike Brahms in his Hungarian Dances – but rather skilfully combined typical elements of Czech folklore with the melodic and rhythmic characteristics of his own compositional style. The response to the piano collection was phenomenal: just a few months after they appeared, the composer, until that time still largely unknown, was receiving enquiries from renowned publishers such as Bote & Bock, Schlesinger and Steingräber. In addition, a long article by Louis Ehlert appeared in the Berlin National-Zeitung, which in turn induced a "literal run on the music stores", as the music critic, who was well-known at the time, wrote in a letter to Dvořák dated 27 November 1878. The composer was also very satisfied with the orchestral version of the pieces that he promptly produced: "[…] they will sound like the devil …".
Continuing its commitment to refugees, the Philharmoniker have also invited the Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of its conductor Mariano Domingo, who will open the concert as a musical symbol against the war and to promote international understanding. Works will include Nicolas Ruegenberg's composition Unisono – a musical representation of an inter-cultural dialogue, created with the participation of refugees – plus Syrian symphonic music. The Expat Orchestra, which comes together for specific projects in a variety of formations, was founded in Bremen in 2015 by Raed Jazbeh – the ensemble is composed of Syrian musicians who have now found a new home in several European countries. From 5pm, the second item in the open air concert is an opportunity for the audience itself to participate in the evening's music-making. We can't say any more at the moment, but the keyword is "singing".


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About the Band Boosters Association (BABO)
The mission of the Band Boosters Association is to promote and support the WVHS Band Program. The Association holds meetings regularly to share ideas and plan activities. Band students and parents are welcome at all meetings. If you are interested in becoming involved or have questions, please contact any member of the Executive Board. Thank you for your support!
Band Boosters Association
2017 - 2018 Executive Board
PRESIDENT: Amy Brozak
VICE PRESIDENT: Cheryl Wilczynski
TREASURER: Donna Elkins
Click here for reimbursement form
SECRETARY: Lori Stoakes
Event Chairpersons
Java Jazz - 12/14/17: Jennifer Cassidy
Jazz Showcase - 5/3/18: Jennifer Cassidy
PRISM Concert - 12/1 & 12/2/17 Jennifer Cassidy
Schlagzeugfest - 1/13/18: Sharon Colin
Pep Band/8th Grade/Alumni Night: Kim Lewis, Kara Hari, Nancy Wig
All-Stars FAF Rehearsal - 5/18/18: Sharon Moody
Fine Arts Festival - 5/19/18:
Committee Chairpersons
Library: Mark Duker
Photography: Gregory Kontos
Ways & Means
Apparel/Merchandise: Cheryl Wilcynski
Fannie May - Fall: Catherine Diefenderfer
Craft Fair - 3/18/17: Lori Eschbach
Cookie/Pizza - Spring: Catherine Diefenderfer
Marching Band Season
New Parent Liaison: Amy Brozak
8th Grade Band Night - 9/29/17: Kim Lewis, Kara Hari, Nancy Wig
Food for Competitions: Lori Eschbach
Pit Crew/Transportation: Mike Keppler
Uniforms: Amy Brozak, Jennifer Cassidy, Jeanne Cordes
Meeting Schedule
Join us at 7:00 pm in the WVHS Band Room!
September 5, 2017
October 10, 2017
November 15, 2017 (Wednesday)
January 9, 2018
February 6, 2018
March 5, 2018 (Monday @ 6:00 pm)
April 3, 2018
May 17, 2018 (Mini-meeting at 6:45 prior to Spring Concert)
Meeting Minutes
Show your WVHS Band Spirit!
Support your Band Booster Association with the purchase of stylish sunglasses! Only $12 per pair! Contact Cheryl Wilczynski to place your order!
Show pride in your student with a customized yard sign! Only $35! Click image for more details!
Questions? Contact Wayne Harvey.
Simply complete an Order Form.
Mail your form and payment.
Your sign will be delivered in ~2 weeks!


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Rooks at Dusk: On the Other Side of Despair, What is Left to Believe in?
By Chick Yuill
Book, £8.99 / Kindle Edition, £4.99
Ray Young, an experienced Christian leader, has been married for almost thirty years. But his once vibrant faith, like his marriage, is steadily fading, and relations with his only son Ollie, a struggling stand-up comedian, are increasingly strained.
Facing this looming crisis of faith, Ray begins an anguished, escapist affair, only for Ollie to discover his father's infidelity. Confronted by his actions, Ray has one chance to rescue the life that is crumbling around him.
But when tragedy strikes, it seems all hope of redemption is gone…
Rooks at Dusk sensitively explores questions of grace and forgiveness in a world where not everything can be mended, but where there is still reason for hope.
About the Author
Chick Yuill is a speaker and writer with a growing passion to bring matters of faith out of the narrow confines of a religious ghetto into the wider arena of public life and discourse. He has been married to Margaret for 48 years and they have two adult daughters.


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ONCAlert | Upfront Therapy for mRCC
News >
Burnout Remains an Important Issue in Urology, Despite Decreased Occurrence
Ariela Katz
Published Online:7:53 PM, Tue May 16, 2017
Amanda C. North, MD
Physician burnout is linked to decreased job performance, increased medical errors, interpersonal conflicts, and depression, according to a presentation by Amanda C. North, MD, an assistant professor of pediatric urology at Montefiore Medical Center.1 There have been more pointed concerns about the work force in urology practices. She pointed out that there is even an ICD 10 code for burnout, defined as a state of vital exhaustion.
"There are 3 components to burnout in MBI. The first is emotional exhaustion, the feeling of being overextended, fatigued, and a loss of enthusiasm for their work. The second is depersonalization, objectification of patients, and being less caring toward your patients. The third is a decreased sense of personal accomplishment, loss of meaning in your work," North explained in her presentation at the AUA Annual Meeting. Notably, a decreased sense of personal accomplishment is not used as a criterion for most studies on burnout, according to North.
A recent multispecialty study demonstrated that urologists had the highest rate of burnout among specialties and that rate was rising, with the burnout rate in 2011 reported at 41.2% and the burnout rate in 2014 at 63.6%.2 "This made urologists the most burnt-out specialty of medicine," North commented. The studies were limited, however, due to the small sample size for urologists. Thus, the study led by North sought to determine the prevalence of urologist burnout and determine factors associated with it.
In the study, the MBI questions were randomly distributed to about half of the respondents to the AUA Census. The matrix sampling included 1126 practicing urologists, representing the total 2301 who responded to the Census. Ultimately, 38.8% of the urologists met the criteria for burnout, with a rate of 41.3% in urologists aged 29 to 65. In terms of emotional exhaustion, 17.2% scored high, and 37.1% scored high for depersonalization.1
There were no differences reported between male and female urologists, but there are several risk factors for burnout. Major work-related stressors are administrative duties and work hours, which are related to early retirement and job changes. Urologists seeing a greater number of patient visits per week, or with a greater number of work hours in a particular week are at risk for burnout. Other risk factors include being in a younger age group, practicing in a subspecialty other than pediatric or oncology, being part of an independent or multispecialty practice, and having a practice size greater than 2 urologists.
Although burnout rates for urologists are lower than previously reported, burnout is still an important issue, and North recommends making burnout mitigation a priority. Understanding the causes of burnout helps guide future intervention, and it is important to keep all urologists in the workforce to lessen projected shortages. North also recommends creating and evaluating resourced to address physician burnout, such as the American Medical Association STEPS Forward program, or working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Office of Clinician Engagement.
"Although physician burnout in urology is less than previously reported, it is still a serious issue that impacts work force issues," North said. "There are projected physician shortages in all areas of medicine; urology had one of the largest projected shortages and we cannot lose more urologists to burnout."
- North AC, McKenna PH, Fang R, et al. Burnout in urology: findings from the 2016 AUA Annual Census. Abstract presented at: 2017 AUA Annual Meeting; May 12-16, 2017; Boston, MA. Abstract MP76-10.
- Shanafelt TD, Hasan O, Dyrbye LN, et al. Changes in burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance in physicians and the general US working population between 2011 and 2014. Mayo Clin Proc. 2015;90(12):1600-1613. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2015.08.023.
View Other News on Genitourinary Cancers
- Kuzel Discusses Treatment Options for Metastatic RCC Based on Risk Stratification
- Investigator Shares Excitement for Impressive Findings With Pembrolizumab and Bevacizumab in mRCC
- Despite Previous Findings, Prostate Cancer Analysis Shows Risk of Death Lower in African-Americans
- Immunotherapy Advancing to Frontline Standard of Care in mRCC
- An Overview of S-TRAC Trial Analyses in Patients With High-Risk RCC


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Subscription Required
July 17, 2017, © Leeham Co.: We're half way through 2017. Boeing reported orders through July 11, a week ago. Airbus won't update its July orders until the end of the month.
Through July 11, Boeing reported 116 net wide-body orders: 15 for the 767, 33 for the 777 and 75 for the 787. Net cancellations of -7 for the 747 are included in the net 116 figure.
The 15 767s were not commercial models, however, but 767-2C tankers for the USAF.
Over at Airbus, none of China's 40 commitments announced July 5 for 40 A350s are in the June summary, and won't be in the Orders tally until the commitments turn into firm orders. Through June, airbus had net 26 widebody orders: three A330-200s and 29 A350-900. There were cancellations of four A330-800s and two A380s.
If the 40 China A350s were included, this would bring Airbus to 66 widebody orders, still well short of Boeing's YTD figure.
To read the rest of the article Login or Subscribe today.


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Member since: March 2009
Epiphany Graphics is the creative studio of Eric Nance, a designer in Steamboat Springs, Colorado with 17+ years experience providing compelling, targeted creative solutions. Specializing in web design, user interface design, front-end development and ExpressionEngine, I help businesses define their online presence, creating solutions that enable my clients to achieve their goals.
This list of services is not vetted or approved by EllisLab, Inc. and is offered by the Professional Network member without warranty from EllisLab.


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Question about Canon PIXMA iP1800 InkJet Photo Printer
I can't seem to find a way to mirror an image when printing a tee shirt iron-on transfer. Usually there is an option in printer properties to flip image or mirror the image.
Posted by kilikina9981 on
The Canon IP5000 flips the image automatically when you select Properties, Media Type/T-Shirt Transfer from the print dialog box. There is no specific selection to flip or mirror the image, but select T-Shirt Transfer and it will flip it for you.
I need to print a mirror image of a worksheet that is on the printer
I called a Canon rep and the printer does not have that option on it.
Posted on Feb 29, 2008
I just printed a reversed word with my Canon IP4500, by selecting 'T Shirt Transfers' under Printer Options. It prints the word reversed, but note that if you do a Print Preview before you print that the word will view as non-reversed. So the bottom-line is you can do it just by selecting the right kind of paper under Properties, then Media Type, by selecting T Shirt Transfers. Of course, the stupid Canon rep should have been able to tell you that.
I did this same thing and it works beautifully, yay for work arounds!
Click on the image and copy and paste it. Take the pasted image and select Format and Flip image. You can then delete the first image and keep the new mirrored image.
I hope this works for you.
Posted on Dec 02, 2008
SOURCE: I have freestanding Series 8 dishwasher. Lately during the filling cycle water hammer is occurring. How can this be resolved
Hi there,
Save hours of searching online or wasting money on unnecessary repairs by talking to a 6YA Expert who can help you resolve this issue over the phone in a minute or two.
Best thing about this new service is that you are never placed on hold and get to talk to real repairmen in the US.
Here's a link to this great service
Good luck!
Posted on Jan 02, 2017
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The Original Social Networkby Catherine Chalmers
Since 2008 I have been filming, photographing, and following the fates of more than a dozen colonies of leafcutter ants on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. The multimedia Leafcutters project is a collaboration with millions of wild ants. Focused on four supposedly unique human traits—language, ritual, war, and art—the narrative aims to blur the boundaries between culture and nature.
Leafcutter ant colonies have eerie parallels to human society, and this is the conceptual basis of the project. To quote the eminent biologist E.O. Wilson, these ants are "the most complex social creatures other than humans." Their colonies are underground metropolises with millions of members, and they are farmers that skillfully raise their own food. As the principal herbivore of the forest, leafcutter ants are a dominant species and, like us, influence the grand structure of all other biological systems in their habitat. They also wage brutal wars against intruders.
Since the ants harvest from a wide variety of plants, I was given much latitude in what I could offer them to form the narratives. I watch the ants and respond and experiment and adjust. This project has taken shape through this back and forth process.
Over time, I came to feel that the real reward for lying countless hours on the forest floor was observing the dynamics of ant society. One of the principal characteristics humans and ants share is their socialness, and at the heart of a social species is communication.
Ants invented an interactive, networked form of communication that rivals the Internet and predates it by hundreds of millions of years. Without central command—antennae touches are like text messages—millions of ants coordinate their behavior. The accumulation of their small gestures produces enormous complexity.
With the rise of social media over the last decade, I've seen our own patterns of communication become more participatory and efficient like theirs—which is not top down, but bottom up, and not command and control, but connect and collaborate. With ants, it's always multiple decisions made by multiple minds; therein lies their power and perhaps ours as well.
A direct engagement with the natural world is central to my artistic practice. Science is an integral part of my work, both in terms of research—providing the ability to successfully engage with my subjects—as well as influencing the inception of the underlying concepts.
I use the narrative possibilities of the visual arts to bridge the increasing rift between humanity and the ecosystem. My aim is to bring the nonhuman back into the human world and to creatively reengage with the systems that support life on earth. Our culture is far richer with the inclusion of other life forms.
ContributorCatherine Chalmers
CATHERINE CHALMERS is an artist based in New York.
Bees, Ants, Spiders, and a Side of Baconby May R. Berenbaum
MAR 2018 | Critics Page
Francis Bacon, a brilliant scientist-philosopher who lived and died four centuries ago, is often considered the father of the scientific method, inasmuch as he pioneered the concept of using inductive rather than deductive reasoning along with hypothesis testing by falsification as the means of acquiring new knowledge.
The Disintegrations: ALISTAIR McCARTNEY with Jordan A. Rothacker
APR 2018 | Books
Over the last two years I have lost nine friends. I don't mean lost in some Facebook "unfriend" way (see middle school cafeteria if you're unfamiliar with the social media outlet), but lost as in passed away. I'm forty now so I guess it might be understandable that my childhood friends are dropping off.
Sawako Nakayasu, The Antsby Tan Lin
APR 2017 | Critics Page
What happens when a common human feeling, say love, envy, or the desire to organize your kitchen utensil drawer, gets inserted into the body of an ant?
Honest Womenby Erica Getto
APR 2018 | Dance
Monk presents Cellular Songs as the latest in a series of performances that explore humans' collective relationship with their environment. Her 2014 evening-length work On Behalf of Nature is a meditation on ecology. And as far back as 1994, Monk was examining how humans navigate their surroundings; in her site-specific work American Archaeology, performers directly communed with nature—seventy of them gathered at the Roosevelt Island Lighthouse Park and Renwick Ruin.


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Harvest Date September 28
Growing Season Excellent climatic conditions throughout the summer growing season; moderate temperatures, no precipitation. Two late season blasts of hot, dry, Indian-summer winds struck the vineyards in the midst of fruit maturation. This provoked a dehydration response in most vineyards and some vineyards succumbed. The Kunde vineyard, however, is very deep rooted. The plants endured the assault allowing a pick under peak weather conditions, late in the season.
• Hand-harvested grapes
• Whole cluster, direct-to-press
• Barrel fermented with indigenous yeast, 2 to 7 months to completion
• Concurrent, spontaneous malolactic fermentation
• Barrel aged 9 months, 38% new French oak, sur-lies and stirred
• Unblended, unfined, unfiltered; bottled September 1996


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Candler Park and Lake Claire
Candler Park and Lake Claire are located just south of Ponce De Leon and east of Little Five Points, super convenient to the shopping development on Moreland Avenue anchored by Lowe's, Kroger, Barnes & Noble, and Target. Residents in these neighborhoods enjoy easy access to great parks, eclectic shopping and hip restaurants. Candler Park is home to a par 3 golf course, tennis courts, & ball field, and Lake Claire Park has a playground and soccer field. Neighbors often get together on Sundays for a game of pickup kickball. The home styles commonly found are Craftsman Bungalows, Tudors, Cottages, and Victorians, mostly constructed between 1890 and 1930. Sutherland Place, a newer development in Lake Claire consists of craftsman style homes with modern conveniences.
- Mary Lin Elementary
- Inman Middle
- Grady High
Search Homes for Sale in Candler Park and Lake Claire
Enjoy these "Live the Life" videos featuring the Candler Park and Lake Claire neighborhoods.


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Info Overload/
Last night, Bob (@rcmcoach on Twitter), Leon and I met with Coach Gerardo to discuss our Ironman Arizona and Silverman race strategy plans. Gerardo's kitchen served as our war room. We met for nearly two full hours discussing pre-race, race and post-race tips, tricks and lessons learned. We got so detailed that we discussed counting calories, salt intake, what time to wake up on race day, what time to eat, even exactly what to pack in our special needs bags on the bike and run courses. That's just a fraction of the information we ingested. I almost have information digestion issues!
It was exactly the kind of experience where I realized how valuable having a triathlon coach can be. I can't imagine going into this race not being armed with the four pages of notes now stored in my computer.
The biggest thing I learned during those two hours is how regimented the days and hours leading to the race may be regimented. It's almost like the science of the sport suddenly takes over. And considering I'm a "feel" guy more than a numbers cruncher, it will be an interesting experience for me.
Right after posting this, I'm going back over my notes. I need to reorganize them. Prioritize them again. And perhaps most important, I need to share them with those family and friends coming to cheer me on. There will be a lot they need to know.
I will also share some of those tips here, though I need to keep them appropriately vague. Not because I don't want to share them with the competition. No, it's not that at all. I'm not trying to qualify for Kona. It's out of respect for Coach Gerardo, who has amassed his knowledge and experience from more than 70 triathlons and his share of Ironman-distance races. My fellow Fortius Coaching teammates pay for that access, and it would be unfair to him if I just openly blabbed that data to the world. I think I did that for Vineman 70.3 without really thinking it through, and I need to find a better balance between being a paying client and a blogger who shares anything and everything.
So, you'll just have to trust me when I say I'm feeling very well prepared for Ironman Arizona. Physically, mentally, and hopefully emotionally. I'll share what I can hopefully tomorrow, though I'm going to show Gerardo first to make sure it's not too proprietary.
For now though, it's back to the gym. Back to the roads. Back to the pool. There's still one more week where I can make gains for IMAZ. Then, the real taper starts. Mentally, it started for me this week as I "only" have 18 hours of training compared to the 19-plus and nearly 21 hours I did this past week. So, 18 is a cakewalk by comparison.
Even after this past weekend's training, I feel great. Sure, I'm sore and tight. But, I know I have more left in the tank for one more push to improve over the next several days. I'm going to take that seriously. I know there's something left to eke out of my performance. I'm not sure where. Maybe it's a smoother feeling on the run in the latter miles. Maybe it's a loosening of my quads and thighs on the bike, or being able to swim more smoothly for longer. Whatever it is, I'll find it this week.
That, I can share with you.
24 days and counting.


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Here is a list of games that are similar to Elements.
For more games like Elements, check out the Fantasy category.
Did you enjoy this article? Like!
Here is a list of games that are similar to Elements.
Spectromancer is a mix of beautiful art and magical wonder that everyone loves in these types of games. Get your deck ready, prepare your strategies, and put everything you have into taking down your enemies with some of the most amazing magical powers you will ever see, and all while making new creatures and learning spells along the way.
Rise of Mythos
Take a journey into Rise of Mythos. This game offers incredible skills, looks, and situations that you cannot find elsewhere, at least not in as exciting a package as this. This game has it all, and it is something that anyone can get started playing in no time at all, allowing you to throw yourself a magnificent world right away.
Blood Realm
Battles, strategies, and guilds are all part of life in Blood Realm. This is the game for anyone who wants a challenge and anyone who wants some excitement, and all rolled into one beautiful game. Everything here is going to leave you pushing forward to see what is next, becoming the best that you can be.
Combine hundreds of cards into one unbeatable deck with BattleCraft. This is a challenging game with plenty to love at every turn, and with plenty to offer fans of the genre. You are going to have to show that you can be the best and you are going to have to use your mind if you want to win battles.
Duel of Champions
Pick a hero, collect cards, and meet and fight with friends in the world of Duel of Champions. This game has it all, making it the perfect option for those gamers who like something exciting and to their tastes. It is everything that you want and expect and so, so much more.
Astral Towers
Build and summon, and use magical forces that will blow you away, and all while having fun. Astral Towers is the perfect game for people who want more than the simple and more than the boring. You have the type of experience that keeps you pushing forward, no matter hard it seems at times.
With beautiful art and some incredible beasts, Solforge succeeds in amazing you from the start. This games offers a constant flow of beauty and excitement that anyone, whether you are a long time fan of these or just getting started, will adore. Grab your deck and see just why so many others are playing.
Kaijudo Online
Kaijudo Online is for all fans of the MTG game. Created by the same people, it offers the same type of experience but with a boost in graphics. If you know how to play MTG, and if you are a fan of the game, then this is going to come easily to you. It looks great and plays even better than you could imagine.
Ederon is certainly one of the best trading card games out there today. It offers a style that feels like old adventure games while still keeping the type of playing experience that you expect from a TCG. It is going to wow you and keep you in love every step of the way, and you are going to want to do your best.
Play on your own or with friends in the massive online world of Hex. This game is completely free and completely fun, and it is the type of game that is going to leave you hooked. Whether you are playing for the action or you are in it to trade, improve, and make friends, you are going to come away happy.
Darkness is everywhere in Nightbanes. This game is all about dark creatures and the dark arts, all as cards that you use to take down enemies. Master the darkness in order to prove that you are the best and to gain more in the game. It is fun and it will give you a brand new love for the darkness.
Orbs CCG
Master the cards, build a phenomenal deck, and destroy your opponents in Orbs CCG. This game does not stop being exciting at any point, and it is going to motivate you to build and improve continuously. Collect all cards, learn their differences, and use them in battle with all of the skills you have.
Legends of Norrath
Become the hero you always knew you could be in Legends of Norrath. You are going to have to protect the people and fight off evil here if you plan to win. As you progress, the story starts to become more entertaining, the battles more intense, and the opportunities more wonderful.
Rolplay is perfect for all types of people. Whether you are loyal to the genre and have been for years or you are looking for something new to play that is easy to get into, this is going to appeal to you. Anyone can start playing and start making the most out of what you have here, even if this is your first time playing.
Shadow Era
Plenty of cards and a dedication to good strategy is what makes Shadow Era great. You are going to have to build the perfect deck and strategy if you want to win, a task that is far greater than you might think. It takes time, effort, and patience to learn your way around the game and become the best.
For more games like Elements, check out the Fantasy category.
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Arts-Humanities > Historical Museums
Collin County History Museum - Mckinney, Texas
Welcome to The Collin County Historical Society. The Society operates the Collin County History Museum, one block east of Courthouse Square in McKinney, Texas
Cognecy Solutions, LLC - McKinney, Texas
We are a Sales Organization focused on providing leading edge Information Management Software Solutions and Document Imaging Systems to the Healthcare, Accounting, Legal, and Manufacturing Industries to name just a few.
380 RV & Boat Storage - McKinney, Texas
Both covered and uncovered boat, RV, and auto storage available as well as traditional secured storage for household goods, etc.
Heritage Land Bank
Heritage Land Bank with offices in East Texas and the Dallas Metroplex area is a merged association of the Federal Land Bank Association of Tyler, Texas and the Federal Land Bank Association of McKinney, Texas.
Business-Economy > Home And Garden
Texas Tornado Storm Shelters - McKinney, Texas
We install F5 rated tornado storm shelters the North Texas area
My Beautiful Blinds
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CitiTurf Lawn Care
CitiTurf is a full-service provider of professional lawn care service to home owners. We serve Plano, Allen, Frisco, The Colony, Murphy, Wylie and McKinney, Texas.
ProLawnCo - Professional Lawn Care Service
Lawn Care Service, Lawn Care for less than $25 weekly in Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney, Little Elm, The Colony, Collin County and Denton County. Our prices, service, and quality mow down the competition. Free Lawn Care and Senior Discounts available.
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We already provide the very best medical care to McKinney, Plano, Allen and Frisco with our new, state-of-the-art, acute care facility, our surgery and therapy centers, and our radiology facilities.
Bounce For Fun PARTY Rentals - YOUR ONE STOP PARTY SHOP
Over 40 inflatables to choose from! Concessions, carnival games, entertainers, water slides, obstacles courses and more! Largest inventory in Collin County. We deliver to Frisco, Plano, Allen, McKinney N Dallas, and more!
Judy McCutchin's Dallas Homes - Dallas, Texas
Dallashomes.com is the premiere site for luxury homes in the Dallas, Texas area. Whether youre buying a new home or selling your current home, Judy McCutchin and her Team of Experts are ready to help you, with online services such as current listings, FREE Relocation Packages, FREE Market Analysis, and much more! Serving Dallas and Collin counties, including Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, North Dallas, and Dallas.
McKinney Real Estate
Located in McKinney, Counties Homes services buyers, sellers and investors. Our agents cover Collin, Dallas, Denton, Tarrant, Grayson and Rockwall counties. MLS search capability provided, as well as informative reports.
North Dallas Real Estae Firm
Trae Gardner is the cutting edge agent in North Dallas, McKinney and Frisco. We specialize in staging and marketing your property for sale. We also excel in contract negotiations for buyers moving to the North Texas area.
Real Estate web site for Ron Pritchett a Texas REALTOR
Serving the Dallas Metroplex Real Estate needs in Allen, Plano, McKinney and Frisco Texas. I work with Buyer, Sellers and relocation of families from across the country.
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Judy McCutchin's Dallas Homes - Dallas, Texas
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Mckinney Fellowship Bible Church - Mckinney, Texas
Our mission is to cultivate a Christ-centered, Bible-based, Spirit-empowered community that dynamically draws people to trust in Jesus, worship God, build relationships, grow to maturity and serve him helping to cultivate other such communities around the world.
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Major household appliance service and repair on your washer, dryer, dishwasher, range, refrigerator, microwave, disposial, cooktop and oven. We sell parts for Maytag, Whirlpool, Roper, Sears Kenmore, GE, Amana, Hot Point, General Electric, Gibson, Kitchen Aid and most other types. We are located at 7512 Main St. #205 The Colony, TX 75056 Call today @ 972-464-8282 Visa, Mastercard and cash discounts of 5% We service Plano, The Colony, Little Elm, Frisco, Lewisville, Flower Mound, DFW Metroplex areas of Dallas, Collin and Denton County, Mckinney, Allen and most areas. Wholesale accounts and retail of appliance parts such as, belt, heater, rollers, bake elements, pulleys, motor, timer and ignitors. Call today and save.
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Washer, dryer, range, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher appliance service, repair and parts. We will ship your part next day for your Maytag, GE, Sears Kenmore, Whirlpool, Roper, or any brand. We service the DFW Metroplex area of Dallas Texas including, Plano, McKinney, Frisco, Allen, The Colony, Denton, Collin and Grayson County. Call toll free 1-800-975-1651 We ship parts to all states next day. Our part price or half the price than 60% of other part house's.


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Modern road wheels are not my forte. In fact, the only wheels I've ever ridden have all been period-correct to my bikes. Whether it's Campy Record to Omega rims or Dura Ace hubs to Wolber rims, I've always stuck to the vintage aesthetic. Maybe that's why when I first saw the Velocity A23 wheelset, I struck a liking to it. It's simple, lightweight (1,580g) and affordable.
Check out more of my Initial Reaction below!
Velocity describes their A23 road wheelset as:
"The A23 is the newest road wheelset from Velocity. The A23 wheelset partners our newly designed proprietary hub with our A23 rim. The rear hub has offset flanges to provide precise tension, allowing for a symmetric wheel that is stronger and stiffer than a rim laced to a 'traditional' flanged hub; which optimizes power transfer. Using a 23mm wide tire with the A23, you maximize the tubular ride qualities while retaining the convenience of a clincher; increased cornering abilities especially at high speeds without sacrificing rolling resistance makes the A23 wheeset THE set for crits and road races."
There are two models, the Pro and the Comp. The Pro is lighter by 180 grams and has a lower spoke count (20f x 24 r). Since I'm 220 lbs and was planning on putting this on my Affinity 212, I went with the Comp (24f x 28r).
Right out of the box, the A23s looked really slick. With the rear wheel's radial non-drive by 2x drive-side lacing and the front wheel's radial lacing, this wheelset looks great on any bike. The extra width of the rim is perfect for bigger tires.
Mixed with my favorite urban tire, the Panaracer Pasela, these wheels added a touch of class to my road bike. They're competitively priced against Rohl, Mavic and other well-know name brands. Now I haven't exactly thrashed these yet, so it's not a full review but in the coming months I plan on taking these off-road and onto some of the lighter trails here in Austin.
Expect a full recap in the near future and if you wanna see more photos, check out my Flickr. Thanks to Velocity for letting me try these out. You guys are the best!


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It's free. It's highly playable. Low requirements. It looks great. Great driving music.
Customize your car. World Rankings. Track Designer.
This game can be played with just the keyboard. Hitting backspace restarts the race. There's no loading to restart the race, it's instantaneous.
I've been racing people all over the planet, it's a blast!


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Collaborative mapping creating local flood resilience with global impact
Worldwide, floods are becoming more intense and unpredictable every year. Communities in developing countries face many barriers to protecting themselves, their homes and their livelihoods from these floods. But a new digital mapping approach, developed by the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance, is helping people to understand this risk, prepare for floods and protect themselves.
The data gap that undermines resilience
It's vital for communities to be able to plan for flood events: by identifying safe places to go and by protecting their buildings, livestock, crops and other infrastructure. But in developing countries this planning is made difficult by a lack of accurate information. Without detailed local maps communities don't know where the risks or safe places are, or where to find resources to support them, like safe shelters, clinics, or safe sources of drinking water. When community maps do exist they are often hand-drawn, inaccurate and useful only to a small number of people.
The Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance (ZFRA) has developed an approach to address this issue: we have been working to combine collaborative digital mapping techniques with community-based mapping methods.
Bringing local knowledge to a global scale
To bridge the data gap in local information we used OpenStreetMap, an emerging open-source platform which is based on contributions from people all around the world: from engineers and humanitarians to mapping enthusiasts. These contributors use aerial photos, GPS and low-tech field maps to give accurate and up-to-date information about their location.
We were able to take the information provided by this new technology and combine it with the local knowledge of volunteer mappers, who compared the digital information with what they could see on the ground.
Using this combination of local and global knowledge, we were able to produce highly detailed information which is more accurate, easier to update and easier share. With this information, more people can be better informed about the risk they face, and so make decisions to keep themselves safe.
Use case: collaborative digital mapping in Nepal
In the Karnali river basin in Nepal – , where flooding last year alone killed 135 people, destroyed 80,000 homes and resulted in an estimated £61 million worth of crops lost – we mapped over 50,000 buildings and 100 km of road thanks to the efforts of a dozen local social workers. They identified agricultural land, community forests, safe shelters and irrigation canals: information which had previously not been captured. This allowed communities to visualise their risks, resources and resilience in a way that was impossible before.
What this means for flood resilience
This approach is an exciting step forward which means that communities will have access to information which is specific to their location and helps them to make decisions based on the risks they face and the resources they have. When we know not just where floods are likely to occur, but where, for example health posts, schools and water pumps are, we can think about what risks the flood itself poses to a community: Will safe drinking water be contaminated? Will people have access to health care? Will children be able to get to school or will the roads be washed away?
This means that communities can plan effectively and take the most effective action to protect themselves from the impacts of flooding, whether it's raising water pumps so that they are above the anticipated flood water level, relocating supplies or reinforcing roads.
So far, we have applied this approach in Nepal, Peru and Mexico. There is huge potential for this mapping approach to build resilience in hazard-prone communities around the world.
Read more:
Full paper – Integrated Participatory and Collaborative Risk Mapping for Enhancing Disaster Resilience
Policy Brief – Participatory digital mapping: building community resilience in Nepal, Peru and Mexico
Related Post – Flood Dynamics in the Karnali River Basin
Related Post – Floods and Landslides in Nepal, August 2017No Comments » | Add your comment
International Day for Disaster Reduction #IDDR2017
International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) held every 13th October, celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters.
Read more about International Day for Disaster Reduction and our work here: https://practicalaction.org/drr-2017
"The link between climate change and the devastation we are witnessing is clear, and there is a collective responsibility of the international community to stop this suicidal development"
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General on recent visit to the Caribbean.
In 2017 IDDR once again focusses on the seven targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction – a 15 year global agreement that aims to curb deaths and economic losses from natural and manmade hazards – which was signed by global governments in March 2015. This year's focus is on Target B: reducing the number of affected people by disasters by 2030.
This is no easy target. Disaster risk is outpacing development and is being made worse by climate change. This year the world has been hit by a catalogue of unprecedented natural hazards. 2017 started with catastrophic flooding in Latin America, followed by exceptional monsoon rains in South Asia, then a summer of massive wildfires in Europe, preceded the Atlantic Hurricane season that has seen a procession of devastating Hurricanes batter the Caribbean and US, as the year comes to an end wildfires consume California and threaten the regions wine industry, and the pacific typhoon season is about to begin.
The world needs to adapt to the new normal of increasingly extreme and frequent weather events. This is at a time when economic opportunity appears to override common sense with greater numbers of people moving to and occupying disaster prone, high risk locations in the pursuit of economic opportunity. This trend particularly among the poorest is exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and making the next natural hazard a potential catastrophic disaster. We need to start to reverse these trends, this means tackling poverty and climate change and making sure we do this collectively for the benefit of the planet and future generations.
With increasing integration of global markets and cheaper, faster and simpler communication systems, regional cooperation should not be difficult. Unfortunately regional cooperation isn't a new idea, but is one that is often difficult to put into practice. The disparity in size and wealth between countries and competing national interests, makes it hard to find common ground. Overcoming outdated entrenched views is the greatest barrier to building trust, particularly in regards to protection and sustainable management of shared transboundary resources and global commons.
Practical Action has long recognised that exposure to natural hazards threatens development gains and can be a key driver of poverty[1]. Therefore for regional economic development to deliver benefits of poverty alleviation, risk reduction must be central. This requires coordinated planning and management across political boundaries.
Regional cooperation is essential when mega disasters take place. When large scale disasters occur, for example the Fukushima manmade disaster or the earthquake in Nepal the host government alone, often lacks the capacity to respond. In these circumstances regional actors can come to their assistance, with shorter transport times, they will also have language, cultural; and technological tie-in's that can assist in disaster relief and response. But assistance is not only valid during the relief and recovery phase but is also critical for building back better, regional cooperation must not be restricted to disaster moments alone. Regional cooperation during normal times can pay dividends before the next disaster occurs. Pre-emptive exploration of joined up management mechanisms for shared transboundary resources can establish the regional cooperation channels necessary when things go wrong. For example sharing data on rainfall and water levels across a basin will benefit upstream and downstream communities, regardless of which country they live in. Communication channels to share data can reinforce preparedness as flood risk increases. And trust between upstream and downstream communities is vital if these flood early warning messages are to be believed and acted upon.
Technology is an important enabler when responding to natural hazards and provides the means for a coordinated response. Technology can support regional thinking, planning and management to minimize current and future impacts by protecting people, properties and ecosystems across the multiple scales necessary. Technology is a powerful magnifier of human intent, allowing us to do things in ways and at scales previously not imagined. However, access to technology and its benefits are not shared fairly. All too often, the poor and the most vulnerable are overlooked as a stakeholder in the development, production and diffusion of technology or have hardly any influence[2].
Cross Border cooperation saves lives, read more about our exploratory work in Nepal and India [3]
What are the challenges for regional cooperation, when it sounds like such a good idea? As the growing climate change movement highlights, there is a need to enhance multi-sectoral coordination between governments, and enhance partnerships with communities, civil society and the private sector. This should be guided not only by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, but also with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Change Agreement. This requires the establishment of regional coordination mechanisms of which regional disaster management centres would be an integral part. These regional disaster management centres must be more than just communication and data sharing channels, they require a shared regional vision and the political support of the member states to put into practice their broader risk reduction mandate.
Find out more…
See more of our work on the Flood Resilience Portal. This portal provides practitioners who live and work in flood-affected communities with easy access to the resources they need to build resilience to floods. This is part of the ongoing global Zurich Flood Resilience Programme.
Or learn about the difference made by Practical Action resilience programmes during the 2017 flash floods and landslides in Nepal and what this revealed about disaster preparedness.
[1] https://policy.practicalaction.org/resources/publications/item/from-risk-to-resilience-a-systems-approach-to-building-long-term-adaptive-wellbeing-for-the-most-vul
[2] Practical Action launched a Technology Justice call for action https://policy.practicalaction.org/acalltoaction
[3] https://practicalaction.org/blog/programmes/climate_change/coping-disasters-beyond-the-border-nepal-india-cross-border-flood-early-warning-system/No Comments » | Add your comment
Coping disasters beyond the border : Nepal-India cross-border flood early warning system
Written by: Dinanath Bhandari, Buddhi Kumal, Lok Narayan Pokhrel and Kamal Tripathi
Saving lives from flood disasters beyond the border is possible through early warning systems. It is demonstrated successfully in three river basins between India and Nepal. Bilateral cooperation at government level could make greater changes.
While many governments are sharing information on cyclones and are helping in taking preventive measures, south Asian countries are yet to root their efforts in working together to save their people. However, civil society collaboration between Nepal and India has saved lives and assets from flooding. The governments in both countries can do better if they realize the importance of cross-border flood early warning systems. There are already evidences from good practice on the ground inspiring authorities to upscale efforts.
Different countries, changed names but the pain is the same
People living along the banks of Karnali (Ghagra in India) and Babai (Saryu in India) share the same exposure to floods. Both have lost relatives, assets and face drudgery brought about by the floods. Nepalese communities have less time to escape as they are in the upstream catchment and the flow is fast with less lag time to prepare and respond to particular flood. On the other hand, communities downstream in India didn't have any information about impending floods until a few years back.
For last few years flood frequency has been getting higher with record floods in West Rapti and Babai Rivers. Babai had devastating flood in 2014, when 32 people lost their lives in Bardiya, Nepal. In India, the flood broke the Saryu barrage dam and 13 people lost their lives. West Rapti has crossed the danger level several times since 2012, up to six times in some years. Loss of lives, assets and livelihoods was an common phenomenon for the people living in flood plains in Nepal and India.
Changing floods: changing coping strategies
However, the situation is changing now. In Nepal Practical Action has been working with communities, civil society organizations and relevant government agencies at local to national level to set up and advancement of community centered flood early warning systems in West Rapti (since 2008), Babai (2008) and Karnali (2010). Since 2016 Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) has started sending text messages directly to the people in flood prone areas based on their rainfall and flood forecast in addition to informing related authorities of Home Ministry at center and sub-national level. This has helped to evacuate people at risk to safer places to prevent loss of lives and movable belongings. An institutional mechanism of community disaster management committee (CDMC) has made the EWS operational thanks to efforts of Practical Action together with the DHM and other many institutions for over a decade.
In India in the downstream, Poorvanchal Gramin Vikas Sansthan (PGVS) has established community based flood early warning system in Gonda, Baharaich and Gorakhpur districts since 2012 with technical support from Practical Action along with its long time partners Nepal Red Cross's Bardia District Chapter, Center for Social Development and Research (CSDR) and Radha Krishna Tharu Jana Sewa Kendra (RKJS). A generous information sharing by the DHM authorities for humanitarian purposes has made this possible. PGVS has been working together with Nepali NGOs and Red Cross to improve collaboration for information sharing to saving lives in the downstream. Following Nepal's alert, warning and danger level of floods in the flood forecasting stations in Kusum (West Rapti), Chepang (Babai) and Chisapani (Karnali), calibrations have made to different Indian communities along with lead time calculations. Indian communities receive information via SMS sent by community individuals in Nepal built on informal linkages and watching DHM web pages that display real-time flood and rainfall situation. In the communities, trained volunteers take lead to communicate by hand operated sirens, mega phones and door to door visits.
The Nepal, India, Bangladesh Floods 2017
Strong monsoon winds in the second week of August dumped a lot of rainwater in parts of Nepal, India and Bangladesh resulting in huge floods in these countries. Almost every river originating in Nepal enters India. Huge floods in Nepal often cause similar situations for people in parts of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bihar in India. On 12-13 August 2017, there was an unprecedented flood in the Babai and West Rapti rivers in Nepal which soon crossed the border and reached India in few hours. Real-time river level sensor of the DHM recorded that the highest level of flood of Babai in Chepang flood gauge station was 9.98m on 13 August 2017 and of West Rapti in Kusum flood gauge station was 8.87m on 12 August 2017. Both were the highest level of flooding on record.
Cross border cooperation saved lives
In the August 12-13, 2017 floods, information sharing in between upstream and downstream communities demonstrated its significance. Indian communities and the organizations take care of potential rainfall in the upstream and frequently watch the DHM real-time information. Indian communities also call to upstream communities in Bardiya and Banke, hydrology stations in Nepal and request to inform them about the level of flood and rainfall status in the upstream. The network members brought this collaboration to a new height in this year. They used internet applications and social media to exchange flood information [insert cross border SMS or WhatsApp]. This enables communities to get timely information about potential risk of flood and authorities to help communities. People and authorities in Bahraich, Gonda, Shravasti, Balrampur, Siddarthanagar and Gorakhpur received flood information in advance through different media.
The mechanism proved a success to saving lives of many people in above districts in India. The information was generated in Nepal and shared with members in India. "It helped people to save their lives, movable properties and important belongings", said Krishna Kumar of PGVS in Bahraich. Once the flood crossed warnings these three rivers in Nepal, members shared information actively. Nepali people relayed flood forecasts and updates from the DHM to their Indian counterparts. The network members made use of social media. These media were also used to inform communities in India. "PGVS sent rainfall and flood risk information using WhatsApp, Facebook and group SMS that helped save lives in this severe flooding", Kamal Tripathi of PGVS shared. "We sent them to task forces at community level, relevant government officials, media and inter-agency groups and it proved a success". They reached 2500 key persons instantly through these channels helping over 2,000,000 flood vulnerable people in 6 districts in UP prompting them to evacuate in time.
The Civil Society Network
These initiatives taken by civil society organizations have received support from journalists, advocates, and members for chamber of commerce and industries – the business sector in Nepal and India to strengthen the cross border flood EWS. In 2016, they formed Indo Nepal cross border flood early warning network. The network is Co-chaired by Krishna Gautam – President of Nepal Red Cross Society, Bardiya District Chapter and Krishna Kumar Tripathi – Additional Director of PGVS in India as a member secretary to the network. The network aims to demonstrate successful EWS mechanism beyond border to saving lives from floods and influence authorities to collaborate better between two countries. "We are doing this for saving lives, assets and livelihoods from flood disasters", said Krishna Gautam of Nepal Red Cross Bardiya, "It is based on our humanitarian principles and the collaboration is on humanitarian ground." According to review in the communities, loss of lives has been brought down to minimum possible in Bahraich, Gonda and Gorakhpur despite unprecedented immense flooding thanks to cross border cooperation. This has demonstrated an example to take up by governments.
Disasters extend beyond borders warranting cross-border cooperation on prevention, preparedness and response to flooding at all levels to helping each other. There are reasons why governments should invest, collaborate and cooperate with each other in preventing disasters; a shift is required in approaches and practices to address the risks of changing floods. The technology is advancing, access to flood risk information has been possible prompting preventive measures by the communities and authorities beyond the border. Governments should tap the opportunities created by civil societies.
Find out more…
Read more about Practical Action's work in Disaster Risk Reduction and as part of The Zurich Flood Resilience Programme – or about our ongoing programmes in Nepal.
No Comments » | Add your comment
The magic trick and resilience: can it work?
If you are a citizen of any country exposed to natural disasters, you may know that flooding, cyclones or hurricanes are some of the words that first come to mind when anyone talks about natural disasters. When we talk about disasters, either natural or man-made we all think of one thing – how we can survive?
We are putting all our effort into finding that magic trick which we believe that will save us from all disasters. What we need, is to recover quickly from difficulties or be strong in the face of disasters. That magic trick is called Resilience. Global efforts are now focused on building resilience in order to reduce the impact of these disasters which is a continued threat to people's life and livelihoods around the world. However, when we talk about natural disaster and disaster resilience there are no proper or clear tools which can start to lead us towards that magic trick. In a previous study for the United Nations Development Programme, researchers concluded that "no general measurement framework for disaster resilience has been empirically verified yet." This finding highlights a key challenge for any resilience building efforts: if resilience cannot be empirically verified, how do you empirically measure whether a community is more resilient as a result of your work?
It is neither simple nor easy to know whether efforts focusing on what we believe builds resilience are correct. However it is necessary to try to measure that the impact of our work is leading to more resilient communities or at least that they are more stable and adaptable to the disasters than before. In that scenario the flood resilience measurement tool (FRMT) developed by the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance designed to quantify the flood resilience of the community. The tool has been trialled in numerous communities across 10 different countries including Bangladesh, by various implementers. It has already demonstrated that it can be a great complementary tool to flood resilience community programming.
For Bangladesh, a country at the forefront of the battle for flood resilience, the tool can provided valuable insight. Where the tool has been implemented recently in a running project, it has started to help us identify not only the community trends of floods resilience but also the gaps in resilience by looking into the strength and weakness of the communities from the data analysis. This tool also allows the organisation to understand the community better by analysing interdependencies and by understanding it through different lenses. This process helps us and our partners to work on addressing the gaps. Our hope is to gather this evidence and feed into the national level for better advocacy and lead to more informed policy makers.
Currently the tool is in development phase; key parties test and feedback on strengths and weaknesses of the tool to make it as robust as possible for measuring the flood resilience. Through continued use and improvement of this tool we can begin to increases the resilience of the community by considering the all key areas. The use of the FRMT can begin to identify changes in resilience over time and verify through post flood assessments whether our interventions are managing to strengthen communities. So that at a time in the future we can not only say that the magic trick is working through the development work of the organisation but also the people's ability to resist and recover from the disaster is increased.No Comments » | Add your comment
Flood Early Warning Systems from a Gender Lens
BIO: Prior to her master studies at the University of Edinburgh's International Development, İpek Aybay has worked at a voluntary business organization of leading entrepreneurs and executives of the business community in Turkey as an expert at the Information Society and Innovation Department where she has made research on technology, innovation and development. Currently, she works at UNHCR head office in Ankara, Turkey as a Senior Protection Assistant.
We are mentioning technology as a tool for changing our lives so often that it has become a 'cliché'. This mentioned "change" however, seems to be very relative depending on which part you live in the world. As an example, for someone living in a country not exposed to natural hazards, technology is in most cases a tool to facilitate daily life, using GPS system to find address or to check traffic jam. On the other hand, in countries like Bangladesh and Nepal where natural hazards happen frequently, technology could save lives. In this sense, Early Warning Systems (EWS) for floods are an example for proving the crucial role of technology in disaster risk reduction.
When we look at the role of technology in development and resilience, we can easily realise that this subject is almost always paradoxical. While some advocate it strongly, others criticise it harshly. For this reason, when I had to choose my dissertation subject at the International Development Department of the University of Edinburgh, disaster risk reduction seemed a very convenient area of study. Practical Action's EWS projects in Nepal and Bangladesh immediately drew my attention and I decided to study these programmes from a gender lens. Why I selected Nepal and Bangladesh? And why this perspective was needed?
Nepal and Bangladesh were two key countries for proving the significance of EWS, as both countries are part of a continent where 95% of the people who are affected by floods have lived in the last decade according to CRED and UNISDR. Despite many differences in the ways in which these countries are affected by floods, EWS in both countries have a great potential to save lives and reduce the impact of natural hazards. For this reason, Practical Action has developed various projects concerning EWS in close collaboration with the governments of Nepal and Bangladesh. My main objective was to reveal the gender gap in these projects in order to better assess impacts of disaster resilience activities.
As the efficiency of flood EWS depends on the ways in which people perceive and process risk information[1], without understanding the risk perception of communities and the factors affecting their decisions, it is not possible to expect EWS to operate efficiently. A variety of factors ranging from gender and socio-economic status to cultural values can affect the ways in which EWS operate among which gender can be specified as an essential factor.
Scholars suggest that women are affected disproportionately by floods and are often referred to as the 'most vulnerable' by different institutions that are involved in flood response. For instance, UNIFEM (2010) reports that during the 2010 floods in Pakistan, despite flood EWS in place, there were women who refused to leave their houses for reasons such as "disbelief of flood warning; concerns of theft or occupation of, or losing claim to property; reluctance to move to camps due to cultural norms, and hesitation about taking women and girls out of protected environment of homes exposing them to strangers". Furthermore, as evidenced by various scholars, floods also increase "women's domestic burden" as in most households women depend on their houses for sustaining their livelihoods. In contrast, although it is known that a gender-inclusive EWS is essential for reducing loss of lives, the gender factor is often neglected when designing related projects. For this reason, it is very important to consider flood EWS in a gender framework, rather than define it as a technical process independent from the gender and power relations in place.
I conducted semi-structured interviews with government officials, Practical Action employees from different country offices, local NGOs and international organisations. During my work based placement with Practical Action, I found out very interesting differences in gender aspect of EWS projects among country offices as well as between advisory and project implementation levels. One of the most prominent findings was that different people had different interpretations of the terms "gender-sensitive" and "gender-disaggregated". This has led to variations in the responses to the questions around gender in both of my focus countries, Nepal and Bangladesh. In the Nepali context, I was able to speak to a government official and it was puzzling to see that INGOs and in particular Practical Action was referred as more involved with the gender aspect of flood EWS at the community level. Therefore, understanding gender interpretations within organisations is essential as their actions directly affect communities and their responses to disasters. On the other hand, it was not surprising to find out that donors were also key players about the gender inclusiveness level of the projects as there were clear differences when a gender goal was set by a donor organisation and when it was not.
Unfortunately, there was a considerable evidence to suggest that in both Nepal and Bangladesh, gender dynamics of EWS are often neglected or seen as an external factor by the key organisations as well as governments. In relation to this, further research is needed to explore the ways in which EWS programmes could move beyond the current approach based on needs in order to adopt a gender approach. Indeed, it is essential for an NGO to have the same understanding of gender-sensitive programme making among its staff members. If the views in this regard are different or opposed in an institution, procedural documents cannot deliver their aims in the field. Instead, it could exacerbate the already existing gender power relations as gender roles amplify the liability on the already overburdened women during the time of the disasters.
My experience with Practical Action enriched my knowledge in many ways. Being a part of the organisation at all times made it easier to contact key staff as well as government officials. Further, as I was affiliated with the University of Edinburgh, I believe this allowed me to study and analyse the institution relatively more objectively. In conclusion, I believe the practice programme has been beneficial both for me and for the organisation, especially with regards to the communication within the organisation around gender issues. It is possible to see that, when people become aware of each other's varying interpretations of the same issue, it could help them to rethink of their actions, re-evaluate their approach and eventually reinvent their influence on the communities. According to me, this was the most important positive outcome.
[1] Twigg, J. "The Human Factor in Early Warnings: Risk Perception and Appropriate Communications" (2003).
Curious to find out more? Have a look at Practical Action's publications:
Flood Early Warning System in Practice: Experiences of Nepal
Delivering Early Warning Systems for the Poorest: From flood-vulnerable to flood-resilient communities
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UNISDR 2017 Global Platform
Risk reduction must deliver for the poorest and most vulnerable
In Sendai, Japan, a location that had been devastated by the eastern pacific Tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear accident, the world came together in March 2015 to sign into force the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2015-2030. This framework aims to influence the policy and practice of national governments to reduce their risk, by providing practical guidance on how to reduce risk, how to prepare for disasters in cases where risk cannot be totally removed and to provide targets and indicators to monitor progress.
This week in Cancun Mexico the world gathers for the first time since Sendai to report on progress. Cancun will greet world leaders, representatives from governments, the private sector, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) and community members. Practical Action is taking advantage of this gathering to demonstrate our expertise in community flood protection and will share our key lessons learned with this global audience.
What are our key messages for this community? Practical Action along with our partners the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Zurich Insurance Company and the International Institute for Applied Systems and Analysis (IIASA) will be presenting the lessons learned from our field projects at a number of key events. The messages that we will share with the global community are as follows;
- Development must be restricted in hazardous zones and incentives for development that lead to urbanisation of risk areas should be avoided.
- Investment is necessary in large scale flood risk management practices, including soft measures such as, erosion control, river widening, natural retention areas and hard construction approaches, levees, reservoirs, dams and weirs particularly to protect critical areas.
- Nature based approaches to flood management are often overlooked, but healthy natural environments provide numerous services that help to reduce the impact of floods, from healthy natural habitats increasing infiltration and slowing run off, to a combination of nature based with more traditional flood mitigation measures to enhance the protection and reduce the investment and maintenance costs of hard infrastructure.
- Hard infrastructure protection measures should be prioritised to protect essential infrastructure such as hospitals and power stations, etc. but must avoid incentivising the construction of new assets in the flood plain.
- Pre-event financial options, including investment in pre event response measures, insurance, social support, and innovative risk transfer mechanisms are vital and must incorporate and respond to learning from advances in early warning systems and impact forecasting.
- Post disaster streamlined access to these prearranged lines of credit and dedicated flood relief programmes, to ensure reconstruction can start promptly, while learning from the event to build back better.
- Knowledge sharing and facilitation to all stakeholders is vital, but in particular honest reporting of lessons learned to communities enhances their self-protection and nurtures human agency. No one can be 100% resilient to flooding but by working in concert with neighbours benefits can be delivered at multiple scales.
Strengthening community flood resilience requires a process this is multi-scalar, multi-sectoral and involves numerous actors; it cannot be achieved by governments, organisations of individuals acting alone. Flood risk reduction must be an integral part of policy making, planning and implementation. Effective flood risk reduction requires mutual partnerships with governments, private sector and civil society working alongside communities. With increased ability to learn, adapt and cope with shocks and stresses, communities can protect and build on development gains that they have already made, prevent their erosion, reverse accumulating losses and address the effects of underlying vulnerability that hold back their development potential. Floods are a natural phenomenon, and attempts to control flooding have proven short lived and futile, with climate change exacerbating the risk of floods we need to get smarter about our environment and learn to live with floods.
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
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Roxana Añez – Empowered by emergency
Roxana Añez is a Bolivian woman and a mother of nine children. She lives in small indigenous community in Tacana Altamarani which is located on the river Beni, three hours downriver from San Buenaventura.
Roxana, an intelligent and driven woman, has always wanted to study and increase her knowledge for the benefit of herself and her community. Unfortunately, because of the social and cultural norms, it has not been possible. Like in many other indigenous communities in Bolivia, a woman's role is to 'serve' her husband and children. This meant that Roxana, like other women in Altamarani, had to spend her days walking to the river bank and back to collect water and to do the washing. After these daily chores, there was no time left for anything else.
"That was our life. To climb up that ravine under the burning sun, with all the bottles of water and clothes that needed washing."
In 2014, the course of Roxana's life suddenly changed. This was the year when heavy rains and flooding tormented the little community in Altamarani. Because of the flooding, the people in the community lost over 80 per cent of their crops. In addition, their access to clean water was cut – leaving the whole community on the brink of survival.
Practical Action, in partnership with Christian Aid, responded to the emergency. Based on the analysis of the situation, they quickly identified, that the primary need in the area was clean water. Because of the flooding, the water was difficult to access. In addition to this, the water in river Beni was contaminated, causing severe health problems.
In order to solve the problem, Practical Action installed a solar-powered water pumping system which is a great technology for emergency response because it does not require any fuel costs. Thanks to this new technology, people in Altamarani now have access to clean water at their homes.
Because of the installed water pumping system, Roxana no longer spends her days walking to the river bank and back. This means that she finally has time to educate herself and to do other things she has always dreamt of. Shortly after the pumping system was built, she participated in the agroforestry knowledge exchange programme that thought her new, sustainable ways of farming.
"I have now returned to my community to put all that knowledge into practice. I wish everyone had the opportunity to leave and participate in these kind of activities, so they can learn. I want to keep learning."
Because of her knowledge and eagerness to learn, Roxana is now one of the leaders in her community. Together with her husband, she owns a farm that produces fruits and medical plants. In the future, Roxana wants to keep on learning and developing herself for the benefit of the community.
Did you enjoy this story? If yes, go to our Mother's Day site and meet other inspiring women just like Roxana!
Want to help women like Roxana this Mother's Day? Our Practical Presents Charity Gift shop offers some amazing Mother's Day gifts that are designed to transform lives. More information here.3 Comments » | Add your comment
Using technology to go beyond the 'Resilience' buzzword
"Sustainable…Participatory…Resilience"…I have to admit that I hate buzzwords – they get thrown about so much that they can often lose their real meaning and ability to do any good. That is why to me the work of the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance is so important. The Alliance works not only to increase the resilience of communities to floods but also to determine once and for all what makes a community resilient?
Resilience is complicated; there are hundreds of papers, discussions and frameworks floating around the development space. Yet there are no empirically verified frameworks that lay out the contributing factors to resilience[1]. If we don't know this how can we tell if we are successfully building resilience?
To address this, the Alliance has developed the Flood Resilience Measurement Tool. Working jointly, the Alliance has identified 88 different sources that contribute to flood resilience and is currently halfway through a two year testing phase.
The Technology
Here is the most exciting part, the Flood Resilience Measurement Tool has been developed into a web based tool and an App. The web tool allows the user to design a study that can be sent directly to the designated field worker's Android App in their local language. Working offline the field worker fills in responses directly to the app just like a regular survey. The data is easily synchronised to the web tool which generates a summary and collates relevant data together for simple comparison. A simple A, B, C, D grading exercise is then carried out across all 88 sources by team members before a summary is then automatically produced.
Why is this good for the community?
The App: Saves our beneficiaries time during data collection so they can get back to doing what matters to them. Automatic uploading of data saves our teams time so they can spend more time working on things that really matter.
The Grading: Generates informed discussion and gives our teams a greater knowledge of where they work, allowing them to make more informed decisions.
The Web Tool: Simply presented results that can be looked at under a variety of lenses allowing us to make links which may have previously been missed.
The Big Data Set: Data is entered into the tool from a variety of different contexts and countries by several different organisations. Through testing pre and post-flood events researchers hope to identify global trends in community resilience and determine once and for all where to focus disaster risk reduction interventions for maximum community impact.
Read more about the Alliance and the Measurement tool or get in touch at firstname.lastname@example.com
[1] Thomas Winderl, "Disaster Resilience Measurements: Stocktaking of Ongoing Efforts in Developing Systems for Measuring Resilience," United Nations Development Programme, February 2014,1 Comment » | Add your comment
A flood warning system to reduce economic loss in disasters
Md. A. Halim Miah [1]and Mohammad Kamrul Islam Bhuiyan[2]
Weather Forecasting Display Board:
This Weather Forecasting Display Board (WFDB) is both attractive and useful to the local community, especially to those who are vulnerable to flooding and other climatic disruptions.
The results of the first pilot study show that rural people working in agriculture and shrimp farming found it very helpful. Coastal areas like Atulia of Shyamnagar, Satkhira district and Zhilonga Union in Cox's Bazar District are highly susceptible to cyclone and water surges, so found it very useful for their daily livelihoods. It was scaled up at Sirajganj Sadar Upazila, a disaster prone area where flood and river bank erosion occur frequently.
Shyamnagar Upazila, is a climatic hotspot and the majority of the people are manage their livelihood by shrimp farming. This Weather Board was first demonstrated at the Atulia Union Council of Shyamnagar Upazila in 2011.
How does it work?
- Construction: A wooden frame with CI sheet and covered by transparent either glass or white plastic where clear, concise daily weather messages are interpreted with well-known symbols
- Function: If somebody doesn't understand the messages on the board, they ask the Gyaner Haat people (Entrepreneur of Knowledge node at community level, Union Digital Centre) for an interpretation. This helps them to understand about the implications of the messages of the board and what action they should take.
- Content: Weather and climatic information are displayed like daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and sunlight hour along in attractive and relevant ways.
- Scientific Information is carried at local level: Information is collected from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) on current weather issues on a regular basis and interpreted on the Weather Forecasting Board for three weeks. It also provides agricultural information for farmers proactively like suitable crops variety during that time for planting, whether farmers should go for raising a seed bed, or releasing fries in the gher etc. in the current week.
- Link with extension agents: The board includes necessary mobile phone numbers/contact persons of relevant government departments, so that farmers and fishers can make phone calls to Gyaner Haat and concerned government professionals for necessary information and advice.
Digital display of weather forecasting and flood early warning
Practical Action trialled this manual display board for access to weather and early warning information for reducing loss and better farming preparedness. This was a very low cost solution but effective. Now a day's supply of electricity and internet connectivity has been expanded through a government Access to Information program (a2i) that is called Union Digital Centre.
Practical Action in partnership with a2i project has installed a knowledge service branded as Gyaner Haat. In each Gyaner Haat there is an entrepreneur who has a computer, printer and internet connection. We get national weather and flood forecasting information from government authorized sources (Bangladesh Meteorological Department and Flood Forecasting Centre) and these are translated into local dialects along with descriptive information for the farmers. Information such as what they will do if the vapor level is high, what would be the effect of higher humidity enables farmers to make better preparation. The digital board allows easy and rapid information delivery at community level and thus contributes to saving poor people's assets and resources.
We are implementing this in the Sirajganj and Bogra districts, two of the most flood prone areas , which are recurrently attacked from flood during the monsoon season from July to September. This has been empowering knowledge poor people to benefit from forecasting and disaster preparedness. It is one of the knowledge intervention activities of the Zurich Flood Resilience Project in Bangladesh.
[1] Coordinator Knowledge Service ( Operations), Practical Action, Bangladesh
[2] Senior Knowledge Officer ( M&E), Practical Action, BangladeshNo Comments » | Add your comment
Institutionalised vulnerability and the myth of the 'natural' disaster
There is no such thing as a 'natural' disaster. Whether an extreme weather event or hazard results in a disaster depends on the degree of resilience a community enjoys. And what begins as one disaster can soon cascade into multiple, household level catastrophes.
In March 2015, the Rimac river valley, east of Lima, Peru, experienced it's heaviest rainfall in 80 years. This contributed to a mudslide that devastated the town, killing at least nine people and destroying homes and places of business.
Daniela Zügel spoke with those who lost their businesses to the mudslide (reported in her blog), including Señora Victoria, who owned a tire repair business. Victoria lost her business registration documents in the landslide; because was unable to report the loss within 48 hours of the landslide occurring – due to road blockages and the pressing need to support her family in the immediate aftermath – she will receive no support from the state to rebuild her business or replace her lost assets. This institutionalised vulnerability is a major contributing factor to the disaster that has struck Victoria, her family, and the families of the three people previously employed by the tire repair shop.
The earthquakes in Nepal in late April and May 2015 revealed a similarly devastating level of institutionalised vulnerability. The Kathmandu valley has seen rapid urbanization in recent years, while emergency services have remained woefully insufficient; critical infrastructure and essential services were considered extremely vulnerable even before the earthquake struck (British Red Cross, 2014).
Re-development is haphazard; building codes exist, but they are insufficient to protect from earthquakes such as those experienced this year, and only a fraction of new builds comply with them anyway. To make matters worse, new settlements on the edges of Kathmandu are being built in areas that have already experienced landslides, increasing the risk of further slope failure during the heavy monsoon rains.
The situation in Nepal pushed humanitarian agencies to respond with emergency supplies and temporary shelter. However, this is not a long term solution. If we are to stop natural hazards from becoming human disasters, it is essential that we understand and deconstruct institutionalised vulnerability, and build community resilience in a sustainable way. In Peru, this may mean working with government institutions to re-design the laws that govern emergency response. In Nepal, this might mean working with the public and private sector to ensure that building regulations are appropriate and enforced.
Practical Action is leading the way in measuring and strengthening community resilience through it's work on the ground and it's innovative partnerships, most notably with the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance, which brings together Zurich Insurance, Practical Action, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Making Centre, and the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis to develop tools and strategies for measuring and strengthening community resilience to extreme flood events. The methodology is still under development, but the valuable lessons being generated will certainly enhance the quality and impact of our Disaster Risk Reduction projects in the future.
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