Be prepared for natural disasters

A recent Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) survey found that nearly60 percent of American adults have not practiced what to do in a disaster by participating in a disaster drill or preparedness exercise at work, school, or home in the past year.

Further,only 39 percent of respondents have developed an emergency plan and discussed it with their household. This is despite the fact that80 percent of Americans live in counties that have been hit with a weather-related disaster since 2007, as reported by the Washington Post.

With the number and severity of weather-related disasters on the rise, the America’s PrepareAthon! is an opportunity for individuals, organizations, and communities to take action to prepare for specific hazards through group discussions, drills, and exercises.

“When it comes to preparedness, practice makes perfect,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “America’s PrepareAthon! is about taking action now to better prepare yourself, your family, and your community to be ready to respond to these events before they occur.”

America’s PrepareAthon! is a national community-based campaign that provides free, easy-to-use guides, checklists, and resources to get more people to take action to prepare every day.

On April 30, individuals, families, workplaces, schools and organizations will come together to practice simple actions to stay safe before, during, and after emergencies relevant to their area.

Examples include:

1. Sign up for local text alerts and warnings and download weather apps to your smartphone.
2. Develop an emergency communication plan for your family. This will help you be in touch if a disaster strikes and family members are in different locations.
3. Collect important documents and keep them in a safe place. This will help you evacuate without delay and get back on track after the disaster passes.
4. Gather emergency supplies. Pack a “go bag” to evacuate quickly and have supplies in the home to be safe without water or power.

Visit the America’s PrepareAthon! website, ready.gov/prepare, to take action, be counted and spread the word.

America’s PrepareAthon! was established to provide a comprehensive campaign to build and sustain national preparedness as directed by Presidential Policy Directive-8. The campaign is coordinated by FEMA in collaboration with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations.

In central Illinois, tornadoes and flooding are the most likely natural disasters to strike. The ready.gov website guides readers through the basics of the disasters and advises how to be prepared if they occur.

For example, the How to Prepare for a Tornado guide provides the basics of tornadoes, explains how to protect yourself and your property, and details the steps to take now so that you can act quickly when you, your home, or your business is in danger.

Flooding is the most common natural disaster in the United States and can happen anywhere. There is a How to Prepare for a Flood guide available, as well.

City committee to tackle storm water issues

Faced with mandates from the Environmental Protection Agency and the needs of its citizens, the City of Peoria is forming an advisory committee to seek public input and help it manage its storm water infrastructure problems.

Called the OneWater Committee, the group will study the feasibility of establishing a dedicated funding stream for storm water management and the proposed use of green infrastructure that would help with sewer overflow problems, the city said in a news release.

“As citizens know, there’s a real need to control storm water throughout our community—not just in the combined sewer overflow area. We are seeing channel erosion, sinkholes and old pipes in need of repair,” said Mike Rogers, director of the city’s Department of Public Works. “Peoria must take a comprehensive approach to wet weather management, and that’s why public input is so vital. The residents, businesses and organizations who depend on this system can inform the decisions our City Council makes.”

According to the release the OneWater Committee will be a diverse group of people, including private property owners, large and small business, tax-exempt organizations, other governmental bodies and environmental advocates.

They will participate in a series of public hearings on the storm water issues that will be held at ROOM, 305 SW Water St. in Peoria. The first session will be May 20 from 6:40 to 8 p.m., followed by a session June 17 from noon to 1:30 p.m., July 15 from noon to 1:30 p.m. and Aug. 19, noon to 1:30 p.m.

“We named this the OneWater Committee because we are one community with one watershed,” Rogers said. “The combined sewers are a legacy problem from Peoria’s early days. They were built to serve a city just getting started. A century later, continued growth has caused other issues. More parking lots, shopping centers, driveways and other impervious surfaces has increased the amount of runoff that must be managed. Peoria is full of innovative, committed people. Together, I’m confident we can produce workable solutions.”

One possible funding stream could be a storm water utility, such as storm water utilities in Morton, Eureka, Bloomington and Decatur. The OneWater Committee will give input on funding models and credits, such as for property owners who put green infrastructure on their properties. It also may help decide green infrastructure locations.

Green infrastructure, the release said, could include pervious pavers and natural plantings.

The committee also will give input on storm water management priorities, including inspecting underground pipes, repairing infrastructure, street sweeping and other issues, the city release said.

Among the issues the city faces is increasing regulatory requirements from the U.S. EPA. That agency has mandated that the city develop a long-term plan to reduce overflows from combined storm/sanitary sewers. That is because when storm water from rain or snow overwhelms combined sewers, untreated sewage discharges into the Illinois River. “Stricter requirements under the city’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit mean that number must be brought as close to zero as possible,” the release said.

Peoria has proposed using green infrastructure to capture storm water and keep it from entering the combined sewers. Negotiations with regulators are ongoing.

Unfortunately, funding constraints have prevented the city from keeping up with the maintenance and upgrades needed in its storm sewer system. As of early 2015 there is a backlog of 80 projects, including 15 “high-severity projects that involve life safety issues such as sinkholes, the potential for collapsing pipe or potential structure flooding.” There are also six significant projects that are large enough to require capital budgeting under the Community Investment Plan, the release said.

The city provided some “fast facts” about the issues, including:

• The city experiences 20 to 30 combined overflows a year, on average. These may occur at 16 outfall locations along the Illinois River. Overflows can occur with as little as 0.15 inches of rainfall.
• Combined sewer overflows contribute to elevated bacteria levels and pose health risks to humans. Signs are posted along the Peoria riverfront to identify affected areas. When an overflow happens, the city posts alerts at www.peoriagov.org/public-works/combined-sewer-overflow-warning/
• As part of the U.S. EPA’s mandate, Peoria needs to capture approximately 37 million gallons of rain from a single rainstorm. That is equivalent to about 60 Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of storm water.
• Peoria’s proposal to reduce overflows with green infrastructure is cost-effective. City engineers estimate installation costs of green infrastructure would be about two-thirds that of gray infrastructure (tunnels, tanks, etc.). At least one-third of streets, alleys and other public rights-of-way could see green beautification in an 8-square-mile area along and south of the river bluffs.
• Since 2012, Public Works has received nearly 400 citizen service requests related to storm water. These include street flooding, sewer backups and channel erosion.
• GIS data from 2011 (latest available detailed information) shows that Peoria has over 235 million square feet of impervious area—mainly buildings, parking lots and driveways. That’s equivalent to nearly 4,100 football fields.
• A parking lot sheds 16 times as much storm water as a meadow. Storm water runoff is not treated; it picks up chemical compounds and litter from developed land and eventually enters creeks and streams.

Consumer confidence dips in April

The Conference BoardConsumer Confidence Index^® declined in April, just a month after topping 100, the Conference Board announced Wednesday.

The April index was at 95.2 (1985=100), down from 101.4 in March. The Present Situation Index decreased from 109.5 last month to 106.8 in April. The Expectations Index declined from 96.0 last month to 87.5 in April.

The monthlyConsumer Confidence Survey^®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results wasApril 17.

"Consumer confidence, which had rebounded in March, gave back all of the gain and more in April," saidLynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board. "This month's retreat was prompted by a softening in current conditions, likely sparked by the recent lackluster performance of the labor market, and apprehension about the short-term outlook. The Present Situation Index declined for the third consecutive month. Coupled with waning expectations, there is little to suggest that economic momentum will pick up in the months ahead."

Consumers' appraisal of current-day conditions continued to soften. Those saying business conditions are "good" edged down from 26.7 percent to 26.5 percent. However, those claiming business conditions are "bad" also decreased from 19.4 percent to 18.2 percent.

Consumers were less favorable in their assessment of the job market. Those stating jobs are "plentiful" declined from 21.0 percent to 19.1 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" rose from 25.5 percent to 26.4 percent.

Consumers' optimism about the short-term outlook, which had rebounded in March, also retreated in April. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months decreased from 16.8 percent to 16.0 percent, while those expecting business conditions to worsen increased from 8.1 percent to 9.4 percent.

Consumers' outlook for the labor market also deteriorated. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead decreased from 15.3 percent to 13.8 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs rose from 13.6 percent to 16.3 percent.

The proportion of consumers expecting growth in their incomes decreased from 18.8 percent to 18.3 percent, while the proportion expecting a decline increased from 9.7 percent to 11.2 percent.

The Conference Board is a global, independent business membership and research association working in the public interest. Our mission is unique: To provide the world's leading organizations with the practical knowledge they need to improve their performance and better serve society. The Conference Board is a non-advocacy, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States.www.conference-board.org

Cat profit up despite drop in sales and revenues

Getting leaner and more efficient in its manufacturing processes enabled Caterpillar Inc. to improve its first quarter earnings by 26 percent this year despite a 4 percent decrease in sales and revenues from the first quarter of 2014, the company announced Thursday.

As a result, the company improved its profit outlook for the remainder of the year despite maintaining an air of caution going forward.

The company made a profit of $1.11 billion, or $1.81 a share, on sales and revenues of $12.702 billion, compared with a profit of $922 million, or $1.44 a share, on sales and revenues of $13.241 billion a year earlier. Those figures include restructuring costs as the company reduced expenses, with those costs affecting the profit by 5 cents a share this year, compared with 17 cents a share in the first quarter of 2014.

The first quarter numbers also were helped by a pre-tax gain of $120 million, or 14 cents a share, from the sales of its remaining interest in a third-party logistics business.

“We delivered solid results for the first quarter of this year, including higher profit than in the first quarter of 2014. Our focus on operational improvement, including lean manufacturing and cost management, is helping in what is a tough time for some of our important cyclical businesses. We continue to execute on improving safety, quality, inventory turns, delivery performance and market position,” said Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman.

“The first quarter wasn’t without challenges. Sales and revenues were off about 4 percent from the first quarter of last year, mining remained weak and construction was down in most regions. On the plus side, Energy & Transportation turned in another great quarter, although we don’t expect this to continue due to the oil-related portion of the business,” Oberhelman said in a prepared release. 

Caterpillar kept its 2015 outlook for sales and revenues at about $50 billion, which is about $5 billion less than in 2014, but the company improved the profit outlook to $4.70 a share, or $5 a share without restructuring costs. That is up from the previous profit forecast of$4.60 a share, or $.75 excluding restructuring costs. The company did, however, increase its anticipated restructuring costs from $150 million to $250 million for the year, largely related to mining products plants.

Investors reacted positively early in the trading day, but Caterpillar stock dropped in the last hour and ended the day at $84.79 a share, down 8 cents. It had reached $87.50 by mid-afternoon Thursday before falling. Nearly 18.9 million shares, or nearly three times the daily average, were traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Oberhelman cautioned that there is still uncertainty surrounding the remainder of the year.

“We had a solid first quarter, which led to raising the profit outlook for 2015. However, we continue to face headwinds and uncertainty in 2015, and our outlook for the year reflects that. We expect sales and profit in each of the remaining three quarters of 2015 to be lower than the first quarter. We expect sales for oil applications to decline starting in the second quarter, and from a profit perspective, the first quarter included the gain on the sale of our remaining interest in the logistics business and that won’t repeat. The first quarter is usually the most seasonally favorable of the year for costs, and we don’t expect the rest of the year to be as favorable. In addition, we expect some increase in research and development expense as we go through the year,” Oberhelman said.

“We’re working to improve what we can control so that when our cyclical businesses recover, we will be ready to respond quickly, benefiting our company, our customers and our stockholders,” he said.

Caterpillar said it expects world economic growth to be about 2.7 percent in 2015, compared with 2.6 percent in 2014.

“Despite our outlook for modest improvement in global economic growth versus 2014, significant risks and uncertainties remain that could temper growth in 2015,” the company said. “Political conflicts and social unrest continue to disrupt economic activity in several regions; in particular, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Africa and the Middle East. The Chinese government’s push for structural reforms is slowing growth, and the ongoing uncertainty around the direction and timing of U.S. fiscal and monetary policy actions may temper business confidence.”

The outlook for sales and revenues remains unchanged at about $50 billion for 2015, down from $55.2 billion in 2014. As it said in January, the company believes the decline in sales and revenues will largely be from lower oil prices affecting sales of reciprocating engines and construction equipment in oil-producing countries worldwide. Mining equipment sales are expected to be lower still as are sales in the rail industry, as well.

The company attributed the $539 million decline in first quarter sales and revenues to lower sales volume and an unfavorable impact of currency from the weakening of the euro and Japanese yen.

It said sales declined in all regions of the world except North America, where sales were up 9 percent because demand was higher for construction equipment and for oil and gas application.

The largest decline was in Latin America, down 19 percent because of lower demand for construction equipment. In Europe, Africa and the Middle East sales declined 11 percent and in the Asia/Pacific region sales declined 13 percent.

The company said sales were flat in Energy & Transportation but decreased in Construction Industries and Resource Industries. Cat Financial Products’revenues were about flat.

Caterpillar’s restructuring resulted in 3,257 fewer employees worldwide at the end of the first quarter. Full-time employment was 113,322 at the end of March, compared with 116,579 at the end of the first quarter of 2014. However, the flexible workforce increased 772, resulting in a total decrease in the global workforce of 2,485.