Search

The collection of papers in this ebook clearly identify how cities have become hubs not only of opportunity, development and economic growth, but also of risk accumulation. In hazard-prone regions, risk has become a defining characteristic of the urban landscape. The first set of papers in this ebook tackles the complex processes of risk accumulation, of cascading and interdependent risks in a world of connected cities. The second set of papers presented, take us into the critical area of how to better understand risk and resilience and discuss limitations to and different approaches and tools available for this.

It is important to understand the nature of global disaster risks in order to develop strategies to effectively prepare and respond to both natural and human-made events. The selected papers contained in this book have been written by academics and professionals and represent some of the latest developments in the field.

Risk communication is crucial to building community resilience and reducing risk from extreme events.True community resilience involves accurate and timely dissemination of risk information to stakeholders. This book examines the policy and science of risk communication in the digital era. Themes include public awareness of risk and public participation in risk communication and resilience building. The first half of the book focuses on conceptual frameworks, components, and the role of citizens in risk communication. The second half examines the role of risk communication in resilience building and provides an overview of some of its challenges in the era of social media. This book looks at the effectiveness of risk communication in socially and culturally diverse communities in the developed and developing world.The interdisciplinary approach bridges academic research and applied policy action. Contributions from Latin America and Asia provide insight into global risk communication at a time when digital technologies have rapidly transformed conventional communication approaches. This book will be of critical interest to policy makers, academicians, and researchers, and will be a valuable reference source for university courses that focus on emergency management, risk communication, and resilience.

Resilience as a concept has become embedded in public policy discourse within countries across the world in a wide range of contexts--planning, education, emergency management, and supply chains. The goal of this book is to assist future community leaders and professionals with the subsystem components and the actions that must be taken to insure community resilience, and to alert them to the potential pitfalls when adapting their community to the challenges that continually change. The development of trust among and between diverse members of communities and the political and economic leaders is essential if our views of how to build resilience are to change. The book is divided into five sections. The first section explores the challenges of transformational change, building community resilience with alternative frameworks, and resilience in time and space with lessons from ecology. Section II covers the building of hazard resilient communities through technology, microscale disaster and local resilience, the building of resilient cities by harnessing the power of urban analytics. and the failure to describe and communicate the possible future climate change scenarios. Section III examines challenges for urban theory when conceptualizing financial resilience, the role of social capital in community disaster resilience, the challenges of citizen engagement and resilience in the Dutch disaster management, and the rationalities of extraction and resilience of fossil-fueling vulnerability in an age of extreme energy. Section IV explores shifting from risks to consequences when building resilience to mega-hazards, resilience and small island nations, the sea level rise, demographics and rural resilience on Maryland's Eastern shore, and the epicenter of community resilience in the California's San Francisco Bay Area. Section V discusses observations and challenges on building community resilience in the twenty-first century. This highly informative and indispensable volume will be meaningful for future community leaders, citizens, stakeholders, government officials, emergency management, and crisis interveners.

Events such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Japanese earthquakes and tsunamis in 2011 have provided unfortunate reminders of the susceptibility of many communities to devastating losses from natural hazards. These events provided graphic illustrations of how extreme hazard events adversely impact on people, affect communities and disrupt the community and societal mechanisms that serve to organize and sustain community capacities and functions. However, there is much that communities can do to mitigate their risk and manage disaster consequences. The construct that epitomizes how this is done is resilience. The contents of this volume provide valuable insights into how societal resilience can be developed and sustained. This considerably expanded new edition presents major topics of: Coexisting with Natural Hazards; Urban Resilience in Asia; Lifelines and Urban Resilience; Business Continuity in Disaster; Hazard Mitigation in Communities; Hazard Readiness and Resilience; Child Citizenship in Disaster Risk; Old Age and Resilience; Gender and Disaster Resilience; Impact of High Functionality on Resilience; Art and Resilience; Cross-Cultural Perspectives and Coping with Hazards; Religious Practices and Resilience; Living in Harmony with our Environment; Critical Incidence Response; Governance; Heat Wave Resilience; Wildfire Disaster Resilience; and Progress and Challenges to Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience. This exceptional book brings together contributions from international experts in core areas and includes chapters that provide and overarching framework within which the need for interrelationships between levels to be developed is discussed. The book will be an outstanding resource for those researching or teaching courses in emergency management, disaster management, community development, environmental planning and urban development. In addition, it will serve law enforcement and emergency agencies, welfare agencies, and professionals in applied psychology.

Comprising a selection of articles dedicated to disaster management this volume focuses on the challenges arising from extreme natural phenomena and descriptions of methods for assessing their occurrence probability and of measures for mitigating their intensity and detrimental effects. The first group of articles describes general strategies for risk assessment and mitigation, providing examples in the context of various kinds of natural disasters. The economic impact of mitigation measures, communities'differing coping capabilities, human attitudes towards relocation and possible links to climate change are among the topics considered. Natural strategies are outlined in the contexts of Turkey, Brazil and United Arab Emirates. The second part of the book is concerned with disasters from specific natural causes starting with a group of ten articles on floods. The corresponding contributions address flood frequency, vulnerability and resilience of communities, response of small and medium enterprises, risk in terms of financial losses, private investment participation to mitigation measures, assessment of design solutions against flood hazard, sleeper dykes as a means of reducing risk, preparedness of hospitals, causes of highway flooding and their relative importance, and impact of floods on poor communities. The third set of articles are related to earthquake-related hazards describing, in particular, an analysis tool providing integrated risk, coping capacity and management output, a method for assessing vulnerability considering key contributing factors, a technique for urban aftershock management and damage assessment, and neural network modelling to estimate tsunami damage. Finally, a group of three articles address issues related to landslides, namely, slope management as a means of reducing risk and losses, early warning based on rainfall data, and hazard prediction using favourability function modelling and spatial target mapping software. Providing a unique global perspective this volume focuses on recent developments over a wide range of topics that cannot be found in similar, currently available, publications in this field. This is a valuable addition to the relevant literature available to researchers and engineers working on risk assessment and mitigation of natural disaster intensity and consequences. It will appeal of those working in academic and research environments as well as governmental, professional, national and international organisations.

The Consequences of Disasters: Demographic, Planning and Policy Implications presents innovative multi-disciplinary perspectives on how people and societies respond to, and recover from sudden, unexpected crisis events like natural disasters which impact tragically on the established patterns and structures of their lives. Through detailed empirical analysis which employs both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, the twenty-two chapters in this fine volume explore these critical issues. Chapters have a wide global range across both democratic and transforming governance systems which spotlight the many different ways in which different political jurisdictions respond to the demographic, planning and policy implications of the natural disasters affecting their citizens. The authors collectively provide insights into varying socio-cultural and political disaster frameworks from China, Japan, the USA, New Zealand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Taiwan, Iran, The Philippines and Pakistan. Taking the conceptual and analytical lens of social capital, family formation and migration patterns, the authors employ comparative demographic, anthropological and sociological approaches to present the human security contexts of natural disasters when they unexpectedly wreak havoc on human societies, and the coping and response behaviors they adopt, develop and use as survivors as they set about re-building their lives over periods that can extend over several years. This book provides many innovative insights which will be of value to disaster policy experts, practitioners in the humanitarian field, civil society and government sectors and researchers engaged in disaster recovery and reconstruction practice and research.

Effective communications for people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs in emergency situations are often in danger of being overlooked or minimized. This book identifies barriers, facilitators, and successful practices to providing effective emergency-related communications. The book examines the current state of affairs concerning the accessibility of emergency-related communications; reviews the enforcement of disability laws and regulations as they pertain to effective communications before, during, and after emergencies. Information on the experiences and perceptions of people with disabilities as they relate to emergency-related communications is also provided.

Each school day, our nation's schools are entrusted to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for approximately 55 million elementary and secondary school students. Lessons learned from school emergencies highlight the importance of preparing school officials and first responders to implement emergency operations plans. By having plans in place to keep students and staff safe, schools play a key role in taking preventative and protective measures to stop an emergency from occurring or reduce the impact of an incident. Although schools are not traditional response organizations, when a school-based emergency occurs, school personnel respond immediately. They provide first aid, notify response partners, and provide instructions before first responders arrive. They also work with their community partners, i.e., governmental organizations that have a responsibility in the school emergency operations plan to provide a cohesive, coordinated response. Community partners include first responders (law enforcement officers, fire officials, and emergency medical services personnel) as well as public and mental health entities. Families and communities expect schools to keep their children and youths safe from threats (human-caused emergencies such as crime and violence) and hazards (natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and accidents). In collaboration with their local government and community partners, schools can take steps to plan for these potential emergencies through the creation of a school Emergency Operations Plan (school EOP). This book examines development guides for public schools and institutes of higher learning in emergency operations planning which address a range of threats and hazards.

The importance of weather, climate, and water information is rising because of the need to serve more elaborate societal needs, minimize growing economic losses, and help countries adapt to climate change. Weather, climate and water impacts societies and economies through extreme events, such as tropical cyclones, floods, high winds, storm surges and prolonged droughts, and through high impact weather and climate events that effect demand for electricity and production capacity, planting and harvesting dates, managing construction, transportation networks and inventories, and human health. The key players are the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs). By international agreement under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization, they are the government???s authoritative source of weather, climate, and water information, providing timely input to emergency managers, national and local administrations, the public, and critical economic sectors. NMHSs are a small but important public sector-with budgets usually about 0.01-0.05 percent of national GDP, and total annual public funding of NMHSs globally exceeding $15 billion. The problem is that their capacity has become so degraded in many regions over the past 15-20 years - primarily owing to underfunding, low visibility, economic reforms, and in some instances military conflict - that they are now inadequate. As a result, globally, NMHSs in over 100 countries, more than half of which are in Africa, need to be modernized. How much will this cost? A conservative estimate of high priority modernization investment needs in developing countries exceeds $1.5-2 billion. In addition, a minimum of $400-500 million per year will be needed to support operations of the modernized systems. These recurrent costs should be covered by national governments, but few are ready to do this. The book underscores the urgent need to strengthen NMHSs, especially in developing countries, and provides cost-benefit estimates of the return that countries can hope to achieve. It also offers a recommended approach that has been tested and implemented in Europe, Central and South Asia, and other countries. And it underscores the significance of international collaboration to access data, knowledge, and know-how of the large-scale atmospheric and oceanic conditions that drive the global weather patterns that affect individual countries. It has been conservatively estimated that upgrading all hydrometeorological information production and early warning capacity in developing countries would save an average of 23,000 lives, and provide between $3 billion and $30 billion per year in additional economic benefits related to disaster reduction.

Despite the evident advantages that being prepared for natural life-threatening events confers on people and communities, research has consistently found that individual, community, and business preparedness levels are low. This book examines why this is so and identifies what can be done to expedite the development of sustained preparedness, at household, community, and societal levels. The text emphasizes the need for this aspect of social risk management to be based on engagement principles: how people engage with their natural environment, how they engage with each other, and how people and agencies and businesses engage with each other. Following a discussion of how people relate to the environmental hazards they need to prepare for, the book introduces the areas of comprehensive preparedness. Major topics include: Coexisting with a Hazardous Environment; People, Hazards, and Hazard Mitigation; Hazard Readiness and Preparedness; People's Beliefs and Hazard Preparedness; Predicting Hazard Preparedness and Social Cognitive Influences; Social Influences on Hazard Beliefs; Hazard Preparedness and Community Engagement and Empowerment; Cross-cultural Perspectives; Business Preparedness; and Future Issues with Engaging People, Science, and Practice. This unique text will provide practitioners and academics with a comprehensive account of what can currently be done to increase the capacity of people, communities, societies, and businesses to anticipate what hazard consequences they may have to contend with, cope with, adapt to, and recover from, and also to learn from experiences in ways that contribute to the development of future societal resilience and adaptive capacity.

This volume presents eighteen case studies of natural disasters from Australia, Europe, North America and developing countries. By comparing the impacts, it seeks to identify what moves people to adapt, which adaptive activities succeed and which fail, and the underlying reasons, and the factors that determine when adaptation is required and when simply bearing the impact may be the more appropriate response. Much has been written about the theory of adaptation and high-level, especially international, policy responses to climate change. This book aims to inform actual adaptation practice - what works, what does not, and why. It explores some of the lessons we can learn from past disasters and the adaptation that takes place after the event in preparation for the next. This volume will be especially useful for researchers and decision makers in policy and government concerned with climate change adaptation, emergency management, disaster risk reduction, environmental policy and planning.

Every year tornadoes earthquakes and other natural disasters injure and kill thousands of people and damage billions of dollars worth of property. Often it is almost impossible to predict or prevent the occurrence of these disasters. However it is possible to reduce their impact by developing a disaster management and recovery planning strategy. This report on Disaster Management and Recovery Planning is a detailed guide for utilities power plant operators pipeline and transmission line operators businesses governments communities and emergency operations teams to develop and maintain a disaster management and recovery plan. It outlines the four phases of a disaster: Mitigation Preparedness Response and Recovery and provides detailed instructions on developing a mitigation plan prior to a disaster. The report examines long and short-term goals for mitigation planning and recovery from disaster along with initiatives that U.S. government has taken in recent years. The report has a special focus on management of energy infrastructure during the time of disaster and presents a checklist for emergency response and recovery. Disaster management is a systematic approach towards preparing for disaster before it happens and includes disaster response - emergency evacuation quarantine mass decontamination - as well as supporting and rebuilding society after natural disasters have occurred. Efficient disaster management relies on thorough integration of emergency plans at all levels of government and non-government involvement. Disaster preparedness emergency management and post disaster recovery is highly dependent on economic and social conditions local to the disaster. However the basics steps for disaster management remain same in all scenarios. Preparedness is the first step to counter disaster which involves developing plan of action and it includes communication chain of command development proper maintenance and training of emergency services and development of emergency warning systems along with emergency shelters and evacuation plans. The next step is response which includes mobilization of the necessary emergency services such as firefighters police and ambulance that may be supported by a number of secondary emergency services such as specialist rescue teams. Recovery from disaster involves restoration of the affected area including destroyed property re-employment and redevelopment of essential infrastructure. Mitigation efforts attempt at preventing hazards from developing into disasters or reducing the impact of disasters and it focuses on long-term measures for reducing or eliminating future risks. This report details disaster management and various steps from planning to prepare against any disaster. It highlights the role of government agencies and local authorities at the time of disaster as well as before and after it.

The all new Third Edition of Public Health Management of Disasters: The Practice Guide will provide an updated operational field and desk guide for public health personnel who are preparing for or responding to disasters, and for the emergency management community who must work with public health in any response. The entire book has been updated and additional chapters and sections have been added. Updated information on roles and responsibilities, the organization of federal preparedness and response, working with emergency management, surveillance and information systems, emergency communications, environmental issues including food security, emerging diseases and bioterrorism, mental health services, people with disabilities and chronic disease, recovery and reconstruction, evaluation and the appendices. In addition, sections/chapters have been added on current legislation, vulnerable populations, ethics, social media, resilience, whole community preparedness, response systems and capabilities. This book can be used by anyone in the field responding to a disaster, and is also designed for use by anyone working in emergency management preparedness or the delivery of public health services, as well as public health students and those at training institutes, health departments, and any community agency that either delivers public health or clinical services or works with the public during an emergency, and the public health role in emergency management. Linda Young Landesman, DrPH, MSW

'CARVER has served as the standard for security vulnerability assessments for many years, but it has now morphed into an even more useful tool that can be used to help protect almost any critical infrastructure. This new, no-nonsense handbook provides security professionals with background on CARVER, its very successful morph into CARVER + Shock, and then demonstrates how these methodologies can be applied and adapted to meet today's specific needs to protect both hard and soft targets. It provides an easy to follow six-step process that can be utilized by both experienced security experts and novices involved with their first vulnerability assessment. At each stage of the assessment, the reader is provided with checklists, best practices, and useful real-life scenarios. By the time readers complete step six, they can be assured that a best practice risk vulnerability assessment will be in place. The book instructs on how to conduct risk-based analysis, system characterization, and all perils assessment - all necessary prerequisites before moving on to developing the threat assessment, conducting the security assessment, and mitigating the risk. At each stage detailed examples are given of the methodology in action in areas such as energy, agriculture, transportation and buildings. The book contains more than 30 unique charts, tables and checklists all designed to ensure that today's busy security professionals stay on track and use all best practices. If you are a security professional – whether a seasoned expert or new to the industry - this is a practical, hands-on how-to guide that you cannot afford to be without. For more details go to www.GovernmentTrainingInc.com'

This title examines key lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and offers a blueprint for better meeting the needs of children, families, and communities post-disaster. It provides community-wide strategies for promoting healthy adaptation in children and families following disasters. It includes detailed procedures for improved disaster preparedness and recovery. It addresses the factors that may mitigate the impact of disaster, as well as the factors, conditions, and processes that contribute to more effective coping.