Search

In tropical regions such as Nicaragua, the population’s vulnerability to hazards has escalated in recent decades. This increase in vulnerability has led to a surge in disasters, particularly those triggered by intense hurricanes. The implications at the national level are still poorly understood. The aim of this article has, therefore, been two-fold. First, to present a historical review of the direct effects of tropical cyclones on society in Nicaragua from 1852 to 2020. Second, to analyze the statistical probabilities of future hurricane-spawned high winds over Nicaragua. Data on cyclones hitting Nicaragua’s coasts were collected, including direct effects, wind speed, pressure, category, direction, and time of landfall. A database was created to classify intensity based on wind speed and frequency. Between 1852 and 2020, Nicaragua experienced 58 tropical cyclones with varying degrees of intensity between September and November. The trajectories of six past hurricanes were considered here regarding the areas that might have been under potential threat. Three zones of influence were delimited along each trajectory according to three wind intensities and the trajectory of these hurricanes. The consequent exposure of each Nicaraguan department and autonomous region was established. The findings are essential to delimitating priority areas for attention regarding the likely impact of tropical cyclones, mainly category 4 and 5 hurricanes. Public officials and the general public can use these data to identify the pressing need for enhanced strategies to mitigate disaster risk and avoid potential disasters.

Notwithstanding the high societal impact of disasters in Mexico, there is a lack of integrated efforts to establish a sound policy for reducing disaster risk to counterbalance the existing concentrated endeavors in disaster management. In the face of such segmentation, the science and technology community has advocated for a change of perspective, from civil protection to integrated disaster risk management. The first Multi-Sectoral Conference towards Integrated Disaster Risk Management in Mexico: Building a National Public Policy (MuSe-IDRiM Conference) was held in Mexico City at National Autonomous University of Mexico, 21–24 October 2019. In support of the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the conference aimed at enhancing the dialogue between the science and technology community, citizens, civil society organizations, private and public sectors, and the federal, state, and municipal governments to foster the process of transforming the current National Civil Protection System into a national public policy oriented towards integrated disaster risk management (DRM). Barriers and challenges to the implementation of integrated DRM were identified. Implementation of integrated DRM challenges current socioeconomic structures and encourages all relevant stakeholders to think, decide, and act from a different perspective and within and across spatial, temporal, jurisdictional, and institutional scales. Understanding disaster risk from an integrated approach, learning skills that authorities have not learned or used, and hence, strengthening disaster risk governance are prerequisites to effectively manage disaster risk.

Likert scales are a common methodological tool for data collection used in quantitative or mixed-method approaches in multiple domains. They are often employed in surveys or questionnaires, for benchmarking answers in the fields of disaster risk reduction, business continuity management, and organizational resilience. However, both scholars and practitioners may lack a simple scale of reference to assure consistency across disciplinary fields. This article introduces a simple-to-use rating tool that can be used for benchmarking responses in questionnaires, for example, for assessing disaster risk reduction, gaps in operational capacity, and organizational resilience. We aim, in particular, to support applications in contexts in which the target groups, due to cultural, social, or political reasons, may be unsuitable for in-depth analyses that use, for example, scales from 1 to 7 or from 1 to 10. This methodology is derived from the needs emerged in our recent fieldwork on interdisciplinary projects and from dialogue with the stakeholders involved. The output is a replicable scale from 0 to 3 presented in a table that includes category labels with qualitative attributes and descriptive equivalents to be used in the formulation of model answers. These include examples of levels of resilience, capacity, and gaps. They are connected to other tools that could be used for in-depth analysis. The advantage of our Likert scale-based response model is that it can be applied in a wide variety of disciplines, from social science to engineering.

Early warning systems (EWSs) are widely considered to be one of the most important mechanisms to prevent disasters around the globe. But as disasters continue to affect countries where EWSs have already been implemented, the striking disaster consequences have led us to reflect on the focus, architecture, and function of the warning systems. Since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami there has been a rapid rise in the promotion and use of EWSs to minimize disaster losses and damage. However, few researchers have addressed the question of their acceptability as an adaptive measure to the existing exposure conditions. EWSs are far more linked to emergency response and humanitarian crises and accepted technological interventions as solutions than they are to explicitly advance integrated analysis, disaster risk reduction, and policy making. A major flaw of EWSs is that the term “early” has been essentially used in reference to the speed of hazard onset, founded on a physicalist perspective that has encouraged a considerable dependence on technology. In this article we address the need for a clear understanding of the root causes and risk drivers of disaster risk creation, as advanced in the FORIN (forensic investigation of disasters) approach, as a prerequisite for the development of more articulated EWSs that could contribute to disaster risk reduction through policy making and practice, based on integrated and transdisciplinary management, in the interest of sustainable development, and human welfare and well-being.

The World Landslide Forum is a triennial mainstream conference that gathers together the scientific and technological community, policymakers, industry actors, public officials, and other stakeholders, who deal with the understanding and management of landslide disaster risk. The establishment of the ISDR-ICL Sendai Partnerships 2015–2025 for Global Promotion of Understanding and Reducing Landslide Disaster Risk in Sendai during the 2015 World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) enabled the landslide science and technology community support the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 in order to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risk. The 4th World Landslide Forum (WLF4) was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 29 May to 2 June 2017 and discussed the progress of landslide research and risk reduction for advancing the culture of living with natural hazards. A high-level panel composed of United Nations officials, international stakeholders, and national organizations sought to identify the best mechanisms to be developed by the community of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). The objective was to advance the implementation of the ISDR-ICL Sendai Partnerships, to achieve a better commitment among partners, and to provide substantive services to developing countries. During the WLF4, the 2017 Ljubljana Declaration on Landslide Risk Reduction was adopted and the concept framework of the Kyoto 2020 Commitment was endorsed.

The Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes held its 3rd Global Summit of Research Institutes for Disaster Risk Reduction at the Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan, 19–21 March, 2017. The Global Alliance seeks to contribute to enhancing disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster resilience through the collaboration of research organizations around the world. The summit aim was to expand the platform for bridging science and policy making by evaluating the evidence base needed to meet the expected outcomes and actions of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 and its Science and Technology Roadmap. The summit reflected the international nature of collaborative research and action. A pre-conference questionnaire filled out by Global Alliance members identified 323 research projects that are indicative of current research. These were categorized to support seven parallel discussion sessions related to the Sendai Framework priorities for action. Four discussion sessions focused on research that aims to deepen the understanding of disaster risks. Three cross-cutting sessions focused on research that is aimed at the priorities for action on governance, resilience, and recovery. Discussion summaries were presented in plenary sessions in support of outcomes for widely enhancing the science and policy of DRR.

En México y diversas partes del mundo los desastres asociados a la inestabilidad de laderas generan impactos negativos en el ámbito socio-económico y ambiental. Además de las pérdidas de vida, y el daño a la cubierta vegetal, las afectaciones a las viviendas y la infraestructura son frecuentes; en los últimos años, la destrucción y deterioro en la infraestructura vial ha sido de particular importancia. Entre las diferentes áreas del país que de manera recurrente suelen ser afectadas por inestabilidad de laderas, se encuentra la Sierra Norte del estado de Puebla. Pérdidas humanas y económicas directas e indirectas, resultado de la ocurrencia de procesos de remoción en masa (PRM) desencadenados principalmente por lluvias intensas, en comunidades vulnerables expuestas de esta región, han tenido lugar desde hace algunas décadas. El impacto en la infraestructura ha cobrado gran relevancia, especialmente desde 1999, razón por la cual este estudio se centró en el análisis de la susceptibilidad a procesos de remoción de masa en las principales carreteras de la región de la Sierra Nororiental de Puebla.

Con base en la relación entre las estructuras geológicas y formas de relieve, se definieron doce unidades morfotectónico-volcánicas (UMTV) que caracterizan el relieve resultante de la fragmentación de la cadena volcánica nicaragüense y la formación del graben de Managua. Se elaboró un mapa (escala 1:50 000) considerando criterios asociados a elementos y atributos lito-estratigráficos, morfotectóni-cos y morfoestructurales, así como a elementos morfométricos. Los criterios considerados incluyeron el análisis de la orientación estructural del relieve, la evaluación morfo-métrica integral de las categorías geomorfológicas, la identificación e interpretación de los rasgos estructuro-geológicos, el análisis de los morfoelementos lineales y anulares, el análisis estructural correlativo con las relaciones litoestratigráficas del sustrato y la interpretación de los patrones estructurales de la red hidrográfica. Las UMTV identificadas sintetizan de manera geosistémica la expresión de la estructura y constitución geológicas, y reconocen la importancia de la actividad neotectónica en la formación y diferenciación del relieve.

Granite topography of the Veladero massif, south Mexico, is a heavily dissected all-slopes type of relief. Rock slopes and tor-like residuals occur near the crests, whereas exposures within middle and lower slopes show deeply disintegrated granite, often with corestones. Weathering grade is low to intermediate, with kaolinite, smectite and illite present in the most weathered top parts of the saprolite and in the colluvium. Hillslope geomorphology indicates that shallow debris slides are a common means of mass transfer, leading to the build-up of colluvial aprons. Valley floors are filled by thick debris flow deposits, further pointing to the role of episodic, large-scale geomorphic events. A long-term balance between the rate of weathering front descent and the rate of slope lowering is suggested. Current landforms and geomorphic legacy in the Veladero massif appear consistent with the steady-state evolutionary model, inferred from rock exhumation studies.

Granite topography of the Veladero massif, south Mexico, is a heavily dissected all-slopes type of relief. Rock slopes and tor-like residuals occur near the crests, whereas exposures within middle and lower slopes show deeply disintegrated granite, often with corestones. Weathering grade is low to intermediate, with kaolinite, smectite and illite present in the most weathered top parts of the saprolite and in the colluvium. Hillslope geomorphology indicates that shallow debris slides are a common means of mass transfer, leading to the build-up of colluvial aprons. Valley floors are filled by thick debris flow deposits, further pointing to the role of episodic, large-scale geomorphic events. A long-term balance between the rate of weathering front descent and the rate of slope lowering is suggested. Current landforms and geomorphic legacy in the Veladero massif appear consistent with the steady-state evolutionary model, inferred from rock exhumation studies.