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Relief logistics is vital to disaster relief management. Herein, a risk-averse two-stage distributionally robust programming model is proposed to provide decision support for planning disaster relief logistics. It is distinct from the conventional disaster relief logistics planning problem in that (i) the facility location-inventory model and the multi-commodity network flow formulation are integrated; (ii) the probability distribution information of the supply, demand, and road link capacity is partially known, and (iii) the two-stage distributionally robust optimisation (DRO) method based on the worst-case mean-conditional value-at-risk criterion is developed. For tractability, we reformulate the proposed DRO model as equivalent mixed-integer linear programs for box and polyhedral ambiguity sets, which can be directly solved to optimality using the CPLEX software. To evaluate the validity of the proposed DRO model, we conduct numerical experiments based on a real-world case study addressing hurricane threats in the Gulf of Mexico region of the United States. Furthermore, we compare the performance of the proposed DRO model with that of the conventional two-stage stochastic programming model. Finally, we report the managerial implications and insights of using the risk-averse two-stage DRO approach for disaster relief management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media platforms are increasingly used during disasters. In the United States, users often consider these platforms to be reliable news sources and they believe first responders will see what they publicly post. While having ways to request help during disasters might save lives, this information is difficult to find because non-relevant content on social media completely overshadows content reflective of who needs help. To resolve this issue, we develop a framework for classifying hurricane-related images that have been human-annotated. Our approach uses transfer learning and classifies each image using the VGG-16 convolutional neural network and multi-layer perceptron classifiers according to the urgency, relevance, and time period, in addition to the presence of damage and relief motifs. We find that our framework not only successfully functions as an accurate method for hurricane-related image classification but also that real-time classification of social media images using a small training set is possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing vulnerability of the population from frequent disasters requires quick and effective responses to provide the required relief through effective humanitarian supply chain distribution networks. We develop scenario-robust optimization models for stocking multiple disaster relief items at strategic facility locations for disaster response. Our models improve the robustness of solutions by easing the difficult, and usually impossible, task of providing exact probability distributions for uncertain parameters in a stochastic programming model. Our models allow decision makers to specify uncertainty parameters (i.e., point and probability estimates) based on their degrees of knowledge, using distribution-free uncertainty sets in the form of ranges. The applicability of our generalized approach is illustrated via a case study of hurricane preparedness in the Southeastern United States. In addition, we conduct simulation studies to show the effectiveness of our approach when conditions deviate from the model assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LRAD, the brand name of Genasys' industry-leading acoustic hailing devices (AHDs) product range, has been discussed in the context of the weaponisation of sound. This article contributes a critical science and technology studies perspective by approaching AHDs as security sound technologies: as products within a security and disaster audio industry, that partake in, and are symptomatic of, a broader logic of securitisation. The goal here is neither decrying AHDs as invested in injurious sound nor making distinctions between purportedly violent and benign AHD features and applications, but to inquire into "the concept of an AHD" and, in turn, to understand the logics and workingsthat underlay AHDs' framing and adoption as 21st-century security sound solutions across the military-civilian, government-corporate continuum. While there are important differences between AHD models, all AHDs produce narrow and directional acoustic beams and broadcast high-intensity, far-reaching "unmistakable" voice commands and piercing deterrent tones. What makes AHDs "sound" and otherwise desirable as "workhorses" for a broad range of security and safety applications? The article examines different capability gaps these devices avowedly "bridge" and define. In particular, it discusses AHDs' humanitarian violence, disaster communications and relief, crowd control, and perimeter security applications and functions within US contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evaluates why it is important to get the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) foreign disaster relief (FDR) mission right, focusing on the strategic goals and benefits of providing FDR. Topics include an exploration of the DoD FDR missions in Nicaragua and Haiti to demonstrate how rules of engagement (ROE) was ill-suited to the mission, the importance of the standing rules for the use of force (SRUF) at the operational and tactical levels, and RUF's compatibility with DoD's FDR.

Populations are increasingly exposed to natural hazards due to expanding development and climate change. This exposure is exacerbated by sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors limiting resources for disaster mitigation and recovery. Federal disaster assistance is crucial for communities in the wake of catastrophic events by supplementing local resources. However, recent research suggests that federal disaster assistance may exacerbate existing inequality across social groups. The most pervasive and costliest disaster in the United States is flooding. The federal government maintains multiple programs supporting flood mitigation and recovery, yet a comprehensive understanding of how these programs may foster inequitable outcomes is lacking. This paper uses a systematic review of federal flood policy literature over the last decade to fill this gap and identify patterns that may contribute to inequitable outcomes. Results suggest that despite over 100 flood-related disasters occurring over the past decade, the effectiveness of flood policies across social groups is relatively unstudied. And when studied, federal policies themselves do not explicitly lead to inequitable outcomes. Instead, we conclude that policies prioritize equality over equity and do not overcome systematic oppressive and racist decision-making. These findings further the understanding that social vulnerability to natural hazards is a complex and contextual issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), with spending of nearly $800 billion, was the largest component in the United States' economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The intention of the program was to provide emergency economic relief to small businesses and help them keep employees on their payroll. Critics of the PPP program feared that its reliance on private lending institutions would exacerbate racial and spatial injustice by mirroring existing inequalities in access to capital by race and across space. The authors compare PPP to existing residential and small business lending patterns, and test whether Black and Latinx neighborhoods were disadvantaged in receiving PPP loans. The authors find that majority Black and Latinx neighborhoods received disproportionately fewer PPP loans than majority White and Asian neighborhoods, but that policy changes during the third phase of the PPP resulted in better targeting of lending to lower-income areas, minority borrowers, and smaller businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States has a long history of providing ad hoc disaster assistance to agricultural producers. The latest version – the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) – follows five consecutive years of appropriations for disaster assistance. In response to ongoing appropriations, there is growing interest in establishing a permanent disaster program. However, with that comes concerns over the impact it could have on the existing farm safety net, particularly crop insurance. In this paper, we characterize the likely effects on crop insurance coverage levels of a permanent authorization of ERP. We assume that corn and soybean producers choose a coverage level based on the effects of that choice on the distribution of future ending wealth reflecting crop revenue, insurance indemnities, and ERP payments. We find very modest effects on crop insurance coverage level choices and crop insurance premiums collected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although several indicators suggest that pediatric asthma control in the United States improved early in the pandemic, other indicators suggest not. Missing are reports from caregivers of the experiences of their children with asthma early in the pandemic. Methods: Using the PP-ACT and other measures that we specifically constructed for our research, we conducted a cross-sectional national survey of US caregivers of children with asthma (N=595) to examine perceived change in their child's asthma control and changes in reports of ED visits and use of emergency relief medicine and controller medicine pre-pandemic (January to March 2020) versus early-pandemic (June to September 2020). Results: Caregivers fell into three groups: most caregivers perceived that their child's asthma control was improved (50.3%) or unchanged (41.2%), and few reported worse control (8.5%). Surprisingly, all three groups of caregivers reported similar frequencies of early-pandemic and pre-pandemic ED visits and use of emergency relief medicine. Also surprising, caregivers who perceived their child's asthma as more controlled (compared with the other two groups) reported more frequent ED visits and use of emergency relief medicine, yet also more use of controller medicine at both early-pandemic and pre-pandemic. Conclusion: The mismatch between caregivers' perceptions of their child's early-pandemic asthma control and their reports of ED visits and use of emergency relief medicine suggests that caregivers may rely on a gist (a global evaluation that can include nonbiomedical evidence) when estimating their child's asthma control. Caregivers and their families could benefit from help from clinicians in understanding the discrepancy between subjective asthma control and asthma control indicators and in understanding what well-controlled asthma looks and feels like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LGBTQ+ communities comprise 16 million individuals in the United States, yet this population is often rendered invisible within disaster policies. Bias in federal disaster response programmes, a lack of recognition of LGBTQ+ families, and the prevalence of faith‐based organisations in disaster relief services together heighten the risks that LGBTQ+ individuals face. This paper describes the ways in which this reality combines with the contextual vulnerability of LGBTQ+ communities, whereby existing inequalities and marginalisation are exacerbated during disasters and in their aftermath. As a result, the immediate trauma of a disaster, such as physical injury or the loss of loved ones or possessions, is compounded in multiple ways for LGBTQ+ individuals, making them less likely to benefit from disaster relief services. To address these inequalities, the paper concludes with a set of policy recommendations to inform prevention, mitigation, and recovery planning, as well as to reduce the impacts of disasters on LGBTQ+ individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disaster assistance in the United States has faced criticism for widening the unequal impacts of disasters, but little is known about whether and how this phenomenon applies to businesses. Small businesses make up most businesses in the United States, but they are particularly vulnerable to hazards given their relative lack of capital. Because recovery assistance to businesses is primarily loan based, this lack of capital can create conflicts in how aid is perceived and allocated. Assistance providers must balance aiding the most severely damaged businesses and lending to those that will be able to repay; for small business, the threat of additional debt can make even low-interest loans seem risky. With this research I attempted to better understand how these competing factors play out in recovery through regression analyses of approved loan amounts and loan utilization decisions in Galveston (TX) after Hurricane Ike. I found that businesses with higher repayment ability such as larger businesses, older businesses, and corporations were approved for high loan amounts. Smaller businesses, businesses with higher damage, and businesses with longer loan terms were less likely to use the loans in their recovery, despite being approved. These findings suggest that businesses with the resources to recover were more likely to be the ones benefiting from additional disaster assistance. These findings suggest that planners may need to create their own recovery programs specifically targeting subgroups of businesses that are important to their communities. Although important to many economic development initiatives, very small businesses, entrepreneurs, and sole proprietors may not benefit from federal assistance, particularly if they were severely damaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information diffusion on social media during disasters is an important indicator of community resilience. As a common natural hazard in the U.S., winter storms often cause adverse socio-economic impacts on human society. Understanding people's perception and behaviours during winter storms is important to mitigate negative impacts and promote community resilience. This study applies text mining and spatial analysis methods on Twitter data during Winter Storm Diego on 2018 December. Different from previous studies focusing on original tweets, this study utilized retweets to model information diffusion in the contiguous United States and analysed the geographic distribution of information flows in various topics. The diffusion extent and direction of the storm-related retweets were compared among different topics. Kernel density maps and standard deviational ellipse were applied to model the spatial distribution of the retweets in different topics. The result shows that people outside of the affected areas expressed more negative sentiment towards the storm than people in the affected areas. Also, distance decay of retweet density has been found and the decay rate differs in different topics. These findings of the analyses will provide support for disaster relief, information communication and broadcasting through social media platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change in parks and protected areas can affect visitor experiences, management priorities, and legislative requests for disaster relief funds. These impacts are unequal in distribution and intensity, similar to the views of people who live in different areas of the United States. Individuals tend to accept climate change when they directly experience weather-related impacts and often deny its existence in areas where this phenomenon is less visible. Perceptions are an important but under-studied explanation for public response to climate change. Qualitative interviews were conducted with eleven district managers in a Midwestern state park system to examine climate change vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation. A conceptual climate change resilience framework was developed, linking theory with practice. The newly developed model described the process of recovery from climate-related impact within the state park system. Some implications from this study were improved decision-making behavior and communication with stakeholders, such as park visitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal hazard events such as hurricanes pose a significant threat to coastal communities. Disaster relief is essential to mitigating damage from these catastrophes; therefore, accurate and efficient damage assessment is key to evaluating the extent of damage inflicted on coastal cities and structures. Historically, this process has been carried out by human task forces that manually take post-disaster images and identify the damaged areas. While this method has been well established, current digital tools used for computer vision tasks such as artificial intelligence and machine learning put forth a more efficient and reliable method for assessing post-disaster damage. Using transfer learning on three advanced neural networks, ResNet, MobileNet, and EfficientNet, we applied techniques for damage classification and damaged object detection to our post-hurricane image dataset comprised of damaged buildings from the coastal region of the southeastern United States. Our dataset included 1000 images for the classification model with a binary classification structure containing classes of floods and non-floods and 800 images for the object detection model with four damaged object classes damaged roof, damaged wall, flood damage, and structural damage. Our damage classification model achieved 76 % overall accuracy for ResNet and 87 % overall accuracy for MobileNet. The F1 score for MobileNet was also 9 % higher than the F1 score of ResNet at 0.88. Our damaged object detection model achieved predominant predictions of the four damaged object classes, with MobileNet attaining the highest overall confidence score of 97.58 % in its predictions. The object detection results highlight the model's ability to successfully identify damaged areas of buildings and structures from images in a time span of seconds, which is necessary for more efficient damage assessment. Thus, we show that this level of accuracy for our damage assessment using artificial intelligence is akin to the accuracy of manual damage assessments while also completing the assessment in a drastically shorter time span. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The United States is experiencing a drug addiction and overdose crisis, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Relative to other types of health services, addiction treatment and overdose prevention services are particularly vulnerable to disaster-related disruptions for multiple reasons including fragmentation from the general medical system and stigma, which may lead decisionmakers and providers to de-prioritize these services during disasters. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. states implemented multiple policies designed to mitigate disruptions to addiction treatment and overdose prevention services, for example policies expanding access to addiction treatment delivered via telehealth and policies designed to support continuity of naloxone distribution programs. There is limited evidence on the effects of these policies on addiction treatment and overdose. This evidence is needed to inform state policy design in future disasters, as well as to inform decisions regarding whether to sustain these policies post-pandemic. Methods: The overall study uses a concurrent-embedded design. Aims 1–2 use difference-in-differences analyses of large-scale observational databases to examine how state policies designed to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on health services delivery influenced addiction treatment delivery and overdose during the pandemic. Aim 3 uses a qualitative embedded multiple case study approach, in which we characterize local implementation of the state policies of interest; most public health disaster policies are enacted at the state level but implemented at the local level by healthcare systems and local public health authorities. Discussion: Triangulation of results across methods will yield robust understanding of whether and how state disaster-response policies influenced drug addiction treatment and overdose during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results will inform policy enactment and implementation in future public health disasters. Results will also inform decisions about whether to sustain COVID-19 pandemic-related changes to policies governing delivery addiction and overdose prevention services long-term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commercial, recreational, and indigenous fisheries are critical to coastal economies and communities in the United States. For over three decades, the federal government has formally recognized the impact of fishery disasters via federal declarations. Despite these impacts, national syntheses of the dynamics, impacts, and causes of fishery disasters are lacking. We developed a nationwide Federal Fishery Disaster database using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fishery disaster declarations and fishery revenue data. From 1989-2020, there were 71 federally approved fishery disasters (eleven are pending), which spanned every federal fisheries management region and coastal state in the country. To date, we estimate fishery disasters resulted in $2B (2019 USD) in Congressional allocations, and an additional, conservative estimate of $3.2B (2019 USD) in direct revenue loss. Despite this scale of impact, the disaster assistance process is largely ad hoc and lacks sufficient detail to properly assess allocation fairness and benefit. Nonetheless, fishery disasters increased in frequency over time, and the causes of disasters included a broad range of anthropogenic and environmental factors, with a recent shift to disasters now almost exclusively caused by extreme environmental events (e.g., marine heatwaves, hurricanes, and harmful algal blooms). Nationwide, 84.5% of fishery disasters were either partially or entirely attributed to extreme environmental events. As climate change drives higher rates of such extreme events, and as natural disaster assistance requests reach an all-time high, the federal system for fisheries disaster declaration and mitigation must evolve in order to effectively protect both fisheries sustainability and societal benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the relationship between African American land tenure in North Carolina and disaster relief policy in the U.S. Topics discussed include the origins of the challenges facing land ownership and heir property in the African American community, difficulties facing African American heir property owners in seeking disaster relief in the state, and the tendency of state policies to devalue the property owned by African Americans in North Carolina such as redlining.

With globalization, corporations increasingly have to consider both domestic stakeholders and overseas stakeholders (i.e., international publics) in their corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice. Digitalization empowers international publics to scrutinize and react to a (multinational) corporation's CSR strategy, further affecting corporate outcomes of CSR practice. Drawing on the social media context and attribution theory, this study investigated international publics' reactions to corporate disaster relief, an emerging type of mobile-enhanced CSR (i.e., mCSR) practice, in the United States and China by looking at individuals' engagement with mobile social media during disasters, attribution of CSR motives, and level of CSR skepticism. Using structural equation modeling analysis, the survey data of randomly recruited Americans (n = 816) and mainland Chinese (n = 430) suggested that mobile social media engagement reinforces the values-, strategic-, and stakeholder-driven motives of mCSR in the United States and China. Egoistic-driven CSR motives elicited publics' skepticism toward mCSR, while values- and stakeholder-driven motives inhibited skepticism in both countries. However, the effect of strategic-driven motives on skepticism was inconsistent internationally. Last, CSR skepticism triggered negative relational outcomes between the mCSR-performing corporation and various stakeholders in both countries. This study advances CSR and attribution theory and contributes to the practice of CSR, public relations, and international business in the social media and disaster response context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines drought relief in the American West. Lessons provided by historical events on drought relief; Approaches adopted by the federal government in implementing drought relief in the region; Changes in the drought program in each government administration.

After Hurricane Harvey, researchers, media, and public health agencies collected data in Houston, Texas, to assess potential health effects and inform the public. To limit redundancy and ensure sampling coverage of impacted areas, research and practice partners used disaster research response (DR2) resources and relied on partnerships formed during a 2015 DR2 workshop in Houston. Improved coordination after the disaster can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of DR2 and enable the use of data to improve recovery and preparedness for future disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates a largely ignored contributor to wealth inequality in the United States: damages from natural hazards, which are expected to increase substantially in coming years. Instead of targeting a specific large-scale disaster and assessing how different subpopulations recover, we begin with a nationally representative sample of respondents from the restricted, geocoded Panel Study of Income Dynamics. We follow them through time (1999–2013) as hazard damages of varying scales accrue in the counties where they live. This design synthesizes the longitudinal, population-centered approach common in stratification research with a broad hazard-centered focus that extends beyond disasters to integrate ongoing environmental dynamics more centrally into the production of social inequality. Results indicate that as local hazard damages increase, so does wealth inequality, especially along lines of race, education, and homeownership. At any given level of local damage, the more aid an area receives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the more this inequality grows. These findings suggest that two defining social problems of our day – wealth inequality and rising natural hazard damages – are dynamically linked, requiring new lines of research and policy making in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article documents how Touro Law Center approached its educational and public interest missions throughout the recovery process after Superstorm Sandy. Topics covered include how the law school formed its Disaster Law Program, the role that the legal-nonlegal coordination played in the recovery process to students, groups and communities, and the long-range need for nonprofit assistance in the recovery process.

This article discusses the failure of recent changes to improve federal disaster response in the U.S. to eliminate disparities of treatment among survivors, citing Superstorm Sandy as an example. Topics covered include a comparison of the treatment of hurricane relief to the treatment of first responders in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, federal appropriations and use of funds following hurricanes between Katrina and Sandy, and recommendations for improving the delivery of relief.

Whenever governments or international organizations provide aid in the aftermath of natural disasters, they typically justify this support by humanitarian motives. Previous empirical research found that media reports on natural disasters have a systematic impact on the amount of provided disaster aid. While this is unproblematic as long as media reports are unbiased and thus deliver an undistorted picture of the occurrence and severity of worldwide occurring disasters, systematic reporting biases would lead to distorted aid flows and perhaps other distortions like an insufficient perception of a region in international organizations. Based on data on three US news shows we show that disaster reporting is subject to a distance bias, e.g., the likelihood that a disaster is covered by the media depends on the distance between the country where the media are located and the country where the disasters occur. We also find evidence that besides the distance bias the state of economic development of a country and importance as export markets have a positive effect on the probability that US news shows are reporting on a natural disaster. As a result, international aid flows might be systematically biased and not distributed in line with the needs of the victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Bicycling enthusiasts have been organizing community events in US cities to demonstrate how bicycles may be of use in the aftermath of a disaster event. The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceived value of these events and levels of engagement in the same amongst emergency managers, community organizers and bicycling advocates. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected through 21 in-depth, telephone interviews with emergency management officials and bicycling advocates in bicycle-friendly jurisdictions in the USA and analyzed using initial and focused coding, analytic memos and theoretical sorting. Findings: The study found that event organizers and other bicycle advocates widely embraced the concept as a means to change societal perceptions of bicycles as viable modes of transportation, indicating at least some level of interest in taking an active role in its pursuit. Emergency managers were generally receptive to the idea, but they largely saw the value as restricted to raising public awareness about hazards and individual preparedness measures; and they mostly envisioned for themselves a minimal role in event planning and execution. Practical implications: The findings suggest that when operating in a resource-poor environment with limited public and political support, there are innovative partnerships and ideas that can be successfully leveraged to advance multiple purposes. Originality/value: Almost no empirical research has looked at the disaster relief trial concept, given the relative newness and novelty of the idea. An examination of perceived value of disaster-oriented community bicycling events seems warranted as such events continue to grow in existing locations and emerge in new locales each year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this review was to summarize the data on HIV/AIDS epidemiology and affected populations in Ghana and to describe the United States President's Emergency Plan for Emergency Relief's (PEPFAR) response to the epidemic. Design: We conducted a literature review focusing on PEPFAR's contribution to the HIV response in Ghana. Additionally, we summarized the epidemiology of HIV. We searched both peer-reviewed and grey literature. Setting: Ghana Results: Overall, HIV prevalence in Ghana is 1.6% with regional variation. Key populations (KPs) are disproportionately affected by HIV in the country. FSW and their clients, and MSM, account for 28% of all new infections. PEPFAR provides technical assistance (TA) to Ghana to maximize the quality, coverage and impact of the national HIV/AIDS response. To ensure adequate supply of antiretrovirals (ARVs), in 2016-2017, PEPFAR invested $23.7 million as a onetime supplemental funding to support Ghana's ARV treatment program. In addition, the National AIDS Control Programme in collaboration with PEPFAR is implementing a scale up of viral load testing. PEPFAR is also implementing a comprehensive package of prevention services in five regions to help reach MSM and FSW and to expand HIV testing services for KPs. Conclusions: Ghana is making changes at both policy and program level in the fight against HIV/AIDS and is working towards achieving the UNAIDS' 90-90-90 targets. PEPFAR is providing TA to ensure these goals can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the hospital ship USNS Comfort similar to Army Combat Support Hospitals (CSHs) and Air Force Expeditionary Medical Support Health Response Teams (EMEDS) in Puerto Rico. Topics discussed include role of the ship in medical care of warfighter, scheduled humanitarian assistance and disaster response, impact of Hurricane Maria.

The article presents a discussion about the evacuation plan adopted by U.S. President Jimmy Carter to improve the country's civil defense in cases of nuclear attacks. Bardyl R. Tirana, Director of the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency, discusses the contents of the crisis relocation program which states that those people endangered by a nuclear attack are to be evacuated and relocated. The evacuation efforts are said to be triggered by news that the Soviet Union has started evacuating their people.

The article examines the Crisis Relocation Plan, a civil defense plan against nuclear war, of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. Referring to the plan, the article checks the utility of the plan in the practical use. Civil defense officials at the local level found that the plan has some practical difficulties in carrying out a mass evacuation and in providing relief for the welfare of the displaced population. Information on the roles of the U.S. and the Soviet Union civil defenses have also been given in the article.