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Increased rates of domestic violence (DV) have been associated with events such as public holidays, seasonal variations, disasters and economic crises. Sport is seen as gendered, exemplifying hegemonic masculinity and associated violence, with the link between sporting culture and violence against women well recognised. This paper reports on a systematic review of empirical research literature exploring the link between major sporting events and incidence of DV. We searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus and Proquest Central databases from inception to December 2020 for quantitative studies examining major sports events and reports of DV using a pre–post comparison design. Study quality was assessed using the Kmet quality assessment tool. The review identified 1445 records following duplicate removal. Once screened and assessed for eligibility, 12 studies met the inclusion criteria. Results are presented qualitatively due to the heterogeneity across studies. Most studies originated in North America and the United Kingdom, used police records as their data source for measuring incidences of DV and few looked beyond the day of the sports event for recorded incidences of DV. Studies reviewed suggested that there is an association between certain major sports events and increased reporting of DV. However, studies' findings conflicted with regards to whether increases were associated with contact sports, the rivalry between competing teams, whether the events were emotionally salient and whether alcohol was a contributing factor. In conclusion, there is limited research globally. Heterogeneity and conflicting findings mean that more research is needed to understand the associations and inform community prevention/interventions to address DV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on calls for an environmental justice approach to preparing for and responding to man-made as well as natural environmental disasters. Topics discussed include preliminary report of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) on the immediate impacts of the Donora, Pennsylvania smog, damage caused by Hurricane Ian, and environmental threat poses by the West Virginia v. EPA ruling.

Repetitive losses from natural disasters are a multibillion dollar problem, and climate change threatens to make it worse. However, the problem is avoidable, and this Article offers a new analytical framework to explain how. While some disaster losses are inevitable, we argue that recurrent losses are a preventable consequence of real estate market failures and policy shortcomings. By applying the concept Of "adjustment failure costs," a recent contribution to property theory, we present a fresh perspective for understanding and alleviating the economic and human costs of disasters. Adjustment failure costs describe the costs (or losses) that arise from difficulties in markets reaching ejficiency. We contend that the problem of repetitive-loss properties is a manifestation of high adjustment failure costs. Vulnerable areas experience wave after wave Of death and destruction before investments in disaster-prone properties slow. Meanwhile, federal disaster policies impede market adjustments by subsidizing hazardous redevelopment. Thus, the real estate market's response to disaster risk remains laggard despite a painfully pricey set of lessons. Appreciating recurrent disaster losses as asymptom of high adjustment failure costs informs both when policies should intervene in real estate markets and how such interventions can prevent future losses. In particular, adjustment failure cost analysis can guide deployment of risk reduction efforts like buyouts. Additionally, policies seeking to prevent recurrent losses should aim to lower adjustment jiliture costs by altering how vulnerable real estate is treated as a market commodity. Based on these insights, this Article suggests specific changes tofederal disaster laws to avoid repetitive disaster losses and inform climate change adaptation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Earthquake is one of the most important and destructive natural hazards in Iranian cities, and the psychological and social consequences of catastrophe vary according to age, gender, economic and social class. Materials and Methods: The present study is qualitative research that we conducted with the method of grounded theory research and to understand the social consequences of earthquakes in the social group of women living in Bam in 2017. We collected data, interpreted the extracted concepts, and analyzed the discovered social consequences using in-depth interview techniques and purposeful and theoretical sampling in Bam women's community. Results: After interviewing five experts and 27 women, we reached the data saturation in 2 groups of the middle and lower economic class of Bam city and performed three coding steps for each narrative. According to the research findings, one of the direct and indirect consequences of the Bam earthquake disaster in women has been psycho-social trauma. Conclusion: Earthquake, death of parents and close family members with Interventional conditions such as economic and cultural status, level of education of the individual and family have affected the experience of psycho-social trauma in women. Also, women who based on pre-crisis and pre-disaster chose irrational and passive strategies experienced more negative consequences than women who chose rational and active coping strategies. Finally, the theoretical inference is that there is a direct relationship between the intervening social context and the psychological and social harms caused by the disaster in women, which in addition to the functional relationship is also effective in aggravating the consequences of this impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: During the past 20 years, Iran has been experiencing a significant increase in the occurrence of disasters mainly due to the emergence of anthropogenic climate change. This paper aims at analyzing the trend of national budget allocation in Iran over the last 100 years to evaluate the focus of the Iranian state on the four phases of Preparedness, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery and propose modifications. Methods: It is used a critical policy analysis with what's the problem represented approach. In this approach is focused on problematization and policy gaps. The most important policy statement in any government is the budget. During the first screening, 1028 regulations and laws were found from 1910 to 2020. After full text screening, 494 regulations and laws related to budget allocation to disasters were analyzed. Results: The Iranian government has spent around 29 billion USD on disasters during the last 100 years. Droughts, earthquake and flood have costs the government more than other disasters, accounting for more than 14, 6.9, and 6.1 billion USD, respectively, in the allocated budget. Most of the Iranian government expenditure during the last 100 years on various disasters such as drought, flood, earthquake, and COVID-19 has been spent on involuntary costs including Response and Recovery. Mitigation and Preparedness are the two critical disaster management phases with very small shares of national budgeting. Conclusions: From policy audit and policy gaps it is concluded that Iranian governments during last 100 years, problematized the issue of "disasters strike" and not "disasters' risks". In time of disasters, governments tried to solve the issues or impacts of disasters with budgeting to response and recovery. Nevertheless, disasters' prevention or mitigation or preparedness was not a problem for Iranian governments from 1920 to 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probably not. First, allowing the probabilities of the states of the economy to differ from their sample frequencies, the consumption-CAPM is still rejected in both U.S. and international data. Second, the recorded world disasters are too small to rationalize the puzzle, unless one assumes that disasters occur every 6–10 years. Third, if the data were generated by the rare events distribution needed to rationalize the equity premium puzzle, the puzzle itself would be unlikely to arise. Fourth, the rare events hypothesis, by reducing the cross-sectional dispersion of consumption risk, worsens the ability of the consumption-CAPM to explain the cross-section of returns. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The projects of social history, disaster studies, and archaeology deliberately tend to eschew consideration of events, focusing instead on processes and structures that unfold gradually over time. The eruption of the Somma-Vesuvius volcano in Campania, Italy, in 472 presents tangible markers of a specific moment, although the absence of local textual evidence and the strong hints of rapid re-exploitation of the rich and fertile soils of the region suggest that the scale of the disaster that it precipitated was limited. A perspective on the eruption informed by the concepts of risk and vulnerability demonstrates that the population of the Campanian Plain had different experiences of the eruption according to factors such as their location, the nature and robustness of their social and economic resources, and their mechanisms for accessing and exploiting power relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This article provides an overview of how the interdisciplinary field of disaster studies contributes to the social sciences. Methods: The following themes are explored in relation to the articles contained in the special issue: disasters are social and political phenomena that generate policy change, disasters reflect and affect democratic governance, and disasters reveal shared experience and collective identity. Results: Disaster studies bridge the social sciences theoretically and methodologically. Given the scope of disaster impacts—across social, political, economic, ecological, and infrastructure spheres—and the policy response they garner involving public, private, and civic actors, they offer a lens by which to see society and politics in a way that no other critical events can. Conclusion: Disaster studies offer important applications of social science theories and concepts that expand the field, broaden our reach as social scientists, and deepen our understanding of fundamental social processes and behaviors in meaningful ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine if state governments utilize rainy day funds (RDFs) for political purposes in the aftermath of disasters rather than their intended purpose of combating state cyclical economic downturns. Methods: This research draws from multiple state‐level data sources to construct a panel data set from 1992 to 2010. Results: Disaster damage, relief funds, and politics all influence the usage of states' RDFs. We also find that the RDF balance is lower when disaster damages increase, when it is an election year, and the same party holds party control of the governor and legislature. Conclusion: The findings of this empirical research are consistent with the literature about the importance state‐level politics plays in the use of state stabilization funds intended for cyclical economic downturns as opposed to providing more politically expedient disaster relief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan's Great Kantō Earthquake of 1 September 1923 devastated the area around Tokyo and the country's main port of Yokohama. This article uses the earthquake as a case study to inform our understanding of the economics of disasters and the history of market integration. It seeks to test two main assumptions: first, that shifting demand and supply curves consequent on a disaster will have some impact on prices; and second, that any local changes in the disaster region are likely to be diffused across a wider geographical area. We make use of a unique monthly wholesale price dataset for a number of cities across Japan, and our analysis suggests three main findings: that price changes in the affected areas immediately following the disaster were in most cases reflected in price changes in Japan's provincial cities; that cities further away from the devastation witnessed smaller price changes than those nearer to the affected area; and that the observed pattern of price changes reflects the regional heterogeneity identified by scholars who have worked on market integration in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When prices for basic commodities increase following a disaster, these price increases are often condemned as 'price gouging.' In this paper, I discuss what moral wrongs, if any, are most reasonably ascribed to accusations of price gouging. This discussion keeps in mind both practical and moral defenses of price increases following disasters. I first examine existing anti-gouging legislation for commonalities in their definitions of gouging and then present arguments in favor of the permissibility of gouging, focusing on the economic benefits of price increases following disasters. I argue that gouging takes the form of a specific failure of respect for persons by undercutting equitable access to essential goods. While I discuss anti-gouging legislation throughout this paper, my aim is to give an account of the moral wrongs associated associated with gouging rather than guidance for developing morally defensible anti-gouging legislation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the effect on medical resource use and mortality of full financial support from the government for treatment costs after a mass burn casualty event in Taiwan.Methods: All patients with burn injuries from the event were included (n = 483). Each burn patient from this incident was matched to a separate burn patient identified from the National Health Insurance database. Medical care usage and mortality were compared between groups at 1-, 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month intervals.Results: Regarding outpatient expenditure, burn patients from the mass casualty event had significantly higher levels of medical expenditure compared with their control counterparts at all intervals and levels of medical institution. For inpatient expenditure, patients from the mass casualty event only had higher expenditure for the first month, and excess procedures used by these patients mainly consisted of nonvital procedures such as rehabilitation training. The mortality rate was only slightly lower for this group of burn patients compared with their control counterparts.Conclusions: Full financial support by the government in terms of medical treatment may engender only marginal additional benefits in terms of mortality if burn treatment procedures are already well established in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use the synthetic control method to estimate the macroeconomic losses from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, one of the most severe natural disasters in the modern era. The macroeconomic effects of the earthquake were equal to an average loss of up to 12% of gross domestic product over the period 2010–2015. While surges in imports and foreign aid supported a temporary increase in aggregate consumption, aggregate investment and services sector output experienced large contractions. The road transport sector was severely affected. Impacts on electricity use have been less pronounced. The data suggest that macroeconomic losses may be permanent. The earthquake is thus a case of an extreme natural disaster contributing to divergence in development outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, it was aimed to determine landslide susceptibility in the Melet River Basin, where landslides cause significant economic losses and the effects of which continue to be seen currently. A landslide is the most serious natural disaster in the basin located within the borders of Ordu province due to geomorphological-geological and climatic features. In this study, frequency ratio and Landslide Susceptibility Analysis (LSA) methods were used from among bivariate statistical analysis methods. The bivariate analysis method reveals the effect of different variables on landslide formation. Geology and topography maps and satellite images constitute the basic data in this study. The lithology layer was obtained from the geology maps covering the basin, while Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was used to obtain slope, aspect, elevation, curvature and topographic wetness index (TWI) layers. Rivers were digitized from the topography maps and the distance to river layer of was obtained. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) layer was formed using the Landsat 8 satellite image and distance to road layer was formed via Open Street Map data. The landslide inventory layer pertaining to the study area was obtained using the Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA) Samsun plate and land surveys. The inventory map was overlapped with the layers and subsections of the layer with landslide and without landslide were identified. In accordance with the method, the layer weights were determined and registered on the attributes table of the reclassified layers. Susceptibility map was created by adding the layers with determined weights. The proportion of the areas with high and very high landslide susceptibility in the map obtained via frequency ratio method in Melet River Basin account for 12%, the proportion of the moderate susceptibility area account for 27% and the proportion of the low and very low susceptibility areas account for 61%. According to LSA, high and very high susceptibility areas account for 11%, moderate susceptibility areas account for 26%, very low and low susceptibility areas account for 63%. Ulubey and Kabadüz districts are classified as high and very high susceptibility areas within the basin boundaries. Considering the climate characteristics of the study area, landslides are inevitable due to hydrometeorological events and anthropogenic effects. For this reason, planning should be made by taking into account the susceptibility map. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses how past tsunami-memories affect cheating in Sri Lanka. Subjects are assigned to a treatment (control) group in which they watch a video about the calamity before (after) participating in a trust game. Cheating is elicited by asking trustors how much they need to receive not to feel cheated and trustees how much they need to return not to make the trustor feel cheated. Finally, participants report whether the video mostly reminded them about solidarity, looting or the calamity. Trustors show lower cheating standards and trustees more often satisfy the trustors' cheating notion if they mostly recall solidarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic indirect economic loss not only has a major impact on regional economic recovery policies, but also related to the economic assistance at the national level. Due to the Cross-regional economic activities and the difficulty of obtaining data, it's difficult that the indirect economic loss survey covers all economic activities. However, night-time light in an area can reflect the economic activity of the region. This paper focuses on the indirect economic losses caused by the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 and evaluated the progress of restoration and reconstruction based on night-time light Images. First, the functional relationship between GDP and night-time light parameters was established based on the pre-earthquake data. Next, the indirect loss of the earthquake was evaluated by the night-time light attenuation in the disaster area after the earthquake. Then, the capacity recovery, which is characterized by the brightness recovery process of the light area, was evaluated. Lastly, the process of light expansion in the disaster area was analyzed to evaluate the economic expansion speed and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the economic development leaders who face several challenges due to natural disasters and are trained to promoted strong, resilient economies. The article mentions about disasters such as hurricanes and flood that hit last year and how economic recovery response dealt with such disasters. The article focuses on the Hurricane Harvey in Texas that caused flooding and what are the lessons learnt. The importance of disaster relief plan preparedness is offered.

Natural and man-made disasters seriously threaten human life. Knowledge about the severity of disasters in general, and the disaster severity of individual countries, is useful in helping to reduce loss of life and economic losses caused by these disasters. In this paper, we provide a Gaussian blur-based method to calculate the average severity of disasters, instead of using the mean or median values as the average severity. This method can partly eliminate the right skewing that is a result of few serious disasters and the left skewing resulting from a great number of small disasters. A new definition of severity based on a natural logarithm is put forward to quantify the severity of all disasters. Droughts, extreme temperatures, and earthquakes are the top three disasters with the highest severity values. Storms have the highest uncertainty, although their severity is low. After analyzing the hazards of countries, China, Indonesia, India, and America were found to be the four highest hazard countries in the world. Finally, we established an annual disaster hazard value per unit area (Harea) to represent the severity of disasters of countries, taking into account the country’s area. Island countries naturally have high Harea, while most of the other high-Harea countries lie in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floods are pervasive catastrophic disasters which cause financial damages, lost life and environmental scarcity. Flood damage estimation is one of the important factors to the way in the depth of the flood and predicts the future damages. Data mining classification techniques to discover patterns and sequences will use to predict the zones that depiction to flood. A data of flood damages for twelve years collected from various sources. The classification models of Decision Trees and Support Vector Machine with different kernel functions are taken for the prediction models. The Matlab analytics compare the prediction models indicates the performance of the algorithm has much better accuracy. Experiments confirm that the Support Vector Machine with Quadratic kernel function is more accurate in finding the prediction pattern. The accuracy and visualization also suggest that flood prediction which the outcome will goal to better manage floods all the way through preclusion, fortification and catastrophe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops and empirically tests a tractable general equilibrium model of corporate financing and investment dynamics in a trade-off economy where heterogeneous firms face unobservable disaster risk and engage in rational Bayesian learning. The model sheds light on leverage cycles. During periods absent disasters: equity premia decrease; credit spreads decrease; expected loss-given-default increases; and leverage ratios increase. Time-since-prior-disaster is the key model conditioning variable. In response to a disaster, risk premia increase while firms sharply reduce labor, capital and leverage, with response size increasing in time-since-prior-disasters. Firms with high bankruptcy costs are most responsive to the time-since-disaster variable. Disaster responses are more pronounced than in an otherwise equivalent economy featuring observed disaster risk. Empirical tests of novel corporate finance predictions are conducted. Consistent with the model, we find empirically that leverage and investment are increasing in time-since-prior-recessions, with the effect more pronounced for firms with low recovery ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the statistical data of rainstorm-induced catastrophe about Shenzhen city during 1980–2014, this paper constructs a calculation model of disaster magnitude, which includes three influence factors: death toll, direct economic loss and disaster affected population. At the same time, the relationship between the disaster magnitude and the temporal, spatial and cause of the rainstorm-induced catastrophe about Shenzhen city is analysed, The results show that (1) The classification of catastrophe risk is carried out by the result of the disaster magnitude model. (2) The region where the disaster occurs frequently and seriously is located in the Midwest, and the disaster occurs infrequently and lightly is located in the south-east. (3) The rainstorm-induced catastrophe about Shenzhen City is mostly caused by persistent short-time heavy rainfall. While it occurs most frequently in July, and the most serious in September affected by the typhoon. (4) The main reasons for the occurrence of rainstorm-induced catastrophe about Shenzhen City are flood, waterlogging, tide and typhoon, of these factors waterlogging is the primary one. Finally, this paper puts forward the corresponding countermeasures of flood hazard mitigation in Shenzhen City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context Across the globe, the threat from terrorist attacks is rising, which requires a careful assessment of long-term medical support. Based on an 18-month follow-up of the Israeli civilian population following the 2014 war in Gaza, we describe and analyze the medical costs associated with rocket attacks and review the demography of the victims who filed claims for disability compensation. We then propose practical lessons to help health care authorities prepare for future confrontations. Method Using the National Insurance Institute of Israel's (NII) database, we conducted descriptive and comparative analyses using statistical tests (Fisher's Exact Test, chi-square test, and students' t-tests). The costs were updated until March 30, 2016, and are presented in US dollars. We included only civilian expenses in our analysis. Findings We identified 5,189 victims, 3,236 of whom presented with acute stress reactions during the conflict. Eighteen months after the conflict, the victims' total medical costs reached $4.4 million. The NII reimbursed $2,541,053 for associated medical costs and $1,921,792 for associated mental health costs. A total of 709 victims filed claims with the NII for further support, including rehabilitation, medical devices, and disability pensions. Conclusion We found 3 major sources of costs: hospital expenditures, mental health services dedicated to acute stress reactions, and ambulatory follow-up. During the first year, most of the costs were related to hospitalization and support for stress relief. During the second year, ambulatory and rehabilitation costs continued to grow. Public health specialists should consider these major components of costs and their evolution over time to properly advise the medical and social authorities on allocating resources for the medical and nonmedical support of civilian casualties resulting from war or terror. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most economists agree that the price system offers the best method for allocating scarce resources among competing ends. Yet, churches, nonprofits, governments, and corporations in disaster-stricken communities, often under voluntary or mandated price freezes, must often rely on nonprice responses to meet short-term, localized shifts in demand. Evidence suggests that the private sector outperforms the public sector at this task. This paper explores how private sector organizations, both nonprofit and for-profit, learn about and respond to community needs in the aftermath of disasters. We explain and demonstrate how organizations observe credible signals of shifts in demand without the aid of prices. Our findings expand our understanding of why public sector disaster recovery efforts tend to be less effective than private sector efforts. We also find that price gouging laws have additional negative consequences beyond the standard economic account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flooding constitutes the most predominant natural disaster in India. The degree and causes of vulnerability to flood risk vary by society, geographical region and over time. The rural people of India are highly vulnerable to flood hazards due to high dependence on natural resources for livelihood and poor socio-economic situations. The information regarding the degree of vulnerability of these people is limited. In order to formulate improved adaption policies and effective programmes to reduce vulnerability, it is crucial to quantify the vulnerability of rural households affected by floods at a regional level. Our study provides insight into the vulnerability of rural households affected by floods in India. We use primary data of 220 flood-prone rural households of Odisha state in India for analysis. The vulnerability is analysed using the Livelihood Vulnerability Index and the Socio-economic Vulnerability Index. Our results show that these households are vulnerable to flood in more than one dimension. Sociodemographic characteristics such as a low literacy rate, a high dependency ratio and a weak housing structure increase these residents' vulnerability. Access to social networks and social institutions plays a significant role in uplifting poor rural households. Our study concludes that the vulnerability of a household is governed by both non-climatic factors and the incidence of floods. The findings of our study may be considered in developing policies and programmes that will reduce the flood risk. The recommendations we suggested in this study can be applied in other south Asian counties with similar socio-economic profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore economic conditions of contemporary society to provide insight into the ways in which the consequences of disaster, including environmental migration, are accentuated. Design/methodology/approach - This research draws on Zygmunt Bauman's theory of liquid modernity and notions of development to analyse disaster. From the analysis, a new concept, liquid development, is proposed and critiqued as a contributing factor leading to severe contemporary disaster. Findings - Liquid development provides a new way of making sense of the conditions and consequences of economic growth and a business as usual attitude. It further provides a framework to explore the potential disaster of environmental migration in the Pacific Islands arising from liquid development driven climate change-induced sea level rise. Research limitations/implications - Analysing these conditions provides greater understanding of the resulting impact of disaster, creating awareness and informing the need for accountability and social policy. This study aims to contribute to further practical and research enquiry that will challenge liquid developers to reconsider their impact and to accept responsibility for vulnerable members of society as part of their business as usual structure. Originality/value - This paper adds to Bauman's understanding of the consequences of globalisation through the construct of liquid development. It also continues his debate by giving awareness to the global issue of environmental migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This note shows that the inoperability input–output model (IIM) estimates only a part of mainly the negative indirect economic impacts of disasters, whereas it neglects most of the positive indirect impacts. This means that the IIM is not suited to prioritize industries for policy interventions that aim at reducing the negative impacts of such disasters. Besides, this note shows that the application of the IIM is problematic and tends to overestimate the subset of impacts that the model is able to quantify. Finally, we identify two approaches that much better capture the variety of different disaster impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme hydrological events, such as floods and droughts, are one of the natural disasters that occur in several parts of the world. They are regarded as being the most costly natural risks in terms of the disastrous consequences in human lives and in property damages. The main objective of the present study is to estimate flood events of Abiod wadi at given return periods at the gauge station of M'chouneche, located closely to the city of Biskra in a semiarid region of southern east of Algeria. This is a problematic issue in several ways, because of the existence of a dam to the downstream, including the field of the sedimentation and the water leaks through the dam during floods. The considered data series is new. A complete frequency analysis is performed on a series of observed daily average discharges, including classical statistical tools as well as recent techniques. The obtained results show that the generalized Pareto distribution (GPD), for which the parameters were estimated by the maximum likelihood (ML) method, describes the analyzed series better. This study also indicates to the decision-makers the importance to continue monitoring data at this station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mitigation and response to floods rely on accurate and timely flood assessment. Remote sensing technologies have become the de facto approach for observing the Earth and its environment. However, satellite remote sensing data are not always available, and it is crucial to develop new techniques to complement them with additional sources. This research proposes a new methodology based on machine learning algorithms to automatically identify water pixels in Civil Air Patrol (CAP) aerial imagery. Specifically, a wavelet transformation is paired with multiple classifiers to build models that discriminate water and non-water pixels. The learned classification models are first tested against a set of control cases and then used to automatically classify each image separately. Lastly, for each pixel in an image, a measure of uncertainty is computed as a proportion of the number of models that classify the pixel as water. The proposed methodology is tested on imagery collected during the 2013 Colorado flood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total losses caused by natural disasters have spatial heterogeneity due to the different economic development levels inside the disaster-hit areas. This paper uses scenarios of direct economic loss to introduce the sectors' losses caused by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (2008 WCE) in Beijing, utilizing the Adaptive Regional Input-Output (ARIO) model and the Inter-regional ripple effect (IRRE) model. The purpose is to assess the ripple effects of indirect economic loss and spatial heterogeneity of both direct and indirect economic loss at the scale of the smallest administrative divisions of China (streets, villages, and towns). The results indicate that the district of Beijing with the most severe indirect economic loss is the Chaoyang District; the finance and insurance industry (15, see Table 1) of Chaowai Street suffers the most in the Chaoyang District, which is 1.46 times that of its direct economic loss. During 2008-2014, the average annual GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate of Beijing was decreased 3.63% by the catastrophe. Compared with the 8% of GDP growth rate target, the decreasing GDP growth rate is a significant and noticeable economic impact, and it can be efficiently mitigated by increasing rescue effort and by supporting the industries which are located in the seriously damaged regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explains the essence of accounting for fear in assessing catastrophic events in terms of economic damage. Topics discussed include the 2012 Japanese government report on predicted damage of major earthquakes and tsunamis in the Nankai Trough (NT) area in Japan, the impact of the NT report towards land price function in Japan, and accuracy bias over land price data in the country.

ABSTRACT Following major disasters, purchase avoidance behavior toward products that are caused by stigma often results. For example, after the Tohoku Earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster, consumers have avoided products from Fukushima. Attempts have been made to diminish this purchase avoidance behavior, but they have been found to be ineffective. The reasons for ineffectiveness of strategies within this context were empirically examined based on matching and mismatching effects of messages. In two studies (Study 1, N = 113; Study 2, N = 364), the effects of affective messages and cognitive messages were compared, and the effectiveness of affective messages was found to be consistently weaker than that of cognitive messages. Message producers often present affective messages with the expectation of observing the matching effect. However, findings suggest that these presentation strategies will fail, and that the mismatching effect should be used instead. The best method of message presentation to reduce purchase avoidance behavior in a disaster area is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Little is known about the costs of treating burn patients after a mass casualty event. A devastating Color Dust explosion that injured 499 patients occurred on June 27, 2015 in Taiwan. This study was performed to investigate the economic effects of treating burn patients at a single medical center after an explosion disaster.Methods: A detailed retrospective analysis on 48 patient expense records at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital after the Color Dust explosion was performed. Data were collected during the acute treatment period between June 27, 2015 and September 30, 2015. The distribution of cost drivers for the entire patient cohort (n=48), patients with a percent total body surface area burn (%TBSA)≥50 (n=20), and those with %TBSA <50 (n=28) were analyzed.Results: The total cost of 48 burn patients over the acute 3-month time period was $2,440,688, with a mean cost per patient of $50,848 ±36,438. Inpatient ward fees (30%), therapeutic treatment fees (22%), and medication fees (11%) were found to be the three highest cost drivers. The 20 patients with a %TBSA ≥50 consumed $1,559,300 (63.8%) of the total expenses, at an average cost of $77,965±34,226 per patient. The 28 patients with a %TBSA <50 consumed $881,387 (36.1%) of care expenses, at an average cost of $31,478±23,518 per patient.Conclusions: In response to this mass casualty event, inpatient ward fees represented the largest expense. Hospitals can reduce this fee by ensuring wound dressing and skin substitute materials are regionally stocked and accessible. Medication fees may be higher than expected when treating a mass burn cohort. In preparation for a future event, hospitals should anticipate patients with a %TBSA≥50 will contribute the majority of inpatient expenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science and technology innovation has always been present in Asia, but its application in disaster risk reduction (DRR) has been differential. In Asia, globally significant hotspots of disasters and economic development have emerged in which the application of science and technology in DRR has become an essential requirement for informed decision making. Science has supported establishment and implementation of major international initiatives in DRR, including the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015. The more recent Sendai Framework for DRR 2015-2030 recognizes the importance of science and technology in all of its priority action areas, and subsequent global and regional forums and conferences have reconfirmed science and technology's importance. To perceive and monitor the progress of science and technology in DRR, a qualitative assessment of different countries is made using three major attributes: (1) science-based decision making; (2) investment in science and technology; and (3) the intensity of science's link to the public. This assessment exercise points out several strengths and weaknesses in science and technology application; the method can be employed to develop future multistakeholder and multidisciplinary science and technology plans at the country level. To implement regional and national activities, a set of 15 recommendations is put forward, which will strengthen the collective regional "science voice" in DRR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the effect of banks' lending capacity on firms' investment. To identify exogenous shocks to loan supply, we utilize the natural experiment provided by Japan's Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake in 1995. Using a unique data set that allows us to identify firms and banks in the earthquake-affected areas, we find that the investment ratio of firms located outside the earthquake-affected areas but having a main bank inside the areas was significantly smaller than that of firms located outside the areas and having a main bank outside the areas. Our findings suggest that loan supply shocks affect firm investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persons living in communities with limited resources are at heightened risk of posttraumatic stress (PTS) after disasters, especially if they were highly exposed. The support deterrence desistence model and the conservation of resources theory suggest that this risk might increase in the longer-term aftermath of disasters. In the present study, we aimed to test this hypothesis. Two population-based samples of New York City residents in communities affected by Hurricane Sandy were surveyed at either 13-16 months (Time 1; n = 421) or 25-28 months (Time 2; n = 420) postdisaster. Participants reported on their exposure to disaster-related stressors and PTS. The percentage of residents who were unemployed in participants' census tracts was collected from the 2008-2012 American Community Survey. Multilevel models found that disaster-related stressors were more strongly associated with PTS for participants living in communities with high unemployment, but only at Time 2 (Est. = .58, SE = .21, p = .006). Mapping of community unemployment and disaster-related stressors suggested that communities in southern Brooklyn and Queens, and northeastern Staten Island were at particularly high risk for PTS at Time 2. The results suggest the need for ongoing support to economically disadvantaged communities in which residents have endured disaster-related stressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we analyze impacts of large natural disasters on county per capita income between 1990 and 2012 in the Contiguous United States. Using a difference-in-differences model with fixed effects and controlling for serial correlation, we find that the incidence of large disasters in a county significantly reduces its income as compared to its neighboring counties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of models have been applied to assess the economic losses of disasters, of which the most common ones are input-output (IO) and computable general equilibrium (CGE) models. In addition, an increasing number of scholars have developed hybrid approaches: one that combines both or either of them in combination with noneconomic methods. While both IO and CGE models are widely used, they are mainly compared on theoretical grounds. Few studies have compared disaster impacts of different model types in a systematic way and for the same geographical area, using similar input data. Such a comparison is valuable from both a scientific and policy perspective as the magnitude and the spatial distribution of the estimated losses are born likely to vary with the chosen modelling approach (IO, CGE, or hybrid). Hence, regional disaster impact loss estimates resulting from a range of models facilitate better decisions and policy making. Therefore, this study analyses the economic consequences for a specific case study, using three regional disaster impact models: two hybrid IO models and a CGE model. The case study concerns two flood scenarios in the Po River basin in Italy. Modelling results indicate that the difference in estimated total (national) economic losses and the regional distribution of those losses may vary by up to a factor of 7 between the three models, depending on the type of recovery path. Total economic impact, comprising all Italian regions, is negative in all models though. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inundations and floods were part of the everyday experiences of early modern coastal societies. While much scholarly research has focused on the immediate reactions to the seemingly extraordinary inundations, this article argues, that an investigation of the long-term perspective of flood accounts, beyond the much studied discourses of ministers, magistrates and engineers might reveal a different, but perhaps more typical response to these disasters. The discourse of resilience and stoical attention to business as usual adds an additional dimension to modern society’s scripts of disaster management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Advances in estimating the costs and benefits of climate change policies are a welcome development, but a full-scale cost/benefit analysis that seeks to reduce complex value trade-offs to a single metric of net benefit maximization hides many important public policy issues, especially for disasters and catastrophes that are large, discontinuous, irreversible and uncertain. States should obtain public input on such policies. These policies involve value trade-offs that can be informed by technocratic estimates of costs, benefits and risk. However, such analyses cannot, in principle, be reduced to a single recommendation that 'maximizes net benefits'. Politicians must make value trade-offs informed both by technocrats and by public input. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, roles and responsibilities of the public sector in flood risk management are receiving attention in research and policy. Part of the debate suggests that allocating risk to the private sector increases efficiency as it promotes individual adaptation, thereby reducing the impact if a disaster occurs. In this paper, we analyse the macroeconomic effects as risk-averse investors take flood risk into account in their investment decisions. Our case study is the large Rotterdam area in the Netherlands. Using a spatial computable general equilibrium model, we find that the decrease in investments in risky areas leads to a reduction in capital and production in the large Rotterdam area, leading to a reduction in potential monetary disaster losses, but not to a reduction in population. The reallocation of risk reduces the long-term impacts from a flood on government tax revenues, but it also leads to welfare losses among households residing in risky regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a new model of exchange rates, based on the hypothesis that the possibility of rare but extreme disasters is an important determinant of risk premia in asset markets. The probability of world disasters as well as each country's exposure to these events is time-varying. This creates joint fluctuations in exchange rates, interest rates, options, and stock markets. The model accounts for a series of major puzzles in exchange rates: excess volatility and exchange rate disconnect, forward premium puzzle and large excess returns of the carry trade, and comovements between stocks and exchange rates. It also makes empirically successful signature predictions regarding the link between exchange rates and telltale signs of disaster risk in currency options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, in Bulgaria often arise disasters caused by nature or by human activity. They have a significant adverse effect on the population and the national economy. Therefore reducing the risk of disaster is essential for sustainable development of the country. The likelihood that this trend will deepen is large and there is a need for the establishment of effective governance structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]