Disaster risk reduction Research Papers (original) (raw)

This thesis attempts to identify and analyze the causes of disasters affecting Haiti repeatedly on the assumption that the current situation in Haiti stems from its socially disastrous situation. It follows the hypothesis that the recurrence of disasters in Haiti is due to a mismatch between the causes and measures put in place to reduce their impact on the population. Hence our approach is based on an analytical framework on the definition of disaster, the history of disaster in Haiti, its configuration and factors that trigger its impacts on Haitian people. The analysis points out disasters in Haiti result from a set of causes and factors of vulnerability non-addressed. The measures adopted by the main actors on the field do not yet mitigate disaster risks effectively.
Keywords: Haiti, disaster, vulnerability, risk, disaster risk management, disaster reduction

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- Disaster Studies, Disaster Management, Disaster risk reduction
- by Camillo Boano and +1
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- Urban Planning, Urbanism, International Humanitarian Law, Disaster Management

In March 2020, COVID-19 appeared in the State of Maryland, resulting in strict stayat-home orders and the shutting down of physical business operations. These restrictions directly impacted College Park Academy (CPA), a public charter middle and high school in Prince George's County, MD that typically follows a hybrid approach to in-person and online instruction. The purpose of this qualitative study was to review CPA's transition to full online distance learning during emergency remote teaching. The research worked to establish a snapshot of the school's underlying structure and disaster preparedness strategies before evaluating the perceived viability of the online model and its effects on students, teachers, parents, and educational administrators. The researchers conducted interviews, as well as document analysis and online classroom observations. The findings reveal that despite strong infrastructure and communications during the transition, there remained issues with school readiness, including the maintenance of academic rigor and social emotional wellbeing. Overall, recommendations are made as to how the school would benefit from a shift in its approach to technology-enhanced learning, including the need for digital tools that better facilitate wellness checks, provide human touchpoints, and target collaborative, student-centered pedagogy. These lessons learned are relevant for other school administrators to consider as society continues to adapt to a new era of virtual learning during times of crisis.

- by Untung Tri Winarso
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- Disaster risk management, Disaster risk reduction

This booklet is an illustrated compilation of good practices and technical provisions with regard to sustainability, durability and resilience, identified within local building cultures of zones exposed to various constraints and types of natural hazards. Presented practices and technical solutions refer to ways of building, construction systems and devices, coping strategies and community practices identified by some members of the CRAterre team over several years and during projects in different countries. This document has been prepared by CRAterre, IFRC and Caritas France as part of a set of tools developed within the framework of a working group within the Global Shelter Cluster to enhance the appreciation of local practices developed by communities to adapt their housing / settlements to their specific environment, including risk preparedness. This booklet is a complementary tool to the handbook Assessing local building cultures for resilience and development. A practical guid...

The mitigation of deaths and injuries is of primary concern to all disaster prevention efforts. It is to the specific causes of deaths and injuries that we must look for fundamental guidance in disaster risk reduction and public education. Disaster epidemiology provides the important evidence basis for identifying and prioritising effective structural and non-structural mitigation and environmental protection measures to be taken at all levels of society, as well as for planning for disaster response and for behavioural guidance during and after onset. Epidemiological data found in the literature is compared for individual, built environment, hazard, mitigation, and response level variables. This evidence lends important credibility to several key recommendations to the public in the areas of structural and non-structural safety, response skills and provisions. Finally, community-based training for disaster response is strongly indicated by the evidence that ‘the people around us’ a...

- by Marla Petal
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- Disaster Response, Earthquake, Earthquakes, Disaster risk reduction

In real world everything is an object which represents particular classes. Every object can be fully described by its attributes. Any real world dataset contains large number of attributes and objects. Classifiers give poor performance when these huge datasets are given as input to it for proper classification. So from these huge dataset most useful attributes need to be extracted that contribute the maximum to the decision. In the paper, attribute set is reduced by generating reducts using the indiscernibility relation of Rough Set Theory (RST). The method measures similarity among the attributes using relative indiscernibility relation and computes attribute similarity set. Then the set is minimized and an attribute similarity table is constructed from which attribute similar to maximum number of attributes is selected so that the resultant minimum set of selected attributes (called reduct) cover all attributes of the attribute similarity table. The method has been applied on glass dataset collected from the UCI repository and the classification accuracy is calculated by various classifiers. The result shows the efficiency of the proposed method.

This paper examines humanitarian assistance practices to understand how approaches followed by various actors address-or fail to address-social vulnerability to disasters. This question is addressed through a study of humanitarian responses in two disaster-affected villages of Baltistan in northern Pakistan. Through analysis of key informant interviews, semi-structured interviews with men and women, group discussions and secondary data sources, we identify how government, non-governmental and faith-based organisations understand and seek to address underlying socio-political processes that define vulnerability. We analyse how knowledges and practices serve to legitimise authority relations between and among humanitarian organisations and local populations. The paper finds that a simplistic understanding of vulnerability-that people with higher losses are more vulnerable and deserve more assistance in comparison to those who suffer lower losses-tends to favour well-off people, as the...

A common practice uses funny and cute internet memes to describe natural hazards, such as hurricanes, to the general public. Emergency managers create an industry lacking credibility and seriousness when they use unrealistic and comedic scenarios to describe disasters. If people believe that hurricanes are cute and funny, they will not understand their risk and therefore will not prepare adequately.

This study will examine various forms of literature to provide insight into the accessibility of Emergency Management (EM) resources to First Nations on-reserve communities and attempt to make comparisons to non Indigenous communities and their resource accessibility. To do so, it will examine Canada's various policies and frameworks for Emergency Management, and the international documents and agreements on which they are based. These frameworks shape the way in which collaboration, and communication is addressed by Federal, Provincial and Territorial EM planning and outlines the direction in which EM in Canada is headed. Indigenous peoples face a particular set of vulnerabilities from inter-generational traumas resulting from historic colonial practices that create unique obstacles to effective emergency management. These vulnerabilities are amplified by the reserve system and cultural difficulties toward beneficial municipal and provincial partnerships. By looking at existing EM practices through the principles of High Reliability Organizations, while bearing a sensitivity to the appropriateness to First Nations on-reserve communities we can develop a comprehensive and adaptable framework to Indigenous determinants of vulnerability and uncover assets within Indigenous communities that can improve the Canadian practices of EM in general.

- by Aisha Azhar
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- Disaster risk reduction

Disasters have been increasing through-out time, both natural and man-made, and it’s agreed upon, that disaster can gravely affect communities and countries if they are not prepared for them. One major part of this preparedness is in the healthcare systems, and primarily in the hospital’s Emergency Departments. Finland has disaster preparedness as part of its national laws, and the Ministry of Social Affairs & Health (STM) has also provided guidelines for Healthcare District Municipalities(SHP) and hospitals. International research has been increasing on this subject recently, but no public national research had been found. This thesis explored the current level of disaster preparedness of nurses in working in an Emergency Department (ED) in a middle size hospital in Finland. The research attempted to identify the different types of disasters which the ED nurses are prepared for, and what trainings and education they have. As well as to identify the factors affect the nurse’s preparedness levels. An empirical qualitative research was performed using inductive thematic data analysis. Data was collected by interviews with 4 charge nurses from an ED. Patricia Benner’s theory “From Novice to Expert” was used as framework, along with the STM guidelines. The findings revealed a lack of knowledge in some areas of disaster preparedness, as well as a lack of sufficient training and education, which affected the participants’ confidence in themselves when it came to some specific major events, and in the ED’s level of preparedness, especially since many of the nurses working there currently were new.

This research focuses on disaster education and the Indonesian government's reports on the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015. This research also underlies the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 2015-2030, which calls for a more profound paradigm shift through the educational field than does the HFA. The SFDRR positions 'understanding risk' as priority number one, which implies the role of education in disaster risk reduction (DRR) programs. As the international framework for DRR changes, it is necessary for Indonesia to evaluate its existing programs and make improvements to the DRR strategy in the education sector that applies to each region. This study focuses on the stakeholders who are expected to have the capacity to establish the DRR program as a long-term strategy for DRR in the education sector. The school community needs to know how to correctly respond to disasters to limit injuries and potentially fatal effects....

- by mita anggaryani
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- Emergency Management, Disaster risk reduction
- by Sonya Glavac
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- Sociology, Flood Risk Management, Resilience, Disaster risk management

Children, young people and parents from communities affected by the February 2009 bushfires in Victoria, Australia, were interviewed four to five years post-fires as part of the Beyond Bushfires research study. Participant-guided mobile methods were used, in conjunction with interviews, with 35 people aged 4–66 years, to explore their current sense of place and community. Analysis of their stories revealed how children and young people sought safety and stability in the aftermath of a disaster experience in their home, school, social, recreational and work environments. For some families, this was a significant factor in a decision to move away from affected communities, whereas for others the familiarity of the local environment and community members counteracted the post-disaster disruption. The interplay of child, parent and grandparent mutual support and protection was evident, with friends, schools and communities also providing important support in creating safe environments f...

- by Colin MacDougall
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- Disaster risk reduction
- by Simone Di Vicenz
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- Disaster risk reduction

Building resilience to disasters has become a strategic goal of many risk reduction programs across the globe. This is because resilience ensures that communities develop capacities which prevent or minimise loses to disasters. In view of this, there is need to develop a baseline that tracks changes in resilience through time. This study responded to this gap in Zimbabwe by developing composite resilience indices (CRI) using 26 variables that reflected 5 subdomains of resilience: community capital, economic, infrastructure, social and health. The CRI were then used to map the spatial variation of resilience across 91 districts. The results show that the majority of the districts with below moderate resilience are mainly rural and marginalised, while the most resilient districts emerged in urban areas where service provision and infrastructure are better developed. These findings were further subjected to factor analyses which deconstructed the overall CRI and identified six latent f...

- by Emmanuel Mavhura
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- Geography, Disaster risk reduction, Disaster Resilience

The experience of the Pedernales earthquake on April 16, 2016, identified the need to know the components of the State in terms of possible natural threats. How to exploit the resources of these components and distribute them in emergencies in natural scenarios, prior to a decision-making process that optimizes damage mitigation works.
The Ecuadorian Armed Forces have their constitutional mission, as mentioned in Art 158 of the Constitution of Ecuador. Its human composition, technological resources, equipment and training, provide special characteristics such as: Flexibility, Opportunity, Scope, Speed and Efficiency; The same ones that are essential when reacting to a situation of risk.
During the post-earthquake process, the Armed Forces are mainly involved in Working Group No. 5 "Integral Security of Population", however, as mentioned above, the logistics and training of military personnel, empowered them to collaborate in all working groups. Thus: group 1 coordinated water distribution plants, group 2 was coordinated mobile military hospitals, group 3 were assigned professionals from the Army Corps of Engineers and the University of the Armed Forces - ESPE for the evaluation of infrastructure, group 4 worked with military shelters and distribution of food and supplies, group 6 in the security of the spaces destined for productivity and livelihoods of the affected population, group 7 in the protection of the community and the lifting of affectations and the group 8 in the evaluation, supervision and safety of the hydrocarbon sector, electric power plants and water purification.
Finally, the Armed Forces currently collaborate with their contingent on the information obtained to transmit it as inputs to take the pertinent correctives. As the modification of the Ecuadorian Construction Standard with the feedback from the Army Corps of Engineers, the identification of the main constructive problems of the affected areas and the experiences of the construction methods that were not damaged (Puente de “Los Caras”) by Part of the University of the Armed Forces. The mobilization of a large military contingent to guarantee the safety of the population.

- by Alessandro Sardella and +2
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- Disaster risk reduction
- by Katharyn Hanson
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- Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Near Eastern Studies, Cultural Heritage

Abstrak Sejarah tsunami yang melanda Kuala Muda, Kedah pada 2004 telah memberikan impak negatif kepada penduduk setempat antaranya kematian, kehilangan harta benda serta trauma. Jumlah kematian akibat tsunami yang direkodkan pada tahun tersebut adalah seramai 17 orang dan 32 orang lagi mengalami kecederaan. Selepas peristiwa tersebut, didapati tiada garis panduan dan pelan evakuasi yang dikeluarkan oleh mana-mana pihak sebagai panduan dan kaedah untuk penduduk setempat bagi menyelamatkan diri sekiranya berlaku bencana. Justeru, inisiatif pelaksanaan latihan simulasi ini adalah sebagai langkah kesiapsiagaan penduduk setempat untuk menghadapi bencana tsunami. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah pemerhatian turut serta dan borang soal selidik dengan mengaplikasikan tahap 1 (reaksi) dan tahap 2 (pembelajaran) daripada Model Penilaian Kirkpatrick. Seramai 723 orang responden terdiri daripada 62 orang guru dan 661 orang pelajar SMK Kota Kuala Muda yang dipilih berdasarkan kaedah persampelan bertujuan. Data dianalisis dengan menggunakan analisis deskriptif dan korelasi Pearson. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa bagi reaksi, nilai skor min tertinggi merujuk kepada item penggunaan media/LCD. Bagi pembelajaran pula, item pengetahuan mencatatkan nilai skor min tertinggi berbanding item kemahiran dan sikap. Hasil ujian korelasi dalam melihat hubung kait antara reaksi dan pembelajaran menunjukkan hubungan yang sederhana dan signifikan. Implikasi kajian ini dapat meningkatkan daya tahan penduduk setempat untuk menghadapi sebarang kemungkinan bencana yang akan berlaku di kawasan ini. Kata kunci: bencana alam, latihan simulasi, Model Penilaian Kirkpatrick, reaksi, pembelajaran, program kesedaran.

- by Nur Syuhada Mustakim
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- Program Evaluation, Geography, Human Geography, Disaster Studies

As climate change focuses more frequent and intense disasters on vulnerable communities across the globe, mitigation and response resources need to be allocated more efficiently and equitably. Vulnerability assessments require time, skill, and cost money. In the United States (US), these assessments are mandated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to qualify for federal funding. However, new trends in the literature clearly question their practical value. This study begins with a focused literature review which demonstrates that popular social vulnerability indices that create a single vulnerability score can diminish the significance of a lone variable, overlook the relevancy of all interconnected variables, and can result in contradictory policy recommendations. Next, existing case studies that used popular vulnerability assessment frameworks were compared to maps generated of the same study area that employed the single variable of poverty. These case study comparisons demonstrated how considering this greatest common variable among different vulnerable groups can often - quickly, efficiently, and inexpensively - reveal close to the same county and sub-county level community vulnerabilities detailed in costly assessments. Finally, a national survey of emergency managers was conducted to determine how much current social vulnerability indices were actually governing the ongoing distribution of resources to the communities being served. Results indicate that, while these indicator models may be underused nationally, those who do find them effective tend to be from higher income areas. This study questions the practical value of these indices for emergency management practice in the US and for meeting the goals of the Sendai Framework and other compacts.

The economic and social impacts of natural disasters are increasing throughout the world, particularly in developing countries. Essential economic and social developments are repeatedly experiencing setbacks due to the effects of large scale, or series of smaller scale natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes and typhoons, and earthquakes. This is despite the increased knowledge about these events and better technology to mitigate their effects. More effort appears to have been devoted to research into the effects of flooding of domestic properties, despite the fact that businesses provide the basis for economic stability and growth (Tierney, 1995) (Dahlhamer and Tierney, 1998, Webb et al., 2000, Rodriguez et al., 2006).
Direct effects of flooding on business premises can range from mild to catastrophic. Where buildings are penetrated by flood water there is likely to be significant damage and commercial/industrial processes could be compromised. Particular concerns include loss of essential equipment (expedient replacement of which can frequently be impossible), loss of data, loss of operations in the period to remediation, and significantly the effect of failure to meet contracts or the needs of clients. This latter issue often resulting in long term lost business opportunities as clients engage alternative suppliers. Very often therefore the immediate cost of physical damage to business infrastructure (buildings, plant, machines and systems) can be small in relation to the broader damage sustained as a result of lost turn-over. Businesses can be made more resilient to indirect or direct flood damage (including through the use of flood protection measures or back-up utility systems), but economic appraisal of such measures can be difficult as there is little data or established methodology.
The focus of this chapter is on identifying the vulnerabilities that lead to damage to commercial and industrial activities and on using this information to examine what is needed to improve resilience to flooding events in the business sector. In detail, observed direct and indirect damages are analysed according to a forensic approach. Particular care is put on analysing indirect damage, as well as damage to infrastructure, as it is often the case that business activities suffer damages because of the disruption of essential services.
This chapter will aid an understanding of:
• the nature of forensic analysis when applied to flood events
• the data required for forensic analysis
• example of forensic analysis of flood event through and example of the procedure
• business vulnerability to natural disasters
• the use of forensic analysis for business continuity measures

- by Martin Dolan and +1
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- Flood Risk Management, Disaster Studies, Disaster risk management, Business Continuity Planning

"The main objective of this paper is to make a Preliminary risk management plan using the Environmental risk map of the greater city of Cairo demonstrating the most high-risk administrative areas in the city, supported by field evidence and different sources of information. to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the Nation from all hazards, including natural disasters and other man-made disasters, by leading and supporting the Nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation.

This article argues that, while emergencies and disasters are distressing for most people and may result in mental disorders for a substantial minority of affected persons at some time in the following months and years, there are personal and collective sources of psychosocial resilience. The concepts, bases, and practical potential of resilience have been explored for more than 40 years. However, studies of pathology, which emphasizes people’s vulnerability over their adaptive capacities, have predominated. The nature and basis of personal psychosocial
resilience are outlined, and a new approach to collective resilience that has been developed through recent research on crowd psychology is described. The article concludes with some implications for managing disasters and practice, including the suggestion that crowds be treated as part of the solution rather than part of the problem in mass emergencies and disasters.

- by John Drury
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- Community Resilience, Disaster Studies, Resilience, Disaster risk reduction

Boossabong P. (2017) Floods and Food in the City: Lessons from Collaborative Governance Within the Policy Network on Urban Agriculture in Bangkok, Thailand. In: Allen A., Griffin L., Johnson C. (eds) Environmental Justice and Urban... more

- by Georgios Deligiannakis
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- Psychology, Earth Sciences, Hydrology, Flood Risk Management

The January 12 earthquake in Haiti offered a stark reminder of the extent to which the countries of Central America and the Caribbean are vulnerable to a range of natural hazards, including earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, landslides, volcanoes, and drought. In this paper I show that the countries with the highest levels of not just poverty but also inequality tend to have the highest levels of loss of life and physical and economic destruction in cases of natural hazards. I argue that social workers need to adopt a political economy perspective in their approach to disaster management and pay as much attention to social administration and policy advocacy as they do to the more common relief coordination and mental health interventions. I recommend that disaster management become a field of practice for social workers especially in small island developing states and discuss the knowledge and skills needed in the field.

- by Dr Peta Anne Baker
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- Disaster risk reduction

This study was conducted to determine the extent of participation among citizens of Cotabato City, Philippines in terms of disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) based on the IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation’s five participation goals: inform, consult, involve, collaborate, and empower. The study utilized a non-probabilistic snowball sampling method and gathered a total of 50 responses from survey questionnaires administered via Google Forms platform. Majority of the respondents have lived in Cotabato City for more than 20 years, are 25-34 years of age, female, college graduates, and government employees, but not working under offices with influences on disaster risk reduction and management. Results from the survey statistically imply that existing measures are calling for the dynamic participation of the local community members on disaster management needed to shape community risk-mappings to provide a publicly validated, recognized, and credible baseline data for disaster response – a foundation in the formulation of effective DRR-CCA strategies and action plans. Determining the extent of participation of the citizen in each of the 5 participation goals helps researchers in disaster management, government institutions, and public officials identify the gaps and lapses in including the public to create better policies which are inclusive, equitable, and sustainable.

The paper discusses how the current climate change debate influences the way
in which development is conceptualised, negotiated and implemented. The objective of the
article is to explore some of the underlying controversies that characterise development
discourses in the context of climate change. Adaptation to climate change goes along with
a significant shift in discourses used to deal with what is normally called development.
This is reflected in shifting research interests and perspectives, from vulnerability studies to
resilience thinking. However, the paper argues, this shift is problematic for the normative
contents of development and especially for a pro-poor and grass roots perspective.

- by Terry Cannon and +1
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- Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster risk reduction

Las Fuerzas Armadas, cumpliendo su misión constitucional y
circunscritas al marco legal del Estado Ecuatoriano, se constituyen
en la institución ejecutora de las políticas de seguridad y defensa
que el Estado planifica. Por lo tanto, su empleo implica la administración
y ejecución de los recursos mismos del Estado para: prever, enfrentar,
disminuir o remediar las amenazas y los riesgos que influyen en la Nación en contexto de emergencias naturales o antrópicas.
Su composición humana, sus recursos tecnológicos, su equipamiento,
capacitación y entrenamiento, le proporcionan características especiales como: Flexibilidad, Oportunidad, Alcance, Rapidez y Eficiencia; las mismas que son imprescindibles al reaccionar frente a una situación de riesgo.
El apoyo a los efectos de los desastres naturales tiene su origen desde
el nacimiento mismo de las Fuerzas Armadas Ecuatorianas, siendo su
naturaleza de enfrentamiento y resolución, más que de prevención y planificación.
El empleo de las Fuerzas Armadas responde a la crisis como
efecto del desastre, pero no está bajo su responsabilidad preverlas; para
ello están otras instancias del Estado.
Sin embargo, existe ejemplos claros como: la participación en el desastre del Deslizamiento en “La Josefina” en 1993, la actuación militar
en todas las etapas del Terremoto de Bahía de Caráquez de 1998, las
acciones de prevención en las alertas de peligro eruptivo en los Volcanes Tungurahua y Reventador, entre muchos más casos.
En el Ecuador, las Fuerzas Armadas. forman parte activa y permanente
en el Sistema Nacional de Gestión de Riesgos, quien asigna la
responsabilidad en la mesa N°5 de “Seguridad Integral de la Población”.
Las experiencias previas, ya citadas, en el apoyo durante las catástrofes
y desastres ocurridos en el Ecuador, han permitido visualizar que la integración de los recursos humanos y logísticos de las Fuerzas Armadas es importante en todos los niveles y estamentos de respuesta y reacción.

- by Atte Oksanen and +1
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- Sociology of Disaster, Community Psychology, Violence, Mental Health

Critical incidents often result in amplified social solidarity among the members of a traumatized community. Some argue this solidarity accelerates recovery and supportive social environments decrease the likelihood of PTSD and other health problems after traumatic events. However, little research investigates if social solidarity influences wellbeing independent from the social support that accompanies heightened solidarity. That is, does feeling attached to a group protect one from negative events even if social support ...

- by James Hawdon
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- Community Psychology, Sociology of Violence, Violence, Community Resilience