Disaster Research 220

Seeking Information on Fueling Problems in Disasters

The following query stems from our concerns about the consequences ofa major earthquake for the Pacific Northwest:
During disasters, a major logistical problem surfaces for refuellingemergency se rvices and utility vehicles, especially when mainelectrical services are disrupted and filling stations do not havebackup power facilities. I'm looking for information on industry,government, and/or partnership plans, programs, policies, etc. thataddr ess these problems, including priority access arrangements.

The Ra dius Project

[Adapted from "Asian Disaster Management News" - the rejuvenatednewsletter of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center]

With support from the Japanese government, the IDNDR Secretariat iscarrying out a project promoting worldwide activities to reduceseismic disasters in urban areas, particularly in developingcountries. The project, called Risk Assessment Tools for Diagnosis ofUrban Areas against Seismic Disasters (RADIUS) will be conductedbetween 1997 and 1999.

The projec t will promote dissemination of state-of-the-art studies andtechnologies for seismic disaster mitigation in the form of "globallyapplicable local tools." The development of these tools will be basedon case studies that will demonstrate how existing adv ancedtechnologies for seismic risk assessment can be used in earthquake-prone cities in developing countries and how awareness of seismicrisks can be raised.

For these studies, the IDNDR Secretariat will select about 10earthquake-prone cities - ag ain, mainly from developing countries, butalso from island states or mountainous areas that are highlyvulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis, or landslides. The actual numberof studies conducted will depend on the amount of support receivedfrom both majo r donor countries and from the study cities andcountries themselves. The government of Japan has already contributedapproximately $350,000 to the project.

Introduct ion to RISK and Society: A Schools Project

The Project Environment
Too often, a single sectoral approach to risk decisions hasprevented us from developing a full picture or realizing our fullpotential to avert risk. Only by working tow ards solutions thatacknowledge social, economic, and environmental imperatives for allsegments of society, can we realize a sustainable society. There is areal place for a multidisciplinary, multisectoral, multigenerationalapproach to the reduction of unacceptable risksp.

RISK & Society
RISK & Society: A Schools Project is a multilateral, research,education, awareness, and communication project currently moving intoits second year. Endorsed by the Canadian Committee convened tosupport the United Nation's International Decade for Natural DisasterReduction (IDNDR), this initiative has numerous partners andsupporters from all levels of government, NGOs, associations, and theprivate sector. The project is designed to play a key role inp romoting the objectives of the Decade, to create a robustmultidisciplinary ethic by strengthening the links among research,policy, mitigation, and practice concerning disasters. Indeed, anessential aim of the project has been to widen public awareness anddiscourse regarding risk issues, to give voice to those not oftenheard from in these discussions, as well as to provide its manypartners with a wider public awareness of and support for their work.

Project Accomplishments and Initiatives
The project was launched simultaneously in Aylmer, Quebec, andPerth-Andover, New Brunswick - the former hit by a tornado in 1994,the latter subject to annual flooding. In schools in each place, aresearch team undertook qualitative research on how you ng people whohad lived through a natural disaster viewed their own place in natureand their responsibilities for preparing for, and responding to,disaster.

Subsequently, a National Roundtable on Risk held at the Centre Blockof Parliament Hill (the home of Canada's federal government), broughttogether risk specialists, as well as professionals and officials frommany other relevant areas, to discuss directions the project wouldtake and to examine disaster priorities given Canada's social, econom- ic and environmental context. The result was an authentic,intergenerational dialogue that included twelve-year-olds in thediscussion.

As a result, with input from some of the leading researchers in thefield, a RISK & Society Youth Survey was devel oped and administered.The RISK & Society Project now has a remarkable instrument that hasprovided us with a picture of what influences young people in theirrisk perceptions: who they trust; how they pay attention to theweather, environment, and geogra phy around them; and what role theybelieve the government has in their safety. With this information, wewill now develop a curriculum based on how young people areinterpreting the risks around them.

In addition, a communication strategy has been de veloped targetingboth special groups with an interest in risk policy, research,mitigation, and reduction, and higher levels of the educationcommunity. The strategy also involves winning the advocacy of Membersof Parliament and community leaders.

E lectronic communications is part of this plan. The project has takena carefully structured, incremental approach to communications on-line, focusing on the overall communications objective of increasingthe "ownership" of the project and its objectives among interestedindividuals and groups of the on-line community, including newsgroups,listserves, and networks such as Canada's SchoolNet and UNICEF's YoungLeaders. Indeed, network development has been nurtured since theproject was first envisioned, a nd with it the project has succeeded inmaintaining a high degree of interest, support, and commitment amongthe academic communities, the media, youth, and federal and provincialgovernment.

The Next Steps
The project will now work to expand and strengthen the links thathave been forged among early partners in order to create aninnovative, international risk awareness, assessment, education, andresearch project. With the goal of cultivating informed risk decision-takers, both among youth and policy makers, this phase will work tocultivate a sustainable organization that will foster continuedawareness, research, education, and assessment of disaster risks.

In the near term, in upcoming months the RISK & Society SchoolsProject will be developing and presenting the following:

• Catalytic Projects:

  Roundtable on Risk
  Assessment and Research into the Western Floods
  Youth Risk Retreats - Health, Climate Change

• Curriculu m Development:

  Educators Conference with a Parallel Youth Conference

• New Instruments of Policy, Research, and Practice:

  Innovations in Technology Use (multimedia and internetworking)

  Nexus for Support and Illumination of Effective Approaches to Risk:

  Setting Future Priorities for Policy and Research
  Academic Conference with Co-Equal Emphasis on Research and Policy

• Multidisciplinary Rese arch Stimulation
• Intergenerational Consultation
• Network Nurturing
• International Components Through NAFTA, Organization of American States and United Nations Development Program

Help Wanted: Emergency Disaster Relief Coordinator, Burundi

The U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of the U.S.Agency for International Development is recruiting for the position ofEmergency Disaster Rel ief Coordinator. This will be a one-yearPersonal Services Contract(PSC) with possible renewal starting inApril 1997. Salary range is $51,000-$64,800 base pay. Postdifferential and danger pay apply.

The successful candidate will manage the OFDA Huma nitarian Assistanceportfolio in Burundi and will be the Advisor to the U.S. Embassy onHumanitarian Assistance. This will require a strong history of fieldwork in a difficult work environment. Political, social, and securityconcerns are all part of the working environment in Burundi.

Duties Include:

• Liaise with UN agencies and other International Organizations (IO's). Coordinate with the donor community to develop integrated programs
• Monitor Non-Governmental Organizations(NGOs) and re lief personnel while tracking humanitarian relief and rehabilitation issues
• Manage, monitor, and evaluate OFDA-funded projects and grants.
• Review grant proposals and make recommendations to OFDA/W. Site visits.
• Prepare weekly reports, cables, embassy briefings

Qualifications:

• Fluency in French FSI 3 - 3.
• Bachelor's degree with advanced training in international relations, economics, food policy, or related subjects
• Three years experience in emergency relief and human itarian assistance. Overseas project management in civil conflict environment.
• Experience in working with international organizations, USG agencies and NGOs
• Basic computer skills, writing and analytical skills
• Knowledge of communications equip ment, including satellite telephones, VHF and UHF equipment
• USAID Secret Level security clearance will be required
• U.S. citizenship

What's On, On the Web Or, Change Your Bookmarks - We've Moved!

NEMA and IIPLR Join Forces

The National Eme rgency Management Association (NEMA) has joined withthe Insurance Institute for Property Loss Reduction (IIPLR) in aneffort to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters. NEMA is anassociation of 59 state and territorial emergency management directorsw ho work directly with their governors to mitigate, plan for, respondto, and recover from disasters in their jurisdictions. IIPLR, createdby the property-casualty insurance industry, works to reduce deaths,injuries, human suffering, property damage, and economic losses due tonatural disasters.

Under their agreement, the organizations will co-sponsor the annualIIPLR Congress, participate in a national nonstructural retrofitprogram, and implement comprehensive mitigation programs in selectcommunit ies. The two groups intend to select six U.S. communities inthe next year for pilot mitigation programs that will includeconducting a detailed risk analysis, enforcing stringent buildingcodes, and offering incentives for homeowners to reduce the risks ofdisasters.

NFIP Increases Coverage

Following a flood, homeowners filing a claim are often surprised todiscover that thei r flood insurance only provides enough funds toreplace or repair their homes, not to elevate, relocate, or effectother floodproofing measures that might be required to retain coverageunder the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Now, however,home owners can get some help with these extra costs.

On March 26 the Federal Insurance Administration (FIA), whichadministers the NFIP, announced that for an additional premium of upto $75.00 every property owner who purchases or renews a floodinsuranc e policy after June 1, 1997, will receive $15,000 coverage forthe "consequential loss brought on by a floodplain managementordinance or law affecting repair and reconstruction involvingelevation, floodproofing, relocation, or demolition (or anycombina tion thereof) of a structure, after a direct loss" caused by aflood.

Buildings eligible for this coverage are structures that have sufferedrepetitive loss - that is, those that have incurred flood damage atleast twice over 10 years and for which th e cost of repairs exceeded25% of the market value of the structure at the time of the flood.Also, any structures that experiences flood damage for which repairsare equal to or exceed 50% of market value are eligible. In eithercase, the state or local government must have a cumulative,substantial damage provision or repetitive loss provision in itsfloodplain management law or ordinance.

The coverage, called Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) and mandatedby the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994, must be usedwithin two years of damage to a structure. It covers the activitiesmentioned above, as well as the cost of bringing a structure intocompliance with state and local floodplain management laws, even ifthe structure has received a v ariance from floodplain managementrestrictions prior to the flood loss.

VA Revises Loan Regulat ions for Flood Hazard Areas

In order to meet the requirements of the National Flood InsuranceReform Act of 1994, the Veterans Administration (VA) has amended itsregulations, strengthening requirements for procuring and maintainingflood insuran ce on properties in special flood hazard areas thatsecure loans guaranteed by the VA.

Like other federal agencies that secure mortgages for homes, the VAhas established new escrow requirements for flood insurance premiums,a requirement to "force pl ace" flood insurance under certaincircumstances, new methods for enhancing flood hazard noticerequirements, new authority for the VA to charge fees for determiningwhether a property is in the flood hazard area, and various otherprovisions.

Some Recently Awarded Hazard/Disaster Grants

Conferences and Training