Disaster Research 233

Hazards Center Library Database Now On-line

Since the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center was established over 20 years ago, the backbone of its information service has been its library, which has become one of the more extensive collections of documents on human adaptation to natural hazards in the world. In the past, persons wanting to consult that repository of disaster knowledge had to contact the center's librarian and request a search of the library catalog.

Now, anyone can conduct such searches via the Internet.

The Newest Hazards Center Monograph: How They Dealt With Floods in Georgia

On July 3, 1994, Tropical Storm Alberto struck the Florida panhandle and proceeded northeast before stalling just south of Atlanta, Georgia. As the storm lingered and then slowly retraced its steps to the southwest over the next six days, it dumped more than 20 inches of rain over large parts of the Flint River Basin in southwest Georgia, flooding the cities of Montezuma, Albany, Newton, and Bainbridge, and inflicting over $1 billion in damage. This devastation notwithstand- ing, the flood provided an opportunity to identify and document the successes and failures of state and local floodplain management programs and activities.

"An Assessment of Floodplain Management in Georgia's Flint River Basin", by Elliott Mittler (Monograph #59, 1997, 190 pp.) documents such a study. Mittler assessed the impact of federal, state, and local floodplain management activities on losses in the Flint River Basin, paying special attention to the impact of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and local floodplain management efforts. In this monograph, he looks at previous studies; evaluates the political situation in each community affecting flood recovery; examines federal, state, and local responses to the disaster, concentrating on recovery plans and the use of hazard mitigation programs to reduce future flood losses; analyzes the effectiveness of the NFIP; and offers a series of findings and recommendations based on the relatively successful recovery programs he found.

In his foreword to this book, flood researcher Gilbert White says, "This is the first thorough effort to assess in one area the effects of current local, state, and federal policies on the use of floodplains in the United States. Although focused on one river basin, it illustrates the problems that should be addressed for the nation as a whole . . . It thoughtfully raises a series of questions to which sound answers must be found if wise use is to be achieved in the long run. . . . If the nation is to be well served in managing floodplains, this should be seen as a basic step toward genuine assessment."

The Newest Hazards Center Working Paper: The Taking Issue and the Regulation of Hazardous Areas

Geographically specific natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes inflict tens of billions of dollars in public and private costs upon the United States annually, with the level of damage in particular disasters often related to the location and design of structures in areas of known risk. Governmental regulations such as floodplain zoning and coastal setbacks may be imposed to restrain unsafe building practices, and state decisions have generally upheld such measures against challenges based on the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits government taking private property without compensation. However, one of the more perplexing recent legal developments - at least for hazards managers - has been the apparent tendency of the courts to restrict the ability of government to regulate property development in hazardous areas.

The Hazards Center's latest working paper, "The Taking Issue and the Regulation of Hazardous Areas," by Rutherford H. Platt, Professor of Geography and Planning at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Alexandra D. Dawson, Director of the Environmental Policy Graduate Program, Antioch University, examines these issues in depth. The authors note that since 1992 an invigorated property rights movement has achieved two favorable decisions in the U.S. Supreme Court: Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council and Dolan v. City of Tigard, each involving hazard area regulations. However, they maintain that, while these decisions imposed a higher burden of justification upon public regulators, they did not undermine the longstanding presumption that government may enact reasonable limits on private use of land to mitigate natural disaster risks without compensation to the owner.

Help Wanted - OFDA

The Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of the U.S. Agency for International Development is recruiting for the position of Disaster Response Division/Operational Support Division Liaison Officer. This is a one-year personal services contract with possible one year renewal. This position is considered to be equivalent to the GS 12/13 level. Starting date is September 1997. As the Divisional Liaison Officer the Contractor will coordinate the respective activities of DRD and OS within OFDA's responsibilities for Military Liaison, DART deployment requirements, and Nuclear Biological and Chemical(NBC) disaster planning.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• support the coordinated efforts of DRD and OS for planning for DART deployments
• support the coordination of collaborative relationships between the OFDA Military Liaison Unit and the appropriate DOD counterparts
• liaise with the DOD in an effort to help the military coordinate with the humanitarian community to achieve the best use of military assets
• assist the military in defining and reconciling its role with that of the other members of the humanitarian relief community
• assist the Military Liaison Unit's review of DOD instructional and operational publications on humanitarian operations.
• work with appropriate OFDA staff review and develop with OSD pertinent MOAs
• provide briefing and training to uniform military officers at various DOD educational institutions and brief OFDA staff as required

Selection Criteria:

1. University degree (BS or BA)
2. Overseas field experience with an NGO/PVO/IO/UN agency in the field of humanitarian assistance
3. Overseas field experience with USG combined military/civilian humanitarian relief activities
4. Knowledge of and/or experience with USAID/OFDA Disaster Assessment and Disaster Assistance Response Team operations and procedures
5. Knowledge of and/or experience with USG policy regarding Nuclear, Biological and Chemical disaster planning and response
6. Knowledge of and/or experience with US Military planning and operations in support of humanitarian relief activities
7. The ability to plan and coordinate a wide variety of actions and work under extreme time pressure
8. An ability to write clear and concise situation reports during deployment periods. Analytical and technical skills sufficient to lead further OFDA efforts for qualitative disaster response and to produce quantitative reports.

A Reminder: The Upcoming IDNDR Internet Conference "Water: Too Much...Too Little...Leading Cause of Natural Disasters"

[We recently received the following update regarding the 1997 International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) Internet Conference on the socioeconomic impacts of water-related disasters.]

Nearly 560 people from around the world are signed up for the conference, with about 60 countries represented from all world regions. Universities, associations, national and local governments, private firms, and international organizations are all participating. Representatives include geologists, meteorologists, reinsurance company officials, national, state, and local emergency managers, communications experts, architects, seismologists, doctors, engineers, urban planners, diplomats, police officers, geographers, flood management experts, and drought management experts.

For those wish to join the 1997 conference, send the following e-mail:

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