DISASTER RESEARCH 287

April 16, 1999

TABLE OF CONTENTS:


  1. Seeking the World's Most Treacherous Places

  2. An Exchange Program in Rescue and Emergency Medicine

  3. Two Questions from the Natural-Hazards-Disasters List

  4. CRID Seeks Documents on Hurricane Disaster Management

  5. USGS Opens River Studies Station in Missouri

  6. Introducing MAP - The Mid-America Partnership

  7. FEMA Establishes Donations Phone Bank for Humanitarian Relief for Kosovo Refugees

  8. A Few Internet Nuggets

  9. FEMA and EDA Work Together to Mitigate Disasters

  10. FEMA Seeks Exemplary Practices

  11. FEMA Seeks Student Interns

  12. Corps Readies for the Next Millennium

  13. Some Recent Research Grants of Note

  14. April EIIP Programs

  15. An Upcoming EENET Broadcast

  16. Conferences and Training


1)----------
Seeking the World's Most Treacherous Places

We recently received a phone call and e-mail from a producer for The Learning Channel who is putting together a three-hour series titled "The World's Most Treacherous Places - A Guide to Natural Hazards." He is looking for ideas for unique natural hazards - particularly hazards which are visually compelling - and unique sites - places not usually thought of as hazardous. He is very much interested in finding unusual and interesting footage of these hazards and would also like to interview geological hazards experts on camera. Anyone with suggestions should contact David Adler, the series producer, e-mail: adlhumble@aol.com.


2)----------

A Note from Colombia . . . An Exchange Program in Rescue and Emergency Medicine

[The following is a rough translation of an e-mail message we recently received from the Fundacion Nacional de Especialistas en Rescate y Urgencias Medicas in Colombia:]

Greetings . . . we are a major nonprofit, nongovernmental organization in Colombia. Our seat of operations is in Cali; our address: Calle 5a B 1 #36-39, Cali, Colombia; tel: 514 25 25 or 556 75 69. Our operations involve 250 men and women volunteers who dedicate their free time to training and rescue. We have developed a series of qualification programs, which include water rescue, urban search and rescue, paramedicine, and numerous other aspects of rescue and emergency response.

Our operation includes an Office of International Relations, which manages a special exchange program, the object of which is to exchange volunteers from different agencies and share and compare information and experience from both the administrative and operational points of view. The exchange periods are 15 days. Visitors are provided a work plan one month before they arrive and are provided food and lodging when in Cali. In return, the agency that sends volunteers hosts an equal number of volunteers from Colombia. Persons or agencies interested in this program should contact Juan Carlos Arias, Coordinator Oficina de Relaciones Internacionales at the address above, or e-mail: rmcp5580@reymoreno.net.co; erumparamedicos@latinmail.com; arias-juancarlos@correoweb.com


3)----------

Two Questions from the Natural-Hazards-Disasters List

. [The messages below were recently posted on the natural-hazards- disasters e-mail list (natural-hazards-disasters@mailbase.ac.uk). For information about that list, see DR #286, item #3.]

A Request from the IDB

The IDB [Interamerican Development Bank] is currently putting together experiences from around the world on gender dimensions of mitigating and responding to natural disasters, and also documenting the economic and social conditions and needs in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch. These reports will be used in informing work being done in Central America, and for future activities in the entire region. We are on a tight time frame, and expect to have first drafts by the end of April 1999.

We would be grateful for any suggestions that members of this discussion group may have for us. Any specific experiences (real life situations), research or issues papers, or descriptions/analysis of activities/needs are all welcome.

With warm regards to all,
Shubh Kumar-Range
4612 Sedgwick Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20016-5614
Tel: 202 362-5066; Fax: 202 363-3152; E-mail: KumarRange@aol.com

A Request from the Disaster Mitigation Institute in India

Disaster Mitigation Institute will have to assist a State Government in India to draw a long-term disaster mitigation policy. While we are clear about increased say of the victims and vulnerable communities in such policy making, any suggestions on pro-victim and best practice policy will be most useful.

Yours sincerely,
Mihir R. Bhatt
Honorary Director - Disaster Mitigation Institute.
E-mail: mihir@ad1.vsnl.net.in


4)----------

CRID Seeks Documents on Hurricane Disaster Management

The Regional Disaster Information Center for Latin America and the Caribbean (CRID) is in the process of publishing "Biblio-Des No. 27," a bibliographic reference publication that will focus on hurricanes - specifically on mitigation, prevention, planning, assistance, and recovery. The Biblio-Des series is an excellent opportunity to share knowledge and experience, and we would appreciate your valuable contribution to this process by sending us any related documents, especially those referring to the latest hurricanes in the Americas, namely Georges and Mitch.

Please send documents preferably in electronic format to: isanchez@netsalud.sa.cr -or- crid@netsalud.sa.cr, or in hard-copy to CRID's mailing address: Centro Regional de Informacion Sobre Desastres (CRID), Apdo. 3745-1000, San Jose, Costa Rica. Please send documents by the end of April, and please do not hesitate to contact the center should you require any additional information. Interested persons can learn more about the bibliodes series and CRID from the CRID Web site:http://www.disaster.info.desastres.net/crid


5)----------

USGS Opens River Studies Station in Missouri

From the drastic impacts of major floods and droughts to more gradual shifts in channels and floodplain habitats, large river systems such as the Missouri are always changing. Over the past century human activities have also caused physical and biological changes in America's major rivers. Gathering the information needed to understand the dynamic nature of large rivers, as well as the biological systems they support, will be the focus of a new United States Geological Survey (USGS) River Studies Station, located at the USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center in Columbia, Missouri.

The new station will allow experts from the many disciplines related to riverine systems - such as fisheries management, aquatic biology, ecology, hydrology, floodplain management, and remote sensing - to work together to answer complex questions about how large river systems function. The initial focus of the station will be the lower Missouri River, which has been extensively managed for navigation, flood control, and power generation since the 1800s. The emphasis will be on field studies that inform resource managers and policy makers on how to improve river management and wildlife habitat restoration. Station researchers will also monitor a wide range of geological, hydrological, and biological factors in collaboration with other USGS facilities, federal agencies, state agencies, and universities.

For more information about the new USGS River Studies Station, contact Marcia K. Nelson or Robert Jacobson, U.S. Geological Survey, Columbia Environmental Research Center, 4200 New Haven Road, Columbia, MO 65201; (573) 876-1875 or (573) 875-5399; WWW: http://www.usgs.gov/public/press/public_affairs/press_releases/ pr796m.html


6)----------

Introducing MAP The Mid-America Partnership

. In March, representatives of several central U.S. organizations and agencies established the Mid-America Partnership (MAP) - a group dedicated to helping one another in dealing with the hazards affecting the region. The partnership, which currently includes the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC), CUSEC state geologists, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Institute for Business and Home Safety, the Mid-America Earthquake Center, the Disaster Recovery Business Alliance, the Association of Contingency Planners, the Extreme Information Infrastructure, the Institute of Gas Technology, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the U.S. Geological Survey, will focus primarily on the central U.S. seismic hazard. As initial projects, it has identified the creation of a document entitled "Mid-America at Risk" and the creation of an entity that would function as a "Mid-America Seismic Safety Commission" to implement a plan to reduce losses from earthquakes that would be developed in conjunction with "Mid-America at Risk." For more information about this new organization, contact Walter Hays, U.S. Geological Survey, Mail Stop 955, 905 National Center, Reston, VA 20192; (703) 648-6711; fax: (703) 648-6747; e-mail: whays@usgs.gov.


7)----------

FEMA Establishes Donations Phone Bank for Humanitarian Relief for Kosovo Refugees

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has established a phone bank to handle public donations for relief assistance for the Kosovar Albanian refugees. Persons interested in helping should call 1-800-872-4373.


8)----------

A Few Internet Nuggets

[These are some of the latest and more useful Internet resources we've encountered. For an extended list of selected Internet sites dealing with hazards and disaster management, see http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/sites/sites.html.]

http://www.fema.gov/y2k/bst_prac.htm
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has added a "Y2K Best Practices" page to the Y2K section of its Web site. The page includes descriptions of how individual states and communities are managing the Y2K issue.

http://www.gismaps.fema.gov
The GIS and Software Development Team at the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Mapping and Analysis Center have put together a new Web site that describes GIS operations at FEMA and lists some of the maps generated during a disaster. The site provides background information on GIS and the work of the center and offers various maps of 1998 and 1999 presidentially declared disasters.

http://www.usgs.gov/themes/hazards.html
The U.S. Geological Survey's "Themes" page, which we've noted before, includes information on earthquakes, floods, landslides, volcanoes, wildfire, coastal storms and tsunamis, geomagnetism, and wildlife diseases. The site now includes a section that provides national maps showing areas of high risk for earthquake, volcano, landslide, flood, hurricane, and tornado hazards. The maps can be examined individually or collectively as a series of overlays. (Looking at the maps, one might think that the high plains of the western U.S. could be a region of relative safety, but then, as the USGS is quick to point out, the collective map does not plot winter storms, high wind hazards, recent flash floods, or drought . . . )

http://www.disasternews.net
The Disaster News Network reports on U.S. disaster response (as well as response to major international events that call for U.S. involvement), focusing on the response and recovery work of nongovernmental organizations - particularly "faith-based" (church) groups. It also provides information about how individuals and groups can help in disasters, and includes information about volunteer opportunities in various regions of the country.

http://mceer.buffalo.edu
http://mceer.buffalo.edu/eqcatalogs.html
The Web site of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER), headquartered at the State University of New York at Buffalo, provides extensive information on all aspects of seismic hazards. The "Earthquakes Catalogs" page listed above provides links to all earthquake catalogs known to the center and available on the Internet. The center has recently added the "NCEER-91 Catalog of the Eastern United States," by John Armbruster and Leonardo Seeber, to the this page, as well as a link to an interactive database search of the new catalog provided by the Center for Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis.

http://seismo.ethz.ch/GSHAP
The Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program (GSHAP) was launched in 1992 by the International Lithosphere Program (ILP) with the support of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), and endorsed as a demonstration program of the United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR). The GSHAP project terminated at the end of 1998. This site presents the considerable information on global seismic hazards produced by the program, in the form of tables, reports, and numerous regional maps.

http://www.ih2000.net/jasperem/
Here's a nice example of one county's (Jasper County, Texas) effort to provide a comprehensive disaster management Web site for its citizens.

http://www.egroups.com/list/ice-snow-hail_haz_mit/
http://www.egroups.com/list/response_recovery
In DR #284 we mentioned new discussion lists for persons interested in wind and flood hazard mitigation and engineering. Well, the same folks that brought you those services have instituted additional new e-mail groups for ice/snow/hail hazards and response and recovery issues. Members are welcome from all concerned disciplines. To join, a person should either enter his or her e-mail address into the membership form found at http://www.egroups.com, or send an e-mail message to ice-snow-hail_haz_mit-subscribe@egroups.com; or response_recovery-subscribe@egroups.com. The messages of the groups and other information can be found at the addresses above. Comments and suggestions regarding this service are welcome and should be sent to James Cohen, James Cohen Consulting, P.C., P.O. Box 130, Pennington, NJ 08534; (609) 730-0510; fax: (609) 730-0511; e-mail: jccpc@email.msn.com; WWW: http://expertpages.com/~jccpc.

http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/sarcomm
At this Web address, interested persons can subscribe to the "SAR Comm" list - an e-mail discussion list for anyone interested in search and rescue communication issues. Persons without Web access can send e-mail to w9sar@amsat.org requesting a subscription.


9)----------

FEMA and EDA Work Together Mitigate Disasters

Emergency management and economic development have joined forces to reduce the impacts of natural disasters. In a "Memorandum of Understanding Between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Economic Development Administration," the two agencies agree to support and cooperate with one another to "advance mutual objectives through FEMA's Project Impact and other mitigation objectives, and the Department of Commerce's Natural Disaster Reduction Initiative."

Under this agreement, the two agencies will enhance policy coordination; enhance coordination of mitigation activities and initiatives; provide state and local technical assistance and planning support; work with Project Impact community officials to provide services and assistance; improve resource management through joint efforts; conduct public outreach and education activities; and provide training on how economic development planning activities can better incorporate issues associated with natural hazard risk and mitigation.

For more information on this effort, contact Drew Sachs, FEMA, 500 C Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20472; (202) 646-3842.


10)----------

FEMA Seeks Exemplary Practices

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is currently assembling the fourth edition of its "Compendium of Exemplary Practices in Emergency Management." The theme of this edition is "Partnerships in Preparedness." Anyone having or knowing of an innovative, useful program, practice, project, or technique that others could emulate is encouraged to nominate that program for inclusion. Nominations are due before May 14. The format for nominations is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.fema.gov/pte/exempract.htm, or by calling (202) 646-2672. Previous editions of the compendium are available from http://www.fema.gov/library/lib07.htm. Hard copies of the first three editions are also available free from the FEMA publications warehouse, 1-800-480-2520.


11)----------

FEMA Seeks Student Interns

It is difficult to get a good job without experience, and it is difficult to get experience with out a good job. To aid young people in overcoming this paradox, FEMA offers high-quality internships. The agency has approximately fifteen positions available at its headquarters in Washington D.C. The agency suggests that interns stay at least three months in order to receive maximum benefits from the program.

All internships are unpaid. However, all interns are provided a workstation at FEMA headquarters, given day-to-day supervision, invited to participate in meetings, given access to agency information, and provided other support as needed. FEMA recognizes that internships are part of academic degree programs and support internships as professional learning experiences that meet the requirements of both FEMA and the intern's college or university.

Opportunities are currently available in FEMA's Office of the Director, Office of Corporate Affairs, Office of Congressional Affairs, Office of Public Affairs, and Office of Policy and Regional Operation.

For more information, contact Sheryl Withers at (202) 646-4081; e-mail: sheryl.winters@fema.gov. Also, on the World Wide Web, see http://www.fema.gov/nwz99/sannouce.htm.


12)----------

Corps Readies for the Next Millennium

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) plays an active role in civil disaster response, working with FEMA and other federal agencies, the American Red Cross, and other organizations under the Federal Response Plan to handle public works and engineering issues. In an effort to make these efforts more efficient, USACE recently announced the creation of "Readiness 2000" (R2K), a program that outlines Corps disaster management strategy for the 21st century.

As part of the national strategy, R2K organizes and manages resources through a national strategy, and it creates a USACE team to share planning responsibilities and response capabilities, standardize procedures, and decrease response time. The program focuses on five response strategies:

- threat/history-based resource allocation;
- specialized planning and response teams that will deal with such issues as ice, water, emergency power, emergency access, debris removal, temporary sheltering, structural safety assessment, and structural rehabilitation;
- deployable tactical operations systems, including vehicles, that provide response support equipment and personnel;
- redirection of the Earthquake Center of Expertise to become the Corps of Engineers Readiness Support Center - a dedicated center for all-hazards training, exercises, and evaluation of response activities; and
- a centralized all-hazards mission, and response support templates and a national database, which will provide information on reporting, flood fights, personnel, and other data.

For more information on R2K, contact Edward J. Hecker, Readiness Branch/CECW-OE, #6215, 20 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20314-1000; (202) 761-0409; fax: (202) 761-4150; e-mail: edward.hecker@inet.hq.usace.army.mil


13)----------

Some Recent Research Grants of Note

Improvisation in Emergency Response Organizations: A Cognitive Approach. Funding agency: National Science Foundation, $305,537, 36 months. Principal Investigator: William A. Wallace, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180-3522; e-mail: wallaw@rpi.edu.

Compliance with Building Code Provisions: Decision-Making for Residential Construction. Funding Agency: National Science Foundation, $127,033, 14 months. Principal Investigator: Peter J. May, Department of Political Science, Box 353530, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-3530; (206) 543-9842; fax: (206) 685-2146; e-mail: pmay@u.washington.edu.

Natural Disasters and Industrial Activities in the Urban Environment: Potential Impacts of Joint Events and Preparedness for Industrial Accidents Caused by Natural Disasters. Funding agency: National Science Foundation, $241,951, 24 months. Principal Investigators: Laura J. Steinberg and Ronaldo Luna, Tulane University, 6823 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118; (504) 862-3254; e-mail: lauras@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu.

Public Involvement in Planning and Local Government Commitment to Hazard Mitigation. Funding agency: National Science Foundation, $294,303, 24 months. Principal Investigator: Raymond J. Burby, College of Urban and Public Affairs, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148; (504) 286-5497; fax: (504) 286-6272; e-mail: rjbur@uno.edu.


14)----------

April EIIP Programs

The remaining April '99 schedule for the EIIP Virtual Forum includes (all times are eastern time):

Round Table Discussions - Tuesdays - 1:00 pm
April 20: National Volunteer Week (TBA)
April 27: IAEM's Y2K Message - Phyllis Mann
Round Tables are EIIP Partner-led discussions; the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) hosts one Round Table discussion each month (April 27). Other partners are encouraged to schedule and moderate a session.

Formal Presentations - Wednesdays - 12:00 Noon
April 21: The EIIP Panel Room hosts panelists from Lubbock, Texas, to discuss their recent Y2K Community Exercise
April 28: The Tech Arena presents John Cormack, FEMA IT Directorate, in a discussion and demonstration of NEMIS - the National Emergency Management Information System

EIIP discussion are held on the World Wide Web at http://www.emforum.org.


15)----------

An Upcoming EENET Broadcast

On April 21, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Education Network (EENET) presents its monthly "National Alert" broadcast, 2-3:30 pm eastern time. The feature topic will be the "Stormwatch" video produced by the Texas Severe Storms Association in partnership with the National Weather Service. This tape is used in training storm spotters and includes information on how to observe thunderstorm systems to look for the formation of tornadoes and other forms of severe weather. The broadcast will also include a "FEMA Update"; training news; a "First Responder" section in which the Virginia Beach Fire Department will provide information on a variety of rescue and extrication techniques; and a section entitle "Y2K On The Web" - a tour of some of the sites for emergency responders and managers concerning Y2K on the Internet. For satellite information and other details, on the World Wide Web, see http://www.fema.gov/emi/eenet.htm.


16)----------

Conferences and Training

[Below are some recent announcements received by the Natural Hazards Center. A comprehensive list of upcoming disaster-related meetings and training is available from our World Wide Web site: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/conf.html

1999 Annual Meeting on Tall Buildings in Seismic Regions. Los Angeles, California: May 7, 1999. Contact: Leigh Bell, Los Angeles Tall Buildings Structural Design Council, 800 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 510, Los Angeles, CA 90017; (213) 362-0707; fax: (213) 688-3018; e-mail: TallBldg@Juno.com; WWW: http://www.latallbldg.org.

Nineteenth Annual U.S. Committee on Large Dams (USCOLD) Annual Meeting and Lecture. Atlanta, Georgia: May 17-21, 1999. Contact: USCOLD, 1616 Seventeenth Street, Suite 483, Denver, CO 80202; (303) 628-5430; fax: (303) 628-5431; e-mail: stephens@uscold.org; WWW: http://www.uscold.org/~uscold.

International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) Regional Conference for Africa. Nairobi, Kenya: May 17-21, 1999. Contact: IDNDR Secretariat, Palais Wilson, 52 rue des Paquis, CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland; tel: (41 22) 917 9722; fax: (41 22) 917 9098; e-mail: marianne.muller@dha.unicc.org.

Planning for a Safer Tomorrow: Facing Facts About Colorado Floods. Sponsors: Western Insurance Information Service and others. Denver, Colorado: May 18, 1999. Contact: Planning for a Safer Tomorrow, c/o DERA, P.O. Box 280795, Denver, CO 80228-0795; or call Western Insurance Information Service, (303) 790-0216; fax: (303) 790-0433; e-mail: wiisdenver@uswest.net. This one-day seminar is being held in conjunction with the 1999 National Flood Conference. Sponsor: National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Denver, Colorado: May 16-19, 1999. Contact: NFIP, 7700 Hubble Drive, Lanham, MD 20706; (301) 918-1439; TDD: (301) 918-1409; e-mail: becky.reardon@fema.gov; WWW:http://www.fema.gov/nfip/99conf.htm.

Applied Workshop on Stream, River, and Floodplain Restoration. Sponsors: Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; host: Portland State University. Portland, Oregon: May 20-22, 1999. Contact: ASFPM 4233 West Beltline Highway, Madison, WI 53711; (608) 274-0123; fax: (608) 274-0696; e-mail: asfpm@floods.org; WWW: http://www.floods.org. This workshop immediately precedes the 23rd Annual Conference of the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM): "Planning Ahead: Flood Loss Reduction in the 21st Century." Portland, Oregon: May 24-28, 1999. Contact: ASFPM at the address above.

Fifteenth Annual Orange County Disaster Preparedness Academy. Presented by: American Red Cross-Orange County Chapter. Fullerton, California: June 2, 1999. Contact: Bonnie Olivett, Academy Coordinator, 601 North Golden Circle Drive, P.O. Box 11364, Santa Ann, CA 92711-1364; (714) 835-5381, ext. 260; fax: (714) 547-7903; e-mail: bolivett@oc-redcross.org; WWW: http://www.oc-redcross.org/distraining.html.

"Public Health in Complex Emergencies. Presented by: Columbia University School of Public Health; sponsored by USAID/OFDA."Geared to NGO health professionals." New York City: June 13-26, 1999. Uganda: August, 1999. Contact Sharon Kim; e-mail: ssk19@columbia.edu; fax: (212) 305-7024.

Regional Floodproofing Workshops. Offered by: Colorado Association of Stormwater and Floodplain Managers.
Fort Collins, Colorado: June 15, 1999
Grand Junction, Colorado: June 17, 1999
Contact: Mark Matulik, Colorado Water Conservation Board, (303) 866- 3441 -or- Doug Trieste, Flow Technologies, (303) 989-1427.

Eighth International Rescue Dog Symposium. Host: Swiss Disaster Dog Association. Montreux, Switzerland: June 17-20, 1999. Contact: Patrizia Pedotti Bucher, Obermattweg 3, CH-3415 Hasle-Ruegsau, Switzerland; tel: +41 34 461 09 36; fax: +41 34 461 06 45; e-mail: patrizia.pedotti@he.admin.ch -or- Willy J. Grundherr; tel: (831) 425- 7661; fax: (831) 429-9344; WWW: http://www.redog.ch/IRO/IRO.html.

International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) Programme Forum 1999. Geneva, Switzerland: July 5-9, 1999. Contact: IDNDR Secretariat, Palais Wilson, 52 rue des Paquis, CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland; tel: (41 22) 917 9722; fax: (41 22) 917 9098; e-mail: marianne.muller@dha.unicc.org.

[NOTE REVISED DATES]
National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) 1999 Annual Conference. Des Moines, Iowa: August 11-16, 1999. Contact: NEMA, c/o Council of State Governments, P.O. Box 11910, Lexington, KY 40578- 1910; (606) 244-8000; fax: (606) 244-8239; e-mail: thembree@csg.com; WWW: http://www.nemaweb.org/index.cfm.

Fifth U.S. Conference on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering. Sponsor: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering (TCLEE); organizer: Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER). Seattle, Washington: August 12-14, 1999. Contact: Andrea Dargush, MCEER, State University of New York at Buffalo, Red Jacket Quadrangle, Buffalo, NY 14261-0025; (716) 645-3391, ext. 106; fax: (716) 645-3399; e-mail: dargush@acsu.buffalo.edu; WWW: http://mceer.buffalo.edu.

Fifth International Congress on Disasters. Sponsors: Pan American Health Organization, United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, and others. Havana, Cuba: September 7-10, 1999. Contact: Migdalia Luna Cisneros, Palacio de Convenciones de La Habana, Apartado Postal 16046, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba; tel: (537) 22-6011, ext. 1512, or 21-9376; fax: (537) 21-8382 or 21-9496; e-mail: migdalia@palco.get.cma.net; or Jose Llanes Guerra, Oficina Nacional para Caso de Desastres, Defensa Civil, Calle 18 esq. a 7ma. Avenida, Miramar, Cuba; tel: (537) 23- 5085; e-mail: dcncir@infomed.sld.cu; or Jose Carlos del Toro Rios, Escuela Cubana de Seguros, 5ta. 306 e/ C y D Vedado, Cuba; tel: (537) 31-1854; fax: (537) 33-8717; e-mail: jctr@esen.com.cu. E-mail or fax communications are preferred.

European Geophysical Society (EGS) Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Storms. Maratea, Italy: October 14-16, 1999. Notice of interest due April 30; abstracts due June 30. Contacts: Program Committee Chair: Prof. Pierluigi Claps, Dip. di Ingegneria e Fisica dell' Ambiente, Universita' della Basilicata, Via della Tecnica, 3, I-85100 Potenza, Italy; tel: +39-0971-474-638; fax: +39-0971-565-37; e-mail: claps@unibas.it; WWW: http://www.difa.unibas.it/users/pclaps. General Information, Registration and Hotel Reservation: EGS Office, Max-Planck-Strasse 13, D-37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany; tel: +49-5556-1440; fax: +49-5556-4709; e-mail: esg@copernicus.org For full details, see: http://www.copernicus.org/EGS/conference/plc1/cover.htm.

Fourth Annual Conference on Crises and Disasters Management. Sponsor: Crisis Research Unit, Ain Shams University. Cairo, Egypt: October 30- 31, 1999. Abstracts due July 31. Contact: Prof. Mohammed Rashad El- hamalawy, Crisis Research Unit, Ain Shams University, Abbasia, Cairo, Egypt; tel: (02) 2619509; fax: (02) 4025905/2609167.

International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) 1999 Wildland Fire Safety Summit: "What Have We Learnt From Major Wildfire Disasters?" Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: November 2-5, 1999. Abstracts due June 10. Contact: IAWF, East 8109 Bratt Road, Fairfield, WA 99012; (509) 523-4003; fax: (509) 523-5001; e-mail: greenlee@cet.com; WWW: http://www.wildfiremagazine.com/safetysummit.html.

The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) 1999 Conference: Research and Practice in Partnership - Bridging Gaps Across Disciplines, Cultures, and Theoretical Perspectives. Abstracts due May 3. Miami, Florida: November 14-17, 1999. Contact: ISTSS, 60 Revere Drive, Suite 500, Northbrook, IL 60062; (847) 480-9028; fax: (847) 480-9282; e-mail: conf@istss.org; WWW: http://www.istss.org.

Eighth International Conference on Emergency Medicine: Emergency Medicine in the Third Millennium. Presented by: The International Federation of Emergency Medicine. Boston, Massachusetts: May 4-7, 2000. Abstracts due November 1, 1999. Contact: American College of Emergency Physicians, P.O. Box 619911, Dallas, TX 75261-9911; 1-800- 798-1822 or (972) 550-0911; fax: (972) 580-2816; e-mail: edmeetings@acep.org; WWW: http://www.acep.org/meetings.


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