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[Adapted from the June 1999 issue of News & Views - the newsletter of the Association of State Floodplain Managers]
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island are being surveyed under a new project to assess the status of coastal hazard management and mitigation planning in the Northeast. The objective is to identify interagency working relationships and to summarize coastal hazards mitigation activities in the region. Each state emergency management director, hazard mitigation officer, floodplain coordinator, and coastal zone management program director has received a survey addressing various aspects of coastal hazard management. The project is being carried out jointly by the Coastal Resources Center, University of Rhode Island (URI), and the Coastal Services Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. For information, contact Pam Pogue, URI Coastal Resources Center; (401) 874-6616; e-mail: pogue@gsosun1.gso.uri.edu.
The Centre for Disaster and Development writes:
The Centre for Disaster and Development is a nonprofit organisation
with its office at K-7, Jangpura Extension, New Delhi. The aims and
objects of CDD are:
The Asian Disaster Reduction Center writes:
The United Nations has been promoting the International Decade for
Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) throughout the 1990s to reduce
damage from natural disasters worldwide through international
cooperative initiatives. It is crucial to promote international
cooperation at the level of regions that share aspects of disaster
vulnerability and disaster countermeasures to add further momentum to
existing disaster reduction countermeasures triggered by the IDNDR. On
the basis of the lessons from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the
need to promote multinational disaster reduction cooperation in the
Asian region was stressed at the ministerial-level Asian Natural
Disaster Reduction Conference held in Kobe City in December 1995,
attended by delegates from 28 countries in Asia and other regions. The
Asian Disaster Reduction Center has been established in Kobe, Hyogo
Prefecture, to facilitate exchange of disaster reduction experts from
each country and concerned bodies, accumulate and provide disaster
reduction information, and carry out research into multinational
disaster reduction cooperation as the focus of this initiative.
Your editor adds:
Please see http://www.adrc.or.jp/top.asp for further information on
the Asian Disaster Reduction Center in Japan. This site includes considerable
information about disasters and disaster management in the region;
there are individual sections for each country, describing relevant
hazards as well as national disaster legislation and disaster
management arrangements. The site includes much other information on
hazards in Asia.
The Emergency Information Infrastructure Partnership (EIIP) Virtual Forum schedule for July 1999 includes:
(All times eastern) Round table discussions - Tuesdays, 12:00 noon
EENET, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Education Network, has the following broadcasts scheduled for July (all times eastern):
[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.explorezone.com
Wow! This is a remarkable Web site - all the hazard science news
that's fit to print - a sort of "USA Today On-line" source of the
latest meteorological, geological, hydrological, and space science
news - most of it focusing on hazards. With sections on volcanoes,
earthquakes, tornadoes, El Nino, global warming, hurricanes, and other
natural phenomena, Explorezone provides the latest news and updates on
the latest scientific findings. The site includes links to information
sources, numerous graphics and videos, book reviews, background
information, an easily searchable index of science terms accessible
from every page, and a special section entitled "the edge" that
presents new ideas in science and technology.
http://www.heinzctr.org/Update.htm
The John H. Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the
Environment has made several publications available on-line, including
Did Public Regulations Matter? Rebuilding the North Carolina Coast
After Hurricane Fran by Rutherford H. Platt of the University of
Massachusetts.
For a quarter century, North Carolina has sought to manage new oceanfront development under its 1974 Coastal Area Management Act. The results of these planning efforts were put to the test in 1996 when the state was struck by hurricanes Bertha and Fran within a two-month period. With beaches and dunes impaired by Bertha, Fran inflicted widespread devastation along the southerly half of the state's open ocean coast. The rebuilding process was fueled by federal disaster assistance of many kinds, including emergency dune replacement, flood insurance payments, and Small Business Administration loans to homeowners. This Heinz Center report, supported by funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, looks at the rebuilding of the North Carolina coast after Hurricane Fran and reviews how well or poorly traditional approaches to coastal hazards management have worked and whether public regulations have discouraged or encouraged redevelopment in high-hazard coastal areas.
http://www.fema.gov/mit/shplans
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has made plans and
specifications for building a "safe room" inside your house available
on-line via the URL above. Developed in collaboration with the Wind
Engineering Research Center of Texas Tech University in Lubbock,
Texas, Taking Shelter from the Storm, Building a Safe Room Inside
Your House and the associated construction plans draw on 25 years of
field research by the Texas Tech researchers. Their work has included
studies of the performance of buildings following dozens of tornadoes
throughout the United States and laboratory testing on the performance
of building materials and systems when impacted by airborne debris.
The National Association of Homebuilders Research Center evaluated the
designs for construction methods, materials, and costs. The shelters
are designed with saving lives as the primary consideration.
http://www.fema.gov/Y2K/y2k701.htm
FEMA's popular Y2K course for local and state emergency managers,
Getting Ready for Y2K, can now be completed on-line. The course's
goal is to provide the emergency management community with information
and tools that will allow it to prepare for the Year 2000 conversion.
The course consists of five lessons:
http://www.fema.gov/nwz99/99159.htm
http://www.fema.gov/library/srvstrm.htm
Last week FEMA also issued a guide to preparing for floods,
available in both printed copy and on-line at the URLs above.
Surviving the Storm: A Guide to Flood Preparedness outlines measures
individuals and business owners can take to protect their families,
property, and communities in the event of flooding. Topics addressed
include steps to take before, during, and after a flood; low-cost
measures to protect homes; tips for developing a family action plan;
cleaning and repairing personal property; and flood insurance. Printed
copies are available by calling 1-800-420-2520. Copies of each
publication in the "Surviving the Storm" series - covering floods,
hurricanes, winters storms, wildfire, and El Nino - are available at
http://www.fema.gov/library/srvstrm.htm.
http://www.fpm.water.ca.gov
Speaking of floods, the California Department of Water Resources,
Floodplain Management Branch recently unveiled a nice Web site. It
includes sections on state and national (FEMA) contacts, conferences,
vendors for flood fighting supplies, the agency newsletter, training
schedules, an on-line PowerPoint training program on the National
Flood Insurance Program, an extensive list of related Web links, the
state model floodplain management ordinance, and state floodplain
management guidelines.
http://www.ibhs.org
The Institute for Business and Home Safety has remodelled its Web
site. A consortium of insurance and reinsurance institutions, IBHS is
dedicated to making natural disaster safety a core value among homes
and businesses. Visitors to the new site will find:
http://pdm.medicine.wisc.edu
This is the home page of the journal Prehospital and Disaster
Medicine. The mission of PDM is to distribute information relevant to
the practice of out-of-hospital and in-hospital emergency medical
care, disaster medicine, and public health and safety. The major
objectives are: 1) the improvement of care, including the public
health and safety aspects of disasters; and 2) the prevention and/or
mitigation of such events and their effects. The journal provides an
international forum for the reporting and discussion of relevant
scientific studies, both quantitative and qualitative. It is available
in printed form and portions are available on the Internet with
translations into multiple languages. The PDM site includes recent
news, a complete document entitled Health Disaster Management:
Guidelines for Evaluation and Research in the Utstein Style (see DR
#292
), much information about the journal and article submission, and
complete access to the on-line "Fred C. Cuny Memorial Continuing
Education Series" on disaster management.
http://www.paho.org/english/ped/pedhome.htm
(look under "What's New")
http://www.paho.org/english/ped/pednew.htm
The hard-working folks at the Pan American Health Organization
Disaster Section have added several useful documents to their Web
site, including their own annual report, Disasters and Health in
1998, which revisits four major disasters of that year - the El Nino
that affected virtually all of western South America; the earthquake
in Aiquile and Totora, Bolivia; and hurricanes Georges and Mitch. The
report outlines the health impacts of these disasters and PAHO's
organizational response. The site also offers the Final Report of the
Global Consultation Meeting on Disaster Information Centers held in
San Jose, Costa Rica, 18-20 November, 1998, as well as a draft version
of Emergency Health Management after Natural Disaster (at the second
URL above) and several other publications.
http://www.paho.org/spanish/ped/pedsres.htm
PAHO has also just published (in Spanish only) the latest volume
in its "Disaster Chronicles Series" - this one on the Cariaco,
Venezuela, earthquake. The report analyzes the impacts of this
disaster on the health sector, focusing on relief and response
operations, and the coordination required at local, national, and
international levels in order to provide effective aid.
http://www.disaster.info.desastres.net/idndr/dirdn.htm
The theme of the 1998 World Disaster Reduction Day was "Disaster
Prevention Begins with Information," and in support of that focus, the
IDNDR has published Guia para la Communicacion Social y la Prevencion
de Desastres (Guide for Social Communication and Prevention of
Disasters) in Spanish only. The publication provides an in-depth
analysis of the various forms of social communication, comparing
strengths and weaknesses, and introduces new communication mechanisms
for reaching target populations, taking into account available
technologies and existing information networks.
http://www.mapfrere.com/Ciclones/default.htm
Last September, when hurricane Georges was traveling towards the
Caribbean, the publication Efectos Destructivos de Ciclones
Tropicales (Destructive Effects of Tropical Cyclones) had just been
printed. The original text was written by Michael Rosengaus, Civil
Engineer by UNAM (Mexico) and funded by the Fundacion Mapfre Mexico.
But Itsemap STM (Technological Services), an affiliated company of
Mapfre Reinsurance Company (Spain), decided to publish it in order to
widely disseminate this in-depth look at the destructive effects of
tropical cyclones on humans and their settlements: wind, seawaves,
storm surge, and rainfall. With a special focus on Mexican hurricanes
and civil protection involvement, this book could be considered the
first manual on hurricanes for the Spanish-speaking hurricane-
threatened community. To have a look at the contents and a summary of
the publication, as well as to obtain ordering information, see the
URL above.
http://trek.iaxis.com.pe/ic/esp.html
At this site, the magazine Incident Commander for community
Fire-EMS-Police and Civil Defence officials is available in Spanish
for Central and South American professionals.
http://www.cenapred.unam.mx/mvolcan.html
As long as we're reporting things Hispanic, let's mention this
section of Mexico's National Center for Disaster Prevention (CENAPRED)
Web site, which provides real-time images of volcanic activity at
Popocatepetl Volcano near Mexico City, as well as much additional
information, including a chronology of Popo's eruptions, scientific
reports, a photo gallery of the volcano, and a bibliography. Heck,
let's mention the whole site - http://www.cenapred.unam.mx - an
excellent source of disaster information in both Spanish and English.
Risky Choices in Social and Cultural Contexts. Funding agency: National Science Foundation, $117,679, 36 months. Principal Investigator: X.T. Wang, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069; e-mail: xtwang@usd.edu.
Public Perception of Risk and Risk Management. Funding agency: National Science Foundation, $121,389, 12 months. Principal Investigators: James H. Flynn and Paul Slovic, Decision Sciences Research Institute, 1201 Oak Street, Eugene, OR 97401-3519; (503) 485-2400; e-mail: jflynn@decisionresearch.org.
Public Perceptions and Constructions of the Y2K Problem. Funding agency: National Science Foundation: $49,803, 12 months. Principal Investigator: Bruce V. Lewenstein, Cornell University, Department of Communication, 321 Kennedy Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-2801; (607) 255-8310 or (607) 255-6501; fax: (607) 254-1322; e-mail: bvl1@cornell.edu; WWW: http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/bvl1/.
Public Perception of Y2K Risks. Funding agency: National Science Foundation: $56,896, 12 months. Principal Investigator: Donald MacGregor, Decision Science Research Institute, 1201 Oak Street, Eugene, OR 97401-3519; (503) 485-2400; e-mail: pslovic2@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Digital Government: Digitalization of Coastal Management and Decision- Making Supported by Multi-Dimensional Geospatial Information and Analysis. Funding agency: National Science Foundation, $40,000, 12 months. Principal Investigators: Rongxing Li, J.R. Ramirez, C.K. Shum, and Keith W. Bedford, Ohio State University, Civil & Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, 470 Hitchcock Hall, 2070 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210; (614) 292-6946; fax: (614) 292-2957; e-mail: li.282@osu.edu; WWW: http://shoreline.eng.ohio-state.edu/research/IKONOS/index.html.
Climate Change and a Global City: An Assessment of the Metropolitan East Coast Region. Funding agency: National Science Foundation, $425,000, 18 months. Principal Investigator: Cynthia Rosenzweig, Columbia University, Center for Climate Systems Research, 2880 Broadway, Armstrong Hall 630, Mail Code 0206, New York, NY 10027; e-mail: crosenzweig@giss.nasa.gov.
The explosive combination of human-driven climate change and rapidly changing socioeconomic conditions will set off chain reactions of devastation leading to "super disasters" in the years to come. Evidence of this grim prediction is contained in a report recently issued by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). According to the World Disasters Report 1999, an annual survey of humanitarian trends, last year's season of natural disasters was the worst on record, causing more damage than ever before. In 1998, natural disasters created more "refugees" than wars and conflict. The report indicates that declining soil fertility, drought, flooding, and deforestation drove 25 million "environmental refugees" from their land and into the already vulnerable squatter communities of fast-growing cities. They represented 58% of the total refugee population worldwide.
By analyzing the consequences of Hurricane Mitch and the deadly twins, El Nino and La Nina, the report shows compelling evidence of a trend towards weather-triggered super disasters. For example, when the El Nino struck Indonesia, causing the worst drought in 50 years, it set off a chain reaction of crises. The rice crop failed; the price of imported rice quadrupled; the currency dropped by 80%; food riots erupted in the capital, Jakarta; and in the countryside, massive forest fires burned out of control, paralysing parts of the country with a toxic layer of smoke.
The developing world will continue to be hardest hit by the cascading effects of human-driven climate change, environmental degradation, and population pressures. Fires, droughts, and floods from last year's El Nino claimed 21,000 lives, while the deforestation in China's Yangtze Basin contributed to flooding that affected 180 million people. In Russia, extreme winter weather turned into a disaster when it struck a society where 44 million people are living in poverty, one million children are homeless, and tuberculosis rates are skyrocketing.
This insidious combination is throwing millions more into the path of potential disaster. Already, 96% of all deaths from natural disasters occur in developing countries. One billion people are living in the world's unplanned shanty towns, and 40 of the 50 fastest growing cities are located in earthquake zones. Another 10 million people live under constant threat of floods.
The ICRC report exposes another disturbing trend. As the number of natural disasters increases and losses escalate, the amount of aid is dropping. Over the last five years, emergency aid funds have dropped by 40%, and many insurance and reinsurance companies have refused to provide coverage in the Caribbean.
There is one message of hope in World Disasters Report 1999, and it lies in the data showing the success of disaster preparedness. In China, a recent analysis of disaster preparedness indicated that $3.5 billion invested in flood control over the last 40 years has saved the economy $12 billion in potential losses. The report concludes that more people have to change the way they look at disasters and change the system if they want to prevent loss of life and the wasting of donor funds. Spend more money before disaster strikes and invest in disaster preparedness, the report advises.
Information on how to order the World Disasters Report 1999 is available from the IFRC Web site: http://www.ifrc.org, or by e-mailing abonne@edigroup.int.ch.
The Department of Political Science, Oklahoma State University, invites applications for the position of coordinator for the Fire and Emergency Management Program. The department is looking for someone to coordinate and develop program and student activities for the newly developed master's option in Fire and Emergency Management. The position also requires teaching undergraduate fire and emergency management courses. The successful candidate must also be willing to seek outside funding for special projects related to the Fire and Emergency Management Program. Preference will be given to candidates possessing significant practical experience in the areas of fire safety and technology and/or emergency services management. Candidates must possess a master's degree. Screening of applicants will begin August 1, although applications will be accepted until the position is filled. To apply, send a letter of application, resume, three letters of recommendation, and transcripts to: Robert England, Department of Political Science, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078.
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) is seeking a full- time deputy executive director for its Fairfax, Virginia, headquarters. This person is responsible for internal management, supervision of the headquarters staff, and the development and conduct of internal personnel policy. He/she may also serve as IAFC liaison to various organizations and/or projects and committees. The candidate must possess a four-year college degree in human resources, management, association management, public policy, or a related field. Five to 10 years experience in personnel administration and management are required, as well as budget development/administration and fire/EMS experience. Applicants should submit a letter of interest, resume, and references to: Garry L. Briese, CAE, Executive Director, IAFC, 4025 Fair Ridge Drive, Fairfax, VA 22033.
[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]
ESRI Annual User Conference Preconference Seminars - GIS Technologies for Public Safety, Emergency Management, and Law Enforcement All-Day Seminar. San Diego, California: July 25, 1999. See: http://www.esri.com; registration forms are available from http://nt1.esri.com/uc/ucregistration.cfm. Or contact: Lis Welcker, Public Safety and Disaster Services, Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), Redlands, CA 92373; (909) 793-2853 ext. 2102; e-mail: lwelcker@esri.com.
Disaster Management Workshops. Offered by: University of Wisconsin- Madison, Department of Engineering Professional Development. Madison, Wisconsin: September 20-24, 1999. (Participants can enroll for one to five days - in any or all of five courses: Emergency Information Management; Disaster Communications; Response Planning; Damage, Needs, and Resources Assessment; Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting.) Contact: Katie Peterson, Department of Engineering Professional Development, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 432 North Lake Street, Madison, WI 53706; 1-800-462-0876; fax: (608) 263-3160; e-mail: custserv@epd.engr.wisc.edu; WWW: http://epd.engr.wisc.edu//brochures/8455.html.
Workshop on Geological and Biological Evidence for Global Catastrophes. Sponsor: Impact Program of the European Science Foundation. Quillan, France: September 26-30, 1999. Abstracts due August 15. Contact: E. Buffetaut, CNRS, 16 cour du Liegat, 75013 Paris, France; tel/fax: +33-1-45-84-81-45; e-mail: eric.buffetaut@wanadoo.fr; WWW: http://www.esf.org/life/lp/Impact/impacta.htm.
Semi-Annual Conference of the Floodplain Management Association (FMA): Watershed Management and Planning - A Broader Approach to Floodplain Management. Sacramento, California: September 28-October 1, 1999. Contact: Laura Hromadka, FMA, P.O. Box 2972, Mission Viejo, CA 92692; (949) 766-8112; fax: (949) 459-8364; e-mail: fmalaura@pacbell.net.
American Association of Avalanche Professionals (AAAP) Annual Meeting. Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah: First week in October, 1999. Contact: AAAP, P.O Box 1032, Bozeman, MT 59771-1032; (406) 587-3830; fax: (406) 586-4307; e-mail: avalpro@theglobal.net; WWW: http://www.avalanche.org.
World Conference on Injury Prevention and Control. Delhi, India: March 5-8, 2000. Contact: e-mail: awconfer@del2.vsnl.net.in; fax: (91-11) 684-8343.
Remote Sensing and Hydrology. Sponsor: International Committee on Remote Sensing and Data Transmission of IAHS. Santa Fe, New Mexico: April 2-7, 2000. Abstracts due July 31, 1999. Contact: Laura O'Hare, USDA-ARS Hydrology Lab, Room 104, Building 007, BARC-W, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350; WWW: http://hydrolab.arsusda.gov/cf2k/conf2000.htm.
International Public Works Congress and Exposition. Louisville, Kentucky: September 10-13, 2000. Includes sessions on emergency preparedness and response. Abstracts, session proposals due August 31, 1999. Contact: American Public Works Association, 2345 Grand Boulevard, Suite 500, Kansas City, MO 64108-2641; (816) 472-6100; fax: (816) 472-1610; e-mail: education@apwa.net; WWW: http://www.apwa.net.
International Snow Science Workshop 2000. Big Sky, Montana: October 2-6, 2000. Contact: Ed Adams, Civil Engineering, 205 Cobleigh Hall, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3900; (406) 994-6122; fax: (406) 994-6105; e-mail: eda@ce.montana.edu; WWW: http://www.coe.montana.edu/issw/.
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