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I work at the National (Disaster) Operations Centre, and I'm researching on risk and disaster management (doctorate level) in developing countries. I do, however, find (third world) material in this area very scanty. Most past researchers have focused their attention on developed countries. I shall be happy, therefore, to share my experiences with anyone out there willing to do the same.
Sincerely,
Austin
E-mail: aodicoh@insightkenya.com
A major part of our work involves producing briefing notes for members of both Houses of Parliament. Some time in the next six months we intend to produce such a note on the UK's scientific capabilities to predict and/or mitigate natural disasters (and possibly some human-originating ones, such as oil spills) in the UK's "Overseas Territories" - a disparate collection of places (mainly islands) scattered across the globe, from the Caribbean to the Pacific, taking in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
A "driving force" for this is the experience of Montserrat - and the recent "inquest" report produced by the Overseas Development Institute, but we will be taking a wider view, certainly covering other than volcanic incidents alone.
While we will primarily be interested in communicating with other UK members, one question that we will certainly be asking is whether other countries, with similar territorial responsibilities, "do it better," so we would welcome any perspectives from list members in countries such as France and the U.S.
As you may imagine, another driver is the concern about contingent liabilities that might accrue to the UK Treasury in the aftermath of any incident. This has been touched on by an earlier inquiry by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (though it was primarily concerned with liabilities arising from any financial scandals in the territories).
We have not yet determined the boundaries and contents of our briefing - when we do so, I will post our proposals and would welcome comment. Meanwhile, if anyone wishes to contact us with suggestions of any form, we would welcome them, as we are not experts in this area at all.
David Cope
POST
7 Millbank
Westminster, SW1P 3JA
England
Tel: +44 (020) 7219 2848
Fax: +44 (020) 7219 2849
E-mail: COPED@parliament.uk
Respectfully,
Ron
Ron Kuban, Ph.D.
President
Turning Point Group Inc.
WWW: http://www.turningpointgroup.com
E-mail: rkuban@compusmart.ab.ca
An important part of the process of developing resilient communities and good policies that will reduce the impact of natural disasters is to take stock of what we know and don't know, how it is or is not applied (and why), what the capacity is of existing disaster-related research, and what knowledge gaps need to be filled in order to achieve these goals. These sorts of exercises have been undertaken in other countries from time to time (for example, the U.S. has just completed their second hazards assessment). The purpose of this project is to undertake such an assessment for Canada. By its nature it must be broad-based and interdisciplinary, involving social and physical scientists, academics and practitioners, policy makers and communities. It is not intended to simply be an academic exercise, but one which will provide a guide for all users of natural disaster information of "a way ahead" that will reduce our future disaster experience.
The project will be guided by a small Steering Committee chaired by David Etkin of Environment Canada. A first workshop was held in Mississauga, May 11-12, 2000, in which 65 people developed a conceptual model and plan of action for the Canadian Natural Hazards Assessment Project. Although the participants came from a wide variety of backgrounds and from most regions of Canada, it is recognized that the circle of interests must be broadened still further. The plan calls for a two-tiered effort over a period of three years, during which a set of background papers will be developed that will serve as the basis for a plain language publication (Canadians at Risk: The Vulnerability of Canada to Natural Hazards/Disasters) aimed at a general audience. Unifying themes of risk and vulnerability will be used to create an integrated set of papers, which will all be based on a common template. The emphasis will be on providing a critical evaluation as opposed to a literature review. These papers will include 1) hazard-by-hazard assessments of physical and socioeconomic vulnerability, 2) assessments of adaptive/coping mechanisms, 3) case studies, 4) some sectoral studies, and 5) the potential impacts of global change. The set of background papers will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals where possible, in order to provide credibility for the assessment and to meet the publishing needs of the contributors.
In recent years Canada has experienced a dramatic increase in the costs resulting from natural disasters - examples include the 1998 ice storm, the 1996 Saguenay flood and the 1997 Red River flood. Trends in Canada reflect global trends that most other parts of the world have suffered since the late 1980s. These trends have been a driving force behind many national and international activities, including the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR), which ended in 1999, and its successor the United Nations' International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). Examinations of Canadian disasters suggest that they by no means represent a worst case scenario, and that significant vulnerabilities to natural events exist in Canada that will one day lead to disasters of proportions that will make the ones experienced thus far seem minor in comparison. Costs from natural disasters to the public purse, private sector, and individuals are very large and are likely to grow larger. It makes good sense for Canadians to develop a culture that will minimize those costs and the human misery that goes along with every disaster.
David Etkin
Ian Burton
For more information on the Canadian Assessment of Natural Hazards Project, contact David Etkin, (416) 978-6310, e-mail: david.etkin@ec.gc.ca.
Meetings to further the development of GDIN have been held in Washington, D.C., in July 1998, Mexico City in May 1999, and Ankara, Turkey, in April 2000. At the latter meeting, which involved representatives from 32 countries, a number of working groups were established to prepare more detailed reports for the fourth GDIN meeting scheduled for April 2001 in Canberra, Australia.
One of those groups - the Local Government Working Group - is a virtual group that is considering how GDIN can be of service to local governments: cities, counties, and provinces. The group is identifying problems that local governments face in disaster information management, especially in technology-challenged countries, and its work has included a study of local government user needs. The group has agreed that, in addition to providing disaster prevention technical information before events such as a hurricane, tornado, or flood, the network should assist in providing alerting and warning information immediately prior to a disaster. Also, after a disaster, emergency managers should consider the information needs of the first responders and a number of classes of victims.
The Local Government Virtual Working Group intends to examine both user requirements and information technology developments that will be presented at the GDIN Information Technology Exposition and Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, October 9-11, 2000 (for more information, see: http://www.erim-int.com/CONF/GDIN.html).
Persons interested in the Global Disaster Information Network will find additional information at http://www.gdin-international.org. Information on the Western Disaster Center is available at http://www.wdc.ndin.net.
Information on the activities of the Local Government Working Group at the Mexico City GDIN meeting is available at http://www.state.gov/www/issues/relief/coile.html. Information on the efforts of this working group at the Ankara, Turkey, GDIN meeting is available at http://www.gdin-international.org/ankara/coile.doc.
Anyone interested in participating in the virtual Local Government Working Group is invited to contact Russell C. Coile, CEM, Disaster Coordinator, Pacific Grove Fire Department, Pacific Grove, CA 93950-3317; tel: (831) 649-8946; fax: (831) 648-3107; e-mail: russell@coile.com.
The certificate courses have been chosen to provide working emergency managers with both new skills and broad knowledge that they can apply to their jobs; students can select courses that best enhance already completed training. Fall offerings include "Introduction to Emergency Services Management," "Social Dimensions of Disasters," and a research practicum.
The university has recently completed an agreement with Thomas Edison State College of New Jersey that allows individuals completing the certificate to apply the courses toward Thomas Edison's degree in Emergency Disaster Management.
For more information, contact Walter G. Green III, University of Richmond, School of Continuing Studies, Richmond, VA 23173; (804) 289- 8133; e-mail: wgreen@richmond.edu.
http://www.fema.gov/nwz00/survivorfire.htm
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has published a timely
special issue of its Recovery Times newsletter entitled "Surviving
the Storm - A Guide to Wildfire Preparedness." The document describes
the actions that homeowners can take to prepare for and combat
wildfires.
http://www.nationalatlas.gov
In 1970, the U.S. Geological Survey published its first National
Atlas and in 1997 began compiling an even more extensive digital
database that is now available at no cost from the Web. The site
enables a viewer to zoom in and out and download any of dozens of
different informational layers. A user can choose a geographical focus
and then, if interested in hazards, download information on active
volcanoes, the West Nile virus, dams, significant and historic
earthquakes, or zebra mussels. (If, on the other hand, you're
interested in lepidoptera, you could download information about
butterfly or moth distribution . . .)
http://www.floods.org
The Web site of the Association of State Floodplain Managers
(ASFPM) now offers several new documents, including a Study of the
Economic Effects of Charging Actuarially Based Premium Rates for Pre-
FIRM [Flood Insurance Rate Map] Structures. The study found that if
the flood insurance subsidy were eliminated among the many pre-FIRM
policies, within a year the average premium would increase from $585
to about $2,000 per year. The study then analyzes various scenarios
for eliminating the subsidy. FEMA has proposed adopting a plan under
which all pre-FIRM policies, other than those for principal
residences, would move to actuarial rates over a seven-year period.
The rates for principal residences would be reduced more gradually.
The site also offers a summary of national flood policy changes
recommended by the ASFPM and other news from the association.
http://www.naem.com/connection.html
The Connection newsletter comprises articles written by people
from around the country involved in local preparation for and
mitigation of emergencies. It includes profiles of specific local
organizations and activities, particularly showcasing Community
Emergency Response Teams (CERTs). The editors of The Connection
welcome article submissions. The deadline for the next issue is
February 15, 2001, and guidelines are available from the newsletter's
Web site. In addition, the editors are assembling a list of CERT-type
community programs with contact information for program coordinators.
A submission form for such information is also available from the
site. For more information about CERTs, see the FEMA Web site:
http://www.fema.gov/emi/cert/.
http://www.cred.be
The Web site for the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of
Disasters (CRED) at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, has
recently moved to this URL. CRED maintains one of the most extensive
databases on disasters available on the Web. This site not only
provides access to that database, but also offers news and information
about the center, including details about projects, courses,
personnel, research, and more.
http://www.seismic.ca.gov
The California Seismic Safety Commission has put three new
publications on-line at the address above - free for patient
downloaders of Adobe Acrobat (PDF) files.
http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/geol204/
Stephen Nelson, associate professor of geology at Tulane
University, developed this site for a course he teaches on natural
disasters. It primarily covers the geologic aspects of natural
disasters, but also touches on severe weather. Nelson encourages any
DR readers that find errors or problems with the material to contact
him: Stephen A. Nelson, Associate Professor/Chair, Department of
Geology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118; (504) 862-3194;
fax: (504) 865-5199; e-mail: snelson@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu.
majordomo@ucar.edu
http://www.esig.ucar.edu/socasp/zine/
Those hard-working folks at the Environmental and Societal
Impacts Group (ESIG) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research
(NCAR) have announced a new e-mail listserve and an educational
resource guide for persons interested in research regarding the policy
aspects of meteorology and climate hazards. The list is called
"weather-policy"; to join, send an e-mail to majordomo@ucar.edu and in
the body of the message type:
subscribe weather-policy (your e-mail address).
For additional information about the resource guide and ESIG's
involvement in this area generally, contact Roger A. Pielke, Jr.,
ESIG/NCAR, e-mail: rogerp@ucar.edu; and/or see the opening editorial
in the August 2000 edition of ESIG's on-line Weatherzine:
http://www.esig.ucar.edu/socasp/zine/.
The most recent courses to be added to the program (there are now at least 10 available) are "Emergency Management Principles and Application for Tourism, Hospitality, and Travel Management Industries" and "Terrorism and Emergency Management." The complete materials for these courses (running to hundreds of pages) are available on CD-ROM from Wayne Blanchard, Higher Education Project, FEMA Emergency Management Institute, Building N, Room 430, 16825 South Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, MD 21727; (301) 447-1262; fax: (301) 447- 1598; e-mail: wayne.blanchard@fema.gov.
Wade Guice Hurricane Museum. Funding: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, $100,000, 12 months. For further information, contact Clif Lusk or Robert Boteler, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, P.O. Box 4501, Jackson, MS 39296-4501; (601) 352-9100; fax: (601) 352-8314; WWW: http://www.memaorg.com/index2.htm.
Tornado Shelter Options and Shelter-Seeking Behavior of Mobile Home Residents. Funding: National Science Foundation, $84,040, six months. Principal Investigator: Thomas W. Schmidlin, Department of Geography, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242-0001; (330) 672-2045; fax: (330) 672-4304; e-mail: tschmidl@kent.edu.
The Anthropology of Health During Reconstruction in Post-Hurricane Honduras. Funding: National Science Foundation, $71,378, 12 months. Principal Investigators: James P. Stansbury and Anthony Oliver-Smith, Department of Anthropology, P.O. Box 117305, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7305; (352) 392-2253; e-mail: jpstans@anthro.ufl.edu and aros@ufl.edu.
Research and Education in Natural Disaster Risk Assessment. Funding: National Science Foundation, $200,000, 48 months. Principal Investigator: Rachel A. Davidson, Department of Civil Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28223; (704) 547-2930; fax: (704) 510-6953; e-mail: radavids@uncc.edu.
Advanced Simulation Methods for Seismic Performance of Urban Regions. Funding: National Science Foundation, $383,388, 14 months. Principal Investigator: J. Donald Trotter, Engineering Research Center (ERC), Room 1, Box 9627, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762; (662) 325-3671; e-mail: trotter@erc.msstate.edu.
An Investigation of the Geotechnical Aspects of the June 1999 Central Mexico Earthquakes: Preliminary Assessment. Funding: National Science Foundation, $12,110, 12 months. Principal Investigator: Jonathan D. Bray, Civil and Environmental Engineering, 437 Davis Hall, MC 1710, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1710; (510) 642-9843; fax: (510) 642-7476; bray@ce.berkeley.edu.
Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering Reconnaissance of the November 12, 1999, Duzce, Turkey Earthquake. Funding: National Science Foundation, $25,000, six months. Principal Investigator: Jean-Pierre Bardet, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Southern California; (213) 740-0608; fax: (213) 744-1426; e-mail: bardet@usc.edu.
Rapid Generation of Ground Motion Maps of the 8/17/99 Turkey and 9/20/99 Taiwan Earthquakes. Funding: National Science Foundation, $49,953, 12 months. Principal Investigators: Paul G. Somerville and Arben Pitarka, URS Greiner Woodward Clyde, 566 El Dorado Street, Suite 100, Pasadena, CA 91101; (818) 449-7650, e-mail: Paul_Somerville@urscorp.com.
High-Resolution Climate and Land-Use Records from Cave Stalagmites and County Gasetters for China Over the Last 2,000 Years. Funding: National Science Foundation, $10,000,18 months. Principal Investigator: George A. Brook, Department of Geography, GGS Building, Room #204, Athens, GA 30602-2502; (706) 542-2856; fax: (706) 542-2388; e-mail: gabrook@arches.uga.edu.
Women's Leadership Training to Develop Neighborhood Networks in Ukraine. Funding: U.S. Department of State; $126,929; 12 months. Principal Investigators: Marion McNamara, Office of International Research and Development, Snell Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331; (541) 737-6419; e-mail: mcnamarm@ucs.orst.edu; and Roberta Hall, Anthropology Department, Waldo Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331; (541) 737-3860; e-mail: rhall@orst.edu.
Increasing the State of Washington State Emergency Management Division's GIS/Remote Sensing. Funding: Washington State Emergency Management Division, $80,000, 12 months. Principal Investigators: Robert Freitag, Frank Westerlund, and Earl Bell, Institute for Hazard Mitigation Planning and Research, Box 355740, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-5740; (206) 616-2395; fax: (206) 685-9597; e-mail: bfreitag@u.washington.edu; WWW: http://depts.washington.edu/mitigate.
Tribal Emergency Management Conference: "Honoring our Partnerships, A Vision for Emergency Management in Indian Country." Sponsor: Federal Emergency Management Agency. Rapid City, South Dakota: September 26-28, 2000. For complete information, see: http://www.fema.gov/Reg-VIII/tribal/conf.htm.
Virtual Fire Safety Symposium: "Firefighter Safety at Emergency Incidents." Sponsor: Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI). On the Internet: October 16-20, 2000. See: http://www.riskinstitute.org.
Watershed Workshop on River, Floodplain, and Wetland Restoration. Organizer: Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM). Louisville, Kentucky: October 17-18, 2000. See: http://www.floods.org, or contact: Diane A. Brown Watson, ASFPM Administrator, 2809 Fish Hatchery Road, Suite 204, Madison, WI 53713; (608) 274-0123; fax: (608) 274-0696.
Civil Defence: A Tool for Sustainable Development. Organizer: International Civil Defence Organization (ICDO). Geneva, Switzerland: October 30-November 1, 2000. Contact: ICDO, Permanent Secretariat, Chemin de Surville, 10-12, P.O. Box 172, CH-1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Geneva, Switzerland; tel: (41 22) 879 69 69; fax: (41 22) 879 69 79; e-mail: icdo@icdo.org; WWW: http://www.icdo.org.
Interregional Local and Community-Level Disaster Risk Management (LCLDRM-3) Course. Offered by: Asia Pacific Disaster Management Center (APDMC), in cooperation with APDMC partners in other regions including Peri Peri (Southern Africa), La Red (Peru), and DMI (Gujarat). Makati City, Philippines. October 30-November 10, 2000. This course has been accredited by Charles Sturt University, Australia, and has an associated distance learning component leading to a "Graduate Certificate in Emergency Management." Contact: Sanny Jegillos, Director Asia Operations, APDMC, P.O. Box 1005, Makati Central Post Office, 1250 Makati City, Philippines; tel: (632) 810-5444; fax: (632) 817-0894; e-mail: apdmc@nsclub.net.
American Academy of Medical Administrators 43rd Annual Conference and Convocation. New Orleans, Louisiana: November 9-11, 2000. Includes numerous American College of Contingency Planners sessions on "Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance: Domestic and International Perspectives." Contact: American Academy of Medical Administrators Foundation, 701 Lee Street, Suite 600, Des Plaines, IL 60016; fax: (847) 759-8602; WWW: http://www.aameda.org.
SR/DR [Search and Rescue/Disaster Response]-Texas A&M Emergency Services Training Institute Fall Regional Conference: "Disaster City." College Station, Texas: November 17-19, 2000. "This conference will consist entirely of hands-on workshops, with little or no classroom sessions." Contact: SR/DR, 5161 Rummels Road, Conover, WI 54519; (715) 547-3340; fax: (715) 547-3348; e-mail: srdr@newnorth.net; WWW: http://srdr.com or http://teexweb.tamu.edu/esti.
Emergency Preparedness for the Americas Conference. Sponsor: U.S. Trade and Development Agency. San Juan, Puerto Rico: December 4-6, 2000. Contact: Sylvia Szankay, Technical Resources International, Inc., 6500 Rock Spring Drive, Suite 650, Rockville, MD 20817; (301) 897-7482; fax: (301) 897-7400; e-mail: sszankay@tech-res.com; WWW: http://www.tech-res-intl.com.
SR/DR [Search and Rescue/Disaster Response] Southeast Regional Conference. Jacksonville, Florida: February 1-5, 2001. Contact: SR/DR, 5161 Rummels Road, Conover, WI 54519; (715) 547-3340; fax: (715) 547- 3348; e-mail: SR/DR Events, srdr@newnorth.net; WWW: http://srdr.com.
Riparian Habitat and Floodplains. Sponsors: U.S. Forest Service and others. Sacramento, California: March 12-15, 2001. Abstracts due November 17, 2000. Contact: Diana Craig, (707) 562-8930; e-mail: dcraig01@fs.fed.us; WWW: http://www.tws-west.org/riparian.
Fourth International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics. San Diego, California: March 26-31, 2001. Includes a special session on "Geotechnical Aspects of the Taiwan, Turkey, Greece, and Other Recent Earthquakes." For technical questions and/or matters contact: Shamsher Prakash, Civil Engineering Department, University of Missouri-Rolla, 1870 Miner Circle, Rolla, MO 65409-0030; (573) 341-4489; fax: (573) 341-6553/4721/4992; e-mail: prakash@umr.edu; WWW: http://www.umr.edu/~conted/conf8767.html. For all other questions and matters contact: Thomas Cruz Custer, e-mail: custert@umr.edu; fax: (573) 341-4992.
Second International Workshop on Statistical Seismology. Sponsors: International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI) and others. Wellington, New Zealand: April 18-21, 2001. Abstracts due February 2001. See: http://www.statsresearch.co.nz/statsei2; or e-mail: David.Vere-Jones@vuw.ac.nz.
12th World Congress on Disaster Medicine. Organizer: World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine. Lyon, France: May 9-12, 2001. Contact: WDCEM 2001, 1 rue de la Banniere, 69003 Lyon, France; fax: 33 (0)4 72 60 92 89; e-mail: wcdem2001@aol.com; WWW: http://www.wcdem2001.org.
World Water and Environmental Resources Congress. Sponsors: American Society of Civil Engineers and others. Orlando, Florida: May 20-24, 2001. The congress will include a session on disaster mitigation entitled "Information and Technology in Disaster Mitigation" organized by Slobodan P. Simonovic of the University of Manitoba. Professor Simonovic is seeking submissions for this session. Registration and paper submission are managed electronically; interested persons should see: http://www.asce.org/conferences/wwercongress/call.html. The session number is: s-qcq9. For additional information, contact: Slobodan P. Simonovic, Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada R3T 2N2; (204) 474-8375; fax: (204) 261-0038; e-mail: slobodan_simonovic@umanitoba.ca.
First World Congress on Disaster Reduction. Sponsors: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and others. Washington, D.C.: August 19-24, 2001. Contact: Walter Hays, ASCE, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA 20191; (703) 295-6054; e-mail: whays@asce.org; or Michael Cassaro, ASCE; e-mail: macass@aye.net; WWW: http://www.asce.org/conferences/disaster2001/.
10th International Conference on Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering (SDEE'2001). Sponsors: Drexel University, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, and others. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: October 7-10, 2001. Abstracts due October 1, 2000. Contact: Aspasia Zerva, SDEE Conference Secretariat, Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104; (215) 895-2340; fax: (215) 895-1363; e-mail: sdee2001@drexel.edu; WWW: http://www.drexel.edu/sdee2001.
Eleventh International Conference on Wind Engineering. Lubbock, Texas: June 2-5, 2003. Contact: Wind Engineering Research Center, Box 41023, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-1023; (806) 742-3476; fax: (806) 742-3446; e-mail: webmaster@wind.ttu.edu; WWW: http://www.icwe.ttu.edu.
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