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Specifically, the database will include experts who can help localities understand, plan for, and execute holistic recovery activities and policies that will enhance a community's sustainability, including resilience in the face of hazards, environmental quality, livability, economic vitality, and social equity. It will include names, contact information, and brief background data (such as area of expertise and prior disaster experience).
Areas in which experts are being sought include: recovery, hazard mitigation, intergenerational equity, social equity, economic development, business recovery, environmental quality, consensus building, public participation, livability, smart growth, and related topics.
Having one's name listed in the database does not constitute a commitment to participate in any future disaster recovery. However, the information may be made accessible, perhaps via a Web site, in the future.
Persons who would like to be listed in the database or who know of other persons or groups who ought to be should e-mail the Hazards Center's Program Manager, Jacki Monday, at jacque.monday@colorado.edu for more information.
However we received the note below from our friend and colleague, Mihir Bhatt, a disaster mitigation scholar in Ahmedabad, and we pass it along verbatim:
We had very severe earthquake on January 26, 2001, richter scale 7.9. Many towns and cities are affected. Huge loss of human lives estimated at 50000, high rise flats and other houses are damaged. Relief works is in progress.We are actively engaged in relief activities. Do donate for earthquake relief in Gujarat. DMI [Disaster Mitigation Institute] has received 80G Certificate from the Commissioner of Income Tax, Government of India. This allows DMI to receive donations from individuals and organisations. The donations are 50% tax deductible. The amount will be useful in building DMI's Livelihood Relief Fund. Send your donations to Ms. Arpita Chhatrapati, Tel/Fax: 0091-79-6587890, and E-mail: dmi@southasiadisasters.net.
Please visit our website http://www.southasiadisasters.net for more information on earthquake and relief fund.
Our Earthquake Relief & Information Centre's telephone numbers and address are: "Ashish", 25, Vasundhara Colony, Gulbai Tekra, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad-380006, Tel: 0091-79-6568421, Mobile: 98240 51148, 98240 51183
Yours sincerely,
Mihir R. Bhatt
Disaster Mitigation Institute
411, Sakar Five
Near Natraj Cinema, Ashram Road
Ahmedabad - 380 009, India
Tel: 0091-79-6586234/6583607
Fax: 0091-79-6582962
E-mail: dmi@southasiadisasters.net
Christy Thomas
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
E-mail: recycling@ci.lincoln.ne.us
Cynthia McLean
E-mail: cynthiamclean@hotmail.com
With these words, the work group supporting the Natural Disaster Caucus of the U.S. Congress recently introduced a call to refocus America's disaster policy. Intended as a transition document to guide the new administration, A National Priority: Building Resilience to Natural Hazards, notes that, "Today, we possess unprecedented means to anticipate hazards, protect citizens and property, and reduce accompanying disruption. There is a flip side, however: in the aftermath of disasters, today's public officials are rarely held blameless."
The statement sites the increasing costs of disasters in the U.S. and the reasons for those increases - primarily population growth and increased occupance of hazard-prone areas, combined with our increasing wealth. It then goes on to outline the kinds of issues the current and future administrations will face and lists nine steps to increase national resilience to extreme events:
The work group is composed of representatives from many of the nation's leading professional and scientific societies, relief organizations, higher education associations, institutions of higher learning, trade associations, and private companies involved in disaster reduction.
The complete text of A National Priority: Building Resilience to Natural Hazards is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.ucar.edu/communications/awareness/2001.
For further information on the Natural Hazards Caucus Work Group and its activities, see http://www.agiweb.org/workgroup or contact the work group co-chairs: David Applegate (703) 379-2480, ext. 228, e-mail: applegate@agiweb.org; and Peter Folger, (202) 777-7509; e-mail: pfolger@agu.org.
http://www.fema.gov/mit/planning.htm
On January 17, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's
Mitigation Directorate unveiled a new Web site for hazard mitigation
planning. In launching the site, the agency said, "We believe the
information contained here will be a critical resource for all who are
involved in establishing disaster resilient communities throughout our
nation. Hazard mitigation planning is a collaborative process whereby
hazards affecting the community are identified, vulnerability to the
hazards assessed, and consensus reached on how to minimize or
eliminate the effects of these hazards. . . . Based on the lessons of
the '90s, it became apparent that the nation needed to shift its
approach from a disaster-response driven system to a system based on
pre-disaster or ongoing risk analysis so that we could become
proactive rather than reactive to hazard events. . . . As a result . .
. a unit for Hazard Mitigation Planning was established within the
Directorate in 1998 to provide guidance and resources to States and
local communities to promote and support the mitigation planning
process. FEMA therefore places much value on the planning process as
an approach to mitigation that must be promoted and supported in order
to build sustainable, disaster resilient communities!"
The site's information is organized into three sections: What's Currently on the Shelf; What's New; and On the Horizon. The developers welcome comments and recommendations. Suggestions should be directed to Gil Jamieson, Chief, Planning Branch, Mitigation Directorate, FEMA, 500 C Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20472; (202) 646-4090; e-mail: gil.jamieson@fema.gov.
http://www.esig.ucar.edu/sourcebook
Our ever-toiling colleagues in the Environmental and Societal
Impacts Group at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, in
cooperation with the Atmospheric Policy Program of the American
Meteorological Society, have recently released their 2001 Extreme
Weather Sourcebook - an encyclopedic compilation of statistics
regarding "Economic and Other Societal Impacts Related to Hurricanes,
Floods, Tornadoes, Lightning, and Other U.S. Weather Phenomena." The
goal of the report is to educate and stimulate interest in the
societal impacts of weather in the U.S. The wealth of information is
too great to present here, but a few highlights include:
http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/disasterdiplomacy/
"Disaster diplomacy" refers to the occurrence or threat of disaster
facilitating cooperation among states in conflict. This Web site has
been created "to foster discussion on applying disaster diplomacy to
improving all disaster management activities when confronted with
international political barriers and to recognizing the true role of
disaster in international affairs. The goal is to determine if, how,
and when disaster diplomacy could bring about advantageous
change. . . . Disaster diplomacy, should it turn out to be a viable
route for change, is far better than what is often the usual inertia
of disastrous diplomacy."
The site includes abstracts from a special issue of the Cambridge Review of International Affairs (Vol. XIV, No. 1, 2000) focusing on disaster diplomacy. The articles include:
http://www.nifc.gov/fire_policy/
The U.S. Interagency Federal Wildland Fire Policy Review Working
Group, at the direction of the secretaries of the Interior and
Agriculture recently completed a review of the 1995 Federal Wildland
Fire Management Policy & Program Review and its implementation. This
"Review and Update" is now available from the Web site above. With its
findings and recommendations, the update provides a broad
philosophical and policy foundation for federal agency fire management
programs and activities. The working group reached the following
principal conclusions:
http://www.damsafety.org
The Association of State Dam Safety Officials has launched a new
Web site, which features current news, information on upcoming
conferences and seminars, a secure on-line membership application, a
bibliography of dam safety references, and much more. Comments and
suggestions regarding the site can be e-mailed to info@damsafety.org.
http://www.bghrc.com (click on "Disaster Management")
The Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre at University College
London has launched a series of Disaster Management Working Papers
designed to make new evidence, analysis, and ideas available to
researchers and practitioners worldwide. The editors envision five
main categories of papers: research papers, case studies, field notes,
discussion papers, and guidelines and training materials. The first
working paper is a discussion piece entitled Physician Heal Thyself?
The Politics of Disaster Mitigation, by John Twigg of the centre. The
paper looks at some of the reasons why so little is being done to
reduce people's vulnerability to natural disasters and suggests that
part of the problem lies within the so-called disaster "community" and
that the problem is political - in the broadest sense of the word.
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/recon/crisis/publ/wp1.htm
The overall goal of the International Labor Organization (ILO)
InFocus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction is to develop
the ILO's coherent and rapid response to different crises - natural
disasters, armed conflicts, financial and economic downturns, and
difficult political and social transitions. The working paper, Gender
and Natural Disasters by Elaine Enarson - available at the URL above
- is one of the first outputs of the program's research effort
undertaken in consultation with an external network of researchers
from various universities and other research institutions around the
world.
In her paper, Enarson provides a careful analysis of the gender facets of natural disasters. The report covers four main topics: the social construction of vulnerability to "natural" disasters, particularly on the basis of gender relations; the specific impacts of disasters on women's paid and unpaid work; six core action issues arising from these patterns; and policy and research implications for using knowledge about gender, work, and employment in natural disaster management. Some impacts of disasters on men are also highlighted, and notably, the data assembled cover both developing and developed countries.
Three broad conclusions emerge: First, that both women and men have specific short-term needs and long-term interests in disasters; second, that women are key economic actors throughout the disaster cycle of preparedness, mitigation, relief, and reconstruction; and third, that women's economic vulnerability to future disasters is increased by lack of attention to gender equity in disaster interventions. The paper concludes with recommendations and proposals regarding how the identified gender issues can and should be routinely taken into account in crisis response and reconstruction.
http://www.anglia.ac.uk/geography/gdn
http://www.anglia.ac.uk/geography/gdn/whatsoutthere.html
Speaking of gender in disaster, the Gender and Disaster Network
Web site includes numerous papers and much additional information on
these issues, including a complete World Bank draft report on gender
impacts during Hurricane Mitch (Delaney and Shrader, 2000), and
conference proceedings from last June's conference, "Reaching Women
and Children in Disasters."
http://www.ussartf.org/
The United States Search and Rescue Task Force is a not-for-
profit corporation dedicated to serving communities throughout the
nation. The task force Web site is "designed to meet the needs of the
search and rescue and disaster response community, public safety
agencies and . . . the public." It provides extensive educational
information on search and rescue, guides to search and rescue
services, and information a wide variety of hazard-related topics -
from terrorism to tornadoes, earthquakes, and Lyme disease. For
in-depth information about this organization, contact the United
States Search and Rescue Task Force, P.O. Box 11292, Elkins Park, PA
19027; (215) 922-7225; e-mail: ussartf@ussartf.org.
Three sites that we recently added to our list of tsunami Web pages (http://www.Colorado.EDU/hazards/sites/tsunamis.html):
As part of the NEES development process, NSF recently released Program Solicitation NSF 01-56: "George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES): Consortium Development."
That solicitation "requests proposals for a small team to initiate and coordinate activities with the earthquake engineering community, over a maximum three-year period with a target award date of October 1, 2001, that will result in the development and formation of a single community-based and community-led NEES Consortium. The NEES Consortium will be the single entity that will operate the NEES collaboratory for the ten-year period from October 1, 2004, through September 30, 2014. . . . The collaboratory will include approximately 20 geographically- distributed, shared-use next generation earthquake engineering experimental research equipment installations . . . networked together through the high performance Internet. . . . Two major milestones of the NEES Consortium development award are the following: (a) by October 1, 2003, or earlier, the NEES Consortium must be formally incorporated as a legal entity within the United States in order to receive awards, for operation and activities, from the federal government, over the period from October 1, 2004, through September 30, 2014, and (b) by October 1, 2003, a proposal must be submitted to NSF by the NEES Consortium for operation of the NEES collaboratory from October 1, 2004, through September 30, 2014."
For the complete solicitation, including details about proposal preparation, see the NEES Web site: http://www.eng.nsf.gov/nees. That site also offers extensive background information about this project. Letters of intent are due May 4, 2001.
The NSF program officer is Joy M. Pauschke, NEES Program Director, Engineering, Civil and Mechanical Systems, Room 545, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22230; (703) 292-7024; fax: (703) 292-9053; e-mail: jpauschk@nsf.gov.
Questions and suggestions about NEES can be e-mailed to nees@nsf.gov.
To ensure full consideration, candidates should submit a letter of application, vita, and three letters of reference. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled and should be mailed immediately to Faculty Search Committee, Department of Public Administration, P.O. Box 310617, Denton, TX 76203-0617. Letters of interest and vitae may also be e-mailed to tnelson@scs.cmm.unt.edu.
Task Manager Responsibilities
In the department's organization, the management of individual projects is assigned to task managers. Potential responsibilities for the task manager are described below.
Task Manager for task orders on FEMA contracts: The task manager is responsible for management of individual task orders on Dewberry & Davis' three FEMA contracts: the TAC, the Flood Map Production Coordination Contract (FMPCC), and the Hazard Mitigation Technical Assistance Contract (HMTAC). In this role, the task manager is responsible for determining client needs, developing cost proposals and scopes of work, obtaining resources (within and outside the firm) to complete tasks, managing the efforts of the project leader, monitoring budgets, and ensuring that all work meets with the client's expectations. The task manager is responsible for the quality of work on these task orders and may be asked to provide quality review on work that is the responsibility of other task managers.
Task Manager for other projects: As with the work on FEMA contracts, the task manager has similar responsibilities for contracts with other clients. With some contracts, the task manager may serve as project manager and have additional responsibilities associated with contract management and billing.
Assistant Project Director, TAC: As Assistant Project Director, the task manager works with the Project Director to ensure that the joint venture delivers quality services to FEMA in an efficient and timely manner. Responsibilities include assisting the Project Director with management and staffing of new assignments, participating in joint venture meetings, representing the joint venture before FEMA and other contractors, marketing the joint venture to FEMA regional offices, and meeting with staff and client representatives on-site during field activities.
Deputy Project Manager, HMTAC: As Deputy Project Manager, the task manager works with the Project Manager to ensure that Dewberry delivers quality services to URS/FEMA in an efficient and timely manner. Responsibilities include assisting the Project Manager with management and staffing of new assignments, participating in project meetings, representing Dewberry before URS/FEMA and other contractors, marketing Dewberry to URS/FEMA, and meeting with staff and client representatives on-site during field activities. The Deputy Project Manager assists the Project Manager with the development of workplans and cost estimates for individual task orders, ensures setup of tasks within the Dewberry accounting system, and ensures that invoices are up to date and accurate.
Group Leader Responsibilities
Within the department organization, the task manager may also be a group leader. The group leader, as manager for three to five people, is responsible for managing the workload and priorities of the members of his or her group and for ensuring that the performance of group members meets the needs and expectations of other task managers and project leaders.
Business development: Working with the department manager, the task manager may engage in a variety of business development activities, including attending conferences, developing capture plans, preparing proposals, and meeting with potential clients and partners.
Qualifications
The employee should have 10 to 15 years experience in the field of consulting services, extensive experience in both project and personnel management, and experience with federal contracts. A background in civil engineering is recommended but not required.
For additional information, or to apply, contact: Dennis Kwiatkowski, Dewberry & Davis, 8401 Arlington Boulevard, Fairfax, VA 22031-4666; (703) 206-0851; fax: (703) 206-0803; e-mail: dkwiatkowski@dewberry.com.
A supplementary call for papers has just been issued for a sixth session: "Disaster and Development: Bringing Together Divided Disciplines, Theory and Practice."
The content and aims of this session are as follows: Disaster and development are separate traditions within both professional practice and academic disciplines. Workers and researchers only rarely transfer knowledge between them and yet each group could contribute much to the other. The aim of this session is to seek to break down this division and broaden our understanding of what hazard and disaster management should encompass in order to function effectively and sustainably in both the developed North and the developing South. "Development" here includes the academic discipline of development studies and the practice of development initiatives and projects - usually undertaken in and on developing countries; and the incorporation of long-term socioeconomic development initiatives into disaster management within a developed world context. In doing this we intend to explore a) the contribution that development studies and practice which focus on the developing world can make to disaster management in a developed world context, b) the possible benefits from reversing the dominant direction of information flow from the North to the South, and c) examples of best practice in sustainable disaster management that can be transferable across social and spatial boundaries.
Colleagues interested in participating in the new session are urged to send electronically an abstract of not more than 250 words to Maureen Fordham, e-mail: m.h.fordham@anglia.ac.uk, with a copy to N. Petropoulos, e-mail: erc@otenet.gr as soon as possible. Prospective participants are also required to submit their abstract to the Conference Secretariat using the official abstract form available at http://www.valt.helsinki.fi/esa/.
International Conference on Forecasting Monsoons from Days to Years. New Delhi, India: March 21-22, 2001. Followed by the Second WMO Workshop on Forecasting Monsoons from Days to Years. New Delhi, India: March 23-28. Presented by: India Meteorological Department and India Meteorological Society. Contact: Professor S.K. Dube, Chairperson, Local Organizing Committee, Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi-110 016, India: tel: 91-11-4694639; fax: 91-11-4690108; e-mail: skdube@cas.iitd.ernet.in; WWW: http://www.ncmrwf.gov.in/icom.html.
National Symposium on Mitigating Severe Weather Impacts: Design for Disaster Reduction. Host: International Center for Natural Hazards and Disaster Research, University of Oklahoma. Tulsa, Oklahoma: March 31- April 5, 2001. Contact: Cindy Ward, Manager of Special Projects, International Center for Natural Hazards and Disaster Research, University of Oklahoma, 710 Asp Avenue, Suite 8, Norman, OK 73069; (405) 447-8418; e-mail: cward@ou.edu.
41st Annual North American Snow Conference. Sponsor: American Public Works Association (APWA). Indianapolis, Indiana: April 8-11, 2001. Contact: APWA, P.O. Box 802-296, Kansas City, MO 64180-2296; (816) 472-6100; fax: (816) 472-1610; e-mail snow@apwa.net; WWW: http://www.apwa.net/Meetings/Snow/2001/.
2001 National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Conference. Dallas, Texas: April 21-25, 2001. Contact: NDMS, 12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 360, Rockville, MD 20857; (301) 443-1167, (800) 872-6367; fax: (301) 443-5146, (800) 872-5945; e-mail: ndms@usa.net; WWW: http://www.oep-ndms.dhhs.gov.
Underwater Ground Failures on Tsunami Generation, Modeling, Risk and Mitigation. NATO Advanced Research Workshop. Istanbul, Turkey: May 23-26, 2001. Abstracts due February 28. See: http://www.tsunami.metu.edu.tr/ -or- http://www.natoarw.metu.edu.tr/ for more information and on-line registration. Replies, comments, and applications can be e-mailed to natoarw@metu.edu.tr.
Global Change Open Science Conference: Challenges of a Changing Earth. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: July 10-13, 2001. Contact: Conference Secretariat, Congrex Holland BY, P.O. Box 302, 1000 AH Amsterdam, The Netherlands; tel: 31-20-5040-208; fax: 31-20-5040-225; e-mail: annemiek@congrex.nl; WWW: http://www.sciconf.igbp.kva.se.
International Conference on Disaster Management. Hosted by: International Association of Disaster Management. Orlando, Florida: August 6-10, 2001. Contact: Conference Organizing Committee, International Conference on Disaster Management, 2952 Wellington Circle, Tallahassee, FL 32308; (850) 906-9221; fax: (850) 906-9228; e-mail: mail@disastermeeting.com; WWW: http://www.disastermeeting.com.
International Exhibition for Disaster Control and Emergency Treatment Services. Organizer: Civil Defense Office of Shanghai Municipal Government. Shanghai, China: August 15-18, 2001. Contact: Kwan Chu, Education Network and Exhibition Services Ltd., 14E Cindic Tower, 128 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong, China; tel: 852 2598 7556; fax: 852 2598 0302; e-mail: enesjonathan@ctimail3.com.
Climate Conference 2001. Host: Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU). Utrecht, The Netherlands: August 20-24, 2001. Contact: Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU), Princetonplein 5, P.O. Box 80005, NL-3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands; tel: 31-30-253-3275; fax: 31-30-254-3163; e-mail: cc2001@phys.uu.nl; -or- Utrecht University Congress Bureau, c/o M. van Haersma Buma, P.O. Box 80125, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands; tel: 31-30-253-2728; fax: 31- 30-253-5851; e-mail: m.buma@fbu.uu.nl; WWW: http://www.phys.uu.nl/~wwwimau/cc2001.html.
Disaster and Crisis Management: Prepare, Prevent, Prevail. Throggs Neck, New York: September 30-October 3, 2001. Contact: State University of New York Maritime College, Center for Disaster and Crisis Management, 6 Pennyfield Avenue, Fort Schuyler, New York 10465; (718) 409-7459; http://www.sunymaritime.edu/ACADEMICS/undergraduate/cdcm.asp.
National Floodproofing Conference II. Sponsors: Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) and others. Tampa, Florida: February 2002. For more information, contact Diane Brown Watson, ASFPM, 2809 Fish Hatchery Road, Suite 204, Madison, WI 53713; (608) 274-0123; fax: (608) 274-0696; e-mail: asfpm@floods.org; WWW: http://www.floods.org.
Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) Annual Conference(s).
- Phoenix, Arizona: June 23-28, 2002
- St. Louis, Missouri: May 11-16, 2003
Contact: Diane Brown Watson, ASFPM, 2809 Fish
Hatchery Road, Suite 204, Madison, WI 53713; (608) 274-0123; fax:
(608) 274-0696; e-mail: asfpm@floods.org; WWW: http://www.floods.org.
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