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There is still time to register for the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center's new training course, "Holistic Disaster Recovery," to be held August 27-30, 2001, in Boulder, Colorado.
The course is aimed at decision makers and managers working at or with local governments and will teach them, through presentations and exercises, how a community can build sustainability during recovery from a natural disaster. This is a broader, more comprehensive way of handling the aftermath of a disaster, and focuses on finding ways to improve many aspects of a community while undertaking the inevitable postdisaster rebuilding and reconstruction.
Information about the course and a registration form are available on the
Hazards Center's web site:
One of our Senior Education Officers is working on a project to develop guidelines for emergency managers in dealing with communities or people with a non-English-speaking background, or who are culturally or linguistically diverse. We are really scratching to find anything, hence the need for the development of guidelines.
Can any DR readers suggest useful research or documents? As all of our countries are culturally diverse I am hoping that someone has something that can help out here. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Kind regards,
Chris
Christine Jenkinson
Library Manager
Defence Library Service
Australian Emergency Management Institute
Mt Macedon, Victoria, Australia 3429
Tel: 03 5421 5224
Fax: 03 5421 5273
E-mail: cjenkinson@ema.gov.au
A year ago, researchers Richard Olson, Juan Pablo Sarmiento Prieto, Robert Olson, Vincent Gawronski, and Amelia Estrada published The Marginalization of Disaster Response Institutions: The 1997-1998 El Nino Experience in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador (Natural Hazards Center Special Publication #36 - available on the World Wide Web at http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/sp/sp.html). In this critical analysis of the organized response to El Nino, the authors show that most lessons from the earlier 1982-83 El Nino were lost, primarily because of a lack of prior planning and the political exigencies that emerged when the 1997-98 event became a major "catastrophe" that received national and global attention. Their principal finding is that, while at the outset the civil defense organizations in the respective countries were the nominal "national emergency organizations," each was rapidly pushed aside and replaced by ad hoc governmental organizations, with resulting confusion, duplication of effort, weakened morale, and loss of credibility in each country's civil defense organization.
Would the same debilitating political process unfold following a high- impact disaster such as a hurricane?
Well, in at least three cases, it did.
The Storms of '98: Hurricanes Georges and Mitch - Impacts, Institutional Response, and Disaster Politics in Three Countries, by Richard Olson, Ricardo Alvarez, Bruce Baird, Amelia Estrada, Vincent Gawronski, and Juan Pablo Sarmiento Prieto (Natural Hazards Center Special Publication #38, 2001, 68 pp., $20.00) examines the response and "disaster politics" (including media attention) associated with Hurricane Georges in the Dominican Republic and Hurricane Mitch in Honduras and Nicaragua. Again, the focus is the marginalization of agencies that were supposed to be the official response organizations.
To deal with the difficulty of establishing a strong, permanent emergency response institution - particularly in countries with very limited resources where disasters are not always salient issues - Olson and his colleagues offer their "accordion option." Under this approach, a national emergency organization recognizes its probable marginalization in a major disaster and therefore prepares a plan to be presented to the head of state if such an event should ensue. In that plan, the organization outlines how national-level disaster response can be expanded to include other ministries and organizations, while the emergency management office itself retains an organizing and coordinating role. The authors conclude by outlining the advantages of this approach.
The Storms of '98 can be purchased for $20.00, plus shipping ($5.00, U.S.; $8.00, Canada; $12.00, Mexico; $18.00, beyond North America). Orders should be directed to the Publications Administrator, Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center, University of Colorado, 482 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0482; (303) 492-6819; fax: (303) 492-2151; e-mail: janet.kroeckel@colorado.edu.
The Natural Hazards Center sponsors "Quick Response" investigations enabling researchers to go to the site of a disaster immediately after impact in order to assess response and recovery. In turn, those researchers publish summaries of their findings on the Hazards Center web site. The newest reports include:
In March, the Disaster Mitigation Institute (DMI) in Ahmedabad, India, assessed the compound effects of sustained drought and January's Bhuj earthquake on the livelihoods of poor women in the district of Surendranagar. DMI approaches disasters as "unresolved problems arising from the very processes of development," and women's livelihoods in disaster-vulnerable regions and their roles in disaster recovery are a particular concern. This Quick Response report describes the major findings of the DMI study. It addresses, in turn, indicators of gendered vulnerability in India and Surendranagar, guiding research questions, the research strategy and study site, findings and implications, research needs, and final observations.
This study is an assessment of the effects of a once-in-a-hundred- year drought in South Carolina, lasting from June 1998 through December 2000, and continuing in 2001. The study was undertaken to provide a "snapshot" of the state's primary drought concerns, impacts, and mitigation and response measures. It includes its own general findings and recommendations, the recommendations of the state's Drought Response Committees (DRCs), and specific recommendations regarding tourism and recreation, agricultural production, water suppliers, rural water, environmental issues, and forest and timber reserves.
A complete list of on-line Quick Response Reports is available from http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/qr/qr.html.
The University of Colorado, Institute of Behavioral Science, in collaboration with both the Department of Economics and the Environmental Studies Program, invites applications for the position of Director of the Research Program on Environment and Behavior in the Institute of Behavioral Science.
The Environment and Behavior Program is the parent organization of the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center.
Recruiting is targeted at the advanced Associate Professor level; however, individuals at a higher rank may be considered. The director is expected to lead the Research Program on Environment and Behavior in conducting research into socially relevant, human-environmental problems; in securing external funding; in fostering interdisciplinary research; and in establishing links with the larger academic community engaged in environmental research on the Boulder campus.
The position is fully rostered in the Institute of Behavioral Science. The successful candidate will also have teaching and service responsibilities and tenure in his or her cognate department. Candidates must demonstrate a track record of external support, a commitment to collaborative, multidisciplinary research, and experience in program development. More information concerning the Environment and Behavior Program can be found in the Institute of Behavioral Sciences brochure, available on-line at http://www.colorado.edu/IBS/brochure/.
Applications should include a statement of research and teaching interests and experience, a perspective on how the applicant would advance the program, a curriculum vitae, and key publications, along with the names and addresses of three references. The University of Colorado at Boulder is committed to diversity and equality in education and employment.
Consideration of applications will begin October 15, 2001, and continue until the position is filled. Applications should be sent to Dr. J. Terrence McCabe, Search Chair, Research Program on Environment and Behavior, Institute of Behavioral Science, 468 UCB, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0468; e-mail: tmccabe@colorado.edu.
DR Readers,
Recently, dozens of lives were lost in the inland floods spawned by Tropical Storm Allison. It is heartbreaking to see this year's "hurricane season" start off with such deadly intensity.
I have been working for many years to find ways to reduce the death toll in all kinds of floods - a commitment that grew out of the death of my fiance, who lost his life in a flood in 1980 in Los Angeles. I noted then that the absence of properly trained and equipped water rescue personnel had a direct impact on his death, as well as the deaths of 20-36 others who were killed in that February storm. As a result, with support from myself and others, Los Angeles County developed one of the most comprehensive swiftwater and flood rescue programs in the world. Concurrently, we developed a comprehensive flood safety education program to keep people out of trouble to begin with. As a result of this commitment, the death toll in our floods has been reduced almost to zero (down from an average of 18-20 water deaths during major flooding events).
One of the biggest hurdles in developing swiftwater and flood rescue programs nationwide is the lack of hard scientific data demonstrating the need for and effectiveness of such programs. Such data would be invaluable, but someone would need to undertake the necessary research immediately following major events like Tropical Storm Allison.
What role does emergency response play in flood deaths? What role does public safety education play? Besides these broad questions, following an event such as Allison, researchers would have to look at the following in relation to each mortality:
Again, one of the biggest stumbling blocks for progress is the lack of hard data about what happens in major flooding events involving water rescue - both in terms of deaths and in terms of successful rescues. I know that part of the aversion to doing in-depth studies after major flooding relates to legal liability, but without this knowledge, progress in saving lives will continue to be very slow.
Could someone within the scientific community focus on this season's hurricane and tropical storm water rescue calls and undertake a study that would demonstrate what we think we know: that the presence of properly trained and equipped water rescue teams significantly reduces the death toll?
I am fed up with deaths in floods being written off as "oh, too bad, what a tragedy", with NO effort to evaluate what factors (other than flooding) contributed to these deaths. Considerable anecdotal evidence demonstrates that failure by emergency responders to prepare and train for events like this has a direct and deadly impact. But it is impossible to argue this point without more accurate scientific data.
I am not sure whom to direct this to specifically, or who might take up the challenge, but thank you for giving it some thought.
Nancy Rigg
(323) 933-6272
E-mail: njrigg@mediaone.net
The Center for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (CDMHA) anticipates issuing its next Request for Proposals [RFP] Related to Research on Disasters in the Americas in the fall of 2001 (see DR #346 for a list of grants awarded this year). The aim of the CDMHA research program is to facilitate the discovery and application of scientific knowledge related to disaster preparedness and mitigation in the Americas. The scope of the program includes medical, environmental, sociocultural, and engineering issues. The CDMHA competitive grant program is funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) through the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
Proposals will be considered in three areas: 1) public health issues in disasters; 2) social science, disasters, and development; and 3) information technology and decision science applied to disaster management. Priority areas for funding will be identified in the RFP, and letters of intent will be due November 1, 2001.
The CDMHA was founded in 1998 as a partnership between the University of South Florida and Tulane University. Offices of the CDMHA are located in Tampa, Florida, within the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida, as well as at the Payson Center for International Development at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Washington, D.C. The mission of the CDMHA is to facilitate collaborative education, training, research, and information and communication services between disaster response and humanitarian assistance agencies (for example, the military, nongovernmental organizations, private voluntary organizations, and others) primarily throughout the Western Hemisphere.
For more information, please contact Jeannine Coreil, CDMHA, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, MCD 56, Tampa, FL 33612; (813) 974-6698; e-mail: jcoreil@hsc.usf.edu; or Nick Colmenares, same address, (813) 835-8289; e-mail: carmaworld@aol.com. For general information on the CDMHA see the center web site: http://www.cdmha.org; or contact the center at the address above; (813) 974-2907; fax: (813) 974-9980; e-mail: cdmha@hsc.usf.edu.
This week, Art Eggleton, Canadian Minister of National Defence, announced the start of consultations on the development of a National Disaster Mitigation Strategy. In announcing the program, he stated, "The Government of Canada is moving forward to develop a national strategy through which all levels of government and stakeholders can co-operate effectively to evaluate, prioritise and implement risk and impact reduction measures."
The Government of Canada will enter into consultation in the coming months with provinces and territories, as well as private-sector and other nongovernmental stakeholders, to solicit their input and co-operation in defining the framework for the strategy and to identify its components.
Canada's Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (OCIPEP) will lead the federal consultations on the National Disaster Mitigation Strategy. For further information, contact Max London, Manager, Public Affairs, OCIPEP, (613) 991-7036; or Renee Filiatrault, Press Secretary, Minister Eggleton's Office, (613) 996-8464. Background information on the Canadian National Mitigation Strategy is available on the OCIPEP web site: http://www.ocipep-bpiepc.gc.ca/.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has recently issued vacancy notices for two positions:
[Below are some new or updated Internet resources we've discovered. For an extended list of Internet sites dealing with hazards, see http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/sites/sites.html]
http://www.drmonline.net
The World Institute for Disaster Risk Management (DRM) is a joint
initiative of the Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and
Virginia Tech University, in conjunction with the World Bank's ProVention
Consortium. It was created to promote applied research, implementation,
and dissemination in the field of disaster risk management (see DR #317).
DRM's objective is to enable people to anticipate disasters and take
action to protect life and property while ensuring sustainable social and
economic development. The new DRM web site describes the institute, the
DRM network, and current projects; it also offers several on-line DRM
publications. To obtain further information about this effort, contact
the World Institute for Disaster Risk Management, Alexandria Research
Institute, 206 North Washington Street, Suite 400, Alexandria, VA 22314;
(703) 518- 8080; fax: (703) 518-8085; e-mail: widrm@vt.edu; or DRM, c/o
ETH Board, Haldelwig 15, ETH Centre, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland; tel:
+41 1 632 20 02; fax: + 41 1 632 11 90; e-mail: DRM@ethrat.ch.
http://www.uthouston.edu/gateway/emergency.htm
http://research.uth.tmc.edu/Floodnews.htm
To see the consequences for an institution of higher education of
a tropical storm (or any natural hazard, for that matter), check these
web pages and learn how Tropical Storm Allison affected the University
of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Emergency_Wires-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Emergency_Wires
EM News (JAGWA International) has started a new site and e-mail
list to provide, as close as possible, near-real-time emergency/disaster
news and a notification service from a number of sites around the world.
The site will cover:
http://www.tsunamicommunity.org
Created by an ad hoc committee of 14 tsunami researchers, this web
site is intended to be a stage for research-in-progress and data
exchange. As listed on its introductory page, the site's goals are:
http://tgsv5.nws.noaa.gov/pr/hq/itic.htm
http://www.shoa.cl/oceano/itic/frontpage.html
These two web pages provide information from and about the
International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC) and the International
Coordinating Group for the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific
(ICG/ITSU). The first includes a "Tsunami Reading List" and a history of
the organizations. The second, which we've mentioned before, provides
updated information on recent tsunamis and earthquakes, details about
upcoming conferences, the ITIC newsletter, field reports, conference
proceedings, full-text documents (including post-tsunami survey handbooks
in various languages and the warning system's communication plan), and
recent tsunami watches or warnings. Further Information on ITIC and the
Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific are available from the Director,
International Tsunami Information Center Grosvenor Center, Mauka Tower
737 Bishop Street, Suite 2200, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA; (808) 532-6422;
fax: (808) 532-5576; e-mail: itic@moana.itic.noaa.gov.
http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/lab/1029
Longtime tsunami researcher Dr. George Pararas-Carayannis has
assembled this colorful site, which includes bulletins about recent
events, conference announcements and reviews, tsunami FAQs, a section on
societal effects, a section on physical properties, a database of
historical tsunamis, a list of relevant bibliographies, descriptions of
tsunami warning systems, a section on prediction and evaluation, a
glossary, and links to other tsunami information on the web.
http://www.tsunami.org/
This is the new web site of the Pacific Tsunami Museum, with
information about the latest exhibits and events, the museum's purpose
and goals, frequently asked questions about tsunamis, programs, archived
information, and more. The site also offers a live picture of Hilo Bay
and a "Tsunami Picture of the Month." More information is available by
contacting the Pacific Tsunami Museum, P.O. Box 806, Hilo, HI 96721;
(808) 935-0926; fax: (808) 935-0842; e-mail: tsunami@tsunami.org.
http://www1.tpgi.com.au/users/tps-seti/spacegd7.html
This well-designed site prepared by Australian Michael Paine is a
treatise on the potential tsunamis generated by asteroids or comet
impacts. Besides attractive graphics and animation, the site is well
documented and includes links to numerous other scholarly works on this
hazard.
[Below are some recent announcements received by the Natural Hazards Center. A comprehensive list of upcoming hazards-related meetings and training is available from our World Wide web site: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/conf.html]
Markets for Mitigation Forum. Presented by: Blue Sky Foundation. Raleigh, North Carolina: August 20-21, 2001. Contact: Blue Sky Foundation, 920 Main Campus Drive, Suite 100, Raleigh, NC 27606; (919) 424-4555; WWW: http://www.bluesky-foundation.com.
National Institute for Urban Search and Rescue (NIUSR) Annual Conference: "Technology in Progress: Crisis Management and Counter-Terrorism Programs in Action." Huntsville, Alabama: September 25-27, 2001. See: http://www.niusr.org; or contact: Sherry Adlich, NIUSR Fall 2001 Conference Registration, Teledyne Brown Engineering, 300 Sparkman Drive, MS 158, Huntsville, AL 35807; 1-800-933-2091, ext. 62122 or (256) 726-2122; fax: (256) 726-2779; e-mail: conference@NIUSR.org.
2001 Annual Business Survival and Recovery Seminar. Sponsored by: Contingency Planners of Ohio. Columbus, Ohio: October 29-30, 2001. Contact: John P. Wloszek, (513) 639-1911; e-mail: jwloszek@provident-bank.com; WWW: http://www.geocities.com/wallstreet/market/8029.
2002 International Snow Science Workshop (ISSW). Penticton, British Columbia, Canada: October 6-10, 2002. Contact: Jack Bennetto; e-mail: jack.bennetto@gems8.gov.bc.ca.
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