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[Below are some new or updated Internet resources we've discovered. For an extensive list of good Internet sites dealing with hazards, see http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/sites/sites.html]
http://www.ifrc.org/publicat/wdr2001/
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC) has just published its World Disasters Report 2001. Chapter
summaries and ordering details are available from this site. The 2001
edition focuses on disaster recovery and is particularly critical of
international aid that focuses on rebuilding physical structures and
infrastructure while overlooking reconstitution of the economy,
livelihoods, and social structure of an affected location. The report
further notes that international aid often fails to contribute to the
resilience and durability of communities, leaving locations no better
equipped to survive future disasters. Not surprisingly, the report calls
for an increased emphasis on mitigation and the integration of relief and
development. However, it also notes that too often funds provided for
such projects end up flowing out of the affected country - to consultants
and other nongovernmental organizations.
On another front, the report also notes that weather-related disasters appear to be on the rise due to global warming. That change, combined with the ever-increasing population threatened by such hazards, ensures that damage and deaths due to disasters will continue to rise.
http://www.fireplan.gov
In August 2000, the President directed the Secretaries of
Agriculture and the Interior to develop a response to severe wildland
fires, reduce fire impacts on rural communities, and ensure sufficient
firefighting capacity in the future. Congress in turn mandated
implementation of a National Fire Plan (NFP) through its legislation and
appropriations. The resultant NFP (see DR #344) addresses conditions that
have evolved over many decades and cannot be reversed in a single year.
It is a long-term commitment based on cooperation and communication among
federal agencies, states, local governments, tribes, and other interested
parties.
The new National Fire Plan (NFP) Web site hosted by the National Forest Service, Department of Interior, and National Association of State Foresters, documents how the federal government and state partners manage wildfire and wildfire impacts and focuses on preparedness and mitigation activities that can significantly reduce property and natural resource loss, as well as improve public safety. The site lists NFP activities in each state, provides current fire information, offers several background reports and publications, and provides individual sections covering the key points of the NFP: firefighting, rehabilitation/ restoration, hazardous fuel reduction, community assistance, and accountability.
http://www.flash.org
http://www.blueprintforsafety.org
FLASH (Florida Alliance for Safe Homes) is a nonprofit organization
dedicated to promoting home safety for natural disasters (see DR #315).
The organization's partners include the Institute for Business and Home
Safety, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Florida chapters of the
American Red Cross, the Florida Department of Community Affairs, and
others. At the second URL above, FLASH has developed a separate web site
documenting safe building practices. The site specifically addresses wind
hazards, wildfire, and floods, and includes a glossary, a list of
resource organizations, and a library of building design diagrams. For
more information about FLASH, contact Traci Buzbee, Outreach Director,
FLASH, 1430 Piedmont Drive, East, Tallahassee, FL 32312; (850) 385-7233;
fax: (850) 386-7371; e-mail: flash@flains.org.
http://www.hazpac.org
http://www.crowdingtherim.org
HAZPAC, short for "Hazards of the Pacific," is a GIS database that
allows users to search and use the historic disaster record for the
entire Pacific region. The database contains information regarding
earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and tropical storms, as well
details about human infrastructure systems such as cities, roads,
utilities, railroads, and major air routes. Users can specify the type
and location of disaster information to be displayed, thus permitting
both detailed (city-specific) and broad-scale investigations of the
disaster record. Because HAZPAC is a GIS database, specific information
about each data set is available, allowing users to request, for
instance, the population of a particular city or the date and magnitude
of an earthquake. HAZPAC is intended to aid anyone investigating the
natural hazards of the Pacific. It was developed as part of the "Crowding
the Rim" initiative, a partnership among the U.S. Geological Survey,
Circum-Pacific Council, American Red Cross, and Stanford University (for
more information, see DRs #314 and #334 and the second URL above).
http://water.usgs.gov/nwis/
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has just launched this new,
on-line National Water Information System - which they dub NWISWeb -
thereby making publicly available 100 years of water data collected by
this federal earth science agency. The new site allows users to access
millions of pieces of both archived and real-time data. The system
integrates real-time streamflow and historical streamflow data with many
other types of water data, including historical water-quality data from
rivers and aquifers; historical ground-water-level data; and real-time
water quality, precipitation, and ground-water levels.
This consolidated information can help users
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/acoustics/seismicity/nepac/gordaridge01.html
Want to hear an earthquake. From this web site, you can listen to
seismic rumblings that followed an April 3 volcanic eruption off the
coast of Oregon - brought to you by NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental
Laboratory. (This is but a small corner of the excellent PMEL Web site,
which hosts much information about earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, and
other hazards of the Pacific Rim.)
http://www.seismo.nrcan.gc.ca/charlevoix/affiche_CHX_e.html
The poster Earthquakes: Charlevoix-Kamouraska, Quebec was created
to sensitize the public to the destructive potential of earthquakes while
stressing the importance of individual preparedness. The local earthquake
hazard is illustrated with photographs of damage due to the 1925
Charlevoix earthquake (magnitude 6.5) and by a regional remote sensing
map that shows some 2500 earthquakes recorded since 1978. The text
includes answers to many fundamental questions on earthquakes. Readers
are invited to visit two web sites (Natural Resources Canada's and
Emergency Preparedness Canada's) or to write to Natural Resources Canada
to get additional information on earthquakes and earthquake preparedness.
The poster, in English or French, can be viewed and ordered at the URL
above. For more details or to obtain a pair of Chroma-Depth 3-D glasses
that allows 3-D viewing of hypocentres and local topography, contact the
author: Maurice Lamontagne, Geological Survey of Canada, 7 Observatory
Crescent, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0Y3; tel: (613) 995-0600; fax:
(613) 992-8836; e-mail: maurice@seismo.nrcan.gc.ca.
http://www.who.int/eha/disasters/newsletter.shtml
This site hosts the Health in Emergencies Emergency and
Humanitarian Action (EHA) Newsletter published by the World Health
Organization. The June issue focuses on challenges to reproductive health
in emergencies and includes technical information as well as
country-based stories.
http://web.pref.hyogo.jp/hukkou/memoriaru/index.htm
This is the web site (in Japanese) of the new Great Hanshin-Awaji
Earthquake Memorial Center. The center has defined four main functions
for itself: 1) the exhibition of materials related to the Great
Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) Earthquake, 2) comprehensive research focusing on
practical steps for effective disaster management, 3) assistance to local
entities and others in developing and promoting disaster preparedness and
response, 4) promotion of communication and networking among disaster
prevention organizations both within Japan and abroad. Dr. Yoshiaki
Kawata of Kyoto University has been appointed the first executive
director of the center, and ten non-permanent senior researchers have
also been appointed. The center is now seeking applications for 10
permanent researchers, who will be trained to become "all-capability
experts" to undertake practical disaster management in three to five
years. A second building of the Memorial Center will be opened in 2003
to house related international disaster organizations. For additional
information, contact Masahiko Murata, Assistant Director of the Great
Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Memorial Center, Development Office; e-mail:
masahiko_murata@go.phoenix.pref.hyogo.jp.
http://forums.about.com/FEMA/start
Emergency manager Lloyd Colston has created a new forum for
emergency management at the URL above, and he invites all interested
persons to visit and participate. For details, see the site or contact
Lloyd Colston, Director, Mayes County Emergency Management, Pryor,
Oklahoma; e-mail: colston@yahoo.com; WWW: http://www.geocities.com/mccem.
Are you looking for a chance to gain professional experience? Do you want to continue natural hazards mitigation research? Do you want to work with state agencies, nonprofit and private-sector groups currently engaged in statewide natural hazards mitigation planning and programs? The Oregon Natural Hazards Workshop (ONHW) and Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) are coordinating the year-long placement of one participant in Clackamas County, Oregon, to aid the development and implementation of a local natural hazards mitigation plan. Clackamas County is a Project Impact community.
The participant will be involved with all tasks related to completion of the county's mitigation plan, including:
ONHW assists communities in reducing risk and preventing loss due to natural hazards and is currently coordinating the Oregon Showcase State/Partnership for a Disaster Resilient State Program sponsored by the Institute for Business and Home Safety. For more information on ONHW see http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~onhw.
RARE is an AmeriCorps*VISTA Program and Peace Corps Fellows Program that is working to increase the capacity of Oregon's rural communities to improve their economic, social, and environmental conditions. For RARE program information and an application packet, see http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rare. Interested persons may also call (541) 346-2879 or e-mail rare@darkwing.uoregon.edu.
ONHW and RARE are programs within the Community Service Center (CSC), a consortium of programs providing community service through partnerships between Oregon universities and communities. For more information on the CSC, see http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~csco.
For a complete position description or additional information, contact Andre LeDuc, Program Director, ONHW, 1209 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1209, (541) 346-5833, e-mail: crux@darkwing.uoregon.edu; WWW: http://www.uoregon.edu/~onhw.
The International Code Council (ICC) is seeking qualified individuals in the "User" and "Producer" interest categories to serve on the ICC International Urban-Wildland Interface Code (IUWIC) Committee for the 2002 Code Development Cycle. Committee applications are due prior to August 1, 2001. For further information, contact Lawrence Brown, CBO, Program Manager, ICC, 5203 Leesburg Pike, Suite 600, Falls Church, VA 22041; fax: (703) 379-1546; e-mail: lbrown@intlcode.org; WWW: http://www.intlcode.org.
[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]
Linbeck Distinguished Lecture Series in Earthquake Engineering: Challenges of the New Millennium. Sponsored by: Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, Notre Dame University, and others. All programs are in South Bend, Indiana:
Critical Incident Stress Management Suite of Workshops. Offered by: International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF). Denver, Colorado: October 4-7, 2001. Contact: ICISF, 10176 Baltimore National Pike, Unit 201, Ellicott City, MD 21042; (410) 750-9600; fax: (410) 750-9601; WWW: http://www.icisf.org.
Annual Fall Conference of the Arkansas Floodplain Management Association. Hot Springs, Arkansas: October 15-17, 2001. Contact: Jason Donham, (501) 682-3969; Chris Colclasure, (501) 682-3982; or see: http://www.arkansasflood.org.
Fourth Interregional, Local, and Community-Level Disaster Risk Management Course (LCLDRM-4) leading to a Graduate Certificate in Emergency Management. Offered by: International Institute for Disaster Risk Management (IDRM - formerly the Asia Pacific Disaster Management Centre), in collaboration with Charles Sturt University, Australia. Residential course: Makati City, Philippines: October 29-November 9, 2001. Contact: John W. Barrett, Chief Executive Officer, IDRM, P.O. Box 1005, Makati Central Post Office, 1250 Makati City, Philippines; tel: (632) 817 1434; fax: (632) 817 0894; e-mail: apdmc@nsclub.net; WWW: http://www.apdmc.com.
Nonstructural Seismic Hazards Training Workshop. Host: U.S. Department of the Interior Seismic Safety Program. Portland, Oregon: November 27-28, 2001. Contact: Tyna Petersen, Workshop Registrar, (303) 445-2573; e-mail: tpetersen@do.usbr.gov.
Urban Hazards Forum. Sponsors: Federal Emergency Management Agency Region II and John Jay College of Criminal Justice. New York City: January 22- 24, 2002. A call for papers has been issued; abstracts are due September 14, 2001. Contact: Urban Hazards Forum, Public Management Department, 445 West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019; e-mail: urbanhazardforum@jjay.cuny.edu; WWW: http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/urbanhazardsforum.
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