IRCD Researchers Meeting Abstracts
Households Willingness to Pay for Disaster and Emergency Management: Some Evidence From Canada
Recent events like the Sunrise propane explosion in Toronto in August of 2008 and parliamentary investigations that, despite all efforts, most of local governments and the general public in Canada are not prepared for disasters and emergencies. Financial and budgetary issues are considered to be an important factor in this regard. Local governments must be able to justify their disaster and emergency management related expenditures.
Conditions of fiscal stress in local governments on one hand, and public demand for more attention to disaster and emergency preparedness on the other hand, prompt researchers and public officials to assess citizens’ willingness to fund enhanced disaster and emergency management services. This study explores the questions of how households’ attitudes about disasters and disaster and emergency management programs influence their willingness to pay for them. It further looks at how direct and mediated experience with these services influence attitudes about them.
The paper uses a conceptual model of the relationships between people’s exposure to disaster and emergency services, their attitudes about these services, and their willingness to pay for them. The paper uses data from a survey of Greater Toronto Area households. It estimates the statistical relationship among media exposure, attitudes, and willingness to pay for enhancing emergency management in their community. The results show that direct experience with disaster and emergency management services and media exposure affect people’s perceptions and attitudes, predicting willingness to pay.
Rochelle Brittingham, University of Delaware
Tricia Wachtendorf, University of Delaware
Hurricane Preparedness and Strategy Feasibility
Focusing on hurricane evacuation and sheltering preparedness, we identified three areas where stakeholders conflict in their assessment of strategy feasibility.
Six focus groups were held with 37 governmental and nongovernmental participants North Carolina. Nine in-depth follow-up interviews were also conducted. Interview questions centered on how one might increase safety during hurricane evacuations and sheltering during large-scale (Category 4 or 5) events.
Three areas emerged where stakeholders disagreed on strategy feasibility, or where inconsistencies emerged. First, some people deemed traffic contraflow in an evacuation a possible strategy, but others suggested that it was controversial and would not be implemented.
Transportation of special needs was acknowledged as an important factor in increasing safety, yet the number people needing assistance and the source of possible vehicles was unclear.
Many stakeholders stated specific fueling stations would be available for use, yet it remained unclear whether or not the vast range of state and county agencies would be able to access these resources. Moreover, it appeared that the public would need to rely upon gas stations for their individual evacuation rather than contingency fueling areas.
This research concludes that reconciliation on strategy feasibility might be challenging in disaster event planning.
Liang-Chun Chen, National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction
Jing-Chein Lu, National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction
The Changing Role of NPOs in Disaster Relief: A Comparison of Postdisaster Assistance for Housing after Chi-Chi Earthquake and Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan
Besides government, nonprofit organizations play an important role in relief after major disasters. NPOs collect the donations to assist impacted household in facilitating housing recovery. However, they can cause further social conflict and amplify predisaster inequality if they do not respect the receptiveness of the impacted household. In order to enhance the advantages of NPOs, it is important to clarify their role and identify major issues related to their assistance in housing recovery.
This research reviewed the literature, examined governmental statistics, and conducted in-depth interviews to analyze the achievements of NPOs in housing recovery of two major disasters in Taiwan: Chi-Chi earthquake in 1999 and Typhoon Morakot in 2009.
We found that after Chi-Chi earthquake, government and several nonprofits provided small grants and temporary housing to affected households. The government also established the “921 Earthquake Relief Foundation” to assist permanent housing recovery, especially for multifamily housing.
After Typhoon Morakot, Tzu Chi, the biggest NPO in Taiwan, lobbied the government to provide permanent housing directly instead of temporary housing. NPOs made efforts to plan and build permanent housing for impacted households at no cost.
Under these circumstances, both central and local governments did not play an active role in recovery planning and consensus building between impacted households and NPOs. Rather they focus on providing lands and installing infrastructures that NPOs requested. For most households, the time for housing recovery is shortened with NPOs’ assistance. However, a certain proportion of the population— mainly aboriginal households—disagrees with the solutions provided by NPOs, slowing their recovery.
Liang-Chun Chen, National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction
Jie-Ying Wu, Ming Chuan University
Disaster Vulnerability Evaluation at Village and Township Level and its Application to Land Use Planning
Taiwan is one of the countries in the world most vulnerable to natural disasters. There are about 6.7 typhoons per year affecting Taiwan over the past decade. The heavy precipitation associated with typhoons causes various hazards, such as debris flow, landslide, and flood with accompanying severe socioeconomic impacts in Taiwan. Mitigating hazards through land use planning is much advocated in the textbooks. But applying this concept in the real world is still in the beginning phases in Taiwan.
This research establishes an analytical scheme to evaluating vulnerability (and also resilience) to debris flow for village and township land use planning. We conducted a survey by using “professional questionnaire (including Fuzzy Delphi and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process)” to construct the analytical scheme and select physical and social indicators for modeling vulnerability regarding debris flow at village and township level.
We construct an analytical scheme that includes three major dimensions, nine sub-dimensions, and 20 indicators. These indicators are carefully examined and appropriate variables are adopted to model the uneven pattern of vulnerability at the village and township level. We examine the different meanings of these variables at different spatial scales. We also discuss the potential issues of using this analytical scheme and the strategies of adopting this vulnerability analysis into land use planning.
Jeffrey Czajkowski, Austin College
Kevin Simmons, Austin College
Daniel Sutter, University of Texas-Pan American
Hurricanes and Moving Water, A Deadly Combination: An Analysis of Coastal and Inland Hurricane Fatalities
Given that most hurricane-related fatalities are attributed to moving water, improvements in hurricane forecasts and warnings allowing for more timely evacuations from storm-surge zones are credited with a declining lethality of landfalling U.S. hurricanes. However, the deadly reach of a hurricane’s moving water is not limited to storm-surge zones.
Our raw hurricane fatality data analysis since 1970 shows that roughly 80 percent of direct fatalities attributed to hurricanes actually occurred outside of landfall counties, with a significant number of these fatalities caused by inland flooding. While successful mitigation efforts (including warnings) are critical to minimizing potential coastal or inland fatalities, an accurate assessment of hurricane-induced fatality risk is a necessary component to implementing any mitigation effort.
We construct a Geographic Information System database that overlays the location and cause of fatality onto a three-tiered (primary, secondary, and tertiary) level of affected counties containing associated wind and rainfall amounts for the entire track of the storm. We then empirically model hurricane fatalities in affected landfall and inland counties from 1970 to 2007 in order to provide a more accurate assessment of the hurricane fatality risk for these areas.
Joe Downing, Penn State University, York Campus
Mark Casteel, Penn State University, York Campus
Response Time Retrieving Multiple SMS Messages Delivered to an Individual’s Cellular Handset: Implication for Disaster Researchers
During a disaster, organizations increasingly rely on cellular mobile technologies like SMS text messaging services to communicate with their stakeholders. However, individuals may not read the organization’s SMS message immediately. Moreover, when two or more SMS messages are queued on an individual’s cellular handset, he or she has no way of knowing if one or more of those messages are urgent. The goal of this study is to determine if individuals who are sent SMS messages read those messages immediately. If not, we are curious how long each SMS message remains in the recipient’s cellular mailbox before that message is read.
To address this research question, the researchers created two sets of SMS messages. Each SMS message included either an interesting piece of trivia [SMS1], or it asked participants to reply to us (by SMS) with what they were doing when they received our message [SMS2]. Between April 16 and May 2, 2010, the researchers sent 23 participants 54 SMS messages. Participants in the study were students enrolled at Penn State University. The researchers drew a systematic sample of different times to send participants these messages. The researchers also randomized the order that participants received each SMS message pair (SMS1-SMS2 or SMS2-SMS1). This was necessary because the SMS message interface of cellular handsets differs, as does an individual’s preference around what order they read the queued messages on their phone.
To determine how long each participant took to read the SMS messages that we sent him or her, we used a web-based service called ReadNotify. ReadNotify verifies the time when each participant opened, and then read, our SMS messages. This technology offers SMS researchers a methodological advantage over relying solely on participants’ self-reported behavior. The researchers have begun to analyze the data. We will report the results of our field study, plus the study’s implications for disaster researchers, at the IRCD Researchers Meeting.
Ann-Margaret Esnard, Florida Atlantic University
Alka Sapat, Florida Atlantic University
Diana Mitsova, Florida Atlantic University
Toward a Displacement Index: Conceptual and Technical Considerations
ndicator and index-building activities have become common for assessing the social, environmental, and economic strengths and vulnerabilities of communities, regions, and even countries. In the context of disasters, much of the empirical research has focused on identifying places and populations that are vulnerable to catastrophic hurricane disasters—both current and emergent. However, there are no parallel efforts to capture the full range of indicators and measures for displacement vulnerability; a function of vulnerability, resilience, capacity and exposure. This poster seeks to fill this gap by summarizing (1) our conceptualization of displacement vulnerability, (2) a set of related indicators and measures at various scales, including indicators of policy capacity and commitment, (3) an operational displacement index and results, and (4) limitations and complications encountered.
N. Emel Ganapati, Florida International University
Public Participation in Post-Disaster Contexts: Breaking Down the Barriers
Despite the importance of a participatory approach to planning for postdisaster recovery, the limited literature on recovery does not explain the factors that hinder participation in postdisaster contexts or how policy makers can overcome them. In this paper, I examine these factors through an empirical case study of the city of Gölcük, the epicenter of the August 17, 1999 earthquake in Turkey.
Based on in-depth interviews, participatory site observation, a focus group, and a review of secondary sources, I argue that public participation can be hindered in postdisaster contexts as a result of barriers that relate to: (1) the policy makers themselves; (2) the disaster survivors; and (3) the institutions.
In Turkey, the policy makers considered public participation as a luxury because of their assumptions about the urgency to rebuild. They also lacked trust in disaster survivors, viewing planning as a “scientific” exercise.
Disaster survivors had their own barriers to participation. They were not ready to participate in the immediate aftermath of the disaster because they were still grieving for their losses. They did not trust the public officials, who had failed to prepare for and respond to the disaster. Lack of institutions (rules and regulations) mandating participation constituted another barrier to a participatory approach to recovery.
While acknowledging the importance of institutions, based on the case study of Gölcük, I suggest that policy makers break down the barriers to public participation in postdisaster contexts by reconsidering their own assumptions about the sense of urgency, disaster survivors, and the planning enterprise itself. I also argue that policy makers pay more attention to the psychological readiness of disaster survivors to participate and make every effort to gain their trust before, during, and after a disaster.
Developing a Community of Practice around Non-Profit Disaster Preparedness
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a cross-sector group of stakeholders convened in the Bay Area in 2006 in an effort to chart a course for building a robust civil infrastructure to protect underserved communities from disasters. Based on research by the University of Colorado’s Natural Hazards Center, the conference concluded that a comprehensive framework was needed to increase preparedness in the nonprofit sector serving vulnerable populations. The conference concluded with a commitment to build that framework from the ground up with participating organizations.
From this gathering, the Bay Area Preparedness Initiative (BayPrep) was born, representing the collaborative efforts of regional partners to develop a model for building resilient communities through improving preparedness within community-based organizations. The primary challenges were: (1) how to institutionalize a culture of preparedness within organizations, sustaining change over time? and (2) how to translate individual organizations’ internal preparedness commitment into bridges that build a community of practice?
BayPrep developed an evidence-based intervention approach, addressing these questions through a mutually reinforcing strategy of setting standards through partners, and network integration for community-based organizations. BayPrep developed a theory of change based on the following core principles of evidence-based intervention: (1) scalability; (2) consistency and quality control; and (3) network integration.
The intervention took the form of a multipronged approach: (1) developing standards that identify the best practices that provide the greatest preparedness value; (2) providing technical assistance to inculcate preparedness internal practices and behaviors within organizations; and (3) creating networked partnerships and integrating CBOs into emergency management structures collaborating with government and first responders.
The technical assistance program, known as the Disaster Resilient Organization, is the lynchpin of the strategy, addressing the internal organizational ecology of nonprofit CBOs that most often results in paralysis and inertia.
Dana M. Greene, North Carolina Central University
Lessons for Rebuilding After Major Catastrophe: Addressing the Need for Adequate Postdisaster Housing on the Road to Permanent Housing
With the mass evacuation and devastation of the United States’ Gulf Coast, the human catastrophe in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina highlighted an important lesson—the need for the creation of a unified social policy that facilitates a swift recovery and ensures the path to permanent housing for survivors.
It’s been well documented that practitioners “on the ground” were not equipped well enough to meet the housing needs and requirements of all of New Orleans’ hurricane survivors (both those who remained in the city and those who “washed up” in other locations). Thus, the critical need for housing in the aftermath of disaster is addressed by drawing on the Weberian “ideal type” approach and building on the work of Phillip and Quarantelli, Nigg, Barnshaw, and Torres.
The typologies put forward by these researchers represent a critical step in advancing the need for postdisaster housing. Through its focus on the postdisaster housing continuum as a means of gaining insight into different paths to recovery, this article offers a framework within which to stimulate dialogue and future research on the issue. It also deals with how to move survivors efficiently from emergency shelters to adequate permanent housing.
To this end, I maintain an additional component called local transition-placed housing be added to this “ideal type” of postdisaster housing rubric in an effort to address social policy concerns for adequate housing as well as the sociocultural, socioeconomic, and survivor’s recovery by assisting in the reconnection to the physical environment.
Himanshu Grover, Texas A&M University
Integrated Local Policy Response to Climate Change and Natural Disasters: Challenges and Opportunities.
There is a consensus among researchers that our climate is changing. There is a lesser degree of consensus about the contribution of human development practices to this change. Whatever the cause, human settlements have to be prepared for the impacts of a changing climate. These impacts could include melting of snow packs, higher temperatures, rising sea levels, and possibly, increased frequency of extreme weather events such as hurricanes and flash floods.
Even though decades of research in disaster risk reduction has developed tools and techniques to lower our vulnerability to extreme natural events, climate change management policy is being developed and implemented independent of this knowledge. Uncoordinated policy response for reducing risk from climate change and natural disasters has led to redundant and at times, conflicting policy actions.
It is imperative to bridge this intellectual divide and identify avenues for evolving an integrated response strategy for reducing risk from climate change and natural disasters. This study investigates the underlying theory and policy strategies in the two fields to identify the challenges and opportunities for developing integrated risk reduction strategies.
This research identifies differences in research agenda, methods, and political relevance between the two fields as the primary issues that have prevented an integrated response. Researchers in both fields should be aware of these differences so that conflicting actions can be avoided and synergistic actions can be promoted.
Ultimately, all risk reduction actions must be undertaken through the local policy implementation framework involving policy makers, emergency managers, planners, and other practitioners embedded in the communities. There is a need to sensitize these local practitioners to the implications of climate change. This will create synergistic opportunities for implementing integrated risk reduction strategies to safeguard our communities, both from climate change and natural disasters.
Hung-Chih Hung, National Taipei University
Ling-Yeh Chen, National Taipei University
Jen-Te Pai, National Chengchi University
An Integrated Assessment of Vulnerability to Typhoon and Flood Hazards in the Ta-Chia River Basin, Taiwan
In the developing countries in Asia, global environmental change and overdevelopment in hazard-prone areas cause an increase of threats from typhoons, floods, and other extreme weather conditions. This is a serious challenge for local governments in disaster risk management.
In particular, there is an urgent need to identify the most vulnerable areas and the key factors that influence vulnerability. To conduct such an analysis, vulnerability assessment should comprise a wide range of sectors and factors, as well as involve various stakeholders’ participation into the assessment. Existing research is rarely focused on this aspect of vulnerability assessment, yet it has an important implication for decision making. We propose a novel approach to engage in a multidimensional assessment of vulnerability with various stakeholders’ value judgments involved in the assessment.
An indicator-based method is usually applied in vulnerability assessments. But many vulnerability indices assume that each indicator is independent and of equal importance. In this paper we propose a methodology to the integrated assessment of vulnerability by using novel tools of multicriteria decision making analysis, geographical information system, and spatial statistic analysis. This method can assign weights to disparate indicators by considering the relationship among the indicators used in vulnerability assessment. Also it can create a vulnerability map that is useful to characterize the most vulnerable areas and “hot spots” in risk management.
To illustrate our proposed methodology, a case study is presented by the typhoon and flood vulnerability in the Ta-Chia River Basin in Taiwan. Results show that the most vulnerable areas and hot spots for disaster management are accumulated in the mountain areas of the middle and upper reaches of the river, along with a portion of lower reaches of the river basin. The major factors contributing to vulnerability are the levels of the areas exposure to hazards, their biophysical, land use, and industrial development conditions, and residential adaptive and coping capacity.
Adelle Monteblanco, University of Colorado at Boulder
Wee Kiat Lim, University of Colorado at Boulder
Keeping Health Disparity in Check During Disaster: An Exploratory Study on Disaster Preparedness in Reproductive Health Clinics
In the wake of disasters, the special needs of some female subpopulations are often overlooked as the government and relief organizations focus on reducing the death toll and infrastructure loss, as well as improving the general health of victims. These vulnerable subpopulations include women who are pregnant or sexually active, whether by choice or coercion.
While more gender-related disaster research has been conducted over the recent years, very little work has examined the roles of women’s health clinics. Our research intends to fill this gap. To understand how these clinics can better serve these subpopulations, our research examines their disaster perception and disaster preparedness activities from the perspective of senior staff.
From our fieldwork, we draw one vignette to show how one women’s health clinic perceived and prepared for disasters. Our preliminary findings indicate that while the clinic senior staff was less concerned with natural hazards, they were more aware of the risks associated with their organizational mission. In particular, they emphasized their concern with domestic terrorism, as their clinic provided controversial services, such as abortion and birth control.
Our preliminary findings also suggest a carefully planned pricing system and strong bilingual staff can help clinics to reach vulnerable female populations. In addition, clinics that are well-connected to the local vulnerable subpopulations, coupled with substantive disaster knowledge and preparedness activities, can improve the sexual health and living conditions of the aforementioned female subpopulations both during and after disasters.
Kanako Iuchi, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
To Relocate or To Return? Resettlement Decisions of Villagers Following A Devastating Earthquake
Higashiyama and Yamakoshi districts, Niigata, Japan, suffered a devastating earthquake in 2004. The two local governments that administer each district envisioned regional sustainability by providing resettlement programs. Ojiya City provided relocation incentives for former district residents so rural villagers could move into the city and join the economic activity. Yamakoshi Village, on the other hand, provided incentives for villagers to collectively return so that their community would not be dispersed.
This research unpacks villagers’ resettlement decisions in light of the different policies of the two local governments by observing five communities. Nijumurago area, where both Higashiyama and Yamakoshi districts are situated, has experienced a similar scale of devastation from the earthquake. Both districts also shared history, economy, and culture in common, long marginalized from infrastructure and economic development by its mountainous geography. Post-earthquake displacement procedures—evacuation to the city for temporary shelter and housing for two or three years—were also almost identical.
Semi-structured interviews of 48 community leaders and residents suggest that a majority of individuals make resettlement decisions based on reasons outside economic opportunity. Economic incentives provided by two governments through resettlement programs did not influence the decisions of many of the villagers.
A majority of the relocated population provided their reasons as geographic hazard and difficulty of living in the mountainous villages, while returned populations referred to the inexpensive cost of living and joy in non-economic activities (e.g., cultural activities and home gardening).
Furthermore, both relocated and returned population provided psychological or emotional reasons. The relocated population commented their inferior feeling about mountainous living while having aspirations toward livings in flatlands. Alternatively, those that returned commented on their mental comfort in the village. Age of the decision maker, however, affected the household decisions, as ease of commuting, continuation of own business, and schooling, were primary decision factors for the working population.
Antonia Rosati, Santa Monica College
Public Perceptions of Tsunamis in Los Angeles: Public Perceptions of Tsunamis and NOAA's TsunamiReady Program in Los Angeles
After the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, California and other coastal states began installing "Tsunami Warning Zone" and "Evacuation Route" signs at beaches and major access roads. The geography of the Los Angeles area may not be conducive to signage alone for communication of the tsunami risk and safety precautions.
More than a year after installation, most people surveyed did not know about or recognize the tsunami signs. More alarming is that many did not believe a tsunami could occur in the area even though earthquake-generated waves have reached nearby beaches as recently as September 2009.
Fifty-two percent of the 147 people surveyed did not believe they would survive a natural disaster in Los Angeles. The data from this survey showed that most people believed climate change would increase the occurrence of tsunamis. Also, public understanding of water inundation is disturbingly low. It is important to understand the big picture of this research—how it is ultimately communicated, understood, and used by the public.
Given the unique geography of Los Angeles, how can the city and county improve the mental health of its citizens before and after a natural disaster? This poster addresses the issues of community resiliency in the face of tsunami threats.
Nicholas Santella, Southern Methodist University
Laura J. Steinberg, Syracuse University
Hatice Sengul, Middle East Technical University
Ana Maria Cruz, Kyoto University
Hazardous Material Releases During Natural Disasters: Quantification of Occurrence and Probability in the U.S.
Natural phenomena account for between one and seven percent of hazardous materials releases in the United States each year. Over 16,000 such releases were reported to the National Response Center between 1990 and 2008.
Of these, natural disasters account for a disproportionately large volume of the hazardous materials released. As a result of recent hurricane activity, releases caused by hurricanes have increased 15-fold since 2005. Understanding the probability of these types of releases and predictions of their rate of occurrence are important in choosing how to best mitigate the risk posed by these events to communities and the environment.
To this end, the conditional probability of releases during natural disasters, at facilities regulated under the Toxic Release Inventory and Risk Management Programs as well as oil and gas production facilities, was determined through GIS analysis of a number of recent hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods.
During eight recent hurricanes, higher probability of releases was observed in facilities exposed to storm surge compared to hurricane strength winds. Release probabilities also increased with greater wind speed and flood depth. Probability of releases during three major U.S. earthquakes increased steeply in zones with shake intensity from MMI V to MMI IX.
In contrast, areas inundated during 10 major flood events generally had a much lesser probability of a release than during hurricanes or earthquakes but large variability from event to event indicates that factors such as flood depth and speed of onset are important to consider. Quantification of natural-technological disaster occurrence and estimates of natech probability can aid government agencies responsible for planning response and remediation after natural disasters, and should be useful in raising awareness of this risk within industry.
Debra Schneck, Indiana University
Measurement and Comparison of Local Radiological Emergency Management Networks: A View of Local Incident Management and Control
Every two years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in cooperation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and state and local officials, observes and evaluates a radiological emergency preparedness exercise near each commercial nuclear power plant. The exercise tests actions prescribed in existing emergency plans and procedures. These have been designed to conform to existing regulations and guidance and respond effectively in a radiological emergency. Though some aspects of a radiological emergency exercise are relatively technical and easy to measure, many more rely on the professional judgment and experience (e.g., incident management, decision making, and provision of public information) of observers and evaluators.
The research questions, broadly defined, are: Do relationships observed support the actions prescribed in plans and procedures? And, if it is assumed that that the plans and procedures are designed to promote an effective response, do relationships observed support an effective emergency response?
Network analysis techniques were used to evaluate the relative effectiveness of incident command and control at the level of two local emergency management agencies. Data were collected from videos taken during two emergency exercises in two local emergency operations centers. The videos have been used for training purposes at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute and in each of FEMA’s 10 regions. Archival records, in the form of plans and procedures, were used to determine ideal, or at least planned, relationships among players.
William Siembieda, California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
Towards an Asset-Based Mitigation Policy
The AAT (assets, access, and time) model is an attempt to place the “capacity” concept closer to the forefront of disaster management debate. Assets are resources (economic, physical, human, and institutional) available to households, communities and governments. Access is the ability to use the assets after a disaster occurs. Time is a dynamic variable that influences when an asset is available to a user, as well as its value. The combination of the three variables and how they are linked to classes of people, institutions, and places are discussed.
Part I develops the model’s components in a linear and rational fashion and provides examples. Part II uses an example in El Salvador to describe how the model can be adapted to meet local requirements.
The model can be used to build a disaster resilience profile. This paper is part of a larger exploration of asset-based mitigation, which reduces vulnerability by making pre-disaster investments in asset protection. Policy implications for this method of disaster management are developed with an emphasis on determining areas of mitigation that are best addressed by local policy directed at asset and access strengthening.
Benjamin Sims, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Infrastructure and Community Resilience: A Socio-Technical Perspective
Community resilience is an increasingly important topic in homeland security and disaster research. This paper uses a case study of the New Orleans Police Department’s response to Hurricane Katrina to argue that community resilience must be understood as an inherently socio-technical process, which emerges out of the interactions between natural, technological, and socioeconomic resources.
It then discusses infrastructure modeling efforts at Los Alamos National Laboratory, including the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center, and how they may be integrated into assessments of community impact and resilience. Research in the field of science and technology studies has identified infrastructure is a key element of social order in modern societies. Because infrastructure plays such a key role in social networks and institutions, disruptions in infrastructure can lead to breakdown in social order, and consequent loss of ability to collectively make sense of and respond to a disaster situation.
The robustness and resilience of infrastructure systems, and their interconnections with social structures, are therefore central to the resilience of a community as a whole. This paper advances a socio-technical framework for analyzing community resilience in terms of the connections between infrastructure, social order, and individual well-being. It concludes with a discussion of recent work within NISAC to analyze social vulnerability and resilience in relation to natural disaster scenarios.
Lynn Slepski, United States Public Health Service
Exploring the Emergency Preparedness Competencies of Disaster Healthcare Responders During Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Introduction: Despite consensus that preparation is key to effective disaster response, little published data exist about what preparation is required or how to best accomplish the transition to disaster healthcare provider. This study identifies and analyzes critical issues related to emergency preparedness through the Meleis Transition Framework.
Methods: In 2007, registered nurse and medical doctor responders to hurricanes Katrina or Rita were invited to complete an Institutional Review Board approved, anonymous, 544-item web-based questionnaire on their response experiences. Responder characteristics, competencies performed, and issues involved in the transition to the disaster provider role were analyzed.
Results: Of 196 respondents, 78 percent deployed with an organized group, and 73 percent reported prior training in disaster response. Despite this preparation, most reported difficulty in transitioning from their usual provider role to the role of a disaster responder. Only 43 percent knew what role they would perform. Thirty-eight percent knew what professional items to take with them. And only 27 percent knew how to protect themselves. Neither membership in a disaster organization, prior training, nor disaster response experience contributed significantly to positive transition outcomes. Provision of appropriate information most strongly influenced a positive or satisfying response experience.
Conclusions: Although well trained and confident in clinical skills, responders often made the transition to the disaster role without adequate support or direction. Results indicate that providing timely information can positively influence transition outcomes identified by Meleis. Current disaster training focuses on teaching skills, rather than how to function in a disaster setting. Further study is needed on how to more effectively prepare individuals for a disaster response.
Christine Stover, Wayne State University
Dale C. Brandenburg, Wayne State University
Examining Vulnerabilities in the Food Supply Network: The Peanut Paste Case
Through the examination of the complex Peanut Corporation of America peanut paste salmonella contamination, which involved 3,900 organizations and stakeholders, this research assesses organizational learning practices and the resulting organizational changes.
The primary research question is: What factors most influence successful implementation of risk communication lessons learned from a food recall? We also seek to understand why, when organizations are faced with a food recall crisis, they appear to disregard the lessons of the past, failing to coordinate their actions in order to mitigate, or prevent the crisis.
We extend our model to the lessons learned process validated for planning learning activities for food recalls. We introduce the concept of response resiliency in the context of food defense. Such resiliency conveys a systems approach to response and mitigation, taking into account cross-organizational learning for desirable actions in future crises.
To assess “lessons learned,” we measured three sets of variables (antecedent conditions, learning activities, and moderating variables) that predict future organizational learning and organizational change. We conducted a series of interviews of individuals involved in the case study of PCA peanut paste contamination from 2009. We interviewed individuals across the supply chain including food producers and distributors, industry associations, and government regulatory agencies at both the state and local levels.
Our findings suggest that if another incident like this contamination were to occur (whether contamination is intentional or accidental), stakeholders are not prepared to handle the crisis. In the event of an intentional food contamination, the food supply chain remains vulnerable and stakeholders are woefully unprepared to deal with the crisis.
Joseph Trainor, University of Delaware
Havidan Rodriguez, University of Delaware
Walter Diaz, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez
William Donner, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Jenniffer Santos-Hernandez, University of Delaware
Predicting the Behavioral Response to Tornado Threats
This study will create a better understanding of public response to tornados. Among other issues we explore: How is risk communicated and under what conditions is it interpreted correctly? What role does the false alarm rate play in public response? What principles of group behavior can be applied to understand the decision to seek shelter or take protective action?
This ongoing multi-event CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) survey study has focused on collecting information from members of households near—if not in the path of—tornadoes about their awareness of warnings and their individual and collective behaviors immediately prior to the impact of the tornadoes. The data will be used to go beyond describing the behaviors of populations to explain and predict public response to tornadoes.
Craig W. Trumbo, Colorado State University
Lori Peek, Colorado State University
Holly Marlatt, Colorado State University
Michelle Lueck, Colorado State University
Eve Gruntfest, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs
Brian McNoldy, Colorado State University
Wayne Schubert, Colorado State University
Julie Demuth, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Orientation Toward Hurricane Evacuation Among Gulf Coast Residents, 2006-2008
This study examines the stability of risk perception and optimistic bias concerning hurricane evacuation.
In January 2006, a mail survey was sent to households in 41 counties adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico, excluding the areas affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita (62% response rate, n=824). A follow-up panel data collection was sent in January 2008 (52% response, n=361). Measures included Peacock’s index of hurricane outlook, evacuation optimistic bias, dispositional optimism, and hurricane experience. Paired t-tests (n=361) were used to compare individual scores across the two years.
Hurricane outlook and the estimation of the average and personal probabilities of a forced evacuation all became more optimistic. There was no significant change in dispositional optimism. Results also show that perceiving less hurricane risk is associated with being male, older age, higher income, and general optimism. Having less past experience with hurricanes was also associated with perception of less hurricane risk, suggesting that the growing population of individuals who have little or no hurricane experience may underestimate the risk involved. The survey also showed that perception of hurricane risk decreased following two mild hurricane seasons.
Finally, both components of the optimistic bias measure became more optimistic. The results of this investigation are being used as a basis for a wider investigation into the function of information and social influence in hurricane evacuation orientation and behavior.
In this three-year panel study, survey and interview data will be collected from individuals located along the US coast from Wilmington, North Carolina to Brownsville, Texas. The study includes development of a cognitive-affective model of hurricane risk perception, further investigation of optimistic bias, and real-time observation of hurricane evacuation decision making. The first survey data was collected in June 2010. This presentation will also include earliest preliminary results from this current investigation.
Tricia Wachtendorf, University of Delaware
Samantha Penta, University of Delaware
Masculinity on the Hudson: Gendered Representations of the US Airways Flight 1549 Response
On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 crashed into New York's Hudson River shortly after take-off. The attention of the media quickly turned to the near-disaster, the rescue, and eventually, the activities of those on board Flight 1549 during the landing. All 155 passengers and crew members survived.
As the event was reported, the details were framed for news consumers. Research shows that media portrayals of human behavior tend to perpetuate gender norms and stereotypes. In disasters in particular, the media often promotes men's behavior as physical and in rescuing roles whereas women are more often portrayed as passive victims, emotional, or engaged in care-giving activities.
We examine the extent to which traditional gender roles were predominant in coverage of the crash and subsequent rescue. We focus on the first 48 hours after the crash—the most intense time-period of reporting. We examine articles in the New York Post and the New York Times, transcripts from CNN and NY1, and several special television programs devoted to the event that aired January 16 and 17.
An inductive analysis of text, audio, and images showed that men were disproportionately interviewed and men's behavior was referenced more often than women. In other words, men were provided with more opportunities to frame the event in the initial hours compared to women. Consistent with the research, findings suggested men's and women's behaviors were framed in such a way as to reinforce gender norms. Implications of the findings are discussed.