The following resources are just a few featured by presenters and panelists at the 2010 Hazards Workshop. Some are hot off the presses, others have been around for a while, but all come highly recommended.
SHELDUS
When it comes to examining event-specific data at the micro-level, you can’t beat the power of the Spatial Hazards Events and Losses Database for the United States, or SHELDUS. SHELDUS has loss and injury information in 18 different hazard categories broken out by county, and the project is adding more information all the time. The database, created by the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina, was cobbled together from a series of existing databases and includes events costing more than $50,000 in two timeframes—1960 to 1975 and 1995 to present. HVRI is now working to fill the gaps in time and economic impact.
Report on the Transparency of Relief Organizations Responding to the 2010 Haiti Earthquake
This study by the Disaster Accountability Project asked nearly 200 nonprofit organizations about the extent of information they've made available about their Haiti earthquake aid work. The results weren’t heartening. Less than 10 groups made regular reports on their activities accessible to the public. Most did not; instead offering personal blog posts, provocative images of damage and victims, and further appeals for donations as evidence of their projects' progression. The report showcases the lack of openness, coordination, and oversight with which many groups in Haiti operate.
International Program on Climate Change and Variability Risk Reduction
With climate change, larger disasters, and increasing urbanization threatening to put a triple whammy on human environments, the Pacific Disaster Research Center has created the International Program on Climate Change and Variability Risk Reduction, abbreviated IP-CVR, as a way to get people talking. The IP-CVR website has a variety of tools meant to help scientists, planners, economists, activists, and numerous others wrap their heads the growing problem. The site is just getting on its feet, but visit the forums, blogs, and other site offerings to have your voice heard.
Red Cross Ready Rating Program
Want to take your school, business, or organization from unprimed to prepared for anything? The Red Cross is there to hold your hand while you cross that street. The Ready Rating program is a membership-based project that allows those who join to get a customized “readiness rating,” a step-by-step guide to improvement, and personalized support along the way.
GeoPlatform
The Geospatial Platform is an effort by the Federal Geographic Data Committee to provide applications and information to the public (and “geo-enable the business of government”) by compiling data from multiple agencies. Early results of the project, which launched in April, can be seen in an interactive tool for the Gulf Oil Spill that maps spill trajectory, research ship location, shipping closures, and other data.
Ecological Building Network
The Ecological Building Network is a nonprofit organization working to transform wasteful, toxic building practices into sustainable designs that are suited to their environment and use clean energy and natural materials. Stop by the website to learn more about sustainable building or see what the group is doing to address Haiti’s housing issues since the January earthquake.