IRCD Research Abstracts

This presentation introduces the concept of imagined crises. I explore the role of fantasy and futurism in the context of US national security and disaster management institutions, as well as the practical issues that imagined crises create. Here, it is argued that values, judgments, mythologies, and conceptualizations of the future shape the interpretation of crises in ways echoed in practice. I discuss three cases of natural and manmade disasters to support my claims. First, Hurricane Katrina and the myth of social chaos in disaster is explored to set the stage for the concept of imagined crises and how they can be negotiated in problematic ways. Second, I describe research that argues the 2014 Ebola situation in the United States was an imagined crisis fueled by uncertainty of science mirrored in news reports, public sentiment, and political actions. This was also echoed in some antidemocratic disease management policies, like unwarranted quarantine, that fell outside public health expertise. Last, I discuss the case of the Islamic State as an imagined threat to the United States and the problems fear of this group presents. Namely, the advancement of counterterror priorities in national security institutions can lead to the prioritization of civil defense by politicians and the public in the place of civil protection efforts needed to manage actual threats, such as natural disasters.

This paper examines participation in emergency and disaster planning organizations and its relationships with hazard information outcomes.  The focus is on activities of local emergency planning committees (LEPCs), a type of public, quasi-governmental organization.  Federally-mandated LEPC activities, organizational structures, and participant groups are described and compared with those that are typically achieved in practice.  Ways of measuring and evaluating participation and activity are reviewed, along with specific examples from published studies.  Empirical outcomes of the author's research on participation and activity with respect to enhancing hazard information and knowledge bases of LEPCs are presented and discussed.  Increasing the diversity of project participants is found to significantly increase the diversity of information sources that are used, even when the participant backgrounds and information sources may not directly correspond.  The results provide insights for enhancing and improving measurement, evaluation, and understanding of emergency and disaster planning organizational structures, behaviors, and processes.

When this nation sought to promote nuclear power to its citizenry, it promised “electricity too cheap to meter!” No one could anticipate how industry disasters like Three Mile Island and Chernobyl could create such fear of the nuclear power industry in the minds of the public, or how the Three Mile Island mishap and the Chernobyl disaster would provide lessons learned and applied to the nuclear power industry decades later. Understanding how lessons learned from past experience are remembered in a nuclear power station provided insights into that organization’s collective memory. This presentation will present the results of a study that sought to understand how operating experience of significant organizational mishaps are disseminated in the training function of one nuclear power station. The findings of this study are relevant to other industries using complex technologies. 

Household recovery is a critical element of overall community recovery after disasters. Yet, we know little about how households recover and through what process. This often results in piecemeal disaster aid efforts that are either mismatched with, or sometimes even adversely affect household recovery. Existing research has either examined a household’s pre-disaster vulnerability to disasters, or examined its individual aspects such as its domestic assets, housing, or livelihood restoration. Few studies examine post-disaster recovery actions of households in an integrated manner or from a perspective of agency and dynamism, as opposed to vulnerability and passivity. Such insights have the potential to address aid failures. In this study, we examine how a household’s social, economic, and institutional resource capacity affected, and in turn was affected by, the 2012 Hurricane Sandy. We identify how the disaster affected households; the social, economic and institutional resources they used for recovery and how these resources overlapped; and, the change in their recovery priorities over time. Data for this study was collected through random sample surveys of 200 households each in 2014 and 2015 in 15 zip codes of New York City, and through key informant interviews of over 30 households and government officials. Analysis was done using descriptive statistics and content analysis techniques. This study was funded by the National Science Foundation.

Most flood damages in rivers are mainly occurring in medium and small streams as its restoration ratio is relatively low. So, small stream restoration projects are the most effective tool for flood risk reduction. But if we overemphasize strengthen and increase the safety and efficiency of small stream restoration, restorations may isolate the small streams from the residents and an ecosystem. Recently developed new policy such as artistic and safe small stream restoration program can help to make the small streams a regional specialty by eco-friendly or special products and local culture, which also can support sustainable development of local community. To lead the small stream restoration to this good direction, decision making to set priority of the stream restorations is very important. It is not easy as the small stream basin has various economical, ecological, historical values and complex geological, meteorological and geographical characteristics. In this study, we determined 14 and 11 evaluation criteria and attributes considering the functions and objectives of the artistic and safe small stream restoration program. The eigenvector method in Analytic Hierarch Process was used to estimate the relative importance of evaluation criterion. The results could provide a reasonable guideline for analyzing the decision making process on investment priority setting of regional specialized small streams which may revive local economy and improve the quality of life through coexist with the environment.

Recovery planning is a complex, challenging and fraught process with no clear guiding models, though a growing body of literature has begin to coalesce around a few key themes including effective communication, rapid response and flexible funding streams. From a planning perspective, disaster recovery presents an opportunity to address past mistakes, build future resilience and address entrenched systemic challenges or in the oft-used parlance “build back better.” But the history of disaster recovery is littered with planning initatives that failed to address some of the most salient and widely accepted challenges inherent in recovery. Hurricane Sandy presents an opportunity to study a wide array of planning initiatives across one region but many jurisdictions, undertaken by many actors using a wide variety of strategic approaches many of which are untested and new from the ground up. The study presents a snapshot of post-Sandy planning approaches used by the federal government, New York state, New Jersey and multiple municipalities and NGO’s. Using extensive fieldwork in the New York region, the study illustrates the complexities and challenges of recovery planning (e.g. jurisdictional issues, funding restrictions, etc.), highlights the many innovations that have been developed to address these challenges and provides important lessons for future recovery planning. (This study is funded in part by the National Science Foundation.)

Beginning in 2006, the Fertile Crescent in Syria faced the worst drought in record. Dwindling groundwater was accompanied by a long-term decline in rainfall in the region that affected farms watered from rivers. Another trend saw summer temperatures rising; thereby, drying out much of the remaining moisture in the soils. Unsustainable agricultural policies meant that the drought led to the broad collapse of farming in northeastern Syria. Their livelihoods gone, an estimated one to 1.5 million people surged into the cities. The arrival of so many rural families came on the heels of a million Iraqi refugees who arrived after 2006, caused a “huge population shock” in Syria’s most affected urban centers. Many of the displaced settled on the edges of cities, where already tough living conditions were made more challenging by poor access to water and electricity. Under Bashar al-Assad, restrictions on the use of limited water supplies due to drought, and legal limitations on drilling for water further alienated farmers, leading them to seek better lives in neighboring Middle Eastern countries, Europe, and in the United States. Global warming is predicted to bring more severe climate events, some of which could affect countries where they could spark unrest, and the politicization of weather and the climate/ environment will have the potential to influence countries negatively (as has occurred during the Arab Spring in Egypt and in the Syrian uprising/ Syrian refugee crisis). 

Disasters are inherently social events that are rooted in human interactions and social structures. Most important among these social relationships is the notion that the distribution of power is unevenly distributed and institutionalized in the very framework of society. Disasters put an unusual strain on a society with regard to physical, biological and socio-cultural processes that affect men and women differently. The definition of a “new normal” as a result of wildfires in one’s community (or even a temporary “new normal”) creates a unique and complex context where different actors construct, interpret and experience disaster differently. Thus, the issue of social vulnerability must be paired with gender inequality to understand why and how gender matters when wildfires strike. Wildfires kill indiscriminately. Wildfires destroy indiscriminately. Why does gender matter when studying social vulnerabilities to wildfires? To present a gendered analysis of differential impacts of wildfires on men and women, this analysis focuses on the risks involved in preparing for, mitigating, and responding to wildfires, and focuses on gendered outcomes following wildfires in three distinct categories: physical, social, and psychological. This paper focuses on the gendered impact and outcomes of wildfires in Oklahoma, USA and Fort McMurray, Canada, and highlights the importance of the conflation of social class and opportunity structure when disaster strikes.

Understanding of the relationship between disaster reconstruction funding and physical, economic, and social change in the long-term is the key to effectively allocating resources where they are needed most. While there are no established benchmarks for long-term recovery, physical and economic growth are important aspects of the process of recovery in the long-term. However, patterns of physical and economic growth vary due to a host of factors that lack theoretical understanding. This study aims to add to the body of research on long-term recovery. The study examines the distribution and types of recovery resources provided through Federal programs and how funding from these programs influenced patterns of residential and commercial development across New York City neighborhoods after Hurricane Sandy and, in turn, changes in demographics, property value, housing vacancies, and median income. The study employs Hotspot analysis to map: 1) the extent of damage across New York City neighborhoods caused by Hurricane Sandy; 2) where resources were allocated in the wake of the storm (based on figures provided by FEMA, HUD, SBA, and the New York City government); and 3) trends in development across the five boroughs of New York City using building permit data between the years of 2011 and 2015. Controlling for physical damage caused by the storm, the spatial patterns of development are further explored using Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) to determine the impact of funding for recovery on long-term growth and demographic change across New York City communities.

This project examines the potential for quantifying the degree of social disruption and varying paths toward system restabilization by using data routinely collected by municipalities. Social disruption was measured by studying monthly patterns of water consumption, sales tax revenue, and crime data following the 2013 EF-5 Moore, Oklahoma tornado and the July and August 2012 wildfires in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Using two similar cities experiencing different disaster agents provided an opportunity to establish important similarities and differences in the level of social disruption created and how this disruption is manifested in the different “rhythms of life” within a city. This research was grounded on previous work related to social time, social routine, and disaster (Neal, 2004, 2013). This study documents how different components of both cities re-established the rhythm of life resulting in a similar but new normal. Data collected on water consumption, sales tax revenue and crime patterns for four fiscal years for Moore and Stillwater, Oklahoma illustrate pre-impact, impact, and initial restabilization period social patterns. Following time series analysis, preliminary findings indicate these variables are valid measures of municipal social time and demonstrate disaster-induced disruption. Comparison among different variable patterns indicates that magnitude of impact and speed of restabilization appear to follow different patterns. This project suggests that social routine may be used to establish a Degree of Disaster Index to allow direct comparisons across multiple events and the study of long-term system restabilization. 

On September 13th, 2008 Hurricane Ike caused damage to more than 75% of the residential structures in Galveston, Texas including 942 units in the Island’s four public housing developments. Despite concerns from housing advocates, in January 2009 Galveston Housing Authority (GHA) decided to demolish two of these sites. Through a conciliation agreement GHA committed to one-for-one replacement of the public housing units; however that commitment remained only partially met six years later. The study presented in this paper used interviews as well as the analysis of documents from government agencies, advocacy groups, lawsuits, court orders, and media reports to describe the recovery outcomes for former residents of public housing and identify inequalities when compared to recovery outcomes for other residents. Initial findings suggest that how the post disaster opportunity is framed has major consequences for whether and how this moment is seized for building back better. The definition of better is shaped by the goals and agendas of those who are involved in recovery decision making. It shapes how resources are distributed and who gets what share of the recovery. The bitter controversy over rebuilding public housing in Galveston provides an example of how the framing of post-disaster opportunity can be used to exclude lower-income residents and consequently result in inequitable recovery outcomes. We argue that lack of inclusive pre-disaster planning enabled an anti-public housing discourse to dominate the post disaster policy debates by framing removal of the poor as a rebuild back better strategy.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has replaced its county-wide warnings with smaller warning polygons to provide people in risk areas with more specific information about tornado threats. Previous studies have examined individuals’ perceptions of strike probabilities (ps) in response to tornado warning polygons and found that people infer that ps is highest at the polygon’s centroid, lower just inside the edges of the polygon, and still lower just outside the edges of the polygon and in locations beyond that. However, it is unclear whether a warning polygon together with additional information, such as radar images of storm cells, would affect individuals’ ps ratings. To better understand this issue, 167 participants were asked to respond to 3 different scenarios. In the first scenario, in which only a warning polygon was presented, the distribution of people’s ps ratings was consistent with findings in previous studies. However, when the second scenario presented the warning polygon together with the radar image of a major storm cell with a hook echo, ps was highest at both the polygon’s centroid and the edge of the polygon closest to the storm cell, lower at the edges inside the polygon, still lower just outside the edges of the polygon, and lowest beyond that. The findings in the third scenario—which presented a warning polygon, major storm cell with a hook echo, and two minor storm cells adjacent to the main storm cell—were generally consistent with those in the second scenario. Overall, these findings confirm that, contrary to NWS guidance, people perceive that they are at significant risk of a tornado strike even if they are outside a tornado warning polygon. 

In this study, I analyze the effect of the Hurricane Odile in Mexico on income, consumption, psychological stress, and education outcomes. To analyze these effects, I use a unique database, the Survey of Social Mobility in Disaster Zones. In particular, I use the quasi-experimental section of this survey. I selected locations that were not affected by a hurricane or other natural disasters in the last four years, but were affected in 2014. The only locations that satisfy this condition were the localities affected by the hurricane Odile in Baja California Sur. Another condition was that the localities selected had a “similar” location, being that they were not affected directly by the hurricane, but close in proximately to the hurricane area. The municipality of La Paz was chosen as a “treatment”, and as a “control” group the municipality of Ahome in Sinaloa. After selecting the municipalities, 250 households were selected by random in the municipality of La Paz, and 250 in the municipality of Ahome. To analyze the effects of the hurricane on the variables of interest, I use a MANOVA estimation approach. Findings suggest that Odile affected psychological variables like stress, and locus of control. I then discuss the potential of long-terms effects in the absence of professional intervention. Public policy approaches to deliver psychological interventions after storms should be provided in Mexico.  

Hurricanes continue to threaten the coastlines of the United States and the people who live along them. The first line of warning for the threat of an oncoming hurricane is the meteorologist. From their guidance, warnings are issued and evacuation plans are made ready. In essence, it all starts with the meteorologists and their tools. This study explores the uncertainties that operational meteorologists have with hurricane track forecasting, and how meteorologists perceive translating those issues to the public. The study is based on a web survey of individual meteorologists who have hurricane forecasting experience, with a sampling method that incorporates the seeding of the survey with geographical and occupational stratifications. Specifically, the study focuses on three key areas: uncertainty displays in hurricane track forecasting, perceived media-public relationships and effectiveness on various platforms (e.g., television, web, and social media), and reliance on numerical model guidance. All questions are designed to operate on a topic expert level so that nuances can be examined. The study provides new knowledge upon the hurricane evacuation and risk communication literature with respect to understanding how hurricane forecasting meteorologists perceive hurricane track uncertainty and disseminate that information in an effective way to the public at risk.

Relocating communities to safer areas after major disasters has been increasingly considered in recent recovery. Such processes require time and careful planning so that relocating residents can better sustain their livelihoods. Thus understanding ways to manage successful relocation is gaining importance, and research on the impact of governance with respect to community relocation merits further study. This study cross-analyzes three relocation cases in Asia, namely, Tohoku (Japan), Leyte (the Philippines), and Yogyakarta (Indonesia), recovering from the 2011 GEJE and tsunami, the 2013 Typhoon Yolanda, and the 2010 Mt. Merapi volcanic eruption, respectively. It aims to understand differences and commonalities between the various governmental approaches and its influence on community engagement in the recovery process. The author has been engaged in relocation research in each region for the past two to three years, and the study uses data collected through interviews as well as information publicly available through websites and government offices. An examination of the three cases revealed that although all the recovering regions focused on community relocation to safer areas, governance varied with respect to the programs and processes adopted. In Japan, local governments were the main actors responsible for relocation. In the Philippines the national government in collaboration with local governments led the process, but encouraged beneficiaries to participate. In Indonesia, communities were the main actors and were supported by the national and local governments. The study’s comparative analysis indicated that governance impacted the way residents developed their sense of embeddedness to new sites.

Natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes result in considerable changes in the lives of their victims. Restoring the lives of affected individuals has been the topic of many recent studies in the disaster recovery literature. Since disasters affect a wide range of inherently interconnected aspects of life such as work, health, family, etc, finding the optimum policy to return these parameters to normal is an enigmatic dilemma. As the first step toward solving this dilemma, we need to identify the factors that are important for recovery of the survivors. Although identifying these priorities is an indispensable step for crafting efficient polices, there are few studies on this topic. Latent class analysis is one of the best methods in the social sciences to categorize individuals into separate classes based on their preferences. Through this research, we used latent class analysis to find out what aspects of life are important for individuals and categorized them into separate classes. To explore community concerns/priorities in the aftermath of the 2013 Moore, OK tornado, we performed a data collection in the Fall and Spring of 2015-2016. According to LCA results and with regard to survivors’ main recovery concerns, five latent classes were identified which include availability of housing, infrastructure, financial support, social network and source of income. These classes were then associated with several covariates. We will discuss these findings and their implications for policy and practice. 

Superstorm Sandy made landfall on October 29, 2012, flooding neighborhoods and homes, causing billions of dollars in damages, and killing 157 people. Effective communication about weather risks, such as hurricanes, is a vital component in reducing vulnerability because it can help people make decisions to protect themselves, their families, and their property. Hurricane information is increasingly accessed, transmitted, and discussed over social media, including Twitter. Using Sandy as a case study, we explore two ways in which information and vulnerability to hurricanes interact. First, we examine the role of hurricane and risk information in the decisions made as the storm approached based on focus groups conducted in New York with people who may be more vulnerable to hurricane impacts due to language, immigration status, socioeconomic status, or physical ability. Second, we explore ways in which social media may alleviate or exacerbate vulnerability based on analysis of Twitter data collected just prior to and after Sandy made landfall in New York. We find that the role of hurricane information, including that which is transmitted over social media, in decision making is mediated by other factors, including social networks and adaptive capacities. Findings show that the social processes underlying how hurricane information is received, transmitted, and used are complex and dynamic, indicating that social media caries the potential to empower protective decision making and partially alleviate vulnerability in some cases, but that the digital divide continues to leave many vulnerable communities disconnected from risk information conveyed over social media.

Economic flood loss data (estimated or reported) is particularly useful for assessing the degree to which a community is prepared to, or adapted to the potential impacts from flood hazards. For the past fifty years the economic impacts of flooding have been increasing in the United States. Overall, there has been an increase in the number of insurance claims, the amount of damage reported per claim, and the total amount of damages in communities. This presentation considers flood loss data from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and its use for assessments of community disaster resilience. First, key methodological assumptions of models of resilience as a loss function are reviewed. Next, the presentation includes a discussion on types of information available in NFIP data, and how community resilience assessments might be affected. Then, empirical and statistical examples from recent research conducted by the author are provided. In conclusion, several recommendations are presented that can help enhance models of community resilience and empirical evaluations of social vulnerability and mitigation interventions.

Major disasters fundamentally reshape cities' physical and social landscape. But while cities mourn disasters because they have caused loss of life, damage to property, and family displacement, communities inevitably look toward recovery and embrace the challenges and opportunities associated with city revitalization. Affordable housing, school, and commercial resource redevelopment are leading post-disaster recovery objectives. But successfully attaining these recovery priorities depends, in part, on ensuring that they support a city's overarching goal of protecting public safety. Thus, an important consideration that cities must thread through successful long-term recovery work is rebuilding a city safer for its citizens -- both old and new. This paper represents a preliminary examination of how national and subnational governments' implementation of long-term recovery programs has tended to bolster or diminish cities' safety. Drawing on secondary source literature, press accounts, and interviews, this paper details cities' successes and failures at addressing community crime rates through long-term recovery initiatives.  Large-scale recovery efforts, including New Orleans' post-Katrina long-term recovery efforts and the Honduran government's post-Hurricane Mitch recovery, are the particular focus of this paper.  The paper's goal is to establish a basic checklist of considerations that government authorities should take into account when formulating and implementing a long-term recovery.   

Using repeat photography and geographic information systems (GIS), we visualize and assess patterns of housing damage and recovery for the 2013 West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion. Our research questions are: 1. How does damage and recovery vary across space in West, and how do structure characteristics and blast radius predict damage and also recovery at year 1? 2. Are adapted visual damage and recovery assessment tools from natural disasters reliable and valid for technological disasters? 3. How might existing visualization and mapping tools and techniques be used to enhance disaster management processes and what are the implications specifically for recovery and future hazard mitigation planning? Within a few days of the explosion, Google completed a Street View™ imagery of West. We used this opportunity to develop a dataset of photos of each parcel in the area of town most affected. The photos were rated on a scale of 0-9 according to the extent of damage using an adapted version of the Tornado Impact Scale. One year later, we drove through West and took the same photos ourselves. These photos were rated on a scale of 1-4 according to amount of rebuilding completed. Using tax record data on the age and pre-impact value of the structure, we found that distance from explosion was the best predictor of damage, but house value was the best predictor of recovery at Year 1. Our research also has implications for land use controls and critical infrastructure placement to mitigate technological disaster risks.

The objective of this study is to investigate the vulnerability and resilience of infrastructure in developing countries using a case study of water network in Kathmandu Valley in the aftermath of 2015 Nepalese Earthquake. Data obtained from various sources including pre-disaster condition, post-disaster damage assessments, and interviews with water agencies were used in identification of the vulnerabilities of the system and characterizing its resilience performance. In addition, the study evaluation of interdependencies between the water network and other infrastructure sectors in order to identify and documents cascading failures and their impacts. The study also includes a network analysis in order to evaluate the impact of network structure on its vulnerability and resilience. The results of the study are twofold: (1) characterizing infrastructure resilience in the context of developing communities; and (2) identification of coupling, response behaviors, state of operation, and types of interdependencies that affect the resilience of infrastructure in the context of disasters. These results provide new insight regarding infrastructure resilience in developing communities.

Various institutional forums for emergency preparedness and response are becoming increasingly common to support stakeholder collaboration. However, knowledge of stakeholder interactions within such forums remains underdeveloped. Using the ecology of games framework, which models stakeholder collaboration across multiple institutional forums, this study investigates patterns of information exchange among representatives of 51 organizations across 42 resilience forums convening in response to weather warnings in Sweden. These resilience forums are inter-organizational venues for collaboration that mobilize in response to natural hazards and other contingencies. The study uses a coding framework to systematically document stakeholders’ engagement in information exchanges between 2011 and 2015. Using a novel bipartite network theoretical approach, the study analyzes engagement by different organizations (public agencies, regional governments, non-governmental/private organizations) in information exchanges across shared forums. The study documents the relative prevalence of particular configurations of organizations across these forums. The findings inform a discussion about the efficiency and effectiveness of resilience forums as an organizational form to support inter-organizational collaboration in response to natural hazards.

Studies of urban disaster risk in the global South focus primarily on the experience of large cities and political capitals, resulting in theories and policy frameworks that may be poorly suited for small urban centers. The purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding of disasters in small cities by asking: how do urbanization and the governance of spatial development create, maintain, or reduce risk? Using a theoretical framework from urban political ecology, I present a detailed case study of the Darjeeling-Sikkim region in northeast India. The small cities in this mountainous area have grown rapidly in size and population, are increasingly affected by natural hazards and the effects of climate change, and are "off the map" of urban development in India. The case study draws on interview and archival data collected over seven field visits to the region from 2010-2016. I find that disaster risk is increasing due to a host of factors resulting from urbanization and urban growth, including the expansion of impervious surfaces, an increase in the number and height of buildings on unstable hillsides, the use of heavier building materials, changing transportation patterns and infrastructure, and improper drainage networks. Further, the cities suffer from a chronic lack of information regarding natural hazards, ambivalence among local leaders regarding disaster risk management, and a political economy of development rooted in the violation of building norms and rent-seeking. Together, these findings highlight some of the key points of departure between disaster risk in small and large cities.

This study uses an organizational framework to examine the current status of local hazard mitigation planning from the perspective of emergency management practitioners from varying office configurations. Thirty North Central Texas emergency managers were recruited for participation in this study. Data was collected through semi-structured telephone interviews and an online survey. A mixed methodology was used to triangulate qualitative and quantitative data. Findings indicate that emergency managers from the different office configurations adopt six self-identified roles in hazard mitigation planning and strategy implementation; have a similar reported level of involvement in different hazard mitigation-related activities; and perceive participating stakeholders as performing four key functions in hazard mitigation planning and strategy implementation. Second, participants describe five obstacles of hazard mitigation planning that are categorized as internal organizational challenges and two obstacles that are categorized as outside organizational challenges. One outside organizational obstacle is rated as more significant by participants from the non-fire emergency management office category. Emergency managers presented four strategies used for overcoming hazard mitigation challenges, and the ability to master these strategies has implications for achieving hazard mitigation success. Lastly, the organizational characteristics of emergency management offices had significant relationships with their reported level of involvement in select hazard mitigation activities and the rating assigned to select hazard mitigation challenges. For integrated emergency management offices, their parent agency is found to be an invaluable asset for achieving hazard mitigation objectives.  

Social scientists highlight the importance of culture in understanding community risk perception. Mary Douglas explores why individuals fail to acknowledge risks. Specifically, she considers if acknowledging “being at risk” also entails assuming the undesirable subjectivity of a victim. Using data collected through a semi-structured survey (n=350), this research examines how the risk perception of residents of Dorado, Puerto Rico, living in different types of community arrangements, may vary (e.g. gated communities, mutual-aid low income communities, rural communities, and suburban working class housing subdivisions). Participants were selected using cluster sampling techniques and were asked to list and rank their concerns, to identify current natural and environmental hazards to which they perceived to be exposed, and to identify and rank the likelihood of being affected by different hazards in the future. Preliminary analysis shows that residents living in gated communities with a higher socioeconomic status, who are equally exposed to coastal hazards or air pollution, are 1) less likely to voice their exposure as a concern, 2) more likely to ignore hazards to which their community is exposed, and 3) more likely to perceive more risks that could affect them in the future. Our research illustrates different forms of community vulnerability to disasters that must be well understood for future planning and public policy. This research is funded by U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Recovery remains the least researched phase of the emergency management cycle. Recent disaster scholarship has enriched the methodological tool kit for monitoring the community recovery process, but with few exceptions, it has added little to recovery theory. Our theoretical understanding of long-term recovery remains rudimentary. This study utilizes visual methods and a feminist approach to investigate the meanings of long-term recovery as seen through the eyes of Mississippi Gulf Coast residents eight to nine years after Hurricane Katrina. Photo elicitation and semi-structured interviews with thirty-four residents comprise primary data collection techniques. Of six meanings identified through discourse analysis of photographs and interviews, this paper expounds upon two of them: commemoration and betterment. Results show the tension that exists between the aims of commemoration and betterment in long-term recovery. They also illuminate the importance of restoring place identity as a tenet of successful recovery. This research builds upon the foundational work of Kates and Pijawka from the late 1970s. Their four-wave model of community recovery narrowly defines the last phase of recovery as a period for constructing disaster memorials, honoring victims and survivors, championing mitigation, and welcoming new growth. Empirical evidence suggests that the aims of this “commemoration, betterment, and development” phase are much broader. Commemoration is recast as a process of memory work focused on the location rather than the disaster event itself, while betterment is an elusive ideal rooted in aesthetics, function, and image. Tensions that manifest at the household and community levels tangibly limit sustainability and resilience efforts.

Within the disaster literature, few studies have been devoted to the role of incarcerated populations as a source of labor within the context of emergency operations. When faced with a lack of resources, emergency management rely on inmate labor forces to prepare for and respond to hazards and disasters. For example, in the U.S., inmates from the Louisiana State Penitentiary helped with sandbagging the facilities in preparation for the potential flooding of the Mississippi River and Hurricane Katrina (Gaillard, 2012). The state of California has long maintained inmate firefighting forces to combat destructive wildfires statewide (Goodman, 2012). However, there has never been a comprehensive analysis of how inmate labor forces are utilized as resources for emergency management activities across the U.S. In order to address this gap within the literature, I analyze state Emergency Operations Plans and the various tasks in which inmates are described as responsible for. In addition to the analysis of inmate labor forces, the various prescribed identities of inmate populations within the EOPs are examined. Not only are inmate populations described as a labor resource, but also as a vulnerable population deserving of special protections and yet also as a hazardous population, requiring extensive measures to protect the greater public from potentially dangerous situations which they might incite (e.g., riots or hostage situations). Variations across states in when and how the different identities of inmate populations are invoked by emergency management within the state EOPs are examined. 

Climate change is exacerbating the hydrological hazards and creating complex crises and greater disasters. Adaptation has been recognized as the building block required for coping with climate change. Developing an adaptation strategy requires the integration of the community, academia, and practitioners’ knowledge to promote the empowerment of society. A common problem is the absence of community concerns in the adaptation planning tools, due to the traditional top-down governmental system. San Andres, a Colombian Caribbean island located in the western Caribbean area, is currently working in how to adapt to climate change. This research aims to analyze and compare community opinion in contrast to three main planning tools; to observe the similarities and differences between them that can contribute particularly to the land use plan. Also, it was found that there are community concerns that are absent from the planning tools; including capacity studies, climate change displacement, and mechanisms to stimulate relocation of people to the mainland in the formulation of climate change policies. The research used a qualitative method using data from official documents of departmental plans, and from a regional climate change community workshop sponsored by National University of Colombia done in 2015, where the community itemized the main challenges and strategic actions necessary to design a climate change policy for the island. The results show that all three plans have included a social participation strategy, however not all of them have included adaptation to climate change actions, in particular the land use plan.

China has suffered from several earthquake disasters in recent years. With urbanization, more people migrated to the cities located in or near high-risk earthquake zone. The Internet becomes an important communication instrument when earthquakes occurdomestically or abroad. In order to explore the public perception of seismic risk, an online survey was conducted in October 2015. Data were collected from 3,245 respondents in 31 provinces. The results demonstrated some behavior characteristics when Chinese people learn of earthquakes. The proportion of those who accepted earthquake rumors was high and the Earthquake Administration was trusted after rumors occurred. Also, this research discovered a lack of risk imagination of earthquake damage. In preparation for earthquake risk reduction, more emergency drills were practiced in schools. This study could help the government gain better understanding of the circumstances of earthquake communication and take more effective earthquake communication preventive measures.