Natural Disasters

This paper attempts to compare the magnitudes of destruction between natural disasters and socioeconomic political disasters anywhere and anytime. Therefore, our research is using a multidisciplinary approach that includes history, politics, sociology, and economics simultaneously (Ruiz Estrada, 2011 and 2017). In the methodological part, this research suggests to mixing of quantitative and qualitative methods simultaneously to evaluate the different type of disasters as a whole. Subsequently, the same paper proposes a new analytical tool is entitled " The General Disasters Final Impact Simulator (GDFI-Simulator). " Finally, the GDFI-Simulator was applied on the African continent, the American continent, the Asian continent, the European continent, and Oceania from the 19th century to the 20th century respectively.

This booklet is an illustrated compilation of good practices and technical provisions with regard to sustainability, durability and resilience, identified within local building cultures of zones exposed to various constraints and types of natural hazards. Presented practices and technical solutions refer to ways of building, construction systems and devices, coping strategies and community practices identified by some members of the CRAterre team over several years and during projects in different countries. This document has been prepared by CRAterre, IFRC and Caritas France as part of a set of tools developed within the framework of a working group within the Global Shelter Cluster to enhance the appreciation of local practices developed by communities to adapt their housing / settlements to their specific environment, including risk preparedness. This booklet is a complementary tool to the handbook Assessing local building cultures for resilience and development. A practical guid...

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, massive fires etc. inflict serious damage and so seem to be bad for the economy.

Depending on the experience in different countries, the negative impact on economic indicators mostly occurs in the short run, while in the long run these effects are transient and negligible for the economy and the state budget.

Most noticeable is the direct impact of the natural disasters that we saw with the aftermath of the 21 September 2019 and 26 November 2019 earthquake in Albania. This effect was seen in the damage to infrastructure, the capital of businesses and individuals, and the potential future threat to the exploitation of natural resources.

Individuals with disabilities are disproportionately vulnerable in evacuation emergencies, and they face numerous challenges accessing resources for response and recovery.The aim of this study was to compare the preparedness behaviors of households with and without special-needs members.A random-digit-dial telephone survey was conducted of 501 adults in southeastern Pennsylvania in 2008. The survey instrument gathered data on sociodemographic characteristics, disability status/functional limitations, and preparedness behaviors related to an evacuation emergency. Analyses were conducted in 2009 and included multiple logistic regressions. Data were weighted to correct for unequal probabilities of selection and response.Nineteen percent (n=95) of respondents reported living in a household in which someone had a transportation-related special need requiring assistance in case of an emergency. Households with a special-needs member had greater odds of having arranged a place to meet (OR=2.2; 95% CI=1.26, 3.88); located a shelter (OR=1.8; 95% CI=1.05, 3.24); or packed a bag (OR=1.8; 95% CI=1.02, 3.21). No significant differences were identified with respect to awareness of evacuation routes, purchasing of food and water, or creation of an emergency plan to guide evacuation decision-making.Despite both greater vulnerability to disaster and numerous messages by governmental and nongovernmental organizations, households with special-needs members are not more likely to engage in time-consuming preparedness behaviors such as planning and buying. Understanding the motivations and behaviors of special-needs groups is critical to designing informed risk-communication messages and interventions to bolster the preparedness of the most vulnerable populations.

Although children and adolescents with developmental disabilities are said to have higher risks of abuse than those without, trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are little examined in those diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Our study aims to assess trauma types, prevalence, risk factors and symptoms; and PTSD in individuals with diagnosis of ASD. Participants were 69 children and adolescents (53 males, 16 females) who were consecutively followed-up at our clinic and met DSM-IV criteria for ASD. Assessment was done using semi-structured interview forms. 18 had trauma history and 12 were diagnosed with PTSD. Witnessing or being a victim of accidents/disasters/violence was the most common type of trauma. Interestingly, the rate of sexual and/or physical abuse was less than in the general population. Trauma history and PTSD rates were higher in girls than boys. Deterioration in social and communicative abilities, increase in stereotypes, aggression, distract...

Corporate risk management governance and management frameworks, approaches and practices face a variety of challenges and in many cases need to be reviewed and revised to copy with multiple uncertainties, disruptive technologies, new markets, business models, relationship, forms of organisation and areas of unpredictability. Systematically reviews issues and questions that need to be addressed from a board perspective in various risk arenas. Published  as: Coulson-Thomas, Colin (2017), Risk Governance and the Board, Director Today, Vol. III Issue II, February, pp 49-55

We summarize some of the findings and observations from the field surveys conducted in the aftermath of the horrific tsunami of 26 December 2004 and reported in this issue. All these field surveys represent an unprecedented scientific undertaking and involved both local and international scientists working side by side. The 26 December tsunami was the first with transoceanic impact, since comprehensive postevent hydrodynamic surveys began to be conducted in the early 1990s with modern measurement tools. The tsunami impacted at least 16 nations directly: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Oman, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, the Maldives, Rodrigues, Mauritius, Réunion, and the Seychelles. The death toll included citizens from many other countries in Asia, Europe, the South Pacific, and the Americas, giving this tsunami the grim distinction of being the first universal natural disaster of modern times.

Definition/Description
Disasters are defined as events that can originate
from both nature and humans although the line
between the two can blur, producing “unnatural”
disasters (Bates 2002). Geological, hydrological,
and atmospheric disasters such as earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, landslides, rocks falling, avalanches,
drought, flooding, storms, lightning
strikes, and hurricanes are considered to be natural
disasters (Adeniran 2013). Environmental disasters
are man-made, anthropogenic ones; it means
that they are caused by human activity. Human
activity can change the environment abruptly or
gradually (Bates 2002). Environmental disasters
affect agriculture, biodiversity, the economy, and
human health. Unnatural disasters are result from
an interaction of natural and anthropogenic disruptions
in the environment. According to
Jacobson (1988, p. 16), they are “normal events
whose effects are exacerbated by human activities.”
Technological disasters are entirely anthropogenic,
but like natural disasters, they are
temporally acute (Bates 2002). Environmental pollution
or depletion can produce also the anthropogenic
deterioration of an ecosystem (Schnaiberg
and Gould 1994).

The purpose of this paper is to know the perception regarding the post-flood waste management system in Tumpat, Kelantan. A total of 31 respondents which consist 15 men and 16 women are selected at random. Among the criteria taken into consideration during the selection of respondents is 25 years old and above, are the locals, and directly involved with flood in 2014. Respondent was selected from Tumpat. Respondents divided down into several groups of men and women separately ranging from 7 to 8 people. This discussion session held according to the format of the Focused Group Discussion (FGD) and carried out by experienced moderators. The main cause of waste management problems is the amount of mud that very overwhelming than previous floods. Good communication between government agencies and residents become the deciding factor of the effectiveness of waste management according to the respondents view. A delay assistance and management weakness of the authority is the main factor to the failure flood waste management. The health education approaches in flood management is still lacking. And the study also found that no law enforcement in flood waste management. This paper can be used as a basis for determining the policies or guidelines that are needed by the Government in improving the effectiveness of waste management after floods.

The epidemiological profile of Latin America (LA) is marked by diseases of poverty and underdevelopment. Climate change is also reinforcing the intensity and frequency of climate variability, with more intense events, associated with either pole of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The chapter reviews increases in diseases and disease vectors due to climate stress and poverty, as well as some health protection measures that are beginning to be organized in Latin American countries. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is committed to supporting countries in the development of adaptation plans that promote health protection strategies

En la primera mitad del siglo XIX, coincidiendo con el final del período denominado la Pequeña Edad del Hielo, la frecuencia y magnitud de las inundaciones en la región de Andalucía aumentaron considerablemente respecto a las riadas que tuvieron lugar en el siglo anterior. Si bien se han descrito las consecuencias que estas inundaciones tenían sobre la vida económica del campo y la ciudad de la España Moderna, aún no ha sido suficientemente investigada la relación existente entre estos desastres naturales y las políticas públicas que comenzaron a desarrollarse a mediados del siglo XIX, en respuesta a los efectos negativos de tan repetidas inundaciones. El estudio de las inundaciones en la ciudad de Sevilla en este período, muestra la génesis de una cierta categoría de acción pública verdaderamente preventiva, frente a las medidas de simple reacción a la catástrofe, una vez que esta ya había tenido lugar. Por una parte, las autoridades locales recurrieron a la beneficencia municipal y a la caridad y beneficencia particulares. Sin embargo, también se adoptaron políticas públicas encaminadas a la prevención, como fueron la organización del personal y material para la defensa de la ciudad; la implantación de un sistema de vigilancia y alerta telegráfica de los niveles del río; o la adopción de medidas de higiene pública para prevenir el desarrollo de enfermedades.

This paper assesses the potential of software developed
by the research group of the Swiss Federal Institute for
Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) in order to
georeference and vectorise historical landscape photographs.
The use of this ‘Monoplotting’ Tool introduces a new
application for topographical photographs and opens up
the possibility of using such photographs for measuring
land-use change. This paper reviews the literature on the
use of historical photographs for landscape history. It
introduces the new software and then goes on to examine
how vectorised topographical photographs may help in the
measurement of land-use changes in the mountainous
landscape of Liguria and Trentino in the late nineteenth
and twentieth century.

This paper is a precursor to an in-depth study being carried out with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and RMIT University, outlining the need for improved understanding of the challenges and opportunities of Military-NGO interaction in complex post-conflict spaces. It is well known that military and NGO operations occupy overlapping spaces in conflict environments, with distinct and divergent cultures and mandates for those operations. However, their understanding of and attitudes towards each other and their missions are equally significant in defining their capacity and willingness to work constructively in tandem. Indeed, the minimum requirement of civilian and military organisations is to work in the same location, if not necessarily cooperatively or collaboratively. Harris highlights that as a result of geo-political and combat developments globally, key actors now regularly find themselves outside of their traditional zones of operation - militaries as peacekeepers, transit...

It has long been known that disasters can have mental health consequences such as increased rates of PTSD, depression and anxiety. While some research has shown that secondary stressors during the aftermath of a disaster can influence psychological outcomes, this aspect of the disaster experience has not been widely studied. This paper reports on two studies that investigated which aspects of the experience of being flooded were most predictive of mental health outcomes. The first study was a qualitative study of adults whose homes had been inundated in the Mackay flood of 2008 (n=16). Thematic analysis of interviews conducted 18-20 months post-flood found that stressors during the flood aftermath such as difficulties and delays during the rebuilding process and a difficult experience with an insurance company were nominated as the most stressful aspect of the flood by the majority of participants. The second study surveyed Mackay flood survivors three and a half years post-flood, and Brisbane 2011 flood survivors 7-9 months post-flood (n=158). Findings indicated aftermath stress contributed to mental health outcomes over and above the contribution of perceived trauma, objective flood severity, prior mental health, self-efficacy and demographic factors. The implications of these results for the provision of community recovery services following natural disasters are discussed, including the need to provide effective targeting of support services throughout the lengthy rebuilding phase; a possible role for co-ordinating tradespeople; and training for insurance company staff aimed at minimising the incidence of insurance company staff inadvertently adding to disaster victims’ stress.

Climate changes, caused by uncontrolled emissions of greenhouse gases, increasingly, directly / indirectly, threaten people and their material goods. In addition, the effects of climate changes (increasing in the average temperature of the biosphere, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, etc.), undoubtedly contribute to an increased risk of natural disasters. Moreover, climate changes impact on the gradual increase of their frequency, intensity and consequences. Around the world, numerous examples of natural disasters testify about great and inevitable impact of global warming on change in characteristics of floods, droughts, hurricanes, etc… It is therefore important to analyze the direct / indirect impacts of climate changes on all aspects of natural disasters.
The article explicitly and implicitly explains the implications of climate changes on the emergence, intensity and frequency of natural disasters. In addition, it generally perceives the phenomenological structures of climate changes and natural disasters in order to analyze their mutual causality.

What happens in authoritarian regimes following natural disasters? In this article we explore how authoritarian leaders use language strategically to shift blame and reap any possible benefits from the state’s response to the disaster. The speeches of three prominent autocratic leaders, Fidel Castro, Zedong Mao, and Hosni Mubarak, were analyzed using two computational linguistic tools (Coh-Metrix & LIWC) to open the black box of autocratic leaders’ strategies for successfully navigating political crises in the days, weeks, and months following natural disasters. We find support that authoritarian leaders indeed use these three strategies of blaming, credit-claiming, and referencing religion. Implications of these results are discussed in the context of using computational linguistics analyses to generate potential predictive models of social disequilibrium and to advance our understanding of authoritarian regimes.

El huracán del 59 es una reconstrucción de los daños originados por el meteoro más poderoso que impactó al estado de Colima en el siglo XX. En cuatro capítulo se plantean y contestan, entre otras, las siguientes preguntas: ¿cómo fue que se asentaron los pobladores de Minatitlán?, ¿qué características físicas tuvo el huracán del 27 de octubre de 1959 y por qué causó el deslave que mató a más de 200 personas y destruyó dos terceras partes del pueblo?, ¿por qué reconstruyeron las casas sobre la misma destrucción?, ¿de qué manera el huracán y el deslave afectaron psicológica y socialmente a los minatitlenses? y, ¿cuáles fueron los procesos de cambio provocados por este fenómeno?

Natural disasters can have lasting impacts on regional economies. Island economies, in particular, have protracted recoveries from disasters due to their location, size, and economic dependence on trading partners. As imports and exports are especially explicit and discernible in ports, islands facilitate investigations on the long-term effects of disaster relief, reconstruction, and redevelopment on trade. In this paper, we examine the transformational impact of the 2004 Indian ocean earthquake and tsunami. We examine changes to physical imports and exports in the archipelago to reflect on the social, economic, and ecological impacts of the 2004 disaster and subsequent recovery. We analyse disaggregated physical import and export data for 2003–2017 from revenue ports in the Nicobar Islands in India along with data from field surveys and interviews conducted on the islands. We find that while the archipelago’s physical trade balance has been continuously growing since 2003, it incre...

The aim of this article is analyse issues related to extraordinary measures provided for by the Polish Constitution. The subject of the research concerns the duty to provide personal and in-kind contributions (public burdens) in the event of the introduction of one of extraordinary measures. The author focuses his attention on the nature of these contributions in relation to each of extraordinary measures, analysing their subjective and objective scope, the procedure, as well as the principles and mode of remunaration for and compensation of losses resulting from the duty to bear these burdens in situations of extraordinary measures.

Celem niniejszego artykułu jest analiza zagadnień związanych z występującymi w polskiej Konstytucji stanami nadzwyczajnymi (stan wojenny, stan wyjątkowy, stan klęski żywiołowej). Zagadnienia stanowiące przedmiot badań odnoszą się do regulacji obowiązku świadczeń osobistych i rzeczowych (ciężary publiczne) w razie wprowadzenia jednego z rzeczonych stanów nadzwyczajnych. Autor swoje rozważania skoncentrował na charakterze tych świadczeń w odniesieniu oddzielnie do każdego z tych stanów nadzwyczajnych, analizując ich zakres podmiotowy i przedmiotowy, procedurę oraz zasady i tryb wynagradzania i wyrównywania strat wynikłych z obowiązku ponoszenia tych ciężarów w sytuacjach stanów nadzwyczajnych.

In 1961, the US Department of Defense (DOD) introduced the use of tactical herbicides in Vietnam with the objective to improve visibility, prevent ambush, disrupt enemy food supply, as well as secure and facilitate the construction of military bases. This essay argues that the use of Agent Orange corresponds to a state-initiated state-corporate crime against health and safety and against nature, and could also be related to war crime. To support this argument, the paper exposes links between criminology theories and the use of tactical herbicides.

Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005, driving hundreds of thousands of residents out of the city and causing upwards of $55 billion in damage. Between August 2005 and New Year's Day 2006, New Orleans lost over half its population because Katrina forced people out of their homes and businesses were relocated temporarily, if not permanently. This natural event played a crucial role in the development of the insurance industry with regards to how it reacted to these "black swan" events. Journalists and reporters were quick to criticize the response time of government organizations such as FEMA, but insurance companies were also to blame for the disastrous aftermath. The mathematical models used at the time failed to properly prepare companies for the payouts needed after the storm subsided, meaning hundreds of thousands of New Orleans residents were left unsubsidized for the damage done and were forced to move out of the city altogether. This paper analyzes how models were used by the insurance industry prior to Hurricane Katrina, followed by an analysis on how those models changed to accommodate for future events that may cause similar damage. I also discuss the role of government in natural catastrophes and the regulation of insurance before vs. after Hurricane Katrina.

East Africa and Pakistan are currently suffering from the worst invasion of desert locusts in decades. Threatening agricultural production in East Africa, the assault increases the danger of famine in a region where 19 million people already face food insecurity. When locust invasions such as the current ones occur, journalists like to refer to them as "biblical" implying that these disasters are analogous to the ones described in the Bible or by classical writers. However, as this article will illustrate, locust invasions are neither acts of providence nor ancient disasters. In fact, they result from the interplay between natural and human factors and they have been of great concern to western governments in the 19th and 20th centuries, first within the scope of colonial empires, then as a consideration of international development policies.

Due to floods, Assam has suffered a loss of Rs 3,100 crore in the past five decades. Official estimates show that since 1954, various government agencies have completed as many as 631 flood control schemes and constructed about 4,458 km long dykes along the major rivers across the state. In order to protect a total of 31 lakh hectares of vulnerable land, which has been identified by the National Flood Commission, only 16 lakh hectares could be protected from floods in 53 years. Official records say that total loss in the early 80s was about Rs 228 crore. And it has been gradually increasing with every passing year.
To remove the backwardness of the region, tackling the flood menace is a must. Otherwise, all efforts to bring northeast at par with other mainland states will come to a naught.
The question is when Assamese will see a permanent solution to the problem they have come to live with as long as they can remember. "I do not know", replies chief minister Tarun Gogoi. The key to the solution is with the Centre, according to him. Assam government cannot tackle the flood menace on its own. Its resources are meager. It doesn’t have enough money to pay the salaries to its staff. And the debt burden is Rs. 10,000 crore plus. Flood problem is gigantic.

This guide  concentrates on Sphere’s four technical
chapters covering water supply, sanitation
and hygiene promotion (WASH); Food security
and nutrition; Shelter and settlement; and
Health. Additional tools and approaches for
urban response are included: Context analysis,
Assessments, Profiling and Targeting; Area-based
approaches and Cash and markets.

Este es un boletín que editamos con motivo del impacto del huracán Patricia en las costas de Colima y Jalisco los días 23 y 24 de octubre del año 2015, como parte de los trabajos colegiados entre integrantes de la REDESClim-Conacyt: http://www.redesclim.org.mx/

Cyclones some mes doubled the roles for stormy devasta on and the execu oner for performing double landfall processes. The recently formed Cyclone Burevi, emerged from the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean, doubled up with the uncontrollable fury of nature with the double-ac ng landfall process in two countries consecu vely striking first over Sri Lanka at Mullai vu, north of Trincomalee on 2 December 2020, and second yet to strike Indian coast at Tu corin in between Kanyakumari and Pamban of Tamil Nadu scheduled on 4 December 2020 as per forecast by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), but the second landfall not yet happened. Only a er a week of devasta on by the very severe cyclonic storm Nivar (26 November 2020), southern peninsular coastal stretch of India is to be ravaged again by the Cyclone Burevi. Before the occurrences of the cyclones Burevi and Nivar, Cyclone Ga hit Somalia coast on 23 November and Cyclone Nisarga destroyed Maharashtra coastal region on 6 June 2020 emerging from the Arabian Sea. Before the forma on of these cyclones, Amphan, the maiden Super Cyclone of the century ravaged the south districts of Bengal of both India and Bangladesh on 20 May 2020 emerging from the Bay of Bengal. Thus, the Cyclone Burevi is the 5th cyclonic storm in the peninsular India in 2020, and the third cyclonic event formed over the Bay of Bengal. Such consecu ve occurrences of cyclonic storms is the consequence of the forma on of weather system over the higher sea surface temperature (SST) which is strengthened by the sufficient energy in the form of heat and moisture in the North Indian Ocean peak cyclone season during October-December and April-June in a year respec vely. Intensifica on of cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal (BOB) is directly correlated to that sea surface temperature. Even in the huge rainfall precipita on during the landfall processes of the cyclonic storms, the sea surface temperature over the Bay of Bengal is recorded 29-300C for major cyclonic events in peninsular India. That sea surface temperature over the Bay of Bengal favoured and strengthened the weather system for the forma on of the cyclonic storm Burevi, though cyclone Burevi has not become a very severe cyclonic storm to the peninsular India for its physical nature of two consecu ve landfall processes and the cyclonic weather system linger for a much longer dura on. The weather system has to come across a long distance over the warmer water of the Bay of Bengal before its strike upon the coastal region. The year 2020 is a worldwide remarkable year for the corona pandemic due to the pathogenic contamina on of Covid 19 and for the several severe cyclonic disturbances in coastal peninsular India. Again, the first day of December, the last month of this year 2020 starts with a cyclonic note for India as the cyclone Burevi formed over the Bay of Bengal and the adjacent ocean on 28 November and hit Sri Lanka on 2 December and the peninsular India likely on 4 December. Cyclone Burevi is generated with the forma on of a low pressure area over the South Andaman Sea, and the adjoining areas of southeast Bay of Bengal, and Equatorial Indian Ocean on 28 November 2020. The low pressure area has formed a depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal on 30 November 2020 and a deep depression at 0530 hours IST on 1 December 2020, respec vely. That deep depression is intensified into a cyclonic storm Burevi at 1730 hours IST on 1 December 2020 and is further intensified into a severe cyclonic storm at 1930 hour IST on 2 December 2020 as reported by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). Deep depression has become a cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal when its maximum sustained wind speed (MST) ranges from 34 to 47 knot/kmph. Cyclone Burevi is the 4th named storm in the new list (April 2020) for the Tropical cyclonic names of the North Indian Ocean and the 5th storm in the Indian Ocean for 2020 and 3rd in the Bay of Bengal in 2020. For the influence of the cyclonic storm Burevi, different areas like Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Pamban, Tondi and Kanyakumari including the other coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and Maharashtra have received heavy to very heavy rainfall along with high-velocity winds. Further, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an alert of a storm surge of up to 3.2 feet high above astronomical de which may inundate low-lying areas of Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts in Tamil Nadu during the me of landfall, though the speed of the cyclonic movement of the cyclone Burevi is fluctua ng in nature when it advances towards the coastal region. Speed of progress of Cyclone Burevi over the Bay of Bengal Date Time (hours IST) Speed (kmph)