Crop adaptation processes to extreme floods in Bangladesh: a case study

This paper investigates farmers’ crop adaptation processes in response to three recent devastating floods in Islampur, a case-study area in rural Bangladesh. The paper reports a multi-method research project which comprised a questionnaire survey, focus-group discussions and interviews with agricultural block supervisors. The author analyses three recent severe floods in Bangladesh, occurring in 1988, 1995 and 1998, and reviews the adaptation techniques and strategies embraced by the same group of farmers in order to survive the more devastating inundations that occur from time to time. The study concluded that vulnerable farmers are highly resilient and, with appropriate support, their adjustments can be sustainable. This enquiry showed that in the face of climate change both the inclusion of autonomous adaptations into planning and policy-making and the enhancement and support of community-based adaptation can be effective in ensuring the survival of riverine farming systems. This case study can be considered as a key reference case in regard to vulnerable locations in the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna mega-delta basin, particularly in respect to Bangladesh.     

浙江沿海台风灾害区农房防灾避险体系探讨

台风灾害是浙江省的主要自然灾害之一。根据实地考察数据与分析资料,通过对沿海现有农房防灾能力分析,指出了造成部分农房避灾能力薄弱的原因,然后从农房防御强风能力建设、农房防灾减灾保障体系、农房规划建设管理体系、农村避灾安置场所建设、农房救助体系等方面探讨了构建农房防灾避险体系所要采取的应对措施。     

Working with states to build competence in disaster response

This paper examines the relationship between national disaster response authorities and the international humanitarian community through case studies in three countries where it is generally agreed that good working relations exist. It seeks to understand the common phenomena which led to those good relations. The paper takes as its premise that the international humanitarian aid community, bruised by its experience in non-functioning and predatory states, has developed an unhelpful aversion to cooperation with, and working through, local government. It posits that in a future with climate change, disasters will be more frequent and this requires a necessary shift, on the part of international agencies and local government from seeing disaster response as exceptional and interventionist to viewing it as a standard part of sovereign duty and normalcy. The study highlights a number of common features across the three case studies which shed light on why disaster response has been transformed in the study countries.     

长江流域生态环境对洪涝影响的评价

长江流域的生态环境问题近年来变得越来越严重,其集中表现为：人口急剧增长的情况下,土地资源过度利用和不合理的开发,使生态环境的脆弱性增强,造成生态环境的恶化,结果导致洪水威胁加剧。本文通过对长江流域生态环境问题的分析,提出目前存在的问题是上游森林的过度开发、毁林开荒、陡坡开荒造成水土流失,增加了中下游河湖的泥沙淤积;中下游地区盲目围湖造田,占用行洪洲滩,湿地生态环境遭到破坏,造成水调蓄面积减少。最后就生态环境问题对洪涝的影响进行了评价。     

黄土地区生土建筑震害特征及防灾对策研究

生土建筑在我国黄土地区广大农村仍占相当比例，历次地震，房屋破坏严重。因此，加强对黄土生土建筑抗震性能的研究具有重要意义。通过对陕、甘、宁、青、晋等省(区)黄土生土建筑民房的现场调查，将黄土地区生土建筑划分为5种类型，阐述了其结构特点。根据黄土地区地震中生土建筑的破坏情况，阐述了不同类型生土建筑的震害特征及致灾机理，并对其在不同地震烈度下的震害结果进行了统计分析，给出了各类生土建筑在地震烈度Ⅵ—Ⅹ情况下的震害预测结果。在此基础上，针对当前民房建设中抗震设防存在的问题，提出了相应的预防对策。     

Planning for human settlements in disaster-prone areas: The Chinese experience

This paper describes the necessity and the possibilities for mitigating the effects of natural disasters as exemplified by the Chinese experiences in Tangshan and Sichuan etc. With the dynamic viewpoint as a guiding concept the paper advocates the “prevention first” policy as well as planning strategies for human settlements in disaster-prone areas. It covers emergency and reconstruction planning as well as recommendations for prevention and mitigation planning. The paper also reviews the Chinese experience.     

Variations in disaster evacuation behavior: public responses versus private sector executive decision-making processes

Data obtained from 65 executives working for tourism firms in three sample communities permitted comparison with the public warning response literature regarding three topics: disaster evacuation planning, initial warning responses, and disaster evacuation behavior. Disaster evacuation planning was reported by nearly all of these business executives, although it was highly variable in content, completeness, and formality. Managerial responses to post-disaster warnings paralleled the type of complex social processes that have been documented within the public response literature, except that warning sources and confirmation behavior were significantly affected by contact with authorities. Five key areas of difference were discovered in disaster evacuation behavior pertaining to: influence of planning, firm versus family priorities, shelter selection, looting concerns, and media contacts.     

Vulnerability of schools to floods in Nyando River catchment,Kenya

This paper assesses the vulnerability of schools to floods in the Nyando River catchment (3,600 km²) in western Kenya and identifies measures needed to reduce this vulnerability. It surveys 130 schools in the lower reaches, where flooding is a recurrent phenomenon. Of the primary schools assessed, 40% were vulnerable, 48% were marginally vulnerable and 12% were not vulnerable. Of the secondary schools, 8% were vulnerable, 73% were marginally vulnerable and 19% were not vulnerable. Vulnerability to floods is due to a lack of funds, poor building standards, local topography, soil types and inadequate drainage. The Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), established in 2003, provides financial support to cover school construction and reconstruction costs; CDF Committees are expected to adopt school building standards. In an effort to promote safe and resilient construction and retrofitting to withstand floods, this paper presents vulnerability reduction strategies and recommendations for incorporating minimum standards in the on‐going Primary School Infrastructure Programme Design.     

洪涝对水稻的危害及其抗灾减灾的栽培措施

就洪涝灾害对水稻生长发育和产量的危害,及其影响水稻洪涝灾害的因素进行了综述,并讨论了水稻抗灾减灾的栽培措施,包括合理安排栽培季节种植耐涝品种、水稻耐涝栽培和灾后补救等。     

Nutritional response to the 1998 Bangladesh flood disaster: Sphere minimum standards in disaster response

In this study we use a cross-sectional survey to evaluate the nutritional response to the 1998 Bangladesh Flood Disaster by 15 relief agencies using standards developed by the Sphere Project. The Sphere Project is a recent attempt by agencies around the world to establish universal minimum standards for the purpose of ensuring quality and accountability in disaster response. The main outcomes measured were resources allocated to disaster relief types of relief activities and percentage of agencies meeting selected Sphere food aid and nutrition indicators. Although the process of nutritional response was measured, specific nutritional and health outcomes were not assessed. This review found that self-reported disaster and nutritional resources varied widely between implementing agencies, ranging from US $58,947 to $15,908,712. The percentage of resources these agencies allocated to food aid and nutritional response also varied, ranging from approximately 6 to 99 per cent of total resources. Agencies met between 8 and 83 per cent of the specific Sphere indicators which were assessed Areas in which performance was poor included preliminary nutritional analysis; beneficiary participation and feedback; disaster preparedness during non-emergency times; monitoring of local markets and impact assessment. Agencies were generally successful in areas of core humanitarian response, such as targeting the vulnerable (83 per cent) and monitoring and evaluating the process of disaster response (75 per cent). The results here identify both strengths and gaps in the quality of humanitarian response in developing nations such as Bangladesh. However, they also raise the question of implementing a rights-based approach to disaster response in nations without a commitment to meeting positive human rights in non-disaster times.     

福建海湾地区灾害地质特征与工程风险控制

福建省海湾地区地质环境比较复杂,孕育着多种灾害地质因素,使港湾工程活动存在地质灾害的风险.通过对港湾工程及其地质灾害风险的分析,探讨了如何进行港湾工程地质灾害的风险控制,认为港湾工程地质灾害风险控制内容包括选址阶段风险的回避、设计施工阶段风险的处理及运行阶段风险的监控.地质灾害风险评估是地质灾害风险控制的首要任务,设计与施工阶段的风险评估应立足于评价灾害地质因素的致灾可能性以及工程应对措施的有效性,还应根据施工中出现的前阶段评估中未发现或未予重视的重要地质情况,及时对工程方案进行修正.     

A proposed framework of key activities and processes in the preparedness and recovery phases of disaster management

This paper proposes an empirically grounded framework for examining the preparedness and recovery phases of disaster management activities and processes pertaining to predictable disasters within a developed country. The two‐stage framework provides a single model composed of important preparedness and recovery initiatives, as well as activities and processes derived from empirical data collected for case studies from Australia: the ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires in the state of Victoria in February 2009; and Cyclone Larry in March 2006. The framework enables a variety of analyses, including the generation of insights into disaster management preparedness and recovery in the context of events in wealthy developed countries. The paper combines two empirical examples, a series of bushfires and a severe tropical cyclone, to enhance understanding of, and to contribute to better, disaster preparedness and recovery in the future. The paper contributes to the growing literature on disasters, preparedness, recovery and associated logistics, and other issues.     

Changes in housing in Guatemala following the 1976 earthquake: With special reference to earthen structures and how they are perceived by disaster victims*

This paper reports on what has happened to earthen structures in 26 Guatemalan communities studied over a 4-year period since the 1976 earthquake. The data were obtained from three waves of personal interviews with 1472 randomly sampled household heads. The results show that adobe, which was the primary housing material before the earthquake was heavily damaged in that event. As a consequence the number of adobe structures and of other earthen structures has been drastically reduced. The people of Guatemala individually and because of agency housing programs have abandoned adobe as a building material and turned to concrete block and wood. Surviving earthen structures have not been improved substantially and remain with largely the same structural features as before the earthquake. The greatest improvement is in the use of comer posts or columns in the walls but most of these are made of untreated crude logs or lumber, subject to rot and termite damage. Little information on aseismic housing seems to have spread either within the earthquake area or in the unaffected areas surrounding it. A program to spread information on how to use adobe in aseismic designs needs to be conducted along with one to assist citizens to aquire the resources necessary to improve the earthquake vulnerability of houses.     

About bridges and bonds: community responses to the 2000 floods in Mabalane district, Mozambique

Massive floods hit Mozambique in 2000.1 Many of the affected regions benefited from external aid. This paper investigates how the floods impacted on two communities in the interior of the Limpopo Valley, which did not receive significant assistance during the event and in the immediate aftermath. Drawing on the livelihood approach, it focuses on the role of two types of local resources: knowledge and social capital. The paper shows that the scale of the 2000 floods surpassed the response capacity of these resources and looks at how wealth and gender influenced access by households to the local support mechanisms that enhance survival and recovery. It appears that the floods mainly affected wealthier households, as these more frequently lost houses and cattle. The paper points to the importance of ploughs and cattle for local support mechanisms, which, in turn, most likely reduced the capacities of communities to recover from the disaster.     

Barriers to the long‐term recovery of individuals with disabilities following a disaster

This study examines how pre‐existing disabling conditions influenced the recovery process of survivors of Hurricane Katrina. It focuses specifically on the barriers that hindered the recovery process in these individuals. Focus groups were convened in four Gulf Coast states with 31 individuals with disabilities who lived in or around New Orleans, Louisiana, prior to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Qualitative data were analysed using grounded theory methodology. Five themes emerged as the most significant barriers to recovery: housing; transportation; employment; physical and mental health; and accessing recovery services. While these barriers to recovery were probably common to most survivors of the disaster, the research results suggest that disability status enhanced the challenges that participants experienced in negotiating the recovery process and in acquiring resources that accommodated their disabilities. The findings indicate that, when disaster recovery services and resources did not accommodate the needs of individuals with disabilities, recovery was hindered. Recovery efforts should include building accessible infrastructure and services that will allow for participation by all.     

2003-2008年河北省雷电灾害特征统计分析

雷电灾害是最严重的10种自然灾害之一,掌握雷电灾害的时空分布规律,对做好雷电防御工作具有重要的社会意义.根据2003-2008年河北省雷电灾害的统计结果,揭示了河北省雷电灾害的时空分布规律,并结合河北省实际情况,进一步分析了雷电灾害发生的可能原因,为全省防雷减灾工作提供参考.     

The views of experts and residents on social vulnerability to flash floods in an Alpine region of Italy

This paper reports on research work performed for Floodsite a European Community-funded project on the social aspects of vulnerability in the Adige/Sarca river basin of the Trentino-Alto Adige region, Italy. It identifies some limitations to the use of a fixed set of indicators, which fail to account for either local peculiarities or the intangible aspects that contribute to the shaping of social vulnerability. The authors employed a number of methods to investigate the opinions of professionals and residents on risk and safety, distinguishing between the individual and the institutional components of social vulnerability. Adopting a systemic perspective, they explored the interactions between these two elements, showing how they may give rise to unexpected phenomena. The 'safety paradox' and the 'efficiency paradox' are discussed, emerging when increased protection provided by structural devices and dedicated institutions translates into a lack of awareness and agency on the part of residents.     

Optimizing hurricane disaster relief goods distribution: model development and application with respect to planning strategies

Over the last few years, hurricane emergencies have been among the most pervasive major disruptions in the United States, particularly in the south‐east region of the country. A key aspect of managing hurricane disasters involves logistical planning to facilitate the distribution and transportation of relief goods to populations in need. This study shows how a variant of the capacitated warehouse location model can be used to manage the flow of goods shipments to people in need. In this application, the model is used with protocols set forth in Florida's Comprehensive Emergency Plan and tested in a smaller city in north Florida. Scenarios explore the effects of alternate goods distribution strategies on the provision of disaster relief. Results show that measures describing people's accessibility to relief goods are affected by the distribution infrastructure used to provide relief, as well as assumptions made regarding the population(s) assumed to be in need of aid.