Perceptions of personal and governmental actions to improve responses to disasters such as Superstorm Sandy

Superstorm Sandy made landfall in New Jersey on 29 October 2012, leaving tens of thousands homeless, businesses destroyed, and 90% of New Jersey residents without electricity. Widespread infrastructure and property damage, health-related issues, and social dislocations still remain among the challenges. We interviewed 756 people in central and coastal New Jersey to ascertain damage levels, what they would do differently next time, and what governments should do differently. To deal with future events, people thought that they should prepare, buy generators and other supplies, and evacuate sooner. Their actions dealt with preparedness, rather than recovery or resiliency. However, the subjects felt that governmental agencies also had a responsibility for emergency actions, recovery, and resiliency. Preparedness included better warnings and helping to prepare homes for the impending storm. During the storm, people thought government should have faster evacuations, communications, and provide shelter, security, and supplies. Recovery included providing gas and generators, restoring electricity, providing money, and quicker response by FEMA and insurance companies. People thought the government should ensure resiliency of their communities by allowing no beach-front homes, having better building standards, and restoring dunes. Coastal people suffered greater damage for longer, and voiced a higher sense of wanting government actions.     

Hurricane storm surge in Volusia County,Florida: evidence of a tipping point for infrastructure damage

Storm surge often is the most destructive consequence of hurricanes and tropical storms, causing significant economic damage and loss of life. Many coastal communities that are located in high‐risk areas vis‐à‐vis hurricanes and tropical storms are prepared for moderate (between six and eight feet) storm surges. Such preparation, though, is not commensurate with more severe, but less frequent, storm surges (greater than eight feet). These gaps in preparedness have serious implications for community resilience. This paper explores elements of the vulnerability and resilience of coastal communities during major storm surge events, drawing on Volusia County, Florida, United States, as a case study. It simulates the impacts of five hurricanes (Categories I–V) and their associated storm surges on local infrastructure systems, populations, and access to resources. The results suggest that Volusia County is subject to a ‘tipping point’ , where surge damage from Category IV storms is significantly greater than that from Category III and lower hurricanes.     

Multi-stakeholder microgrids for resilience and sustainability

ABSTRACT

The electricity grid is susceptible to numerous threats, especially severe weather events that have the potential to cause large-scale power outages. This has resulted in an increased emphasis on resilience against these events. Microgrids, small standalone power grids that have the ability to function independently from the greater electricity grid, have significant potential to improve response to environmental and anthropogenic crises. The vast majority of extant microgrids are generally small in scale, and operated under a conventional model of single operator, owner, and user. We argue that the ultimate potential of this approach will be in the development of multi-stakeholder microgrids which can combine a diversity of renewable and conventional power resources to respond to environmental hazards. The addition of stakeholders allows for increased diversification of generation sources, economies of scale, and other increased operational benefits and opportunities. However, there are significant challenges that arise with the additional layer of stakeholders in terms of governance, cost, and technical operations that can cause the multi-stakeholder model to be more difficult to implement. We develop the case for multi-stakeholder microgrids as a response to environmental hazards, and outline the challenges and questions facing the development of this form of microgrid.     

Superstorm Sandy and voter vulnerability in the 2012 US Presidential Election: a case study of New Jersey and Connecticut

Superstorm Sandy was an unprecedented meteorological event that devastated the Caribbean and the Northeastern Coast of the USA in October 2012. While many research efforts will focus on the atmospheric conditions that led to the creation and unusual track of the storm, this study evaluates the impact of Sandy on voter turnout in the 2012 US Presidential Election. The goals of this paper are to (1) determine if any alterations in voter turnout occurred, (2) assess the extent to which Sandy was responsible for any voter turnout changes and (3) investigate if the influence of Sandy on voter turnout was contingent upon social vulnerability. To accomplish these goals, voter turnout change between the 2008 and 2012 US Presidential Elections was analysed at the county and municipal level for both New Jersey and Connecticut. The notable decreases in voter turnout discovered in both states were likely due to the election occurring in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. The correlation, spatial clustering analysis, analysis of variance and multiple regression results all suggest that storm surge was more likely to be responsible for reduced voter turnout in New Jersey than in Connecticut. Specifically in New Jersey, the findings indicate that storm surge coverage, rather than height, was influential in reducing voter turnout and that this relationship was contingent upon the racial composition of the municipalities. Overall, understanding how Sandy affected voter turnout will help improve the resiliency of electoral systems to future natural disasters.     

Local government,political decentralisation and resilience to natural hazard-associated disasters

Natural hazards affect development and can cause significant and long-term suffering for those affected. Research has shown that sustained long-term disaster preparedness combined with appropriate response and recovery are needed to deliver effective risk reductions. However, as the newly agreed Sendai framework recognises, this knowledge has not been translated into action. This research aims to contribute to our understanding of how to deliver longer term and sustained risk reduction by evaluating the role of political decentralisation in disaster outcomes. Specifically, we investigate whether countries which devolve power to the local level experience reduced numbers of people affected by storms and earthquakes, and have lower economic damage. Using regression analysis and cross-country data from 1950 to 2006, we find that, in relation to both storms and earthquakes, greater transfers of political power to subnational tiers of government reduce hazard impacts on the population. The downside is that more politically decentralised countries, which are usually wealthier countries, can increase the direct economic losses associated with a natural hazard impact after the storm or earthquake than those which are more centralised. However, overall, it seems advantageous to give subnational governments more authority and autonomy in storm and earthquake risk planning.     

九十年代以来全球重大天气气候事件回顾

本文首先揭示了九十年代全球变暖背景下北半球中高纬度地区冬季的异常冷暖气候事件及其相应的环流形势。着重回顾了全球热浪、暴雨洪涝、大范围持续干旱及热带风暴等重大灾害性天气气候事件及其影响，并对其形成的可能原因进行了一些诊断分析。     

A multilevel analysis of private-vehicle evacuation clearance times along the US Gulf Coast

This study uses multilevel regression analysis to examine the effect of social characteristics and the built environment on clearance time under an evacuation scenario. The primary unit of analysis is the US Census tract (N?=?1660), nested within 31 incorporated places spanning five US states. The dependent variable is an estimate of clearance time in hours derived using network analysis techniques within a geographic information system. We find that tracts with a more peripheral location, more female residents, a higher proportion of Hispanic residents, and higher median household incomes are associated with higher clearance times, on average. Our research suggests the relationship between suburbanization and clearance time is complex and evolving, mediated by past investments in the built environment and shifting social conditions. In addition to facilitating the evacuation of areas with low access to personal vehicles, urban planners and emergency management officials should also consider how the degree of connectivity in the street network impacts congestion and clearance time.     

Natural Hazard Reporting in the UK Press

Important sources of information concerning world natural hazards are provided by the mass media, especially newspapers. The nature, depth and consistency of the reporting, however, varies considerably depending upon the journalistic approach of the newspaper and on the perceived 'newsworthiness' of a disaster. Intensive events are much more likely to receive attention than pervasive hazards but other contributory factors play a part, such as the day, time, severity in terms of damage and loss of life, and location of the event. This paper reflects on the reporting of natural hazards in UK newspapers and is based on an analysis of press cuttings taken over a period of twelve months. The survey indicated that there is a very uneven coverage of world disasters, that location maps are scarce, and that valuable follow-up reporting is minimal.     

Ducking for cover in the ‘blame game’: news framing of the findings of two reports into the 2010–11 Queensland floods

After a disaster, the media typically focus on who is to blame. However, relatively little is known about how the narrative of blame plays out in media coverage of the release of official disaster reports. This paper examines coverage by two Australian newspapers (The Courier‐Mail and The Australian) of the release of the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry's Interim Report and its Final Report to identify whether and how the news frame of blame was used. Given the absence of blame in the Final Report, the newspapers resorted to the frame of ‘failure’ in news and feature articles, while continuing to raise questions in editorials and opinion pieces about who was to blame. This study argues that situating coverage of the report within the news frame of failure and questioning who was to blame for the disaster limited the media's ability to facilitate a discussion about the prevention of similar disasters in the future.     

Mountain inhabitants’ perspectives on climate change,and its impacts and adaptation based on temporal and spatial characteristics analysis: a case study of Mt. Yulong Snow,Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Based on the results of questionnaires issued to 202 local residents in the Mount Yulong Snow region, southeastern Tibetan Plateau, this study analyzes mountain residents’ perspectives on climate change and its impacts, their strategies to adapt to climate change impacts, including their willingness or otherwise to become ecological migrants, and some of the factors that influence their perceptions. Overall, local perception of climate change and its impacts corresponds to the patterns of observed climate change revealed by climate records. The intensity of climate change perception shows a highly significant correlation with residents’ age and villages’ elevation gradient. Most respondents did not believe that climate change affected crop growing and their yields, but the number of crop insect pests was thought to be increasing slightly and the crop growth period to be extending. Nearly all respondents believed that climate change seriously affects the mountain tourism economy, and their way of life and spiritual world. Persistent drought in recent years has forced mountain dwellers to adjust industrial structure, save water in the agricultural economy, participate in mountain tourism and work outside the home in order to adapt to climate change impacts and supplement their meager farm incomes. Additionally, residents expect to receive government compensation and relief to mitigate natural disaster damage.     

Spatial and temporal analysis of natural hazard mortality in Nepal

The impacts of natural hazards are typically measured in terms of loss of human lives and economic damage, and recent studies demonstrate that deaths attributed to natural hazards have increased. Using the publicly available DesInventar database, we examined spatial and temporal patterns of natural hazard mortality from 1971 to 2011 at the district and village levels of Nepal and identified natural hazards that contributed most to mortality. Spatial clusters of mortality at the district and village levels were detected using local and global spatial autocorrelation measures (Moran's I). Landslides (41.91%) and floods (32.52%) accounted for approximately three quarters of natural hazard mortalities over the study period. A Global Moran's I test positively confirmed clustering at both the district (0.199, p?p?相似文献   

Media and bushfires: A community perspective of the media during the Grampians Fires 2006

This paper examines the ways residents in the Grampians area in the Australian state of Victoria used their local and their state and national based media before, during and after the 2006 bushfires (wildfires). The researchers were particularly concerned to understand how residents evaluated media sources as trustworthy and credible in relation to bushfire warnings and information about the fires delivered in the media.

Analysis of data derived from two separate focus group sessions conducted by the researchers reveals four main themes. (1) The media are perceived as part of a broader information gathering process. (2) Local knowledge is the most important aspect in broadcast information. (3) Members of small communities can feel disenfranchised and resentful of the media when media coverage focuses on larger towns, and (4) the effects of media reporting, including specific warnings, are both immediate and long lasting.

The paper explores some of the tensions that result from the ways rural residents use and distinguish between local/regional and metropolitan and out-of-state bushfire information; and it encourages better use of the local/regional media to increase community safety and awareness in relation to bushfire mitigation, preparedness and crisis management issues before, during and after the fires. It is suggested that risk communications professionals need to understand that when mediated risk-related communications are provided, a key evaluative criterion is whether or not those media and the messages represent and reflect local knowledge.     

Deconstruction of destruction stories: narrative,inequality, and disasters

A commonly‐held belief is that natural disasters do not discriminate. This paper, though, poses the following theoretical question: what does the elision of race, class, and gender in the news media say about disasters in the neoliberal era? It draws on the author's analysis of two prominent newspapers—The New York Times and USA Today—and their coverage of the recovery process after devastating tornadoes in two towns in the United States (Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Joplin, Missouri) in 2011. The study asserts that the narrative of the news media is one with which people are familiar and that it fits into larger ‘formula stories’. It utilises theoretical treatments of narrative to demonstrate how differences are erased and how they lead to complicity in hegemonic representations. Critical theory is used to elucidate why this occurs, and the paper sources Goldberg (2002) in suggesting that the news media employs ‘fantasies of homogenisation’ when representing post‐disaster communities.     

1999年我国主要气象灾害及异常气候事件

１９９９年,我国先后出现了干旱、暴雨洪涝、台风、风雹、沙尘暴、雪灾和冻害等多种气象灾害,特别是干旱持续时间长、范围广,旱情重。除上述气象灾害外,本年度还出现了冬暖,夏凉、春寒、倒春寒、夏季高温和秋老虎等异常气候事件,本文主要是几种主要气旬灾害和异常气候事件的发生特点和影响进行了分析和评述。     

Humanitarian aid and local responses: the aftermath of the rebuilding effort on Tongoa island,Vanuatu

Cyclone Pam swept through the archipelago of Vanuatu on 13–14 March 2015, with wind speeds exceeding those recorded anywhere in the South Pacific since the 1980s. Southern and central parts of the country were particularly affected. Material damage on Tongoa, one of the most afflicted islands, was extensive, but no deaths were reported. During the storm, villagers found shelter in their kitchen, in what is considered locally as a ‘lifeboat’. The aftermath was managed and mitigated by international aid organisations. On Tongoa, this included a ‘Shelter Cluster’ programme, under which villagers were given house rebuilding kits. Elaborating upon extensive ethnographic investigations on site between 2011 and 2018, this paper explores and reveals the ways in which this aid generated confusion among the local population. In a larger context of regular disasters triggered by natural hazards, locals have found endogenous ways of dealing with such extreme climatic events, for the most part without any external assistance.     

Media and bushfires: A community perspective of the media during the Grampians Fires 2006

This paper examines the ways residents in the Grampians area in the Australian state of Victoria used their local and their state and national based media before, during and after the 2006 bushfires (wildfires). The researchers were particularly concerned to understand how residents evaluated media sources as trustworthy and credible in relation to bushfire warnings and information about the fires delivered in the media.Analysis of data derived from two separate focus group sessions conducted by the researchers reveals four main themes. (1) The media are perceived as part of a broader information gathering process. (2) Local knowledge is the most important aspect in broadcast information. (3) Members of small communities can feel disenfranchised and resentful of the media when media coverage focuses on larger towns, and (4) the effects of media reporting, including specific warnings, are both immediate and long lasting.The paper explores some of the tensions that result from the ways rural residents use and distinguish between local/regional and metropolitan and out-of-state bushfire information; and it encourages better use of the local/regional media to increase community safety and awareness in relation to bushfire mitigation, preparedness and crisis management issues before, during and after the fires. It is suggested that risk communications professionals need to understand that when mediated risk-related communications are provided, a key evaluative criterion is whether or not those media and the messages represent and reflect local knowledge.     

Development of a composite climate change vulnerability index for small craft harbours

Coastal areas around the world are threatened by an accelerated sea level rise (SLR), storm surges and coastal flooding related to climate change. These threats, together with the land use pattern of coastal areas, could create a dangerous mix for coastal communities and could result in major socio-economic and environmental consequences. Apart from human settlements, seaports are likely to be most vulnerable to climate change because they are located at areas exposed to SLR and storm surges or at mouths of rivers susceptible to flooding. To remain efficient and resilient, seaports must anticipate the impacts of climate change and proactively prepare for SLR, increased flooding, and more frequent extreme storm events. This paper presents the analytical and empirical aspects of an integrated vulnerability index (VI) for small raft harbours based on the methodology of the IPCC for coastal vulnerability assessment. Six corresponding steps are adopted to assess the fishing ports VI (VIP-F) considering geophysical and socio-economic parameters. The proposed index is applied to 47 fishing boats and small commercial harbours of Lesvos, Greece. The proposed methodology can be adapted for assessing the vulnerability of major ports.     

Analysing news media coverage of the 2015 Nepal earthquake using a community capitals lens: implications for disaster resilience

South Asia is one of the regions of the world most vulnerable to natural disasters. Although news media analyses of disasters have been conducted frequently in various settings globally, there is little research on populous South Asia. This paper begins to fill this gap by evaluating local and foreign news media coverage of the earthquake in Nepal on 25 April 2015. It broadens the examination of news media coverage of disaster response beyond traditional framing theory, utilising community capitals (built, cultural, financial, human, natural, political, and social) lens to perform a thematic content analysis of 405 news items. Overall, financial and natural capital received the most and the least emphasis respectively. Statistically significant differences between local and foreign news media were detected vis‐à‐vis built, financial, and political capital. The paper concludes with a discussion of the social utility of news media analysis using the community capitals framework to inform disaster resilience.     

The effects of flooding on residential property values in three new zealand communities

Research on the effects of natural events on property values has focused primarily on experiences in the United States and has shown that these impacts must be evaluated in the context of both the hydrologic regime and local urban economic situations. It remains unclear if these relationships exist with different flood regimes and under different institutional arrangements. The research reported here analyzes the impacts of flooding on property values in Paeroa, Te Aroha, and Thames, New Zealand. The results indicate different experiences in the three communities, but suggest several common trends. Each community has distinct housing submarkets that exhibit different housing value characteristics, independent of hazardousness, which may either mask or exaggerate flood-related impacts. In addition, initial local impacts of events vary, but eventually differences in flooded and non-flooded properties decrease. Thus, at least over the long term, hazardousness is not a factor in housing value differentials.     

湖南2008/2011年两次低温雨雪冰冻灾害成因与影响对比分析

针对2008年1月13日-2月2日和2011年1月1-23日两次低温雨雪冰冻过程,从天气学成因、对交通、电力影响情况和特点等方面进行综合对比分析,揭示了两次过程的强度和造成灾情差异的原因,并提出了如何进一步防御和减轻极端天气气候事件灾害的能力,为暴雪冰冻灾害防御提供经验和依据。