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.     

The impact of Hurricane Rita on an academic institution: lessons learned

This paper examines the impact of Hurricane Rita on one of the many universities along the Gulf Coast of the United States: Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Hurricane Rita, which made landfall between Sabine Pass, Texas, and Johnson's Bayou, Louisiana, on 24 September 2005, is the fourth strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane on record and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. This paper assesses the tasks that confronted the administration, faculty, and students of Lamar University in the days and weeks after the event. It concludes that the one factor that will influence more than any other the degree of success after any disaster is whether all levels of the administrative command institutionalise, endorse, promote, and encourage the adopted recovery plan. The research seeks to share valuable insights on the vulnerabilities that academic institutions face during natural disasters and to highlight some of the many lessons learned.     

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.     

基于多媒体技术的<中国自然灾害>教育软件开发

根据社会公众对中国自然灾害信息的需求,开发了《中国自然灾害》多媒体教育软件。软件以区域灾害系统理论为指导,设计了内容框架、基本体系。通过声音、影像、动画和文本等媒体形式可向社会深层次、多角度地介绍中国自然灾害信息,普及减灾知识,增强社会防灾减灾意识。     

关于灾害、灾害学和灾害研究方法若干问题的浅见

对灾害、灾害学和灾害研究方法等问题做了简短的讨论,提出了一些个人的看法。笔者认为,灾害可以分为两大类,即自然灾害与人为灾害。对两类灾害的可能的研究方法做了概述和评论。     

浅论灾害科学的研究现状

在查阅了大量灾害科学方面的专著、期刊、学位论文和其它文献资料的基础上 ,本文试图对国内外的灾害科学研究现状进行粗浅的讨论     

国际减灾教育进展

减灾教育是防灾减灾的重要途径和组成部分,联合国教科文组织提出"防灾减灾始于学校",利用知识和教育培养抗灾意识。通过对国际重要会议的决议及联合国历次减灾大会进展报告中有关国际减灾教育的主要内容进行梳理,总结了历年来国际减灾意识培训的进展轨迹,分析了减灾意识教育的发展趋势。     

江西省自然灾害状况及减灾对策初探

通过分析江西省常见自然灾害的成因和特征，及其造成的经济损失情况，阐述了综合减灾的重要性。针对防灾减灾工作中存在的问题，提出了科学的综合防灾减灾对策。     

Earthquake survivors' quality of life and academic achievement six years after the earthquakes in Marmara, Turkey

This study investigates the quality of life (QOL) and academic achievement of earthquake survivors six years after the earthquakes in Marmara, Turkey. Data were collected from 407 Turkish university students. Of these, 201 were earthquake survivors and 206 had not been exposed to an earthquake. The Turkish adaptation of the brief version of the World Health Organisation's QOL instrument (WHOQOL-BREF, TR) was used to measure QOL. The results reveal that the earthquake survivors' psychological and environmental domains of QOL and academic achievement were significantly lower than those of individuals not exposed to an earthquake. The results also highlight the risk factors that affect the QOL of the earthquake survivors significantly. These are their gender, their age at the time of earthquake and the continued existence of financial difficulties linked to the earthquakes.     

综合自然灾害风险管理--全面整合的模式与中国的战略选择

综合自然灾害风险管理是目前国际上防灾减灾和灾害管理较先进的措施和模式，是针对各种自然灾害的全灾害的管理，是贯穿于灾害管理全过程，集中于灾害风险和承灾体脆弱性分析并强调多层面、多元化和多学科参与合作的全面整合的灾害管理模式。介绍了综合自然灾害风险管理的必要性、概念和本质，探讨了综合自然灾害管理的基本理论、对策及其实施过程和实施战略，在此基础上提出了对我国实施综合自然灾害风险管理的建议，为强化和推动我国综合自然灾害风险管理提供参考。     

中国自然灾害应急法律体系的数量差异分析

以《国家突发公共事件应急预案》中所明确的水旱灾害、气象灾害等7种自然灾害分类为依据,以万方数据平台查询到的自然灾害应急法律、法规、标准为基础,分析了这7种自然灾害现有相关法律法规文件的数量差异,由此得到了不同灾害在法律法规、标准和预案的数量结构上的差异,并分析了不同灾害对应的现有法律法规文件的完备性,提出了不同灾害法律文件在加强数量完备性方面的方向性的建议。对于协调中国不同类型自然灾害相关法律法规文件的数量及其平衡发展,提高自然灾害应急管理能力有一定参考意义。     

中国自然灾害应急管理研究进展与对策

从中国自然灾害应急管理的现状出发,系统分析了自然灾害应急管理领域的研究进展,指出了中国自然灾害应急管理在理论和实践方面存在的问题.在此基础上,提出了中国自然灾害应急管理框架,认为建立适合中国国情的自然灾害应急管理体制是提高中国自然灾害应急管理的基础;应急预案的制定和实施是规范灾害应急管理,提高灾害紧急救援能力的关键措施;灾害信息快速准确的获取和评估是灾害应急管理的有效保障;建立实际可用的应急管理系统是提高灾害应急管理水平和工作效率的根本出路.     

数字减灾系统

自然灾害是人类可持续发展过程中面临的挑战。本文道德澄清了自然灾害与灾象的概念,分析了当代自然灾害产生的特征,结合计算机技术的发展和人类对自然灾害的认识,提出了建设减灾系统的设想。数字减灾系统是一种以遥感技术、地理信息系统、全球定位系统、网络技术等作为主要技术支撑,用数学和物理模型通过多维虚拟现实技术研究灾象成因、发生机理、传播规律和作用于人类环境形成自然灾害全过程的信息化的计算机系统,它既可用于为     

中国城市自然灾害区划编制

依据灾害系统理论和中国自然灾害数据库,构建了综合城市化水平(C1)指标和综合自然灾害强度(QC)指标;运用数字地图技术,在模型与图谱互馈过程中,实现了中国城市承灾体与致灾因子的综合定量评价,编制了中国城市自然灾害区划图.将中国区划为3个一级区,即沿海城市灾害区、东部城市灾害区和西部城市灾害区,以及15个二级区和22个三级区,为城市灾害风险管理和中国自然灾害救助区划提供了科学依据.     

陕西省自然灾害综合预报回顾与展望

对陕西省自1990年以来开展的自然灾害综合预报及其服务情况,作了全面的分析总结,发现综合预测的准确率达73%以上,各单项自然灾害的预测准确率也都较高。文章并对如何进一步做好自然灾害综合预测提出了设想。     

Place satisfaction and perceived recovery after Hurricane Sandy on Staten Island’s East Shore

Individuals’ relationships to place play an important role in their interactions with their residential environments. Prior research has suggested that neighbourhood satisfaction is closely related to neighbourhood attachment, and that attachment is linked to disaster recovery. This study uses data from a survey of residents of the East Shore neighbourhoods of Staten Island, New York, an area that experienced severe storm surge flooding during Hurricane Sandy, to test the association between neighbourhood satisfaction and self-reported recovery from the storm. Perceived recovery from Sandy is treated as the dependent variable in several ordinal logistic regression models. The key independent variable measure tested is neighbourhood satisfaction rating. A statistically significant direct positive relationship is found between neighbourhood satisfaction and perceived recovery from Sandy. This finding is robust across multiple models with various controls and other covariates. These results suggest that place satisfaction may contribute to disaster recovery.     

自然灾害信息系统结构初探——以长白山火山灾害信息系统为例

以地理信息系统和遥感等具有综合分析,实时反应能力的高新技术为支撑,构建了自然灾害信息系统,指出自然灾害数据库主要包括历史数据库,相关环境数据和遥感信息数据库,并以减灾为视角将系统分为监测子系统,预测子系统,灾害评估子系统,避灾路线选取子系统四个模块。     

近30年中国灾害法律法规文件颁布数量与时间演变研究

以《国家突发公共事件应急预案》中所明确的水旱灾害、气象灾害、地震灾害、地质灾害、海洋灾害、生物灾害和森林草原火灾的7种自然灾害分类为依据,以万方数据库查询的法律、法规、标准为基础,总结中国近30年自然灾害法律法规文件的建设成就。通过对中国已经颁布的与灾害相关的国家级法律法规、预案的查询,明确灾害法律法规文件的颁布数量与时间演变和更新频率为9.6年/次。并提出4条建议,协调灾害法律法规文件出台数量不平衡现状;查清灾害法律法规文件的更新程度;修正未能随环境变化及时更新的灾害法律文件;制定灾害管理过程中仍然缺失的必要灾害法律法规文件。     

自然灾害综合研究的回顾与展望

回顾了20世纪90年代以来,我国在自然灾害综合研究方面所做的工作和取得的成果以及所获得的新认识,包括将研究由单类推向综合。提出自然灾害系统和灾害科学体系的新观念,探索自然灾害综合预报,加强灾害社会属性的研究;提出分区减灾、分级减灾的对策,倡导开展减灾系统工程,将减灾纳入可持续发展系列建立减灾管理系统,推动减灾社会化与产业化等。对21世纪自然灾害综合研究进行了展望,认为其基本指导思想应为从自然灾害系统研究扩展为环境-灾害系统研究。同时提出了减灾能力评估、综合区划、灾后重建统筹规划等所面临的重大问题。