The long-term impact of a man-made disaster: An examination of a small town in the aftermath of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Reactor Accident

This paper explores the long-term effects of a nuclear accident on residents' perceptions of their physical and mental health, their trust of public officials, and their attitudes toward the future risks of nuclear power generation In their community. We find that in the period after the accident at Three Mile Island that there are constant or Increasing levels of distress reported by community residents. We conclude that the effects of a technological disaster may often be more enduring than those natural disaster and that greater research efforts should be made to Investigate the long-term consequences of man-made catastrophies of all types.     

Advanced rescue techniques: lessons learned from the collapse of a building in Nairobi, Kenya

This paper examines the collapse of a five-storey building in Nairobi, Kenya, on 23 January 2006. It draws on reports from local authorities and on debriefings by Israel's Home Front Command (HFC), including information on injury distribution, rescue techniques, and the mode of operation. Most of the 117 people found under the structure were evacuated on the first day to a public hospital, which was overwhelmed by the incident. HFC forces arrived 23 hours after the disaster. At that stage, two people were still buried under the building and special techniques (tunnelling and scalping) were required to secure their evacuation. The two people quickly recovered after a short stay in hospital. Local technology is the preferred option during such events because time is crucial. International cooperation is required when this technology is not available. All of the hospitals in the disaster area, including private facilities, should participate in treating casualties.     

The 2011 flood event in the Mekong Delta: preparedness,response, damage and recovery of private households and small businesses

Floods frequently cause substantial economic and human losses, particularly in developing countries. For the development of sound flood risk management schemes that reduce flood consequences, detailed insights into the different components of the flood risk management cycle, such as preparedness, response, flood impact analyses and recovery, are needed. However, such detailed insights are often lacking: commonly, only (aggregated) data on direct flood damage are available. Other damage categories such as losses owing to the disruption of production processes are usually not considered, resulting in incomplete risk assessments and possibly inappropriate recommendations for risk management. In this paper, data from 858 face‐to‐face interviews among flood‐prone households and small businesses in Can Tho city in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta are presented to gain better insights into the damage caused by the 2011 flood event and its management by households and businesses.     

The adoption of a Climate Disaster Resilience Index in Chennai,India

Results derived from the Climate Disaster Resilience Index (CDRI)—consisting of five dimensions (economic, institutional, natural, physical, and social), 25 parameters, and 125 variables—reflect the abilities of people and institutions to respond to potential climate‐related disasters in Chennai, India. The findings of this assessment, applied in the 10 administrative zones of the city, reveal that communities living in the northern and older parts of Chennai have lower overall resilience as compared to the flourishing areas (vis‐à‐vis economic growth and population) along the urban fringes. The higher resilience of communities along the urban fringes suggests that urbanisation may not necessarily lead to a deterioration of basic urban services, such as electricity, housing, and water. This indication is confirmed by a strong statistical correlation between physical resilience and population growth in Chennai. The identification of the resilience of different urban areas of Chennai has the potential to support future planning decisions on the city's scheduled expansion.     

公众认知、感知价值与灾害气象服务满意度的关系研究——以深圳市3029份《公众气象安全认知度调查问卷》数据为例

目前从公众认知水平的角度出发,评价灾害气象服务满意度的文献较少。该文创新性地提出了公众气象认知这一概念,以深圳市3 029份公众气象安全认知度调查数据为例,采用结构方程模型,评估了公众认知、感知价值与灾害气象服务满意度之间的关系。研究发现,公众认知水平对灾害气象服务满意度的评价具有重要的影响。另外还发现:1深圳市公众对于气象服务总体评价良好,对台风期间的气象服务的满意度最高,而对气象预警信息获得的便捷性的满意度最低;2公众气象认知与灾害气象服务感知价值均显著影响公众对于灾害气象服务的满意度;3提高公众气象认知,可通过促进对气象服务价值的感知,进而提高公众的满意度。针对以上结论,给出了相应的政策建议。