A comparison of employment growth and stability before and after the Fort Worth tornado

This study examined the time series pattern of employment growth and stability in Fort Worth, Texas taking into account the March 28, 2000 tornado. The tornado is treated econometrically as an intervention and both the mean and conditional variance of employment growth were estimated. Overall, this regional labor market experienced a decline in the employment growth rate following the tornado. Among the sectors that exhibited differences in employment dynamics between the pre- and post-tornado periods, the mining sector experienced a significant increase in employment growth following the tornado while the service andwholesale, retail trade sectors experienced significant declines in employment growth in the post-tornado period. The manufacturing, service, and wholesale, retail trade sectors were characterized by greater stability (i.e., a lower level of employment growth volatility) in the post-tornado period than in the pre-tornado period. Interestingly, in several sectors, no differences in the time series dynamics of employment growth were detected between the pre- and post-tornado periods. These sectors included construction, finance, insurance, real estate, government, and transportation and public utilities.     

Comparing reactions to two severe tornadoes in one Oklahoma community

The authors compared the effect of the 3 May 1999 F5 and 8 May 2003 F3 tornadoes on the community of Moore, Oklahoma, by canvassing damaged areas after both tornadoes and surveying residents. Significantly more 1999 than 2003 residents reported property damage and injuries. Television and tornado sirens were the most common warnings each year, however, more 1999 residents received and responded to television warnings. Importantly, storm shelters were used more frequently in 2003. Fifty-one per cent of residents who experienced both tornadoes took the same amount of protective action in 2003 as they had in 1999; 22% took less; and 27% took more. Residents who took less action said that the reason for doing so was inadequate warning and shelter. First-hand experience of tornadoes prompts people to heed warnings when adequate notification is received and to take effective protective action when adequate shelter is available.     

Predictors of compliance with tornado warnings issued in Joplin,Missouri, in 2011

Joplin, a city in the southwest corner of Missouri, United States, suffered an EF‐5 tornado in the late afternoon of 22 May 2011. This event, which claimed the lives of 162 people, represents the deadliest single tornado to strike the US since modern record‐keeping began in 1950. This study examines the factors associated with responses to tornado warnings. Based on a post‐tornado survey of survivors in Joplin, it reveals that tornado warnings were adequate and timely. Multivariate logistic regression identified four statistically significant determinants of compliance with tornado warnings: number of warning sources, whether respondents were at home when the tornado struck, past tornado experience, and gender. The findings suggest several recommendations, the implementation of which will further improve responses to tornado warnings.     

Residents' preparedness and response to the Kalamazoo Tornado

A survey was conducted of individuals residing directly in the path of the tornado that hit Kalamazoo, Michigan, on 13th May 1980. The residents' tornado preparedness and response were examined in an effort to evaluate the city's emergency warning system. The system was adequate for people on the east side of the city and lacking for west side residents. Other factors pertaining to the storm event and human response were also evaluated.     

Normalized tornado damage in the United States: 1950–2011

In 2011, thunderstorms in the United States resulted in 550 deaths from tornadoes and more than $28 billion in property damage, according to data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with the vast majority of economic losses resulting from tornadoes. This article normalizes U.S. tornado damage from 1950 to 2011, using several methods. A normalization provides an estimate of the damage that would occur if past events occurred under a common base year's societal conditions. We normalize for changes in inflation and wealth at the national level and changes in population, income and housing units at the county level. Under several methods, there has been a sharp decline in tornado damage. This decline corresponds with a decline in the reported frequency of the most intense (and thus most damaging) tornadoes since 1950. However, quantification of trends in tornado incidence is made difficult due to discontinuities in the reporting of events over time. The normalized damage results are suggestive that some part of this decline may reflect actual changes in tornado incidence, beyond changes in reporting practices. In historical context, 2011 stands out as one of the most damaging years of the past 61 years and provides an indication that maximum damage levels have the potential to increase should societal change lead to increasing exposure of wealth and property.     

What drives television weather coverage?

Weather forecasts meet the classic economic definition of a public good, since the content can be easily relayed to non-payers and the cost of sharing the forecast with an additional person is zero. Freeriding by consumers leads to the potential for an inefficiently small supply of public goods by the market. Yet television networks and stations provide a large quantity of weather coverage. This paper explores the investment by US television stations in weather coverage. Specifically, we examine whether greater investments are made in cities where weather is potentially more dangerous. We find strong evidence that tornado risk drives coverage and weaker evidence for floods and hurricanes, but discover that snowfall is unrelated to investment. In addition, stations in larger markets invest more in weather coverage, and we also find regional patterns in coverage.     

龙卷风风灾的调查与评估

以江苏省为例搜集并核实了最近３７年间龙卷风的事实和灾情资料，尝试性地采用专家评分方式从风灾实况对各次龙卷风的强度进行了富士达级别评定，论证了这种从具有模糊性的灾情事实中提取半定量信息方法的客观性。结果发现，各强度级别是龙卷风的累积分布可近似用两段指数函数拟合。在此基础上，定量地给出了江苏省龙卷风频率和强度的地域分布，各级龙卷风的平均再现间隔年数等统计指标。     

Effects of the Bam earthquake on employment: a shift-share analysis

Disasters have potential short-term and long-term impacts on employment and employment structures in affected regions. While measuring the full economic impact of a disaster requires sophisticated econometrics and mathematical simulations, conventional regional economic models such as shift-share analysis can be used to assess some of these effects. This paper applies shift-share analysis to understand potential long-term impacts of disasters on employment using the December 2003 Bam earthquake as a case study. The results provide further evidence that disasters could have significant long-term effects on the employment structure of affected regions.     

Predictors for people's response to a tornado warning: Arkansas, 1 March 1997

On 1 March 1997, powerful tornadoes touched down in Arkansas (USA) on a Saturday afternoon. Twenty-six fatalities and 400 non-fatal injuries were reported. We performed a population-based cross-sectional study to determine factors associated with appropriate responses to tornado warnings. Of 146 survey participants, 140 (96 per cent) knew the difference between 'tornado watch' and 'tornado warning' and were aware of when the warning was announced. Of those 140 participants, 64 (45.7 per cent) responded to the warning by seeking shelter, and 58 (90.6 per cent) of those 64 acted within five minutes of hearing the warning. Four factors were positively associated with those seeking shelter: having graduated from high school (OR = 4.2, 95 per cent CI = 1.1-15.5); having a basement in one's house (OR = 3.8, 95 per cent exact CI = 1.1-17.1); hearing a siren (OR = 4.4, 95 per cent CI = 1.3-18.9); and having prepared a household plan of response when tornadoes occur (OR = 2.6, 95 per cent CI = 1.1-6.3). On the basis of these findings, we recommend: first, that people who live in tornadoprone areas have a personal plan of action to help them respond immediately to warnings; second, public-health education officials in areas with frequent tornadic activity should do more to educate the public about what they can do to protect themselves from a tornado; and third, that emergency-management officials planning protection measures for vulnerable communities should consider that most people have limited time (our study documented five minutes) in which to respond to a tornado warning. Thus, shelters in tornado-prone areas should be quickly accessible by residents.     

Facebook and Twitter,communication and shelter,and the 2011 Tuscaloosa tornado

This paper represents one of the first attempts to analyse the many ways in which Facebook and Twitter were used during a tornado disaster. Comparisons between five randomly selected campus samples and a city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, sample revealed that campus samples used Facebook and Twitter significantly more both before and after the tornado, but Facebook usage was not significantly different after the event. Furthermore, differences in social media usage and other forms of communication before the tornado were found for age, education, and years lived in Tuscaloosa. Generally, age and education were inversely proportionate to social media usage. Influences on shelter‐seeking actions varied between social media users and three random samples of non‐social media users; however, it appears that social media respondents were likely to be using a smartphone simultaneously to access warning polygon information, to receive text message alerts, and to listen or respond to environmental cues.     

Risk Factors for Death in the 27 March 1994 Georgia and Alabama Tornadoes

Field surveys were made one week after tornadoes killed 40 persons and injured over 300 in rural regions of Alabama and Georgia, USA, on 27 March 1994. Surveys were completed for samples of 20 persons who were killed and 31 persons who were in the paths of the tornadoes but survived to determine whether there were differences in personal characteristics, behavior or location between the two groups. Persons who died were significantly older than persons who survived, more likely to be in mobile homes or in rooms above ground with windows, less likely to be watching television before the tornado, and were aware of the approaching tornado for less time than survivors. There was no difference in gender, race, marital status, education, disability or previous experience with tornadoes between those who died and survivors.     

2019年辽宁开原龙卷风观测事实分析

利用加密自动站、FY-4A卫星及多普勒雷达等观测资料,对2019年7月3日辽宁开原突发龙卷天气进行分析.结果表明:在冷涡减弱阶段,中纬度冷空气活动频繁,冷涡底部500 hPa与850 hPa的短波槽垂直分布,利于辽宁北部对流不稳定加强.FY-4A可见光云图显示,开原龙卷生消迅速,有明显的上冲云顶.雷达反射率因子特征是,...     

九江5.7级地震建筑物安全鉴定

介绍了九江地震中瑞昌市和九江县教育系统、医疗卫生系统、生命线系统、劳教所等各类公共建筑和重要建筑安全鉴定工作的基本情况。基于现场调查得到的资料，论述了九江地区建筑物地震破坏的原因，并对这次地震现场建筑物安全鉴定工作进行了分析总结。指出震后现场建筑物安全鉴定是一项重要的地震应急工作，应予以充分重视。     

Epidemiology of tornado destruction in rural northern Bangladesh: risk factors for death and injury

The epidemiology of tornado-related disasters in the developing world is poorly understood. An August 2005 post-tornado cohort study in rural Bangladesh identified elevated levels of death and injury among the elderly (≥ 60 years of age) (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 8.9 (95 per cent confidence interval (CI): 3.9-20.2) and AOR = 1.6 (95 per cent CI: 1.4-1.8), respectively), as compared to 15-24 year-olds, and among those outdoors versus indoors during the tornado (AOR = 10.4 (95 per cent CI: 5.5-19.9) and AOR = 6.6 (95 per cent CI: 5.8-7.5), respectively). Females were 1.24 times (95 per cent CI: 1.15-1.33) more likely to be injured than males. Elevated risk of injury was significantly associated with structural damage to the house and tin construction materials. Seeking treatment was protective against death among the injured, odds ratio = 0.08 (95 per cent CI: 0.03-0.21). Further research is needed to develop injury prevention strategies and to address disparities in risk between age groups and between men and women.     

土地利用变化对农业自然灾害灾情的影响机理(二)──基于家户调查、实地考察与测量、空间定位系统的分析

作者在文献［1］中讨论了作物种植结构的调整对农业自然灾害（主要是旱灾）的影响机理。本文在对湖南省洞庭湖区常德市鼎城区的实地调查基础上，应用全球定位系统技术（GPS），深入分析了土地利用变化（空间格局与经济密度）对水灾引起的农业灾害的影响机制．结果表明，家户年纯收入水平与水田面积占总土地面积的比例是决定农业水灾的主要因素．     

The displaced poor and resettlement policies in bangladesh

Bangladesh is a land of natural disasters. Every year the country is affected by flood, riverbank erosion, drought, coastal cyclone and tornado. Riverbank erosion alone displaces an estimated one million people annually. Based on research carried out in Bangladesh in 1984–85, this paper critically examines resettlement options of the displaced poor in the light of existing policies for developing more effective short and long-term resettlement and development strategies .     

Conflict resilience among community forestry user groups: experiences in Nepal

This paper explores the impact of violent conflict in Nepal on the functioning of community forestry user groups (CFUGs), particularly those supported by the Livelihoods and Forestry Programme, funded by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID). The key questions are: (i) what explains the resilience of CFUGs operating at the time of conflict?; (ii) what institutional arrangements and strategies allowed them to continue working under conflict conditions?; and (iii) what lessons can be drawn for donor‐supported development around the world? The study contributes to other research on the everyday experiences of residents of Nepal living in a period of conflict. It suggests that CFUG resilience was the result of the institutional set up of community forestry and the employment of various tactics by the CFUGs. While the institutional design of community forestry (structure) was very important for resilience, it was the ability of the CFUGs to support and use it effectively that was the determining factor in this regard.     

江苏省风电场的气象灾害风险评估

在分析江苏省风电场气象灾害特征的基础上,建立了以江苏省为例的风电场气象灾害风险性评价模型,确定台风密度、龙卷风密度、雷暴密度、风机密度、单机发电功率、人均GDP这6个因子作为评估指标。结合GIS技术和层次分析法对江苏省长江以北各县市风电产气象灾害风险度进行了区划。结果表明,江苏省长江以北的沿海城市:南通和盐城区域为风电场气象灾害的极高风险区和高风险区,而同样为沿海城市的连云港与苏中地区的泰州市、扬州市和苏北地区的淮安为风电场气象灾害的中风险区,宿迁和徐州均为风电场气象灾害的低风险区。