The humanitarian response costs of climate change

This research attempts to improve understanding of how climate change may affect international humanitarian spending, using existing international databases that track disaster occurrence and humanitarian costs. A range of potential impact scenarios is developed employing four distinct methodological approaches. The findings indicate that climate change will have a significant impact on humanitarian costs and the increase could range from a 32 per cent increase (taking into account only changes in frequency of disasters) to upwards of a 1,600 per cent increase when other criteria, such as intensity, are also taken into account. The paper further highlights that extreme weather events do not occur in isolation and the increasing interconnectedness of world economic and political systems has made disasters more complex and destructive. It makes a number of recommendations, including the need for more rigorous and systematic collection of disaster-related data and more constructive interaction between the humanitarian and climate change communities on future research, planning and action.     

Emergency drills for agricultural drought response: a case study in Guatemala

Drills are an important element of disaster management, helping to increase preparedness and reduce the risk of real‐time failure. Yet, they are not applied systematically to slow‐onset disasters such as a drought, which causes damage that is not instantly apparent and thus does not solicit immediate action. This case study evaluates how drills inform institutional responses to slow‐onset disasters. It spotlights Guatemala, a country where drought has severe impacts on livelihoods and the food security of small farmers. By implementing part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food's institutional response plan for drought, it explores how drills can help to detect issues in emergency response and to foster an institutional focus on improvements in preparedness. The results reveal that drills alone do not trigger institutional improvements if unsupported by a wider strategy that seeks to enhance capacities and protocols. These findings are valuable, however, in making problems transparent and in creating the space for discussion.     

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。     

The 1934 floods in Tabriz, N. W. Iran

The disastrous floods of July 1934 in Tabriz are examined in the context of the history of floodinginthe city, which is crossed by a dry stream bed liable to sudden Inundation by mountain torrents from the southeast. Few details of past events have survived, suggesting that relatively little significance has been attached to them. Typically, flood dykes were inadequately maintained. This neglect, combined with a radical alteration in urban topography after 1925, when broad straight avenues were constructed through the old heart of the city, led to serious losses from flooding twice in 1929 and again in 1934. Enhanced perception of the flood risk finally found expression in the adoption of large scale engineering measures to mitigate future events, including strengthening protective dykes and widening the river channel through the city. These works have reduced vulnerability to flooding from river overflow. No long-term detrimental Impact of the 1934 flood has been observed. Some of the physical and social parameters that have influenced the vulnerability of Tabrizinthe past continue to be present both there and elsewhere in Iran, and they may be characteristic also of other regions with comparable natural environments or in a similar stage of socio-economic development.     

江苏省典型年梅雨洪涝灾害对比分析

梅雨期降水形成的洪涝和枯梅年产生的干旱是江苏省主要的气象灾害.为了能客观地划分各年梅雨的旱涝等级,从而为防灾减灾决策提供依据,利用江苏省近50年来的梅雨资料,考虑梅期持时长短、梅期平均日雨量及暴雨日数等3个因子,给出了梅雨强度计算模型及梅期旱涝指标,较好地反映了江苏省每年各地的梅期旱涝状况.结合实际灾情,确定了典型梅雨洪涝年的标准.针对1954,1991和2003年3个比较典型的梅雨洪涝年,进行了详细的比较分析,结果表明:(1)长江及淮河流域上游的客水、入梅之前的降水量和梅期降水会直接影响该省梅雨期的洪涝灾情;(2)1991年的洪涝是历年来最为严重的,1954年的洪涝稍重于2003年;(3)3个典型梅雨洪涝年中全省最涝的地区都位于沿淮地区或江淮之间地区的北部,淮北地区这3年中都出现了较重的涝灾,淮北南部的灾情重于北部.     

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.     

Effects of floods on the use and condition of pit latrines in rural bangladesh

The severe floods of 1987 in Bangladesh had devastating effects on many development activities. Here, the use and condition of improved sanitation facilities (double pit water sealed latrines) during the 1987 peak flood period are presented. Two surveys on the use and condition of the latrines were carried out in May (pre-flood) and September (post-flood) 1987 in a rural area 60 km north of Dhaka, with a population of about 4500. General usage of the latrines by the population aged five years or more decreased from 88% to 78% ( p < 0.001) after the flood. Only 40% of the 343 latrines which were in use and had no damaged component at the time of the pre-flood survey still had no damaged components after the floods. Fencing was the component which suffered the most damage. It was the only component which was installed and maintained by the users, project staff being responsible for all other components. The estimated post-flood repair cost was approximately US $4.0 per latrine. Development of an affordable and durable fencing is recommended.     

20世纪长江的3次巨洪

分析了形成20世纪长江3次巨洪的3个遥相关因子：（1）太阳黑子活动;（2）厄尔尼诺事件,（3）青藏高原南部大震。依据长江巨洪和遥相关因子的基本事实,讨论了长江发生巨洪的统计规律。指出当3个因子的出现时间互相重叠时,长江很可能发生巨洪,这对长江巨洪的超长期预测具有重要的指导作用。     

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.     

Risk communication and risk perception: lessons from the 2011 floods in Brisbane,Australia

Risk communication and risk perception are critical factors in disaster management. Governments at all levels play a part in communicating risk, whereas the perception of risk entails active roles by community participants, including potential and actual victims of disasters. This paper discusses these matters in relation to the floods in Brisbane, Australia, in 2011. The findings are based on interviews with representatives of households whose dwellings or business premises were fully or partially inundated by the waters. The research shows how important it is to recognise the problems of institutional fragmentation in terms of communication and the active engagement of recipients in understanding and interpreting flood risk information (especially for slow‐onset riverine flooding, such as that suffered by Brisbane). Locally targeted information on risk is of vital importance in avoiding the misinterpretation of warning information in relation to environmental cues and in promoting adequate responses. The paper concludes with some recommendations.     

社区大气环境质量调查方法与风险响应对策——基于GIS的深圳市案例研究

为了减轻日益严重的大气污染及其对公共健康的影响,迫切需要大气质量管理方面的立法,而科学合理的法律法规应当建立在对大气污染变化情况正确而充分的了解基础之上。深圳市环境保护监测站公布的年报是基于环境监测站点的数据的,但是,这些常被引用的数据因指示因子和站点空间分布的局限性而不够科学合理。在补充环境监测站点数据方面已经有过许多研究。这里提出了一种基于GIS的社区环境大气质量调查方法,并于2006年在深圳市进行了实验。通过实验定义了大气污染风险的9种类型及相应的应对办法,实验证明了该方法的可行性。     

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.     

The urban poor in Dhaka City: their struggles and coping strategies during the floods of 1998

Bangladesh experienced one of the worst floods in recorded history in 1998. This paper focuses on the needs and coping strategies of the urban poor in Dhaka City, which had been very badly affected. The city's roads were completely under water, and most areas were water-logged with drainage and sewage systems blocked. Rising water levels compelled many slum dwellers to move to temporary shelters and relief camps. Women and children were the worst affected. The lack of sanitation facilities and privacy forced women and children to defecate in their own homes. There was an acute scarcity of safe drinking-water, and food prices rose dramatically. Diarrhoea, fever and colds were the most common illnesses affecting the poor. The floods left many of them unemployed, and in some families, the result was increased tension and incidents of domestic violence. In some areas, members felt pressured to repay micro-credit loans. Most NGOs, however, suspended loan repayments. During this period, a committee was set up to co-ordinate and work towards addressing some of the main post-flood problems.     

Social capital's role in recovery: evidence from communities affected by the 2010 Pakistan floods

Pakistan suffered large‐scale flooding in summer 2010 that caused damage amounting to approximately USD 43 billion, claimed the lives of at least 1,700 people, and negatively affected some 20 million others. Observers have debated the degree to which social capital plays a role in recovery after a catastrophe of this magnitude. Using new survey data on 450 residents impacted by the disaster, this study found that, controlling for various confounding factors, the social capital levels of victims serve as robust correlates of life recovery. Other important variables connected with recovery include education and income, family size, occupation, material damage suffered, stability of home, and trauma experience. The findings point to a number of relevant policy recommendations, most notably that during and following major shocks, disaster managers should work to keep the social networks of victims intact so that they can benefit from interaction with family, friends, and neighbours.     

Assessing community vulnerability to floods and hurricanes along the Gulf Coast of the United States

Hurricanes and flooding have affected millions of people and generated massive economic losses over the past several decades. Geographic information system (GIS) methods are employed in this paper to analyse coastal communities' vulnerability to these two hazards along the Gulf Coast of the United States. Specifically, two types of quantitative indicators are developed: (i) exposure to hurricanes and flooding, based on information from multiple sources; and a social vulnerability index, constructed using census data. These indices are combined to depict the spatial patterns of overall community vulnerability to hurricanes and flooding along the US Gulf Coast. The results of this study can potentially inform disaster management agencies, county governments, and municipalities in areas at heightened risk. Furthermore, the demonstration of the geographic distribution of community vulnerability can assist decision-makers in prioritising to-do items and designing policies and plans for the more effective allocation of resources. The paper ends by discussing the study's limitations and its practical implications.     

反应迅速,救灾有序

地震无情人有情!一场与自然灾害奋力拼搏,一个在党中央领导下军警民齐心协力抗击地震灾害的壮美故事正在中国大地传颂!2007年6月3日凌晨,云南省普洱发生6.4级地震。造成无数房屋受损,3人死亡,300余人受伤……