BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Slope Instability Edited by Denys Brunsden and David B. Prior
Disaster Preparedness Update - A Computerized Index of an Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Bibliography of Interest for Latin America and the Caribbean
The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries by Piers Blakie
Department of Geology and Geography University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003, U.S.A.
The State of Food Emergency Preparedness in Ethiopia by Peter Cutler and Robin Stephenson     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Hunger and History: The Impact of Changing Food Production and Consumption Patterns on Society, Edited by Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabb. Medical Consequences of Natural Disasters by Lazar Benin
Imposing Aid: Emergency Assistance to Refugees by B.E. Harrell-Bond
Too Many, Too Long: Sudan's Twenty-year Refugee Dilemma by John R. Rogge. Rowman and Allanheld
Disaster Preparedness and the 1984 Earthquakes in Central Italy by David Alexander
Famine as a Geographical Phenomenon, Edited by Bruce Currey and Graeme Hugo. Published by D. Reidel, Dordrecht/Boston/Lancaster, 1984
Violent Forces of Nature Edited by R.H. Maybury     

Conferences

Second Caribbean Conference on Science, Hazards and Hazard Management; Kingston, Jamaica, 9-12 October 1996
Mitigating the Millennium: Seminar on Community Participation and Impact Measurement in Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation Programmes; Overseas Development Institute, London, 9 October 1996     

新沂地震台监测环境保护区的建立与管理

新沂地震台依据《中华人民共和国防震减灾法》和中国地震局《地震及前兆数字化技术规范》,向新沂市政府提出"建立地震监测保护区"的建议,经过积极努力,征得地方政府的批准,最终成功地划定了台站监测保护区范围,并制定了保护区管理方案。     

基于计算机网络技术的天津市防震减灾技术系统

随着计算机的普及和网络技术的不断成熟,建立以计算机网络为依托的防震减灾地震快速响应系统已成为可能。“九五”期间,天津市地震局就计算机网络技术在防震减灾技术系统建设中的应用方面进行了尝试。通过计算机通信网络的建立,将地震监测预报、震后快速速报、早期趋势判定等工作环节有机地联系起来,在实际中发挥了重要作用。     

Disaster preparedness and regional training on nine Caribbean islands: A longterm evaluation

This paper presents an analysis and evaluation of emergency preparedness and regionalized training on nine Caribbean islands during the period of 1980 to 1985. Preparedness on the islands is measured in numerous ways, including the existence and comprehensiveness of the disaster plan; existence and adequacy of district organizations; existence of an emergency operations centre; frequency of drills; adequacy of communications; and various other indicators. The regionalized training, which was provided out of a small, internationally-funded unit in Antigua, is evaluated in terms of the contribution it made to Caribbean preparedness during the period. Various management difficulties are analyzed and recommendations made for future, similar programs.     

Disaster mental health training programmes in New York City following September 11, 2001

The need for mental health resources to provide care to the community following large‐scale disasters is well documented. In the aftermath of the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster on September 11, 2001, many local agencies and organizations responded by providing informal mental health services, including disaster mental health training for practitioners. The quality of these programmes has not been assessed, however. The National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University's School of Public Health reviewed disaster mental health training programmes administered by community‐based organizations, professional associations, hospitals, and government agencies after September 11. Results indicate that the quality and the effectiveness of programmes are difficult to assess. A wide range of curricula and a widespread lack of recordkeeping and credentialing of trainers were noted. Most of the training programmes provided are no longer available. Recommendations for improving the quality of disaster mental health training programmes are provided.     

Protecting cultural assets from bushfires: a question of comprehensive planning

Cultural heritage sites form an unrenewable asset that is threatened by natural disasters. Given the high bushfire risk, mandatory Bush Fire Risk Management Plans have been drawn up throughout New South Wales, Australia. We compared their mandatory provisions for the protection of heritage assets with an 'Ideal Heritage Disaster Plan', containing a series of non-negotiable elements. The examined plans fell well short of the ideal. Preparedness Plans generally lacked a discussion of suppression techniques (for historic heritage), prevention, prescribed drills and communication procedures. None of the Response Plans or Recovery Plans contained any of the required core elements, such as rapid suppression techniques and stabilisation procedures. Where aspects were covered, they were addressed in an inadequate level of detail. The overall quality of the cultural heritage components of the plans is judged to be poor. Suggestions are made on how to improve the situation if heritage assets are to have a future following bushfire events.     

Flood management in Canada at the crossroads

Abstract

Although Canadian flood management efforts have gained worldwide recognition, flood damages continue to increase. The current practice for preventing, responding to and recovering from floods in Canada is described by focusing attention on the 1997 Red River and 1996 Saguenay River floods. A set of cultures is identified that contribute to the trend of increasing flood damages. These include a culture of conflict, a culture of land development, a culture that impeded native people from easily implementing flood management programs, a culture of institutional fragmentation and a culture of dependency. These foster an inevitable cycle of increasing flood damages. The potential of recent proposals made by Emergency Preparedness Canada and the Insurance Bureau of Canada to address these cultures is assessed. While these documents represent significant progress, they continue to adopt an intermittent project rather an ongoing program perspective, fail to identify the need to adopt specific initiatives tailored for aboriginal communities, and ignore the need to enhance the operational capacity of relevant public and private participants. Addressing these requirements will further reduce future losses and vulnerability.     

Facilitating disaster preparedness through local radio broadcasting

The 2008 Disaster Mitigation Preparedness (DMP) study took place in Aceh province, Indonesia. It sought to help develop radio programmes and messages to increase resilience to disasters. The role of radio was evaluated during and after the 2004 Asian tsunami disaster. The study team interviewed 984 tsunami survivors from nine sub-districts of Banda Aceh, and local nongovernmental organisations convened eight focus groups around the area of Aceh Besar. Six key informant interviews were held with government disaster management agencies. The DMP survey is the first of its kind to interview a representative random sample of Banda Aceh residents. It reveals the importance of community and social networks, during disaster situations, when essential communications are down. A disaster warning information system based on a multi-media approach needs to be developed. The wider community should be involved in the planning, education and training of Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar residents to facilitate appropriate personal and community survival strategies.     

Then and now: A 30-year journey from the ‘leading edge’

A fledgling disaster management organization in 1984, Jamaica's Office of Disaster Preparedness (ODP) hosted the pioneering international disaster mitigation conference to share information and to contemplate how vulnerability to disasters from natural hazards could be reduced. Over the period 1979–2009, the overall focus of the agency was response, given the plethora of extreme events, and the priority of the Government of Jamaica. The organization was associated with several efforts at disaster mitigation, but the need for building the agency's capacity to lead national efforts to integrate mitigation planning into development did not seem to gain traction among the policy makers. Growing losses since 2004, the evidence of climate change and the need for adaptation, and the regional and international disaster risk management agenda have brought attention to the need for review and development of Jamaica's disaster risk management capacity. This paper examines highlights of the 30-year journey of disaster management in Jamaica, and highlights proposals for strengthening the national framework and the organizational structure of ODPEM.     

Religious narratives and their implications for disaster risk reduction

The role of religious factors in the disaster experience has been under‐investigated. This is despite evidence of their influence throughout the disaster cycle, including: the way in which the event is interpreted; how the community recovers; and the strategies implemented to reduce future risk. This qualitative study examined the role of faith in the disaster experience of four faith communities in the Hawaiian Islands of the United States. Twenty‐six individuals from the Bahá'í, Buddhist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‐day Saints (LDS), and United Methodist Church communities participated, including 10 faith leaders and 16 laypersons. The results suggest that religious narratives provide a framework for interpretation of, preparedness for, and responses to disasters. Preparedness varied widely across faith communities, with the LDS community reporting greater levels of preparedness than other communities. Recommendations include the development of collaborative efforts between disaster managers and faith leaders to increase preparedness within faith communities, which may facilitate community‐wide disaster risk reduction.     

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.     

Disaster coordination preparedness of soft-target organisations

This paper introduces a network‐enabled model to examine the disaster coordination preparedness of soft‐target organisations (STOs). Little attention is devoted to this matter in recent research. This study places emphasis on such organisations and the proposed model tests hypotheses related to network relation and coordination preparedness. It analyses the data set entitled ‘Preparedness of large retail malls to prevent and respond to terrorist attack, 2004′, which contains 120 completed surveys of security directors of retail malls in the United States. ¹ 1 See http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/TPDRC/studies/21140 .
The following questions form the basis of this study: ‘What do STOs need to be better prepared to respond to a disaster?’; ‘How does network relationship between STOs and emergency agencies affect the coordination preparedness of STOs for disaster recovery?’; and ‘Which centrality measure needs to be followed to measure network variables in order to analyse coordination preparedness?’ The results show that STOs with a high level of connectedness and strong ties to other emergency agencies are better prepared for disaster response.     

用计算机仿真技术检验自然灾害模糊风险模型

自然灾害模糊风险是用模糊集对自然灾害风险的一种近似表达．本文建议了一种计算机仿真方法，用来检验计算模糊风险的模型是否可靠．假定真实的概率风险可以用某个概率密度函数来表达，当用某种模型依据小样本来估计这个函数时，必然会存在误差．设给定概率密度函数的其望值为Ｅ， 用传统模型估计得到的概率密度函数的期望值为Ｅ，用某种模糊数学方法计算出来的模糊概率分布的期望值为Ｅ．如果Ｅ与Ｅ的差小于Ｅ与Ｅ的差，则说明模糊风险模型比较可靠．本文给出了计算Ｅ的公式，对计算机仿真实验进行设计．并给出了产生随机数的３个重要程序．     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Natural Hazards , by E.A. Bryant.
Chernobyl: Insight from the Inside , by V.M. Chernousenko
Communicating Risks to the Public: International Perspectives , edited by R.E. Kasperson and P.J.M. Stallen
From Feast to Famine: Official Cures and Grassroots Remedies to Africa's Food Crisis , by Bill Rau.
The Political Economy of African Famine , edited by R.E. Downs, Donna O. Kemer and Stephen P. Reyna, Gordon and Breach
Famine and Drought Mitigation in Ethiopia in the 1990s , edited by Patrick Webb, Tesfaye Zegeye and Rajul Pandya-Lorch.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
II terremoto di Rimini e della costa romagnola: 25 dicembre 1786. Analisi e interpretazione, edited by E. Guidoboni and G. Ferrari
Flood Hazard Management: British and international perspectives, edited by J. Handmer. Geobooks     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Political Economy of Large National Disasters with Special Reference to Developing Countries, by J.M. Albala-Bertrand.
World Disasters Report 1993
Big Dams, Displaced People, edited by E.G. Thukral
Theories of Famine by Stephen Devereux
Volcanoes and Society by David Chester     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
LANDUSEAND DEVELOPMENT, AFRICAN ENVIROMENT SPECIAL REPOR T 5 edited by Phil O'Keefe and Ben Wisner
THE BENEFITS OF FLOOD ALLEVIA TION - A MANUAL OF ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES by Edmund C. Penning-Rowsell and John B. Chatterton
THE ORGAMSA TIONAL and INTERORGANISA TIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF DISASTERS B. A. Turner
RESPONSE TO SOCIAL CRISIS and DISASTER E. L. Quarantelli and R. R. Dynes
ANOTHER DEVELOPMENT: APPROACHES and STRATEGIES edited by Marc Nerfin
UNDRO - DISASTER PREVENTION and MITIGATION A COMPENDIUM OF CURRENT KNOWLEDGE
ESCAP/WMO/LRCS - GUIDELINES FOR DISASTER PREVENTION and PREPAREDNESS IN TROPICAL CYCLONE AREAS
DISASTERS, VOLUME II, Nos. 2 and 3 SHELTER AFTER DISASTER by Ian Davis
DELIVERY OF MENTAL HEAL TH SER VICES IN DISASTERS THE XENIA TORNADO and SOME IMPLICA TIONS by V.A. Taylor C.A. Ross and E. L. Quarantelli.
INFLUENZA: THE LAST GREAT PLAGUE by W.I.B. Beveridge     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Famine that Kills, by A. de Waal.
The Greening of Aid: Sustainable Livelihoods in Practice edited by: Czech Conroy and Miles Litvinoff.
Manual of Disaster Medicine: Civilian and Military, by N.D. Reis and E. Dolev.