The inside story: timeline of events and communication leading up to superstorm sandy from the emergency manager perspective

During impending storms, emergency managers (EMs) are tasked with various decisions and challenges, particularly whether to issue evacuation orders for their area. This study aims to understand the timeline of decisions made and actions taken leading up to Superstorm Sandy’s landfall from the EM perspective. A total of 23 in-depth interviews was conducted in New Jersey and New York. All municipal EMs interviewed first heard about what would become Superstorm Sandy between one and two weeks prior to landfall. From then on, municipal EMs monitored the storm using a variety of sources. The communication and information trail is top-down, starting with higher EM levels (i.e. federal and state) and ending with municipal, or local, EMs. Typically, voluntary evacuation orders were issued on Friday or Saturday, while mandatory evacuation orders began being issued on Saturday, two days before landfall, and continued until the day of landfall. Who issued the various evacuation orders depended on location. In New York City, the Mayor has full control of whether an evacuation is ordered, while in New Jersey, the local EMs generally have the authority. Understanding the timeline of decisions is the first step into fully assessing the EM process during events such as Sandy.     

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.     

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.     

Concerns and future preparedness plans of a vulnerable population in New Jersey following Hurricane Sandy

Knowing how people prepare for disasters is essential to developing resiliency strategies. This study examined recalled concerns, evacuation experiences, and the future preparedness plans of a vulnerable population in New Jersey, United States, following Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Understanding the responses of minority communities is key to protecting them during forthcoming disasters. Overall, 35 per cent of respondents were not going to prepare for an event. Intended future preparedness actions were unrelated to respondents' ratings of personal impact. More Blacks and Hispanics planned on preparing than Whites (68 versus 55 per cent), and more Hispanics planned on evacuating than did others who were interviewed. A higher percentage of respondents who had trouble getting to health centres were going to prepare than others. Respondents' concerns were connected to safety and survival, protecting family and friends, and having enough food and medicine, whereas future actions included evacuating earlier and buying sufficient supplies to shelter in place.     

A national and local media perspective on responsibility for and solutions to storm-related power outages in the northeastern United States

Major storms in the northeastern United States in 2011 and 2012 caused widespread power outages, bringing attention to the vulnerability of utility infrastructure as a result of extreme weather and environmental change. Media coverage of such focusing events provides context for and can affect government and public response. Our objective was to analyze gatekeeping, agenda setting, and framing in the New York Times (NYT) and local newspapers covering power outages related to large storm events in 2011 and 2012 (Tropical Storm Irene, October snowstorm, Hurricane Sandy). Government and utility officials focused on structural solutions to mitigate future storm impacts, whereas residents and businesses targeted individual actions. NYT interviews included residents more frequently than local newspapers, influencing coverage of impacts and solutions. Geographic differences between NYT and local newspapers’ foci may relate to coverage of solutions to and responsibility for outages. Our findings demonstrate the importance of collective action toward shared solutions.     

气候变化和人类活动对天津海岸带影响综述

21世纪全球海平面上升和区域地面沉降叠加所致的相对海平面上升速率存在加快趋势,将加剧天津沿海地区风暴潮、洪涝灾害和土地淹没的危害,影响沿海地区的城市抗灾功能、建筑物安全及生态资源。为此,本文综合讨论了气候变化导致的海平面上升和地面沉降对天津沿海风暴潮、海岸侵蚀以及港口码头的影响。建议滨海新区建设要高度重视海洋灾害的监测预警,提高沿海地区防潮和防汛工程的设计标准和城市抗灾能力,以有效实现滨海新区经济和社会可持续发展。     

中国沿海风暴潮灾害的历史变化及未来趋向

中国是全球少数几个同时受台风风暴潮和温带风暴潮危害的国家之一,风暴潮灾一年四季,从面到北均可发生,本文基于中国沿海近５０年风暴潮灾时间变化和空间分布特点的分析,着重探讨了近５００年全国及长江、黄河、珠江三角洲的历史记录和近５０年实测风暴潮灾发生频次的变化及其与气候波动的关系,并对未来全球变化背景下,中国沿海风暴潮灾的变化趋向进行了讨论。结果表明：近５００年来,中国沿海的风暴潮灾的气温较高的偏暖时段     

中国沿海的风暴潮灾及其防御对策

中国沿海是仅次于孟加拉湾地区的第二大风暴潮重灾区。本文分析了地质时期及历史时期我国风暴潮灾的灾害记录，揭示了中国沿海风暴潮灾的严重性，并讨论了其成因特点和成灾机理，提出了一系列防灾措施和防御对策     

Snowstorm catastrophes in the United States

Extremely damaging snowstorms, those causing more than $1 million in property losses across the US, were studied, and the spatial and temporal characteristics of the storm activity during 1949–2001 were defined. There were 155 catastrophic snowstorms and they caused insured losses of $21.6 billion (2001 dollars). The northeastern US had the nation's maximum storm occurrences (79 storms), greatest total losses ($7.3 billion), and highest storm intensity. Two-thirds of all US losses occurred in the Northeast, Southeast, and Central climate regions, and storm occurrences and losses were least in the western US. The incidence of storms peaked during the 1976–1985 period and exhibited no up or down trend during 1949–2001. However, losses had a significant upward time trend, as did storm sizes and intensity. New York and Pennsylvania had the greatest number of storms with fewest in Montana, Idaho, and Utah. Time distribution of losses in the northeastern and southeastern US were U-shaped with flat time trends for 1949–2001. Losses in the western regions and Deep South had distinct upward trends in losses, storm intensity, and storm size. More than 90 percent of all storm losses in the western US have occurred since 1980. These findings indicate that rapidly growing population and property at risk have been major factors in increasing losses as well as atmospheric changes leading to greater storm intensity and size.     

海岸带风暴潮减水的统计分析

在青岛大港观测站连续30年实测资料的基础上,按照年、季、月等时段分别抽样,对风暴潮减水进行了长期统计分析.考虑到海岸地区风暴潮减水的诱因不同,在一维复合极值分布的基础上,提出了"组合分布法".新方法探讨了假设所有数据源于同一分布而产生的重现值估计误差.与年极值法和阈值法的计算结果进行了比较,说明以往算法得到的重现值偏低,并给出了青岛地区受季节变化影响的风暴减水设计重现值.统计表明,青岛大港春、秋、冬季均有风暴减水发生.由于寒潮大风是其产生的主导因素,以冬季的极值减水序列为样本,所得重现值与考虑季节变化得到的重现值相当.说明在实际工程区域,选取主要天气形势产生的水文要素为样本,替代所有观测数据,使统计计算得以简化的做法是可行的.     

城市风暴潮灾害快速评估的模糊决策方法——以厦门市为例

综合考虑了反映风暴潮灾害的自然特征和社会属性的4个指标,将其作为评估指标,建立了基于模糊决策的风暴潮发生过程中城市灾害的快速评估模型,并以街道为最小评估单元,对厦门市进行了一次模拟风暴潮的灾害综合快速评估。由于模型考虑了少量具有代表性的因素,故能保证评估过程的快速性、评估结果的时效性,能为政府在有限的时间和资源下做出救灾减灾的优先工作策略提供决策依据。     

最近2000年江苏沿海风暴潮灾害的特征

根据地方志和文献记录对江苏沿海最近2000a风暴潮灾害进行了初步分析，结果表明，风暴潮灾害在时间和空间上均发生着变化。最近600a风暴潮灾害存在21a、36a和116a三个显著的周期，并且不同时间段内发生的风暴潮灾害受不同的因素控制。.     

渤海湾风暴潮灾害及对策

较详细地分析了天津、河北沿海地区风暴潮时空分布规律、灾情、产生的原因, 指出近年来本区风暴潮发生频率和强度有明显增加的趋势, 而且造成的经济损失增长更快。在过去４０ ａ中, 每过１０ ａ 灾损约增加１０ 倍。并提出了防潮减灾对策     

风暴潮风险研究进展

中国沿海是全球少数几个风暴潮风险最大的区域之一。受全球气候变暖和海平面上升的影响,沿海地区风暴潮灾害风险水平呈显著上升的趋势。从灾害风险理论出发,在对风暴潮风险的认识、风暴潮危险性评估、风暴潮易损性评估,以及风暴潮综合风险评估等四个方面,系统地总结了目前风暴潮风险研究的最新成果、研究进展和存在的主要问题。总体来看,现阶段风暴潮风险评估研究还比较薄弱,未来的风暴潮风险研究应该由单要素评估走向综合评估,加强风暴潮风险评估的综合性和系统性。随着沿海地区社会经济的发展,应充分考虑全球变化和海平面上升对未来风暴潮风险的影响,完善风暴潮综合风险评估体系,提升风暴潮预报预警能力,为风暴潮灾害的防灾减灾工作提供科学依据。     

广东省台风暴潮灾害社会经济系统脆弱性分析——模糊数学方法

给出了台风暴潮灾害社会经济系统脆弱性的定义,应用模糊综合评价方法提供了计算台风暴潮灾害社会经济系统脆弱性的评估模式,进而探讨了脆弱性的空间分布状况,并将其应用于广东省台风暴潮灾害的脆弱性评估,所提方法可以较好地综合多种社会经济因素对台风暴潮灾害的影响.     

温带风暴潮灾害链的识别与区分--以莱州湾风暴潮为例

我国温带风暴潮灾害主要集中在渤海、黄海沿岸,其中莱州湾沿岸是频繁发生的重灾区。以识别莱州湾沿岸发生的温带风暴潮灾害链的组成为研究目标,通过2次典型灾害事件分析了温带风暴潮灾害的成因、发生及其演化规律等问题,进而识别了温带风暴潮灾害链发生过程中的灾害类别及相应致灾因子,根据致灾过程提出了5种灾害链条,最后区分了不同行业灾害损失中主要致灾因子的作用。研究结果可对温带风暴潮灾害链的预警及减灾工作提供决策支持。     

Hurricane storm surge in Volusia County,Florida: evidence of a tipping point for infrastructure damage

Storm surge often is the most destructive consequence of hurricanes and tropical storms, causing significant economic damage and loss of life. Many coastal communities that are located in high‐risk areas vis‐à‐vis hurricanes and tropical storms are prepared for moderate (between six and eight feet) storm surges. Such preparation, though, is not commensurate with more severe, but less frequent, storm surges (greater than eight feet). These gaps in preparedness have serious implications for community resilience. This paper explores elements of the vulnerability and resilience of coastal communities during major storm surge events, drawing on Volusia County, Florida, United States, as a case study. It simulates the impacts of five hurricanes (Categories I–V) and their associated storm surges on local infrastructure systems, populations, and access to resources. The results suggest that Volusia County is subject to a ‘tipping point’ , where surge damage from Category IV storms is significantly greater than that from Category III and lower hurricanes.     

黄河三角洲风暴潮灾害及其对滨海湿地的影响

黄河三角洲是中国重要的滨海湿地分布区，也是中国风暴潮易发区。该区的风暴潮有温带气旋型与热带台风型两种，以温带风暴潮为主。近年来，重大风暴潮的发生有频率增加、危害加重的趋势。风暴潮对滨海湿地的影响是广泛而深远的，主要表现为淹没滨海低地、加速海岸蚀退、破坏地表结构、毁坏湿地植被、加剧海水入侵等，使滨海湿地不断损失退化，生态环境恶化。     

基于GIS的风暴潮减灾辅助决策信息系统

风暴潮是指在大气强迫力作用下局部海面的异常升降现象，是影响我国沿海地区最严重的海洋灾害，风暴潮给我国造成的损失平均每年达上百亿元，风暴潮科技减灾已成为一个重要的研究方向。提供了基于Oracle和GIS技术的风暴潮减灾信息化、网络化实现框架，阐述了风暴潮减灾数据库设计、风暴潮数值预报模型集成、基于GIS的减灾辅助决策分析、基于3s技术的灾害监测和调查以及基于GIS的灾损评估等5个方面内容。