The impact of Hurricane Rita on an academic institution: lessons learned

This paper examines the impact of Hurricane Rita on one of the many universities along the Gulf Coast of the United States: Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Hurricane Rita, which made landfall between Sabine Pass, Texas, and Johnson's Bayou, Louisiana, on 24 September 2005, is the fourth strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane on record and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. This paper assesses the tasks that confronted the administration, faculty, and students of Lamar University in the days and weeks after the event. It concludes that the one factor that will influence more than any other the degree of success after any disaster is whether all levels of the administrative command institutionalise, endorse, promote, and encourage the adopted recovery plan. The research seeks to share valuable insights on the vulnerabilities that academic institutions face during natural disasters and to highlight some of the many lessons learned.     

The functions of social service workers at a time of war against a civilian population

This article identifies the nature of functions that social service workers employed by municipal organisations have to perform during a community disaster and subsequent reorganisation at a time of war. The article also explores to what extent the functions of workers change as a result of the transition from a peacetime routine to a war situation. Using focus groups the study assesses the knowledge of social service workers and ordinary citizens who had direct experience of the second Lebanese war in Israel (2006). Eight major functions needed at a time of disaster are distinguished among various employees. The article discusses the significance of these functions, and the need to make changes in the network of functions at a time of disaster.     

大地震与陆地下沉灾害综述

从早期传说、水下遗迹、历史记载、现代测量等多个方面对中外历史上的大地震造成的陆地下沉灾害进行了综述,说明大地震与陆地下沉有非常密切的联系;并指出这种灾害现象有以下几个主要特点:①下沉主要发生在地震过程中;②下沉最严重的地区位于震中区;③越大的地震下沉区规模越大,可达上千乃至上万平方公里。根据这些特点判断,这种下沉应该属于地壳构造运动。     

汶川地震与唐山地震损失与救助之对比

1976年发生的唐山7.8级地震与2008年发生的汶川8.0级地震,是近年来破坏程度深、影响范围广的两次特大地震灾害,造成的人员伤亡与经济损失都是惨重与巨大的。但是,不同时代背景下,参数相近的两次地震在灾后救援与救助方面却相差甚远,表现在军队人数调动、受伤人口抢救、恢复重建资金投入、国内外援助、保险再保险分担等方面。着重对比了以上几方面后得出结论:在各项应急预案颁布并实施后,我国灾害救援工作更加有序,提高了救援效率;同时,保险与再保险的参与也减轻了政府负担,为灾民自主开展家园的恢复重建提供了便捷与保障。     

城市综合承灾能力与经济发展协调性研究

构成城市综合承灾能力的防灾能力、抗灾能力、救灾能力和灾后恢复能力是相互联系的。城市综合承灾能力与城市经济发展水平紧密相连。利用灰关联熵方法,分析了某城市各种承灾能力的关联性大小,以及综合承灾能力与城市经济发展水平的关联强度。但关联性强,却不能说明协调得就好。因此,又利用灰色系统理论的思想,分析了城市综合承灾能力与城市经济发展水平的协调关系,发现城市综合承灾能力对城市经济发展水平有明显的滞后性。分析得出该滞后性存在的原因后,通过对序列进行时间平移,证实了对滞后性原因的判断,并提出了加快加强城市综合承灾能力建设的建议,为后续发展奠定坚实基础。     

综合防灾减灾的安全理念在城市规划中的实施路径——以北川新县城灾后重建规划为例

北川,作为汶川特大地震中唯一一个整体异地重建的县城,受到全国人民乃至世界的极大关注,其安全防灾问题必然成为新县城建设的核心问题。通过对北川灾后重建规划的系统总结,揭示出城市规划与城市安全的紧密关联。在城市规划中应将安全置于首位,并将安全防灾理念贯穿于规划全过程;通过选址、布局、防灾疏散场地的合理布局构建安全的城市环境;通过强化建筑防灾、基础设施防灾,加强公共安全设施工程建设,提高城市抗御灾害和应对突发事件的能力;通过建立健全灾害预防和应急信息系统及紧急救援体系等一系列规划、工程手段,达到建设"安全、安定、安心"城市的目标。     

Networking emergency teams in Jerusalem

With the recent upsurge in terrorism, more and more attention is being directed at examining the effectiveness and efficiency of emergency teams. These teams tend to focus on their areas of expertise without necessarily communicating, cooperating or coordinating their operations. Research suggests that improved interpersonal communication and coordination enhances the overall work of each emergency team, and that their combined effort is far in excess of the sum of their individual endeavours. This paper outlines attempts made in Jerusalem to improve the performance of emergency teams and to help the helpers by holding training workshops, setting up a forum of co‐workers and encouraging dialogue among various emergency teams in the city. A planned intervention programme was designed to enable informal networking between team leaders. The programme had an impact on team workers and resulted in a more coordinated and effective service delivery during emergencies.     

Resilience in the context of tsunami early warning systems and community disaster preparedness in the Indian Ocean Region

This paper discusses insights from post-tsunami early warning system (EWS) development in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia by analysing selected elements of resilience, based on the Coastal Community Resilience (CCR) framework, and by distinguishing between the cognitive, normative and procedural dimensions of EWSs. The findings indicate that (1) recent calls to develop participatory and people-centred EWSs as promoted by the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005—2015 have not been sufficiently translated into action in the implementation of national policies and strategies for early warning; (2) policy and guidance places significantly more emphasis on the procedural compared to the normative and cognitive dimensions of EWSs; (3) practitioners engaged in early warning and disaster risk reduction operate in contexts shaped by multiple stakeholder agendas and face considerable challenges in negotiating diverse needs and priorities; and (4) few platforms currently exist that enable stakeholders to coordinate and reconcile agendas, negotiate joint targets, share knowledge and critically reflect on lessons learnt, and to improve the integration of early warning with other priorities such as livelihoods improvement, natural resource management and community development.     

Paired assistance policy and recovery from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake: a network perspective

The role of the paired assistance policy (PAP) in facilitating recovery after the Wenchuan earthquake in China on 12 May 2008 is best analysed from a network perspective. This paper makes five assumptions to explore the relationship, and then draws on three additional cases to examine them. The key findings support all five assumptions. First, the interactions of authority compliance initiated the PAP, and second, the interactions of resource input significantly contributed to rapid reconstruction following the earthquake. Third, the interactions of knowledge transfer supported social system recovery, and fourth, the interactions of benefit reciprocity laid the foundation for sustainable recovery. Fifth, by contrast, the interactions of performance comparison caused suboptimal overfunding of particular public infrastructure projects and reduced local self‐reliance to some extent. Finally, suggestions are made to improve the policy implications of extending the use of the PAP in other administrative contexts. The PAP could become an even more important policy device in the future.     

建立洪水灾情等级模型的实用方案

为检验已订的洪水灾情等级标准的合理性,提出了一种新的洪水灾情模型－逻辑斯谛曲线（ＬＯＧ）模型,它的灾级是连续的实数值。根据ＬＯＧ模型参数值可以分析各灾情指标值对灾级的影响程度,从而检验原订灾级标准的合理性;并给出了基于实码遗传算法的ＬＯＧ建模的实施方案。实例研究说明了这套方案是实用和通用的,在其它灾情等级评估中也具有广泛的应用价值。