Iowa Disaster Recovery Framework

This Iowa Disaster Recovery Framework (IDRF) is meant to detail a lasting, flexible structure and system to coordinate and manage disaster recovery in the long-term. The IDRF provides a structure to engage stakeholders such as individual Iowans, local and tribal governments, businesses, voluntary, faith-based and community organizations as well as state and federal agencies to identify and resolve recovery challenges both before and after disaster events. It applies to all disasters, recovery partners, and recovery activities

COMPREHENSIVE DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT: THE ROLE OF GEOINFORMATICS AND GEO-COLLABORATION IN LINKING MITIGATION AND DISASTER RECOVERY IN THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN

The recurring failure of communities at risk to build mitigation into disaster recovery activities to reduce risks against future disaster events remains unresolved. In fact, some communities seem to learn so little from the disastrous experience of other communities; they either commit the same calamitous mistakes or do nothing to improve their circumstances before disaster actually strikes them. Policies exist, yet resilience building systems are lacking from the pragmatic stages of disaster recovery. Beyond sustained preparedness and relief operations, communities must also concentrate on effective rehabilitation and efficient disaster recovery if they are to become resilient against future hazards. The Eastern Caribbean islands, like many other developing countries, typify this failure of integrating mitigation into disaster recovery despite numerous incidents of hurricanes and tropical storms over the past decades. It is a socio-technical issue that needs to engage reliable information exchange mechanisms and efficient social networks to initiate and create solutions.The overall objective of this study is to explore how countries can improve mitigation through disaster recovery activities. It documents the results of an analysis of experiences in disaster recovery and mitigation in the Eastern Caribbean following Hurricane Lenny in November 1999 and Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. Through nested case design, the study constructs a framework for integrating mitigation into disaster recovery and comprehensive disaster management. It highlights relationships and interactions among households, builders, building designers, post-disaster rehabilitation agencies and disaster management organizations that can facilitate mitigation. It identifies factors that facilitate geospatial support in disaster management in the Eastern Caribbean and how geocollaboration enhances performance and effectiveness in comprehensive disaster management. Finally, the study modifies existing mechanisms for disaster mitigation and develops a scalable DHaRMS synchronization tool for mitigation implementation at multiple levels of society.This study is deemed important from an empirical perspective because it could yield valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses of mitigation implementation as well as provide policy recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of mitigation and comprehensive disaster management. From a theoretical perspective, this research is oriented toward contributing to the theories of comprehensive disaster management and complexity

Disaster Behavioral Health Response Training, 2010

Participants will learn how the Disaster Behavioral Health Response Team will function in disaster settings, including factors affecting individual responses to disaster, phases of disaster, "at risk" groups, concepts of loss and grief, post-disaster stress, and the disaster recovery proces

Engaging youth in post-disaster research: Lessons learned from a creative methods approach

Children and youth often demonstrate resilience and capacity in the face of disasters. Yet, they are typically not given the opportunities to engage in youth-driven research and lack access to official channels through which to contribute their perspectives to policy and practice during the recovery process. To begin to fill this void in research and action, this multi-site research project engaged youth from disaster-affected communities in Canada and the United States. This article presents a flexible youth-centric workshop methodology that uses participatory and arts-based methods to elicit and explore youth’s disaster and recovery experiences. The opportunities and challenges associated with initiating and maintaining partnerships, reciprocity and youth-adult power differentials using arts-based methods, and sustaining engagement in post-disaster settings, are discussed. Ultimately, this work contributes to further understanding of the methods being used to conduct research for, with, and about youth.Keywords: youth, disaster recovery, engagement, resilience, arts-based methods, participatory researc

Enterprise recovery following natural disasters

Using data from surveys of enterprises in Sri Lanka after the December 2004 tsunami, the authors undertake the first microeconomic study of the recovery of the private firmsin a developing country following a major natural disaster. Disaster recovery in low-income countries is characterized by the prevalence of relief aid rather than of insurance payments; the data show this distinction has important consequences. The data indicate that aid provided directly to households correlates reasonably well with reported losses of household assets, but is uncorrelated with reported losses of business assets. Business recovery is found to be slower than commonly assumed, with disaster-affected enterprises lagging behind unaffected comparable firms more than three years after the disaster. Using data from random cash grants provided by the project, the paper shows that direct aid is more important in the recovery of enterprises operating in the retail sector than for those operating in the manufacturing and service sectors.Microfinance,Debt Markets,Banks&Banking Reform,Natural Disasters,Hazard Risk Management

Perceived Ability to Practice in Disaster Management Among Public Health Nurses in Aceh, Indonesia

Background: The increasing number of disaster events around the world has challenged every country to develop better disaster-management strategies. As a part of healthcare system, public health nurses (PHNs) should be involved in caring for people in disasters. Currently, there is no known study whether PHNs of Aceh, Indonesia, working with community people who are at high risk of confronting natural disasters, are able to perform their roles and functions regarding disaster management. Methods: 252 PHNs from twenty-seven public health centers in Aceh were studied during November to December 2010 to evaluate their perceived ability to practice regarding disaster management at each disaster phase: preparedness, response, and recovery phase. The perceived ability to practice was assessed by using the 30-statement, five-point Likert-scale (0-4) of Public Health Nurses' Perceived Ability to Practice Regarding Disaster Management Questionnaire (PHNPP-DMQ). The composite scores of each phase and the total score were calculated and transformed to percentage for ease of presentation across disaster phases.Results: Overall, the PHNs' perceived ability to practice regarding disaster management in Aceh was at a moderate level (M=74.57%, SD=13.27). The highest mean score was for the recovery phase (M=78%), and the lowest mean score was in the preparedness phase (66.15%).Conclusion: The finding of this study evokes challenges to the local government of Aceh province to further prepare PHNs to increase their ability in disaster management

The social and psychological effects of the Ruapehu eruptions within the Ohakune community : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

Page 7 is missing.It is commonly accepted that exposure to disaster will cause distress and anxiety within affected communities. This distress is due to both the occurrenec of disaster and the secondary stressors that result from this event. Previous research has noted the beneficial effects of certain individual characteristics in the healthy recovery of community members following exposure to disaster. These characteristics are sense of community, self-efficacy, problem-focused coping, and access to adequate social support. This study examined the importance of these characteristics within a rural New Zealand community exposed to a series of volcanic eruptions. A cross sectional survey collected data at two different periods; once in the post-disaster period, and again when the community had returned to levels of non-disaster functioning. The survey measured levels of the characteristics mentioned above and psychological symptomatology. Demographic information was also collected. A number of statistical procedures were run and the results found that age, coping style and self-efficacy were significant predictors of symptomatology during the post-disaster phase. These were mediated by the quality of social support available to the respondents. However, in the non-disaster period, none of the variables included in this study were accurate predictors of psychological outcome. Future studies need to clarify these results within other rural New Zealand communities exposed to disaster. From this research, practical community response programmes can be installed within communities that will aid in their healthy and effective recovery following exposure to disaster

The Challenges and Obstacles of Post-Disaster Road Infrastructure Reconstruction in the Pre-Construction Phase

Purpose The reconstruction of road infrastructure in the post-disaster context require different approach when compared with road projects in the normal development context. Disaster recovery projects are seen as having their own unique identity, particularly due to stakeholder issues, resource challenges, capability issues, and even long-term reliability concerns. This paper invites a discussion regarding the challenges and obstacles identified in the reconstruction of road infrastructure in a post-disaster reconstruction setting, and focuses the discussion on the pre-construction phase. Design/ Methodology/ Approach The challenges and obstacles presented in this paper are based on the literature and the empirical evidence collected from the research in three case study districts in Aceh, Indonesia. Twenty-eight face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders of road infrastructure at the local, provincial and national level, and represented by respondents from the public works, planning agency, disaster management agency, consultant, contractors, and donor agencies. The findings were triangulated with the literature and consulted with five experts in the road infrastructure and disaster reconstruction area. Findings The identified challenges and obstacles are divided into three groups of discussion; planning and programming, road design, and procurement. Whilst some of these challenges are not unique to post-disaster context, the scale of the risks had been undermined. Originality/ value This paper identifies the challenges and obstacles of a road project in the post-disaster setting from the pre-construction perspective. Identification of these challenges and obstacles may help improve the implementation of post-disaster road infrastructure reconstruction projects in future recovery projects, particularly in the developing world

Evaluations of post-disaster recovery: A review of practice material

This paper reviews evaluations of post-disaster recovery efforts. The focus is on operational material and other ‘grey literature’ from disasters that have occurred in Australia, New Zealand and internationally. We develop a typology that categorises disaster events and includes whether evaluations were undertaken; the methods used; and whether the evaluations focused on the processes or outcomes of the recovery program. The review finds a lack of evaluation of post-disaster recovery. Where evaluations have been conducted, they are mostly process- rather than outcomes-based. There is a need for guidance for post-disaster recovery programs to support evaluation practice to determine the effectiveness, efficiency and appropriateness of post-disaster recovery interventions. There is significant investment in post-disaster recovery programs, with little known of their effectiveness. This review identifies useful case studies and methods to evaluate post-disaster recovery efforts, and informs the development of a national post-disaster evaluation framework