Third Revolution Digital Technology in Disaster Early Warning

Networking societies with electronic based technologies can change social morphology, where key social structures and activities are organized around electronically processed information networks. The application of information and communications technologies (ICT) has been shown to have a positive impact across the emergency or disaster lifecycle. For example, utility of mobile, internet and social network technology, commercial and amateur radio networks, television and video networks and open access technologies for processing data and distributing information can be highlighted. Early warning is the key function during an emergency. Early warning system is an interrelated set of hazard warning, risk assessment, communication and preparedness activities that enable individuals, communities, businesses and others to take timely action to reduce their risks. Third revolution digital technology with semantic features such as standard protocols can facilitate standard data exchange therefore proactive decision making. As a result, people belong to any given hierarchy can access the information simultaneously and make decisions on their own challenging the traditional power relations. Within this context, this paper attempts to explore the use of third revolution digital technology for improving early warning

Spatial data potential for resettlement programmes in local communities vulnerable to debris-flow disasters

Resettlement programmes have been implemented by many governments and organisations to relocate people from the hazard areas to other safe places where they are expected to have normal or better lives. However, often the resettled communities face numerous difficulties while going through the relocation process and beyond. It appears that many social and humanitarian problems exists in most of the resettlement programmes (Menoni and Pesaro, 2008). It has been often found that the social, economic and humanitarian problems faced by resettlement communities are linked with the spatial aspects of the resettlement area (Dikmen, 2002; Corsellis and Vitale, 2005; Muggah, 2008). In order to mitigate the severity of those issues in conducting a potential resettlement programme, the information of vulnerable hazard communities must be prepared for the resettlement plan. However, the limitation of the data, i.e. spatial and non-spatial data, of the vulnerable hazard communities plays an important role to delay the post-disaster reduction tasks. An attempt to obtain and develop the dataset potential for post-disaster risk reduction proceed with the resettlement programme requires a comprehensive statement of situations during the disaster occurrence in the hazard community. Therefore, this paper presents a technique identifying the relationships between spatial and nonspatial data essential to the post-disaster risk reduction at the local scale. The obtain information derives from the deep insight interviews of affected people regarding issues associated with spatial aspects in a disaster event. The explored issues regarding the interrelationship between socioeconomic issues and spatial conditions were presented in cognitive maps showing the complexity of those issues in a resettlement programme. As the outcome of the paper, it presents the developed spatail database for resettlement programmes in local communities vulnerable to debris-flow disasters. The explored result of this paper is expected to apply with the resettlement programme in order to prevent the misleading resettlement programmes and also accelerate the post-disaster risk reduction for vulnerable hazard communities effectively

In the Eye of the Storm: A Special Report About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Response to the 2005 Gulf States Disasters

Describes the foundation's early decision-making, immediate response, and long-term commitment to rebuilding in the hurricane-affected areas. Highlights staff and grantee activities, as well as lessons learned about the grantmaking process and strategy

The Capability of Spatial Analysis in Planning the Accessibility for Hazard Community from Debris-Flow Events

Debris flow is a destructive disaster causing tragic loss and damages to vulnerable people and their properties in many regions around the world. According an impact of this disaster, hazard areas are submerged in mud and debris causing enormous difficulties to all relevant organisations and affected people to access over the hazard community. Although an inaccessibility is one of the major problems considered to be solved in an urgent stage, the lack of a comprehensive study in activities of involved people through time line since the disaster occurrence causes a difficulty to plan the feasible solution to overcome those problems effectively. Therefore, this paper presents the existing knowledge in several activities related to accessibilities in hazard areas. Additionally, the initial findings derived from interviews conducted as a part of a doctoral research are determined showing real activities related to accessibilities in a study area of Thailand where was attacked by a major debris-flow event in 2001. Regarding the explored acitivities, this study aims to introduce a potential solution to overcome the inaccessibility problems in hazard areas by applying spatial analysis techniques. This solution presents a new method of an optimum balance between the explored problems from the interviews of affected people and the practices conducted by the local government to solve the inaccessibility in the hazard area. Some suggestions are addressed at the end of the paper to propose some additional practices with some considered factors for the spatial database design

Economic and Workforce Development Task Force Report, August 2008

The 2008 disasters devastated businesses, farms, homes, schools, non-profit institutions, entire communities, and people’s lives across the state of Iowa. The Rebuild Iowa Advisory Commission (RIAC) is charged by the Governor to guide the state’s recovery and reconstruction process. The Economic and Workforce Development Task Force is respectfully submitting this report to be included and considered in the deliberations of the RIAC. While economic and workforce development are two issues that are inextricably linked and critical to Iowa’s rebuilding strategies, each also requires extraordinary attention in determining what needs to be considered in the very immediate and longer-term recovery

Strategies of Political Institutions and Civil Society Actors in the Post-3/11 Era: The Case of Japan

Japan is at a crossroads of public administration and disaster management, especially in the aftermath of the catastrophic events of March 11, 2011: a major earthquake near Tōhoku, and the subsequent tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility. There have been advocates for more top-down governance to handle such crises (and the ongoing residuals of such crises), while others have touted more decentralization—that is, more governance at the local level. Nevertheless, Japan still faced myriad public policy challenges three years after the catastrophic events. This article investigates the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Japan’s local governance in the aftermath of March 11, 2011, addressing broadly the theme of disaster management and, more specifically, the impact (or lack thereof) of NGOs (nonprofits) on the local governance processes in Japan in the midst of the debates regarding top-down and bottom-up approaches to disaster management

Power Amidst Renewal: Foundation Support for Sustaining Advocacy After Disasters

Follows up a 2007 report on the effectiveness of foundations and nonprofits in advocating for systemic changes in the Gulf Coast and lessons learned. Calls for collaboration, regionalizing agendas, and integrating advocacy into missions and grant periods

Comparative analysis of spring flood risk reduction measures in Alaska, United States and the Sakha Republic, Russia

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2017River ice thaw and breakup are an annual springtime phenomena in the North. Depending on regional weather patterns and river morphology, breakups can result in catastrophic floods in exposed and vulnerable communities. Breakup flood risk is especially high in rural and remote northern communities, where flood relief and recovery are complicated by unique geographical and climatological features, and limited physical and communication infrastructure. Proactive spring flood management would significantly minimize the adverse impacts of spring floods. Proactive flood management entails flood risk reduction through advances in ice jam and flood prevention, forecasting and mitigation, and community preparedness. With the goal to identify best practices in spring flood risk reduction, I conducted a comparative case study between two flood-prone communities, Galena in Alaska, United States and Edeytsy in the Sakha Republic, Russia. Within a week from each other, Galena and Edeytsy sustained major floods in May 2013. Methods included focus groups with the representatives from flood managing agencies, surveys of families impacted by the 2013 floods, observations on site, and archival review. Comparative parameters of the study included natural and human causes of spring floods, effectiveness of spring flood mitigation and preparedness strategies, and the role of interagency communication and cooperation in flood risk reduction. The analysis revealed that spring flood risk in Galena and Edeytsy results from complex interactions among a series of natural processes and human actions that generate conditions of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Therefore, flood risk in Galena and Edeytsy can be reduced by managing conditions of ice-jam floods, and decreasing exposure and vulnerability of the at-risk populations. Implementing the Pressure and Release model to analyze the vulnerability progression of Edeytsy and Galena points to common root causes at the two research sites, including colonial heritage, unequal distribution of resources and power, top-down governance, and limited inclusion of local communities in the decision-making process. To construct an appropriate flood risk reduction framework it is important to establish a dialogue among the diverse stakeholders on potential solutions, arriving at a range of top-down and bottom-up initiatives and in conjunction selecting the appropriate strategies. Both communities have progressed in terms of greater awareness of the hazard, reduction in vulnerabilities, and a shift to more reliance on shelter-in-place. However, in neither community have needed improvements in levee protection been completed. Dialogue between outside authorities and the community begins earlier and is more intensive for Edeytsy, perhaps accounting for Edeytsy's more favorable rating of risk management and response than Galena's

Going Home: Evacuation-Migration Decisions of Hurricane Katrina Survivors

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, many evacuees from the Gulf region began the difficult process of deciding whether to rebuild or restart elsewhere. We examine pre-Katrina Gulf residents’ decision to return to the post-disaster Gulf region—which we call the “return migration” decision. We estimate two separate return migration models, first utilizing data from a mail survey of individuals in the affected region and then focusing on self-administered questionnaires of evacuees in Houston. Our results indicate that return migration can be affected by household income; age; education level; employment, marital and home ownership status; but the results depend upon the population under consideration. We find no impact of “connection to place” on the return migration decision. While the impact of income is relatively small, we find that the real wage differential between home and host region influences the likelihood of return. Larger implicit costs, in terms of foregone wages for returning, induce a lower likelihood of return. Exploiting this difference at the individual level, we are able to produce estimates of willingness to pay to return home. Average WTP to return home for a sample of relatively poor households is estimated at $1.94 per hour or$3,954 per year.

Noncitizen Eligibility for Federal Public Assistance: Policy Overview and Trends

[Extent] The extent to which residents of the United States who are not U.S. citizens should be eligible for federally funded public aid has been a contentious issue since the 1990s. This issue meets at the intersection of two major policy areas: immigration policy and welfare policy. The eligibility of noncitizens for public assistance programs is based on a complex set of rules that are determined largely by the type of noncitizen in question and the nature of services being offered. Over the past 18 years, Congress has enacted significant changes in U.S. immigration policy and welfare policy. Congress has exercised oversight of revisions made by the 1996 welfare reform law (the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, P.L. 104-193)—including the rules governing noncitizen eligibility for public assistance that it established—and legislation covering programs with major restrictions on noncitizens’ eligibility (e.g., food stamps/SNAP, Medicaid). This report deals with the four major federal means-tested benefit programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance, and Medicaid. Laws in place for the past 18 years restrict the eligibility of legal permanent residents (LPRs), refugees, asylees, and other noncitizens for most means-tested public aid. Noncitizens’ eligibility for major federal means-tested benefits largely depends on their immigration status; whether they arrived (or were on a program’s rolls) before August 22, 1996, the enactment date of P.L. 104- 193; and how long they have lived and worked in the United States