Preliminary Papers
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Item 1999 Floods in Veracruz and the Paradigm of Vulnerability(Disaster Research Center, 2004) Aguirre, Benigno E.; Macias, Jesus M.This study examines the distribution of warnings and of services to victims of the 1999 floods in Veracruz, Mexico and offers a criticism of vulnerability as the dominant paradigm guiding national and international disaster-related programs. It has sections on the vulnerability paradigm, the 1999 flood, and the methods used in the analysis. The information comes from a survey of 385 head of households flood victims residing in three cities in the north of Veracruz, Poza Rica, Gutierrez Zamora, and Tecolutla. The results indicate that government services to the population threatened by the floods were almost nonexistent. Radio programming and personal relations with friends, neighbors, and kin, were the most important sources of warnings about the hazard. The respondents’ integration in their communities and the social organizations of these communities were key determinants of their receipt of warnings and assistance such as vertical evacuation sheltering. Authorities should place much greater emphasis than they do now on facilitating the use of vertical evacuation and the service of radio stations providing information to communities at risk of extreme weather events, improving their weather and disaster-preparedness programming and making radios available to people in areas at risk of severe weather and other hazards. Disaster preparedness and mitigation need to be made part of their efforts in community development, encouraging the growth of social capital that can be used for disaster response and recovery. The implications of these findings for the continued use of the paradigm of vulnerability that provides guidelines to present-day international assistance at times of disasters are considered.Item Access and Functional Needs(FEMA Higher Education Project, 2014) Brittingham, Rochelle; Goepfert, MaryThis chapter from the book, "Critical Issues in Disaster Science and Management: A Dialogue Between Researchers and Practitioners," edited by Joseph E. Trainor and Tony Subbio, discusses the unique needs of people with disabilities as they pertain to emergency management and disaster planning. It is a unique dialogue between an academic expert in the field and a practitioner expert and works to identify and overcome the differences in the two approaches to the subject.Item An Agent Specific Or An All Disaster Spectrum Approach To Socio-Behavioral Apsects of Earthquakes?(Disaster Research Center, 1981) Quarantelli, E. L.Item Allocation of Radar Resources and Policy Implications: The End-User Community in Oklahoma(Disaster Research Center, 2005) Rodriguez, Havidan; Diaz, Walter; Donner, William R.; Santos, Jenniffer; Marks, DanielSocial scientists at the Disaster Research Center (DRC) at the University of Delaware, the Center for Applied Social Research (CISA) at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, and at the University of Massachusetts are conducting a research project focusing on the knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of end-users (primarily emergency managers and representatives from the National Weather Service – NWS) in the State of Oklahoma regarding severe weather events, warnings, and the development of new radar technology. Particular attention has also been paid to the advantages, problems, and limitations of current weather technology from the emergency manager’s perspective. This research brief focuses on the end-users’ recommendations regarding the allocation of the new radar resources that are being developed by the Engineering Research Center (ERC) on the Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA), which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). In-depth interviews were conducted with members (n=38) of the emergency management community and NWS meteorologists with diverse experiences in disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Based on the results from the in-depth interviews, we generated seven (7) broad categories that include the recommendations or factors that emergency managers reported should be taken into account in the allocation of radar resources, including a) nature of the hazard event, b) potential impact and outcomes of the hazard event, c) lead time, d) false alarm rates, e) population issues, f) infrastructure, and g) availability of other resources.Item Another Selective Look at Future Social Crises: Some Aspects of Which We Can Already See In The Present(Disaster Research Center, 2000) Quarantelli, E. L.Item Another Step Toward A Social Theory Of Disaster(Disaster Research Center, 1981) Dombrowsky, Wolf R.Item Assessing Local Differences in Chemical Disaster Proneness: The Community Chemical Hazard Vulnerability Inventory(Disaster Research Center, 1981-12) Gabor, Thomas; Pelanda, CarloItem The Assessment of Community Vulnerability to Acute Hazardous Materials Incidents(Disaster Research Center, 1979) Gabor, Thomas; Griffith, Terri K.Item An Assessment of Conflicting Views on the Consequences of Community Disasters for Mental Health(Disaster Research Center, 1984) Quarantelli, E. L.Item A Balance Theory Of Interorganizational Relations: An Empirical Test*(Disaster Research Center, 1975) Smith, Martin H.; Blanshan, Sue A.Item The Behavior of First Responders and Their Initial Definitions of Acute Chemical Emergencies(Disaster Research Center, 1983-10) Quarantelli, E. L.; Gray, JaneItem Behavior of Victims Trapped in Collapsed Structures: Summary of Findings(Disaster Research Center, 2005) Poteyeva, RitaThe importance of knowledge of human behavior during disasters has been traditionally recognized at a meso level. Social scientists and other disaster researchers have mainly explored human behavior at the level of the community, and not of a particular individual. More is known about the performance of building structures during disasters than about the behavior of building occupants. Indeed, the search in the scholarly and professional literature yielded only a few results dealing extensively with the behavior of particular individuals located in specific buildings during various disasters (Aguirre 1995; Durkin 1984, 1987, 1988). Relevant information about trapped victims is found within an intersecting terrain of a range of disciplines: engineering, architecture, the social sciences, disaster epidemiology and other medical sciences.Item Blame Assignment in a Diffuse Disaster Situation: The Role of an Emergent Citizen Group(Disaster Research Center, 1982-10) Neal, David M.Item A Brief Note on Disaster Restoration, Reconstruction and Recovery: A Comparative Note Using Post Earthquake Observations(Disaster Research Center, 2008) Dynes, Russell R.; Quarantelli, E. L.Twenty general observations about disaster restoration, reconstruction and recovery are presented with attention primarily on what happens after earthquakes. Generalizations were derived from the empirical literature on post impact periods of disasters. The overall conclusion is that disaster reconstruction is part of the more general process of recovery, which in turn is rooted in the social structure of the impacted society.Item Building Community Partnerships Toward A National Mitigation Effort: Interorganizational Collaboration In the Project Impact Initiative(Disaster Research Center, 2000) Wachtendorf, TriciaIn 1997, the Federal Emergency Management Agency implemented a national disaster mitigation program in seven pilot communities across the United States. This initiative, Project Impact, was soon expanded to over two hundred city, county, and regional designations. Its objectives include 1) to build community partnerships; 2) to identify hazards and community vulnerability; 3) to prioritize and complete risk reduction actions; and 4) to develop communication strategies to educate the public about Project Impact. Based on an analysis of one hundred thirty-seven in-depth telephone and face-to-face interviews, community sites visits, seven focus groups, and an extensive analysis of documentary material compiled as part of an ongoing, independent assessment of the initiative’s implementation process, this paper closely examines the first objective - community partnership building - and discusses the issues and challenges involved in establishing such relationships under this program.Item Business Disruption Due to Earthquake-Induced Lifeline Interruption(Disaster Research Center, 1995) Nigg, Joanne M.The importance of continuity in the provision of lifeline services has been long recognized with respect to facilitating emergency response to a major earthquake, but little attention has been directed toward the importance of lifeline continuity for minimizing economic disruption. This paper focuses on the indirect economic impacts of lifeline disruption on businesses. A study was conducted with a random sample of businesses in Memphis, Tennessee to determine their dependence on various lifeline systems and what level of economic impacts businesses would experience if those systems failed. Findings point to the need to address this problem with a collective approach by integrating lifeline service providers into community recovery planning and by involving business associations in educational programs for their members.Item Business Disruption, Preparedness And Recovery: Lessons From The Northridge Earthquake(Disaster Research Center, 1997) Tierney, Kathleen J.; Dahlhamer, James M.Item Business Impacts Of The Northridge Earthquake(Disaster Research Center, 1996) Tierney, Kathleen J.Item Business Vulnerability And Disruption: Data From The 1993 Midwest Floods(Disaster Research Center, 1993) Tierney, Kathleen J.Understanding business vulnerability to disasters is important for loss estimation, hazard mitigation, disaster preparedness, and recovery planning. However, only a very small number of studies have focused systematically on that topic. This paper presents preliminary findings from a study of a random sample of 1079 businesses in Des Moines/Polk County, Iowa, a community that experienced extensive damage and disruption as a result of the Midwest floods of 1993. The study focused on a range of topics, including business dependence on lifeline services, the physical flood damage businesses experienced, lifeline service disruption, and the impacts that disruption had on businesses. This paper reports findings on the importance of different lifeline services for businesses in different economic sectors and on flood-related lifeline service interruptions and their impact on business operations.Item Business Vulnerability To Disaster-Related Lifeline Disruption(Disaster Research Center, 1995) Tierney, Kathleen J.; Nigg, Joanne M.Surveys in Memphis, Tennessee and Des Moines, Iowa indicate that business owners rate electricity as the most important lifeline service. In Des Moines, where the survey was conducted following the 1993 Midwest floods, proprietors tend to assign greater importance than Memphis business owners to other lifeline services. Data on the business impacts of the 1993 floods indicate that lifeline service interruptions were widespread, were perceived by business owners as very disruptive, and were a much more significant source of business closure than actual physical flooding.