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Natural disaster

About: Natural disaster is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5456 publications have been published within this topic receiving 104808 citations. The topic is also known as: natural calamity & natural hazard.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This research presents an innovative approach to address cascading effects in urban areas of earthquakes by developing the triggered worst case scenario, as well as understanding secondary events with interrelationships using network analysis method for providing insights to design disaster mitigation strategies from system thinking perspectives.
Abstract: Given the rising size and complexity of urban areas, the city governments are faced to the challenges of cascading effects triggered by devastating earthquakes, in which the disastrous consequences are amplified significantly by combined effects of the occurred secondary events with interrelationships on the elements at risks. As a low-probability and high impact natural disaster, the escalation of secondary events are guided by the vulnerability paths, as well as their interconnections should be considered from system perspectives during the preparedness and mitigation process. This research aims to develop, model and analyze cascading effects scenario of earthquakes in urban areas for supporting decision making in disaster risk reduction. A framework for addressing cascading effects of earthquakes in urban area is presented. The procedure for developing cascading effects scenario of such highly complex and uncertain disasters by identifying the triggered disaster chains is introduced. A directed network was built to model and visualize the secondary events with interrelationships involving in the cascading effects scenario. In particular, a range of network metrics are developed to examine the relational patterns of hazardous events based on Social Network Analysis. Together with, how to design disaster mitigation strategies according to network analysis results is introduced, such as disaster chains with priorities to be blocked, hazardous events to be mitigated firstly, and essential collaborative relationships among the responsible organizations. Furthermore, a case study in an urban area in Shenzhen City, China was conducted to highlight the application of the proposed framework. This research presents an innovative approach to address cascading effects in urban areas of earthquakes by developing the triggered worst case scenario, as well as understanding secondary events with interrelationships using network analysis method for providing insights to design disaster mitigation strategies from system thinking perspectives.

35 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used a cross-cultural perspective to clarify the relationship between two cultures and their different patterns of response to extreme flood events and found that the different human responses observed in the floods of northwestern Italy and of the United States Midwest were linked to basic differences in four cultural elements: (1) experience with floods, socio-political traditions and organization, (3) level of integration within the community, and (4) perception of the physical environment.
Abstract: The observation that similar types of natural disasters produce different reactions based on a particular culture and location demands a thorough and detailed analysis, because the reasons are likely to be numerous and complex. Although the economic situation, political organization, and technological infrastructure of communities are fundamental factors, they do not offer a complete explanation of people's behavior in the face of risk and disasters. This article uses a cross-cultural perspective to clarify the relationship between two cultures and their different patterns of response to extreme flood events. The research was carried out in two Western societies, the United States and Italy, both of which have similar socioeconomic characteristics, but distinctly different historical and cultural traditions. The disasters studied were the Po River Valley floods of November 1994 in northwest Italy and the Mississippi River-Missouri River floods in the U.S. upper Midwest during the summer of 1993. These two extreme floods were analyzed with respect to the pattern of human response during the preparation, rescue, recovery, and reconstruction phases. The study includes both human-response and cross-cultural analyses. A questionnaire was employed to gauge the perception of the flood disasters by the Italian and American disaster managers. The cross-cultural analysis was performed using an etic-emic contrast. The results showed that the different human responses observed in the floods of northwestern Italy and of the United States Midwest were linked to basic differences in four cultural elements: (1) experience with floods, (2) socio-political traditions and organization, (3) level of integration within the community, and (4) perception of the physical environment.

35 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the Sendai Framework Local Urban Indicators Tools (SFLI) was adopted as the main tool in this study, and a mixed bottom-up participatory and top-down method was utilized in the evaluation process.
Abstract: Many megacities are facing potential threats from various disasters, especially in the face of climate change. However, evaluating the resilience of megacities is not well established in both the academia and practice field. Using Hong Kong, which is a megacity ranked as the city in Asia with the highest risk for natural disasters, as a case study, we demonstrated the effort of assessing the resilience of a megacity. The Sendai Framework Local Urban Indicators Tools that was developed by the United Nation Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) was adopted as the main tool in this study, and a mixed bottom-up participatory and top-down method was utilized in the evaluation process. This is an innovative and participatory approach that is not commonly adopted in assessing the resilience of cities. The study found that Hong Kong is disaster resilient in that it mainstreams disaster risk in its development and that it dedicates sufficient financial resources. However, Hong Kong may improve on its disaster governance and encourage cooperation between the government and society to identify disaster risk and share information, particularly in the face of climate change and calls for more sustainable development.

35 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a clear two-way relationship between the concept of disaster risk reduction and quality of life has been discussed, and the authors pointed out that from one perspective, achieving best quality through reconstruction has shown poor results.
Abstract: Purpose – Reality suggests that the whole world is currently facing an unprecedented scale of natural disasters. Sri Lanka fell into this category after being one of the hardest hit countries of tsunami 2004. Irrespective of the major losses that tsunami 2004 resulted in, Sri Lanka is prone to certain natural disasters such as floods, landslides, etc., which frequently bring in severe damage throughout the country. Within the context of continuous occurrence of hazards and growing vulnerability, risk reduction has become one of the important solutions to mitigate disasters and for speedy recovery after a disaster. Disaster risk reduction entails measures to curb disaster losses by addressing hazards and the vulnerability of people, to them. Disaster risk reduction measures can be categorised in various ways. From another perspective, achieving best quality through reconstruction has shown poor results. However, there is a clear two‐way relationship between the concept of disaster risk reduction and qualit...

35 citations

01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the process used to support and invest in the nations water resources infrastructure and describe changes that have come about in recent years and why this process may do more to put people and communities at risk.
Abstract: No recent natural disaster since perhaps the great Mississippi floods of 1927 and 1993 has had such an immense impact on our national pride and confidence, as did Katrina. The reason was evident from the time the storm began to form in the Gulf of Mexico to once it hit land, our government at all levels was dazed and confused. The billions spent on infrastructure and the organizational structures operating for decades were overwhelmed. This was a disaster of great proportions taking place in one of the poorest communities in our country with some of the most important economic structures in the land. Our largest port, a huge network of oil and gas pipeline and production facilities, offshore drilling, ship building and some of our largest fisheries to just cite a few examples. Much has been written and debated about this event and its impacts on the local area and the nation and this paper does not intend to replicate that work. The focus here is on the process used to support and invest in the nations water resources infrastructure. It will describe changes that have come about in recent years and why this process may do more to put people and communities at risk

35 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20249
2023861
20221,970
2021293
2020348
2019337