Topic
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.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
More filters
TL;DR: In this article, four mental health professionals provide firsthand accounts of experiences as volunteers in the Gulf Coast region following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the fall of 2006, with the goal of informing psychologists and other mental health providers about the role ofvolunteers from a frontline perspective.
Abstract: In this article, 4 mental health professionals provide firsthand accounts of experiences as volunteers inthe Gulf Coast region following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the fall of 2006. These accounts areprovided with the goal of informing psychologists and other mental health providers about the role ofvolunteers from a frontline perspective. The authors offer these observations as a compliment to formaltraining in disaster preparedness that psychologists might receive for volunteer service in the wake of adevastatingdisaster.Specifically,theauthorsdiscussthetrainingtheyreceived,thesettingsinwhichtheyworked, and the client needs and mental health skills they used to meet those needs. Last, the lessons theauthors learned about providing disaster mental health services are discussed. It is hoped that theseobservations might inspire others to lend their expertise and compassion in response to future cata-strophic events.Keywords: disaster mental health, Hurricane Katrina, psychological first aid
29 citations
01 May 2012
TL;DR: The authors argue that the practice of disaster risk management (DRM) is a defining characteristic of resilient societies and should therefore be integrated into all aspects of development, and support discussion at the Sendai dialogue, a special event co-organized by the Government of Japan and the World Bank as part of the Annual Meetings program.
Abstract: This report argues that the practice of disaster risk management (DRM) is a defining characteristic of resilient societies, and should therefore be integrated, or 'mainstreamed', into all aspects of development. The report will inform the Development Committee at the annual meetings 2012, and support discussion at the Sendai dialogue, a special event co-organized by the Government of Japan and the World Bank as part of the Annual Meetings program. This event will engage delegates on the importance of mainstreaming DRM, drawing upon the lessons from the great East Japan earthquake and tsunami of 2011, and other disasters. This paper includes the following headings: disasters and development: an alarming trend; disaster risk management in action; national policies and planning; International Development Cooperation; disaster risk management at the World Bank; the way forward: priorities and opportunities; and glossary and references.
29 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the dimensions of this debate by means of a content analysis of accounts of the cyclone by the Bangladesh media and government, and by the international media and scholarly community.
Abstract: On April 30, 1991, a cyclone of unusual intensity hit the coastline of Bangladesh, causing over one hundred thousand deaths and widespread property damage. An international debate ensued over whether the disaster was due to natural phenomena and should be addressed by relief measures, or whether it was due to social, economic, and political factors and should be addressed by structural change in society. This study explores the dimensions of this debate by means of a content analysis of accounts of the cyclone by the Bangladesh media and government, and by the international media and scholarly community. Bangladeshi accounts of the cyclone emphasize its purported inevitability and natural origins. However, scholars maintain that while cyclones are inevitable, disasters such as occurred in April 1991 are not: they are a function of the historically increasing socioeconomic vulnerability of the Bangladesh population. According to this view, the “natural disaster” of April 1991 could more accurately be called a “social or political disaster.” The factor chiefly responsible for transforming natural disasters into sociopolitical disasters is occupation of hazardous areas. The Bangladesh media and government suggest that the cyclone's impact was worsened by the irrational behavior of individuals and the limited resources of the nation. Non-Bangladeshi accounts focus instead on the poverty of individuals and the structural inequities of society, which compel people to live in hazardous areas. Bangladeshi accounts attempted to link the cyclone to global warming and the greenhouse gas emissions of the industrialized nations, thus shifting the focus from internal problems of structure and equity to international problems of structure and equity. Debates such as this promise to become more common, as the global environment becomes increasingly “post-natural” and the framing of relations between population and environment is increasingly contested.
29 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, government information warns households to acquire emergency supplies as hurricanes threaten and directs households to stay off roads after hurricanes make landfall, but households do not follow this advice. But do households follow the advice?
Abstract: Government information warns households to acquire emergency supplies as hurricanes threaten and directs households to stay off roads after hurricanes make landfall. Do households follow th...
29 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the origins, response, reforms, lessons learned, and questions of resilience connected to these complex negative events are the subject of the article. And the article concludes by addressing the question of whether and to what extent the vulnerabilities and problems exposed by the 2010 volcanic ash cloud event are amenable to reform.
Abstract: In a world characterized by complex interdependence, crises that originate in one country have the potential to rapidly diffuse across borders and have profound regional and even global impacts. The eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull in April 2010 demonstrates how rapidly a natural disaster can morph from a local crisis with local effects to a cascading crisis with international effects across multiple sectors. After spreading to Europe the ash cloud severely disrupted air travel and paralyzed the European aviation transport system. This cascading crisis caught authorities by surprise and revealed the need to improve crisis preparedness to deal with the threat of volcanic ash in particular and aviation in general at the international, EU, and national levels. In the aftermath of the event, reforms and policy changes ensued. Just over a year later, the Icelandic volcano Grimsvotn erupted, providing an opportunity to observe the revised system respond to a similar event. The origins, response, reforms, lessons learned, and questions of resilience connected to these complex negative events are the subject of this paper. The article concludes by addressing the question of whether and to what extent the vulnerabilities and problems exposed by the 2010 volcanic ash cloud event are amenable to reform.
29 citations