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.

Aftermath of natural disasters: Coping through residential mobility.

Abstract: Most studies of population movement have concentrated on the more developed nations and on trends that have not been influenced by man-made or natural disasters. The experience of developing countries in the Caribbean basin, as studied after the Guatemalan earthquake of 1976 and the impact of Hurricane David in the Dominican Republic of 1979, highlights the importance of socio-economic factors in the decision to make permanent migrations after a disaster, regardless of whether the migrant had personally suffered losses. In many cases the opportunities for personal betterment created by the disaster acted as a catalyst and accelerated a previously-existing trend of migration.

Confronting drought in Africa’s drylands : opportunities for enhancing resilience

Abstract: In response to a series of humanitarian crises, especially the drought-induced emergencies that occurred in the Horn of Africa in 2011 and the Sahel in 2012, national governments and the international development community have scaled up efforts to tackle the challenge of vulnerability in drylands through initiatives such as the global alliance for resilience (AGIR) - Sahel and West Africa and the global alliance for action for drought resilience and growth. This book focuses on what should be the focus of the next generation of interventions aimed at enhancing the resilience of dryland populations in the face of demographic, economic, environmental, and climatic change. As competition for resources intensifies, conflicts over land, water, and feed are likely to multiply, reducing the ability of governments, development agencies, and local communities to manage the impacts of droughts and other shocks. In this context, building resilience to droughts and other shocks is of paramount importance. This book focuses on the medium-term prospects for increasing the resilience to drought and other shocks of people living in dryland areas of East and West Africa. Over the longer run, structural transformation of the economy may generate opportunities for new livelihood activities that are less vulnerable to the impacts of droughts and other shocks. In the short to medium term, however, the key policy question concerns the extent to which current livelihoods can be made more resilient. In that context, this book examines two main areas of intervention, which are considered complementary: improving current livelihood activities; and strengthening social protection programs including safety nets.

Natural disaster preparedness in a multi-hazard environment: Characterizing the sociodemographic profile of those better (worse) prepared.

Abstract: The growing multi-hazard environment to which millions of people in the world are exposed highlights the importance of making sure that populations are increasingly better prepared. The objective of this study was to report the levels of preparedness of a community exposed to two natural hazards and identify the primary sociodemographic characteristics of groups with different preparedness levels. A survey was conducted on 476 participants from two localities of the Atacama Region in the north of Chile during the spring of 2015. Their level of preparedness at home and work was assessed to face two types of natural hazards: earthquakes and floods.The findings show that participants are significantly better prepared to face earthquakes than floods, which sends a serious warning to local authorities, given that floods have caused the greatest human and material losses in the region’s recent history of natural disasters. Men claimed to be more prepared than women to face floods, something that the authors attribute to the particular characteristics of the main employment sectors for men and women in the region. The potential contribution of large companies on preparedness levels of communities in the areas in which they operate is discussed. The sociodemographic profile of individuals with the highest levels of preparedness in an environment with multiple natural hazards are people between 30 and 59 years of age, living with their partner and school-age children. The implications of the results pertaining to institutions responsible for developing disaster risk reduction plans, policies and programs in a multi-hazard environment are discussed.

Quantification of disaster impacts through household well-being losses

Abstract: Natural disaster risk assessments typically consider environmental hazard and physical damage, neglecting to quantify how asset losses affect households’ well-being. However, for a given asset loss, a wealthy household might quickly recover, while a poor household might suffer major, long-lasting impacts. This research proposes a methodology to quantify disaster impacts more equitably by integrating the three pillars of sustainability: environmental (hazard and asset damage), economic (macro-economic changes in production and employment) and social (disaster recovery at the household level). The model innovates by assessing the impacts of disasters on people’s consumption, considering asset losses and changes in income, among other factors. We apply the model to a hypothetical earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area, considering the differential impact of consumption loss on households of varying wealth. The analysis reveals that poorer households suffer 19% of the asset losses but 41% of the well-being losses. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the effectiveness of specific policies varies across cities (depending on their built environment and social and economic profiles) and income groups. Natural disaster risk assessments neglect impacts on households’ well-being. A model to quantify disaster impacts more equitably shows that, in a hypothetical earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area, poorer households suffer 19% of the asset losses but 41% of the well-being losses.

Katrina and Power in America

Abstract: The Katrina disaster exposed the major fault lines of American society and politics: class and race. It offers lessons for urban scholars and practitioners. Katrina was a human-made disaster more than a natural disaster. The conditions that led to the disaster, and the response by government officials, were the result of policy choices. Government incompetence was an outgrowth of a more serious indifference to the plight of cities and the poor. As a result, the opportunity to reconstruct New Orleans as part of a bold regional renewal plan was lost. Whatever positive things happen in Katrina’s aftermath will be due, in large measure, to the long-term work of grassroots community and union-organizing groups who mobilized quickly to provide a voice for the have-nots and who found allies among professionals to help formulate alternative plans to those developed by business and political elites.