Wireless Alerts for Extreme Weather and the Impact on Hazard Mitigating Behavior

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Ferris



Author(s):  
Daniel Samano ◽  
Shubhayu Saha ◽  
Taylor Corbin Kot ◽  
JoNell E. Potter ◽  
Lunthita M. Duthely

Extreme weather events (EWE) are expected to increase as climate change intensifies, leaving coastal regions exposed to higher risks. South Florida has the highest HIV infection rate in the United States, and disruptions in clinic utilization due to extreme weather conditions could affect adherence to treatment and increase community transmission. The objective of this study was to identify the association between EWE and HIV-clinic attendance rates at a large academic medical system serving the Miami-Dade communities. The following methods were utilized: (1) Extreme heat index (EHI) and extreme precipitation (EP) were identified using daily observations from 1990–2019 that were collected at the Miami International Airport weather station located 3.6 miles from the studied HIV clinics. Data on hurricanes, coastal storms and flooding were collected from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Storms Database (NOAA) for Miami-Dade County. (2) An all-HIV clinic registry identified scheduled daily visits during the study period (hurricane seasons from 2017–2019). (3) Daily weather data were linked to the all-HIV clinic registry, where patients’ ‘no-show’ status was the variable of interest. (4) A time-stratified, case crossover model was used to estimate the relative risk of no-show on days with a high heat index, precipitation, and/or an extreme natural event. A total of 26,444 scheduled visits were analyzed during the 383-day study period. A steady increase in the relative risk of ‘no-show’ was observed in successive categories, with a 14% increase observed on days when the heat index was extreme compared to days with a relatively low EHI, 13% on days with EP compared to days with no EP, and 10% higher on days with a reported extreme weather event compared to days without such incident. This study represents a novel approach to improving local understanding of the impacts of EWE on the HIV-population’s utilization of healthcare, particularly when the frequency and intensity of EWE is expected to increase and disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. More studies are needed to understand the impact of EWE on routine outpatient settings.





2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-266
Author(s):  
Edimilson Costa Lucas ◽  
Wesley Mendes-Da-Silva ◽  
Gustavo Silva Araujo

Purpose Managing the risks associated to world food production is an important challenge for governments. A range of factors, among them extreme weather events, has threatened food production in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of extreme rainfall events on the food industry in Brazil, a prominent player in this industry. Design/methodology/approach The authors use the AR-GARCH-GPD hybrid methodology to identify whether extreme rainfall affects the stock price of food companies. To do so, the authors collected the daily closing price of the 16 food industry companies listed on the Brazilian stock exchange (B3), in January 2015. Findings The results indicate that these events have a significant impact on stock returns: on more than half of the days immediately following the heavy rain that fell between 28 February 2005 and 30 December 2014, returns were significantly low, leading to average daily losses of 1.97 per cent. These results point to the relevance of the need for instruments to hedge against weather risk, particularly in the food industry. Originality/value Given that extreme weather events have been occurring more and more frequently, financial literature has documented attempts at assessing the economic impacts of weather changes. There is little research, however, into assessing the impacts of these events at corporate level.



Author(s):  
Mohd Danish Khan ◽  
Hong Ha Thi Vu ◽  
Quang Tuan Lai ◽  
Ji Whan Ahn

For decades, researchers have debated whether climate change has an adverse impact on diseases, especially infectious diseases. They have identified a strong relationship between climate variables and vector’s growth, mortality rate, reproduction, and spatiotemporal distribution. Epidemiological data further indicates the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases post every single extreme weather event. Based on studies conducted mostly between 1990-2018, three aspects that resemble the impact of climate change impact on diseases are: (a) emergence and re-emergence of vector-borne diseases, (b) impact of extreme weather events, and (c) social upliftment with education and adaptation. This review mainly examines and discusses the impact of climate change based on scientific evidences in published literature. Humans are highly vulnerable to diseases and other post-catastrophic effects of extreme events, as evidenced in literature. It is high time that human beings understand the adverse impacts of climate change and take proper and sustainable control measures. There is also the important requirement for allocation of effective technologies, maintenance of healthy lifestyles, and public education.



Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lijun Liu ◽  
Yuanqiao Wen ◽  
Youjia Liang ◽  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Tiantian Yang

The impact of extreme weather events on the navigation environment in the inland waterways of the Yangtze River is an interdisciplinary hotspot in subjects of maritime traffic safety and maritime meteorology, and it is also a difficult point for the implementation of decision-making and management by maritime and meteorological departments in China. The objective of this study is to review the variation trends and distribution patterns in the periods of adverse and extreme weather events that are expected to impact on inland waterways transport (IWT) on the Yangtze River. The frequency of severe weather events, together with the changes in their spatial extension and intensity, is analyzed based on the ERA-Interim datasets (1979–2017) and the GHCNDEX dataset (1979–2017), as well as the research progresses and important events (2004–2016) affecting the navigation environment. The impacts of extreme weather events on IWT accidents and phenomena of extreme weather (e.g., thunderstorms, lightning, hail, and tornadoes) that affect the navigation environment are also analyzed and discussed. The results show that: (1) the sections located in the plain climate zone is affected by extreme weather in every season, especially strong winds and heat waves; (2) the sections located in the hilly mountain climate zone is affected particularly by spring extreme phenomena, especially heat waves; (3) the sections located in the Sichuan Basin climate zone is dominated by the extreme weather phenomena in autumn, except cold waves; (4) the occurrence frequency of potential flood risk events is relatively high under rainstorm conditions and wind gusts almost affect the navigation environment of the Jiangsu and Shanghai sections in every year; (5) the heat wave indices (TXx, TR, and WSDI) tend to increase and the temperature of the coldest day of the year gradually increases; (6) the high occurrences of IWT accidents need to be emphasized by relevant departments, caused by extreme weather during the dry season; and (7) the trends and the degree of attention of extreme weather events affecting IWT are ranked as: heat wave > heavy rainfall > wind gust > cold spell > storm. Understanding the seasonal and annual frequency of occurrence of extreme weather events has reference significance for regional management of the Yangtze River.



2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
Don Charles

The year 2017 had a very active season for hurricanes and extreme weather conditions. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria did damage to several Caribbean islands. Even Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), a country which rarely experiences extreme weather conditions, was affected by Tropical Storm Bret. Tropical Storm Bret caused flooding in T&T, especially in the low lying South Oropouche River Basin.There is a dearth of research conducted in T&T about the impact of extreme weather conditions and flooding on communities and families. Thus, this study sought to conduct a community base vulnerability assessment (CBVA) of the impact of the Tropical Storm Bret induced flooding upon the residents of the South Oropouche River Basin.Primary data was collected via semi-structured interviews and questionnaires to conduct the CBVA. Furthermore, this study introduced a Modal Community Based Vulnerability Assessment Index (MCBVAI) to help determine which factors the residents South Oropouche River Basin are most vulnerable to.This study found that the most vulnerable residents were vulnerable largely to their building of structures at locations unsuitable for housing. Moreover, the most vulnerable residents also built structures that were not resilient to flooding and was elevated less than 4 feet (ft) off the ground. The appropriate policy response for the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (GORTT) would be to i) establish building codes, ii) develop a comprehensive spatial planning strategy which prohibits people from building structures in unsuitable areas, and iii) implement disaster risk reduction programmes which focus on improving pre-event disaster preparedness, improving the national and local response, and promoting educational awareness.



2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-109
Author(s):  
Julia Kathryn Giddy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of extreme weather on tourism events through the perceptions of participants, using the case of the 2017 Cape Town Cycle Tour (CTCT). Design/methodology/approach This study utilized a survey method to collect data. Questionnaires were distributed online to would-be participants in the cancelled 2017 CTCT. The questionnaire included both fixed-response and open-ended questions. Findings The results show that participants experienced mixed emotions to event cancellation. Most felt that the weather conditions warranted cancellation, but some concerns emerged as to how the cancellation was managed. In addition, many felt that the organization of the race needs to be rethought due to numerous negative weather experiences in recent years. Research limitations/implications The findings in this study are exploratory. They focus on a single event in one city. However, they provide important initial insight into how sporting event participants react to the negative impacts of extreme weather. Practical implications These results have important management implications in addressing the impact of weather on the events sector. They are significant in understanding best practice with regard to managing participants in the case of weather impacts on an event. They also demonstrate interesting results with regard to participant loyalty among active sport events tourists. Originality/value The originality of this study is in its extension of the broad discussion of the impact of extreme weather and climate change on tourism to the events sector. The implications of changing weather and climatic patterns on events, particularly mass-participation sporting events, are clear and need to be considered in order to effectively manage future impacts on this important economic sector. This is done by providing insight into how participants respond to these types of circumstances.



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