scholarly journals IDENTIFYING USERS’ REQUIREMENTS OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FOR DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

2020 ◽  
Vol VI-3/W1-2020 ◽  
pp. 99-106
Author(s):  
G. Rosario Michel ◽  
S. Muñoz Tapia ◽  
V. Guzmán Javier ◽  
J. Crompvoets
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Geographic Information ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In recent years, the growth of public available geographic information and location-based services has been enabling more stakeholders from diverse backgrounds to participate in generating and sharing a comprehensive view of the territory to reduce the impact of severe phenomena in the communities. With the prediction of more disastrous phenomena in the Caribbean region, understanding of what and how to be prepared beforehand to meet users’ needs from different sectors should facilitate to react quickly and take full advantage of geospatial technology and resources to support disaster managers and citizens. This paper is mainly focused on the identification of users’ requirements of geographic information and services for disaster risk management (DRM) in the Dominican Republic. The results are built upon an online survey targeted to expert and non-expert users that intervene in the National System of Prevention, Mitigation and Response (SN-PMR, in Spanish). Our findings revealed seven major users’ requirements for DRM: (1) policy for sharing geo-information; (2) implementing a disaster-oriented SDI; (3) technical standards for real-time data collection; (4) simplified procedures for gathering and accessing of metadata; (5) mobile applications (App) for data collection and alerts visualization; (6) more capacity building programs; and, (7) closer community participation using social networks. This knowledge will contribute to a superior level of readiness to prevent future disasters in Dominican Republic and to support potential studies/practices in the Caribbean region and other Small Island Developing States in the World, which share similar challenges in terms of natural hazards and development issues.

scholarly journals Identifying Users’ Requirements for Emergency Mapping Team Operations in the Dominican Republic

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 165
Author(s):  
Gregorio Rosario Michel ◽  
Santiago Muñoz Tapia ◽  
Fernando Manzano Aybar ◽  
Vladimir Guzmán Javier ◽  
Joep Crompvoets
Keyword(s):  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Geospatial Information ◽  
Data Infrastructure ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The Impact

In recent years, a growing number of stakeholders have been taking part in the generation and delivery of geospatial information and services to reduce the impact of severe natural disasters on the communities. This is mainly due to a huge demand for accurate, current and relevant knowledge about the impacted areas for a wide range of applications in risk-informed decision makings. The aim of this paper is to identify users’ requirements for emergency mapping team (EMT) operations in the Dominican Republic (DR). An online survey was applied to collect data from key users involved in the Inter-Institutional Geospatial Information Team in DR. Our findings suggest a set of users’ requirements for EMT operations: (1) standardization; (2) establishing and maintaining a spatial data infrastructure; (3) partnership; (4) effective communication among stakeholders; and (5) capacity building. A better understanding of the users’ requirements and the associated information workflows will lead to a superior level of readiness for EMT operations in DR. This knowledge will support future studies/practices at the local and national levels in the Caribbean region, which share similar challenges in terms of natural hazards and development issues.

scholarly journals Disaster management and climate adaptation roadmap for coastal cities based on UNDRR's ten essentials

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 277-297
Author(s):  
Carlos Germano Ferreira Costa
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Development Planning ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Coastal Cities

Disasters and natural hazards increasingly affect people in the most vulnerable communities in coastal cities, and low-lying areas are especially exposed in the context of increased urbanization, where the urban risk continues to rise. This paper endeavors to establish a Roadmap for Disaster Risk Management Planning for coastal cities based on the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Ten Essentials (UNDRR, 2012). We report on local Disaster Risk Management (DRM) practices in a mid-Atlantic capital -the city of Praia, in Cabo Verde. DRM in coastal cities in island states turns out to be an intricate process due to the incorporation of socio-environmental anthropogenic exposure to physical, economic, population, political, and climate vulnerabilities. This paper contributes to the growing knowledge of the institutional framework's role in the facilitation of local adaptation, and design-thinking of urban-development planning processes in coastal cities and low-lying areas, by distinguishing arising opportunities for planned Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and describing a roadmap intended at further advances the discussions for the progress of risk-informed sustainable development pathways in the context of coastal cities. It advocates for the design of adaptative processes understood according to local initiatives, to foresee a possible expression of the growing engagement of different actors in the control and monitoring of risks and vulnerabilities in these areas.

scholarly journals Economics of Disaster Risk and Resilience in Small Island Developing States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tauisi Taupo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Small Island Developing States ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Response And Recovery

<p>The four essays investigate the impacts and implications of climate change and disasters in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Pacific by examining disaster risk, resilience, response, and recovery in Tuvalu.  The first chapter starts with a survey on the conceptual framework of disaster risk which relies on its associated components of hazard, vulnerability and exposure. It is an introductory literature review that sets the scene for the other chapters. It is not intended to make an original contribution nor a critical review of the literature justified to be publishable. How we measure these risks depends on how we define disaster risk and its components. Though there are diverse views on these definitions in different disciplines, we can capitalise on their commonalities to frame disaster risk models.  The second chapter investigates the vulnerability of households to climatic disasters in Tuvalu. Small Island Developing States, particularly the atoll islands, are considered to be the most vulnerable to climatic change, and in particular to sea-level rise and its associated risks. From the Tuvalu Statistics Department household survey, we construct poverty and hardship profiles for households on the different islands of Tuvalu, and combine these with geographic and topographic information to assess the exposure differentials among different groups using spatial econometric models. Besides the observation that households in hardship are more vulnerable to negative shocks because they lack the resources to respond, we also find that they are also more likely to reside in highly exposed areas to disasters (closer to the coasts and at lower elevation) and have less ability to migrate (between and within the islands).  The third chapter examines cyclones. The intensity of cyclones in the Pacific is predicted to increase and sea levels are predicted to rise, so an atoll nation like Tuvalu can serve as the `canary in the coal mine' pointing to the new risks that are emerging because of climatic change. Based on a household survey we conducted in Tuvalu, we quantify the impacts of Tropical Cyclone Pam (March 2015) on households, and the determinants of these impacts in terms of hazard, exposure, vulnerability and responsiveness. Households experienced significant damage due to the storm surge caused by the cyclone, even though the cyclone itself passed very far away (about a 1,000 km). This risk of distant cyclones has been overlooked in the literature, and ignoring it leads to significant under-estimation of the disaster risk facing low-lying atoll islands. Lastly, we constructed hypothetical policy scenarios, and calculated the estimated loss and damage they would have been associated with { a first step in building careful assessments of the feasibility of various disaster risk reduction policies.  The fourth chapter examines the financing of disaster risk management. Future climate and disaster risks are likely to impose increasing financial pressure on the governments of low-lying atoll nations. The aftermath of a disaster such as a cyclone requires financial means for quick response and recovery. Hence, we quantify appropriate levels of financial support for expected disasters in Tuvalu and Kiribati by building on the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI) calculated likely costs for disasters. To these, we add estimates of the potential effects of distant cyclones, droughts, sea level rise and climate change as they are predicted to affect low-lying atoll islands. There are several potential financial instruments available for disaster risk management in the Pacific Islands. We focus on the potential contribution of the sovereign wealth funds (SWF) of Tuvalu and Kiribati in reducing reliance on foreign aid for both ex-ante and ex-post disaster risk management. We forecast the future size of the SWF using Monte Carlo simulations and an Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average model. We examine the long-term sustainability of the SWF, and the feasibility of extending their mandate to cover and pay for at least some climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.</p>

scholarly journals Disaster Risk Management Through the DesignSafe Cyberinfrastructure

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 719-734
Author(s):  
Jean-Paul Pinelli ◽  
Maria Esteva ◽  
Ellen M. Rathje ◽  
David Roueche ◽  
Scott J. Brandenberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Community Outreach ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Soil Liquefaction ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Risk Modeling ◽  
Regional Risk Assessment ◽  
The Impact

AbstractDesignSafe addresses the challenges of supporting integrative data-driven research in natural hazards engineering. It is an end-to-end data management, communications, and analysis platform where users collect, generate, analyze, curate, and publish large data sets from a variety of sources, including experiments, simulations, field research, and post-disaster reconnaissance. DesignSafe achieves key objectives through: (1) integration with high performance and cloud-computing resources to support the computational needs of the regional risk assessment community; (2) the possibility to curate and publish diverse data structures emphasizing relationships and understandability; and (3) facilitation of real time communications during natural hazards events and disasters for data and information sharing. The resultant services and tools shorten data cycles for resiliency evaluation, risk modeling validation, and forensic studies. This article illustrates salient features of the cyberinfrastructure. It summarizes its design principles, architecture, and functionalities. The focus is on case studies to show the impact of DesignSafe on the disaster risk community. The Next Generation Liquefaction project collects and standardizes case histories of earthquake-induced soil liquefaction into a relational database—DesignSafe—to permit users to interact with the data. Researchers can correlate in DesignSafe building dynamic characteristics based on data from building sensors, with observed damage based on ground motion measurements. Reconnaissance groups upload, curate, and publish wind, seismic, and coastal damage data they gather during field reconnaissance missions, so these datasets are available shortly after a disaster. As a part of the education and community outreach efforts of DesignSafe, training materials and collaboration space are also offered to the disaster risk management community.

AWARENESS AS AN ADAPTATION STRATEGY FOR REDUCING MORTALITY FROM HEAT WAVES: EVIDENCE FROM A DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAM IN INDIA

2012 ◽  
Vol 03 (02) ◽  
pp. 1250010 ◽  
Author(s):  
SAUDAMINI DAS ◽  
STEPHEN C. SMITH
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Heat Wave ◽  
Program Effectiveness ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Heat Stroke ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
The Impact

Heat waves, defined as an interval of abnormally hot and humid weather, have become a prominent killer in recent years. With heat waves worsening with climate change, adaptation is essential; one strategy has been to issue heat wave warnings and undertake awareness campaigns to bring about behavioral changes to reduce heat stroke. Since 2002, the Indian state of Odisha has been undertaking a grassroots awareness campaign on "dos and don'ts" during heat wave conditions through the disaster risk management (DRM) program. The selection criteria for DRM districts were earthquake, flood and cyclone incidence; but subsequently, heat wave awareness also received intensive attention in these districts. We present quasi-experimental evidence on the impact of the program, taking DRM districts and periods as treatment units and the rest as controls, analyzing the impact on the death toll from heat stroke for the 1998 to 2010 period, using difference-in-difference (DID) regressions with a district level panel data set and a set of control variables. We find indications of program effectiveness with initial DID specifications, but results are not always robust. We then take into account a statewide heat wave advertising program, to which the poor have limited exposure but which may also provide spillover benefits, using a triple differencing approach; results suggest the heat wave awareness programs may have complementary impacts. We examine research strategies for further improvement in the precision of impact evaluation results for innovative programs of this type.

scholarly journals When Disaster Risk Management Systems Fail: The Case of Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani District, Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edson Munsaka ◽  
Chipo Mudavanhu ◽  
Lucy Sakala ◽  
Pepukai Manjeru ◽  
Diego Matsvange
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Risk Governance ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Method Approach

AbstractOn 14 March 2019, Zimbabwe was hit by Cyclone Idai, leaving immeasurable destruction of unprecedented magnitude in its wake. In Chimanimani District, many lives were lost, many people were reported missing, and others were displaced. The question that immediately comes to mind is: Was the country prepared to manage the Cyclone Idai disaster? Reflecting on the community experiences, the purpose of this research was to interrogate the strength of the disaster risk reduction legislation and institutions in Zimbabwe in the face of meteorological hazards. The research also evaluated the extent of the impact Cyclone Idai had on the Chimanimani communities and the factors that increased the vulnerability to the cyclone. A mixed method approach that involved 1180 participants was used. The study found that disaster risk management legislation and institutions in Zimbabwe are weak. Cyclone Idai resulted in the loss of many human lives, loss of livelihoods, and massive damage to infrastructure. The cyclone exposed capacity and policy gaps in Zimbabwe’s disaster risk management system. The study makes a number of recommendations, including strengthening disaster legislation and policy, and disaster risk governance. Given the communities’ response to the disaster occurrence, the study also recommends strengthening social capital.

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