Hydro-Meteorological Incident and Disaster Response in Sri Lanka. Case Study: 2016 May Rain Events

This paper investigates hydro-meteorological hazards faced by Sri Lanka, a lower-middle-income island country in Asia. It provides a case study of a major hydro-meteorological disaster incident that resulted in one of the largest landslides in the history of the country, the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) process, and the national disaster response. Rainfall and flood inundation data are provided for the whole country. The fact that data are held by several government agencies (namely Department of Meteorology, Department of Irrigation, and NBRO), somewhat coordinated by the Disaster Management Center (DMC) is shown. The need for more streamlined coordination of hydro-met data with online access of data for researchers is emphasized. The flood disaster situation and disaster declaration of the Western Province (which contributes nearly 40% of the GDP) is looked at, and evidence is presented to recommend a smaller governance unit for future disaster declarations, in order to bring aid to the places where it is needed and leaving other areas of the province to carry on with the normal economic activity. An example of the use of climate change scenarios in rainfall prediction is provided from a developed island nation (New Zealand). The need for Sri Lanka to increase its spending for hydro-met services (both infrastructure and skills) is highlighted (the global norm being 0.02 of GDP), as the return on such investment is tenfold.

Asthma-Related Emergency Department Visits in North Carolina Following Hurricane Irene

Objective: Previous research suggests that people with asthma may experience a worsening of symptoms following hurricanes due to changes in environmental exposures, discontinuity in chronic disease management, and stress. The objective of this study was to estimate changes in asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits in North Carolina following Hurricane Irene, which made landfall in August 2011. Methods: Changes in asthma-related ED visits in September to December of 2010 and 2011 were examined using data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Emergency Department and Inpatient Databases. A Poisson generalized linear model was used to estimate the association between Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster declarations following Hurricane Irene and county-level asthma-related ED visits controlling for month, year, and county. Results: Following Hurricane Irene, disaster declarations were made for 38 of 100 counties in North Carolina. In September 2010, the rate of asthma-related ED visits for North Carolina was 6 per 10,000 person-months. In September 2011, rates of asthma-related ED visits were similar in counties with and without disaster declarations (7 and 5 per 10,000 person-months, respectively). When adjusting for covariates, there was little or no difference in the rate of asthma ED visits before and after the hurricane between counties with and without a disaster declaration (rate ratio {RR} [95% confidence interval {CI}] = 1.02[0.97, 1.08]). Conclusions: Although risk factors for asthma exacerbations increase following hurricanes, these results found little evidence of an increase in asthma-related ED visits in North Carolina following Hurricane Irene.

COVID-19, Storms, and Floods: Impacts of Tropical Storm Cristobal in the Western Sector of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

The presence of extreme hydrometeorological threats has co-occurred with the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing the potential risk of a disaster scenario occurring. The hurricane “Cristobal”, which impacted Mexico’s tropical regions, presented a high risk of contagion and death caused by the combined effects of violent winds, floods, and evacuations. This work aims to determine whether the presence of concurrent events during the pandemic caused an increase in confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in the Yucatan Peninsula’s western sector. To achieve this, a numerical analysis and identification of the tropical storm’s extreme characteristics were conducted. Next, a combined analysis of the territorial system subject to flooding and the rainfall level reported during the emergency period was conducted at the municipal level. The third phase consisted of analyzing the confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 at the municipal level on four strategic dates (before, during, observation, and end of the emergency period). Finally, a content analysis of the emergency bulletins, action guides, and disaster declarations was carried out to identify the measures and adaptations implemented during the pandemic. It is recognized that emergency management measures were implemented for municipalities with more than 30 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 and where the shelter capacity was reduced. Protocols for caring for people were followed, these being one of the leading adaptive methods. From the analyzed data, it can be pointed out that there is no direct evidence for an increase in positive COVID-19 cases in 10 of the municipalities. However, in the case of the municipality of Escarcega, there was a sudden increase in cases from June 8, which continues to grow. Therefore, it is necessary to deepen the study of multiple events to recognize the actions that can prevent catastrophes in these times of crisis.

The Impact of Natural Disasters on Suicide in the United States, 2003–2015

Background: Natural disasters are increasing in frequency and severity and impacted populations develop mental health conditions at higher rates than those not impacted. Aims: In this study, we investigate the association between exposure to a major natural disaster and suicide in the US. Method: Using county-level data on disaster declarations, mortality files, and population data, suicide rates were estimated for three 12-month periods before and after the disaster. Pooled rates were estimated predisaster and compared with postdisaster suicide rates using Poisson-generated Z tests and 95% confidence intervals. Results: A total of 281 major disasters were included. The suicide rate increased for each type of disaster and across all disasters in the first 2 years of follow-up. The largest overall increases in suicide rates were seen 2 years postdisaster. Limitations: Limitations include the ecologic study design, county-level exposure, and low power. Conclusion: Increases in county-level suicide rates after disasters were not statistically significant, although there was evidence that increases were delayed until 2 years postdisaster. Additional studies are needed to improve understanding of nonfatal suicide attempts after disasters and the role elevated social support plays in suicide prevention postdisaster. Future studies should consider pre-existing mental health, secondary stressors, and proximity to hazards.

Fires, floods and droughts in La Pampa between 1998 and 2018. Analysis from the perspective of Risk and Environmental Disaster

In order to know the occurrence of three elements of risk and disaster such as fires, floods and droughts and how these affected La Pampa province between 1998 and 2018, the regulations and the Emergency and/or Agricultural Disaster declarations were analyzed. From the perspective of Risk and Environmental Disaster a total of 68 Emergency Decrees or Agricultural Disaster were issued during a 251 months period, corresponding 28 to droughts, 23 to floods, 16 to fires and 1 to temporal or rainstorm. The largest area of territorial affection was between January and March 2009 due to droughts affecting 14 millions of hectares (96.43% of La Pampa), and the longest period was 68 months (from January 1998 to May 2003) due to floods. It is observed that several urban center are located in the path of each analyzed adversity, which are direct or indirectly affected. As a prevention and a post­disaster action, important infrastructural and regulatory works has been carried out by La Pampa government. Despite that and the specialized vision regarding the agricultural sector, the lack of socialization of the problems and citizen participation in the decision making space persist

Quantifying the relationship between predisaster mitigation spending and major disaster declarations for US states and territories

Since the Stafford Act of 1988, the process of obtaining a formal Major Disaster Declaration has been codified for national implementation, with tasks defined at the smallest levels of local government up to the President. The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) placed additional requirements on local government to plan for mitigation activities within their jurisdictions. The goal of DMA 2000 was to not only implement more mitigative actions at the local level, but also initiate a process by which local governments could set up ongoing conversations and collaborative efforts with neighboring jurisdictions to ensure continuous, proactive measures were taken against the impacts of disasters. Based on the increased attention paid to mitigation and planning activities, a reasonable expectation would be to see a decline in the number of major disaster declarations since DMA 2000. However, simple correlation analysis shows that since DMA 2000, the number of major disaster declarations continues to increase. This article is intended as a preliminary study to encourage more detailed analysis in the future of the impacts of federal policy on local-level disaster prevention.

Comparing predisaster mitigation grant spending with postdisaster assistance spending: Are mitigation investments saving federal dollars?

This work is a companion paper to “Quantifying the Relationship Between Predisaster Mitigation Spending and Major Disaster Declarations for US States and Territories.” Mitigation is a relatively new undertaking, especially for local jurisdictions, within the United States disaster policy. The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) requires local jurisdictions to plan for and implement mitigative strategies in order to access federal grant funding options for emergency management. After DMA 2000 went into effect in the mid-2000s, a supporting study by the Multi-Hazard Mitigation Council (MMC 2005) found that on average, mitigation projects yielded a benefit-cost ratio of 4:1 at the local level.1 This paper evaluates and compares predisaster mitigation spending and postdisaster assistance spending at the state and FEMA Regional levels, hypothesizing that as mitigation spending increases, postdisaster spending should decrease. The results however indicate the opposite, with most states showing increasing in both types of spending over time.

C&RL Spotlight

Writing this column, a month in advance of its May publication, is a little surreal. The world is firmly entrenched in the COVID-19 outbreak, which has turned “normal” activity on its ear. All over the country, international and domestic travel is discouraged if not outright restricted, public schools are closed, university classes have moved online, many libraries are no longer open to the public, cities and counties have issued “shelter in place” orders, states have made disaster declarations, and the National Guard has even been called out.

Playing Politics with Disaster

This chapter examines how Richard Nixon mixed politics and policy in his response to Hurricane Agnes. To aid in winning his reelection bid in 1972, Nixon was determined to play politics with disaster relief legislation, mainly as it applied to New York and Pennsylvania. In order to gain Nixon as many votes as possible from the disaster, the Nixon White House wrote, and Congress enacted, the most generous disaster aid package in American history to that time: the Agnes Recovery Act of 1972. The relationship between disasters and elections has generated a body of research that shows a strong correlation between when and where presidents issue a disaster declaration. Disaster declarations are more frequent in highly competitive swing states during presidential election years, and presidents favor those states that may benefit them or their party in the election, as Nixon did in response to Hurricane Agnes.