Disaster Management

The New York Times - by Daniel P. Aldrich - August 28, 2012

HURRICANE Isaac, which made landfall in Louisiana last night, has not only disrupted the Republican National Convention but also brought back painful memories of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast seven years ago this week.

. . . As a political scientist (I taught at Tulane at the time), I decided to study how communities respond to natural disasters. I’ve concluded that the density and strength of social networks are the most important variables — not wealth, education or culture — in determining their resilience in the face of catastrophe.

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sites.duke.edu - Volker Franke, Ph.D.

In an effort to stabilize and reconstruct post-conflict countries and fragile states, the United Nations and the European Union are currently involved in 29 peace operations in communities throughout the world. The Communities impacted by disasters, both man made and natural, or by the growing range of threats to peace, security, and development, require assistance from domestic and international organizations. Donor agencies and academic observers have addressed the importance of partnering with stakeholders in local communities in order to provide aid most effectively for the best possible outcome.

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submitted by John Wysham

fiercehomelandsecurity.com - by David Perera - August 9, 2012

Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative

Some federal polices have created unintended negative consequences for resiliency

A focus on resiliency should replace a disaster response status quo that will prove increasingly costly in lives and expenses, says an Aug. 1 report from the National Academy of Sciences.

The report, sponsored by a swath of federal agencies and researchers, calls for community-driven and top-down resiliency measures, including community resiliency coalitions, a Homeland Security Department-prepared national resilience scorecard and incorporation of national resilience as an organizing principle of the federal government.

The concept of resiliency--which report authors define as "the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from and more successfully adapt to adverse events" has assumed heightened importance as a homeland security concept, especially as natural disasters have become more damaging.

submitted by Samuel Bendett

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - August 7th, 2012

Increasing the U.S. resilience to natural and human-caused disasters will require complementary federal policies and locally driven actions that center on a national vision, says a new report from the National Academies. The report, Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative, says that improving resilience should be seen as a long-term process, but it can be coordinated around measurable short-term goals that will allow communities to better prepare and plan for, withstand, recover from, and adapt to adverse events.

“Without innovations to improve resilience, the cost of disasters will continue to rise both in absolute dollar amounts and in losses to social, cultural, and environmental systems in each community,” said Susan L. Cutter, director of the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina and chair of the committee that wrote the report.  “Enhancing our resilience to disasters is imperative for the stability, progress, and well-being of the nation.”

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