Disaster Management Plans Research Articles

A Comprehensive Review of the Recent Advancement in Integrating Deep Learning with Geographic Information Systems

The integration of deep learning (DL) techniques with geographical information system (GIS) offers a promising avenue for gaining novel insights into environmental phenomena by using the capabilities of spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions, as well as data integration. The integration of these two technologies can result in the development of a highly efficient system for assessing environmental conditions by analyzing the interplay between texture, size, pattern, and process. This viewpoint has gained appeal across various academic disciplines. GIS heavily relies on processors, especially for tasks such as 3D computations, map rendering, and route calculation. In contrast, DL has the capability to efficiently analyze vast quantities of data. DL has garnered significant attention in recent times due to its potential for delivering a wide range of promising outcomes. Moreover, there is clear evidence of the increasing utilization of deep learning techniques across various fields, including GIS. The objective of this study is to provide an overview of the application of DL techniques in the field of GIS. This paper presents a concise review of the fundamental DL ideas that are pertinent to GIS, with a focus on the most current research findings. The present study investigates the various uses and technology of remote sensing in diverse domains, including mapping, hydrological modeling, disaster management, and transportation route planning. This study offers insights into contemporary framework approaches and proposes avenues for further research.

Roles of Schools and Educators in Supporting Resilience in Young Children after Disasters

The increasing frequency and severity of natural and human-induced disasters have had detrimental effects on global populations, resulting in heightened human suffering and disruptions to social structures. This paper explores the multifaceted impact of disasters, encompassing both natural hazards and unnatural disasters, on children and the role of schools and educators in mitigating these effects. While the immediate concern during crises is children’s safety, there are ways to protect and support resilience in young children.
 Schools hold significant importance as centres for education, socialization, and economic development, and their role in disaster response and recovery is crucial. Schools provide a sense of normalcy and continuity for communities affected by disasters. However, many schools lack the necessary preparedness, and physical structure in some cases, to effectively respond to these events, and educators often find themselves as first responders without adequate training.
 The paper underscores the need for comprehensive disaster skills training for educators and school staff, ensuring they are equipped to address children’s psychological, emotional, and educational needs before, during and after disasters. Additionally, schools can serve as a ‘place attachment’ for children which aids in disaster preparedness, processing traumatic experiences, and fostering resilience and recovery.
 This Bridging the Gap paper highlights the urgent need for proactive measures in education including disaster-focused training, robust disaster management plans, and the integration of resilience-building strategies. By prioritizing children’s well-being and leveraging the pivotal role of schools and educators, communities can enhance their capacity to cope with, respond to, and recover from disasters, ultimately promoting greater overall resilience.

APPLICATION OF GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE PLATFORM TO IDENTIFY FLOODED AREAS AND ASSESS FLOOD DEPTH IN QUANG TRI PROVINCE

In recent years, the Application of the Google Earth Engine Platform has gained substantial recognition as a powerful tool for remote sensing and geospatial analysis. This paper delves into its utility within the context of flood monitoring and assessment, focusing on Quang Tri Province for the historic flood in 2020. The study leverages the platform's capabilities to identify and delineate flooded areas, offering a timely and accurate overview of the extent of inundation during flood events. Moreover, the paper demonstrates how the Google Earth Engine Platform enables the assessment of flood depths, providing critical insights for disaster management and response planning. By amalgamating satellite imagery, terrain data, and hydrological information, the study showcases the platform's potential to enhance flood-related decision-making in vulnerable regions like Quang Tri Province. The findings underscore the significance of innovative geospatial technologies in addressing the challenges posed by flooding, ultimately contributing to more effective disaster mitigation strategies and informed policymaking.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Frontline Health Care Workers to Disaster Risk Management in Private General Hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study.

Disaster is an acute dysfunction of the existing environment that requires external assistance. Although disaster has had a significant impact in Ethiopia, little is known about KAP of frontline HCW on disaster management in private hospitals. Therefore, this study will be a background for future researches and disaster management plan in private health sectors. The study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes, practices and their influencing factors among frontline healthcare workers on disaster risk management in private general hospitals in Addis Ababa. The study design was multicenter cross-sectional survey that used structured closed- and open-ended questions. Multi-stage sampling technique was used. The sample size was 270 with a response rate of 98.9%. The study was conducted in frontline HCW of six private general hospitals from July 20-September 30, 2022. Epi-info version 7.0 and SPSS-25 were used for data clearing and statistical analysis. Level of KAP was calculated from the participants' scores of the questions. Associations were done by using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression. Of the participants, 64% had poor level of knowledge, and 89.10% had poor level of practice while 93.6% had positive attitude. Lack of previous training, inadequate level of practice, and health experience below one year were negatively associated with good level of knowledge. Poor level of knowledge was negatively associated with good practice. Although the majority of the participants had positive attitude, the mean level of knowledge and practice were poor to properly handle disastrous events.

Wildlife rehabilitation records reveal impacts of anthropogenic activities on wildlife health

Wildlife faces many threats from anthropogenic activities and human-driven climate change. In this article, we use data from wildlife rehabilitation (rehab) centers, which admit and treat injured and sick wildlife, to understand the prevalence, patterns, and impacts of these threats and prioritize wildlife conservation efforts. Past studies have generally been more limited in geographic and taxonomic scope.We analyzed 674,320 digitized records from 94 wildlife rehab centers across the U.S. and Canada to learn about threats to over 1000 animal species. We identified key threats by examining conditions causing animals to be brought to centers.Overall, the largest proportion of wildlife injury and sickness were accounted for by human activities, including vehicle collisions, fishing-related incidents, and window or building collisions. Seasonal patterns in lead and pesticide exposure highlighted threats posed by hunting with lead ammunition and rodenticide use. We identified threats to iconic and threatened species such as bald eagles, brown pelicans, big brown bats, and common loons. We found that more animals arrived at rehab centers in the week after extreme weather events compared to the week before, for certain weather events in certain locations: e.g., hurricanes and floods in southern Florida. Across all species, wildlife rehabilitators were able to return about a third of treated animals back to the wild.These findings point to possible interventions to conserve wildlife populations and improve wildlife health, such as additional wildlife road crossings, improved regulations relating to fishing, hunting, and pesticide use, and incorporating wildlife into disaster management plans.

Analisis Manajemen Kinerja Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah Kabupaten Musi Rawas Utara dalam Mitigasi Bencana Banjir

Geographical conditions of the lowlands, resulting in North Musi Rawas Regency (Muratara) as an area prone to flooding. Handling this, the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Muratara Regency is authorized to carry out disaster management tasks, including flood disaster mitigation as a prevention effort to reduce potential losses due to future disasters. This study aims to analyze the implementation and constraints of the performance management of BPBD Muratara Regency in flood disaster mitigation in Muratara Regency. The results showed that the performance management of BPBD Muratara in flood disaster mitigation with four stages, namely determining approaches, policies, strategies and flood disaster mitigation activities, has not been well implemented. This can be seen by the fact that there are no programs and activities focused on reducing disaster risk, lack of facilities and infrastructure, not maximizing human resource training activities, lack of expert / civil servants, unavailability of Early Warning System (EWS) and not maximizing coordination and collaboration between stakeholders. In addition, there are also obstacles encountered such as the absence of a Disaster Management Plan (RPB). RPB is very much needed in flood disaster mitigation. Because it contains disaster risk assessments, contingency plans, budgets, programs/activities, coordination and collaboration between stakeholders involved.

Planning for Next Time: The Challenges Faced by a Veterinary Teaching Hospital During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged critical services to maintain operations while facing a highly transmissible human pathogen. As public health officials worked to manage the crisis, initial guidelines focused on the continuation of services in the human health care setting. However, through state-mandated stay-at-home orders, the Michigan State University veterinary teaching hospital remained open to provide emergency services to both large and small animal patients. This was accomplished by distilling pertinent safety information from the available human health care guidance to safely maintain operation. Challenges faced when pivoting the delivery of veterinary education from in-person to virtual format were addressed and in-person clinical rotations were resumed as soon as possible. Strategies to effectively communicate information that is both immediately critical and broadly applicable should be considered and planned before they are needed. Infection control and disaster management plans should be revisited often to ensure they include all known risks and potential challenges. Plans to maintain staffing capacity and student safety when faced with an unexpected surge in patients should be laid out with clearly defined metrics on which to act. The lessons we have learned from the pandemic would improve the delivery of care and teaching in a veterinary teaching hospital in both day-to-day circumstances and future emergencies.

Effects of Disaster Management towards Academic Achievement in Public Secondary Schools in Arusha District

This study investigated the effects of disaster management towards academic achievement in public secondary schools in Arusha District Council, Tanzania. Objectives were to; examine ways of managing disasters in secondary schools and effects of disaster management towards academic achievement of students in public secondary schools. Emergency Management Theory guided the study. Convergent mixed methods design was adopted. Questionnaires, documentary analysis, photo taking and interviews were used to collect data from 105students and 85teachers selected by simple and stratified random sampling techniques. Five school heads and 4 WEOs were purposively selected. Validity was fortified through expert inputs. Reliability employed test-retest technique and reliability index, SQ r=0.735, TQ r=0.827and NTSQ r= 0.761were obtained. Credibility and dependability of qualitative data was established through detailed reporting of the research process. Qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics in the SPSS version 23 and results were presented in tables. Findings include provision of fire extinguishers to help in putting off fire outbreaks, enhancing drainage system and raising building foundation to prevent surface runoff from accessing classrooms and offices. Proper use of fire extinguishers to minimize damages caused by fire in schools hence minimal interference to learning process. In conclusion, without a disaster management plan, schools spend more time and resources reacting to a situation instead of planning for the anticipated disaster. Recommendations entailed all institutions to provide fire extinguishers, enhance drainage system and improve students’ discipline as disaster mitigation measures.

Toward the creation of disaster-resilient communities: The Machizukuri initiative – The 2011 Tōhoku Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Community engagement and involvement are essential components in managing and responding to disasters. The March 2011 natural disaster on Japan’s northwest coast was extensive. Despite the country’s well-positioned response framework, relief organisations needed to relocate and faced ongoing infrastructure disruption and significant concerns for rescue and recovery operations. This article aimed to understand better the role and impact of local communities in responding to and recovering from disasters by examining the role of the Machizukuri following the Tōhoku Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJET). We used an exploratory approach, and in-depth interviews were undertaken with eight key decision-makers involved in recovery efforts. Key findings from these interviews showed that, while the central government enacted their disaster management plans, responses were slow and failed to address local priorities. To compensate, the local community and Machizukuri assisted and successfully united the local community to address gaps left by the centralised governments' approach. It is an example of self-reliance and the use of an effective bottom-up approach to address critical disasters. However, efforts were hindered by a lack of coordination between the various government bodies and aid organisations and communication failures that prevented a more coherent response. Furthermore, the forms of creative, bottom-up recovery and response resulted in long-term rebuilding practices that has been a key factor in maintaining the vitality and culture of the affected community. These findings should assist societies in remediating these shortcomings, responding more effectively to future disasters, and enhancing community resilience necessary for long-term recovery.

Disaster Risk Management Practices and Readiness among Selected Science Teachers: A Baseline Framework for Developing Disaster Management Plan"

This qualitative-quantitative research study determined the level of implementation of disaster management practices and readiness for disaster among selected elementary schools in the district of Lemery. There were 48 respondents comprised of elementary teachers and school heads who were further grouped into sex, age, and position. Results revealed that as an entire group, the respondents described the effectiveness of disaster risk management practices in terms of mitigation as “as highly practiced, in terms of preparedness, it was also “highly practiced”, in terms of response, it was described as “highly practiced” and in terms of recovery and rehabilitation plan, it was “highly practiced”. No significant difference was noted effectiveness of the disaster risk management practices of selected elementary school in the district of Lemery as to prevention and mitigation, Disaster Preparedness, Response, recovery and rehabilitation plans as perceived by the respondents when grouped into sex, age and position. The elementary teachers were very much ready in having operational smoke detectors on every level outside the classroom , having operational smoke detectors on every level of the classroom, all learners capable how to use it, all your learners aware of the CPR, having 72-hour minimum disaster supplies on hand.

Disaster Response and Management: The Integral Role of Rehabilitation.

With the increasing frequency of disasters and the significant upsurge of survivors with severe impairments and long-term disabling conditions, there is a greater focus on the importance of rehabilitation in disaster management. During disasters, rehabilitation services confront a greater load due to the influx of victims, management of persons with pre-existing disabilities and chronic conditions, and longer-term care continuum. Despite robust consensus amongst the international disaster response and management community for the rehabilitation-inclusive disaster management process, rehabilitation is still less prioritised. Evidence supports the early involvement of rehabilitation professionals in disaster response and management for minimising mortality and disability, and improving clinical outcomes and participation in disaster survivors. In the last two decades, there have been substantial developments in disaster response/management processes including the World Health Organization Emergency Medical Team (EMT) initiative, which provides a standardized structured plan to provide effective and coordinated care during disasters. However, rehabilitation-inclusive disaster management plans are yet to be developed and/or implemented in many disaster-prone countries. Strong leadership and effective action from national and international bodies are required to strengthen national rehabilitation capacity (services and skilled workforce) and empower international and local EMTs and health services for comprehensive disaster management in future calamities. This narrative review highlights the role of rehabilitation and current developments in disaster rehabilitation; challenges and key future perspectives in this area.

Integrating Cadastral Data with Seismic Risk Data in an Online Building Database for the Historical Centre of Bucharest City

The Historical Centre of Bucharest City is a highly populated area and a popular tourist attraction, known for its old buildings, some of which were built before the year 1900 and were severely damaged by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake in 1977. Seismic risk available data consist of lists published by the Municipal Administration for the Consolidation of Buildings with Seismic Risk, and include various information about the buildings for which technical expertise was conducted. Available cadastral data can provide additional information about the buildings, including the buildings’ location and area. In this article, we aim to integrate the available cadastral data with seismic risk data in an online building database for the Historical Centre of Bucharest City. Such a database can be used for further 3D city modelling, which can be helpful in disaster management and emergency situations response planning. Previous initiatives in this regard did not provide precise geospatial data or important attributes regarding the situation of these buildings. It is vital to take into account the official data related to the property, mentioned in the National Land Registry.

A novel framework to assess multidimensional disaster resilience of children: From conceptualization to quantification

Children are a particularly vulnerable group in disaster situations, yet they are often overlooked in disaster management planning. To address this issue, a multilevel and multidimensional children resilience (MCR) framework is proposed in this study to assess the resilience of children in disaster situations. The framework takes into account four stages and five dimensions of resilience, which represent the layered reality and layered protection experienced by children. The study was conducted in four neighborhoods within the provincial capital of Peshawar, Pakistan. The selected areas exhibited distinctive urban and rural characteristics and were frequently exposed to natural hazards such as floods and earthquakes. The study employed a household questionnaire survey, targeting children as primary respondents. The proposed framework was validated by constructing the Multidimensional Children Disaster (MCR) Resilience Index. The results of the study demonstrate significant variations among all five dimensions of resilience. The proposed framework provides detailed and interactive perspectives on children's disaster resilience, emphasizing that disaster resilience is an integrated approach, which requires an integrated and holistic investigation. The proposed framework and methodology are replicable and can be used to quantify children's resilience and identify specific dimensions that can be enhanced through appropriate disaster risk reduction strategies.

Setting priorities for public–private collaborations in tourism disaster management planning

Setting priorities for public–private collaborations in tourism disaster management planning

Debris Management in Turkey Provinces Affected by the 6 February 2023 Earthquakes: Challenges during Recovery and Potential Health and Environmental Risks

On 6 February 2023, southeastern Turkey was struck by two major earthquakes that devastated 11 provinces. Tens of thousands of buildings collapsed and more were later demolished. During post-event field surveys conducted by the authors, several disposal sites set up in the most affected provinces were detected and checked for suitability. Based on field observations on the properties of sites and their surrounding areas as well as on the implemented debris management activities, it is concluded that all sites had characteristics that did not allow them to be classified as safe for earthquake debris management. This inadequacy is mainly attributed to their proximity to areas, where thousands of people reside. As regards the environmental impact, these sites were operating within or close to surface water bodies. This situation reveals a rush for rapid recovery resulting in serious errors in the preparation and implementation of disaster management plans. In this context, measures for effective debris management are proposed based on the existing scientific knowledge and operational experience. This paper aims to highlight challenges during earthquakes debris management and related threats posed to public health and the environment in order to be avoided in future destructive events.

Evaluation of flood disaster management planning: a comparative method for Bostwana and Indonesia

Disaster management planning is an activity that is translated into documents to be used as a reference in carrying out disaster risk reduction.. Furthermore, based on data from UN-ESCAP for 2022, disaster events in Indonesia dan Bostwana are dominated by extreme weather, especially storms, floods and droughts. so that disaster management planning, especially for flood disasters, is considered important as one of the efforts to reduce disaster risk. This study aims to compare the evaluation results of the disaster management planning documents owned by Botswana and Indonesia. This study uses a systematic literature review method and a comparative study with a qualitative descriptive approach to evaluation of disaster management planning between Gaborone, Botswana and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The results of the research show that the evaluation of disaster management planning in Gaborone City, Botswana still requires updating and involving the public more in the preparation of this document. In addition, the results of the evaluation of disaster management planning documents in the City of Yogyakarta, Indonesia still require efforts to integrate disaster documents with other planning documents so that they can become a reference for the implementation of disaster risk reduction activities by various stakeholders involved in the disaster sector. The problem with disaster management planning documents in the two countries is the lack of public involvement and the lack of integration of this disaster management planning document with other development planning documents, including issues regarding validity periods. The offered solution is to update the disaster management planning document by involving more public argument.

Peran Tenaga Kesehatan dalam Penanggulangan Banjir di Pasuruan pada Bulan Februari Tahun 2023

Disaster preparation is a step towards disaster risk reduction. Disaster risk reduction can be in the form of disaster management plans, early warning systems, evacuation sites and provision of essential goods. According to PERMENKES No. 66 of 2016, which is a guideline for health HR management in disaster management, the crisis response team includes the Rapid Reaction Team (TRC), Rapid Assessment Team (TPC/RHA team) and Health Assistance Team. The purpose of this research is to evaluate material in terms of preparedness policies and human resources when facing disasters. The type of research used is descriptive quantitative. Pasuruan Regency and Pasuruan City experienced floods 7 times during the month of February. A total of 2,520 residents were affected by the flood disaster. The need for health human resources for TRC among residents/refugees between 10,000-20,000 such as general practitioners and specialists, nurses, epidemiological surveillance, pharmacists, nutritionists, midwives communication officers, ambulance drivers, and DVI personnel. With the existence of regulations/policies that have been set, it really helps to facilitate the performance of health human resources in handling disaster-affected residents to the fullest. The role of health workers and disaster preparedness is very important. It is suggested that with this research, health human resources are expected to always increase their competence and increase their role so that when they go down to help residents affected by a disaster, they already have strong enough potential to be implemented to residents.

Assessment of social factors that promote the vulnerability of communities to coastal hazards in the Volta estuary in Ghana

Although vulnerability assessments have been widely conducted along the coast of Ghana, they have not focused on the factors contributing to social vulnerability of households and communities to disaster risks. Using an indicator-based approach, this study examines the social factors that affect the exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity of households and communities in the Volta estuary, Ghana. Results indicate that all the communities within the study area were exposed to climate change related hazards. However, two communities, Azizanya in Ada East District and Fuveme in Anloga District, were highly exposed with unweighted indexes of 0.50 and 0.76, respectively. Sensitivity among communities was generally high ranging from 0.00 to 0.87 due to several social factors including low household income, high number of children and aged at home, and lack of social amenities such as roads, health facilities, markets, and schools. The communities recorded high adaptive capacity and were able to withstand the ravages of the ocean and the river system. Households and communities developed various adaptation measures such as relocation to nearby communities or higher grounds, open spaces and packing of their belongings on higher objects such as tables, whiles government actions included occasional dredging and constructions of sea defense structures. An integrated, multi-stakeholder approach involving government, non-governmental community-based organisations, communities, households, and other stakeholders is proposed to design and implement a comprehensive disaster management plan to combat climate change related coastal disasters.

Building Forest Fires Resilience, the Incorporation of Local Knowledge into Disaster Mitigation Strategies

The severity of the socio-economic, political, and ecological damage caused by forest fires each year requires action plans for disaster risk reduction (DRR). Despite efforts made to incorporate participatory mechanisms into risk governance, much of the research on disaster risk reduction in academia is conducted under the deficit model. This paper proposes public engagement as a mechanism for incorporating community-based knowledge, experiences, and practices into DRR plans. Based on the case study of forest fires in Galicia (Spain), developed within the MITIGACT project, we explore, through the analysis of in-depth interviews, how forest fires are defined, how disaster management plans are evaluated and what concrete proposals are considered. The results highlight the need to strengthen social governance at the local level and to balance the resources dedicated to the three phases of prevention, extinction, and recovery, moving from a linear to a circular model.

Modeling of annual maximum flows with geographic data components and artificial neural networks

The flow rate at which the instantaneous maximum flow is recorded throughout the year is called the Annual Maximum Flow (AMF). These flow rates often cause disasters such as floods. Snow melts and extreme precipitation associated with temperature fluctuations are the two most important factors that occurred flooding. The deluge that follows kills people and destroys property in communities and agricultural lands. As a result, it's critical to predict the flow that causes flooding and take appropriate precautions to limit the damage. The prediction of the probability of a flood event in advance is very important for the safety of life and property of large masses and agricultural lands. Early warning systems, disaster management plans and minimizing these losses are among the important goals of the country's administration. This study was used in five Current Observation Stations (COS) located in Yeşilırmak Basin in Turkey. By using 8 input data including geographical location, altitude and area information of these stations, AMF data were tried to be estimated for each COS. A total of 240 input data was used in the study. The data period covers the years 1964-2012. Unfortunately, AMF values cannot be monitored for all 5 stations used after 2012. Therefore, the data period was stopped in 2012. In this study, Multilayer Artificial Neural Networks (MANN), Generalized Artificial Neural Networks (GANN), Radial Based Artificial Neural Networks (RBANN) and Multiple Linear Regulation (MLR) methods were used. Input data sets were made into 4 packets and these packages were used respectively in both training and testing stages. In these packages, the AMF data measured for the 5 stations mentioned above between 1965 and 2012 were divided into 4 and used by creating 25% (test) and 75% (training) packages. Root Means Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and correlation coefficient (R) were used as the comparison criteria. The results are as follow; MANN (RMSE = 119.118, MAE = 93.213, R = 0.808), and RBANN (RMSE = 111.559, MAE = 81.114, R = 0.900). These results show that AMF can be predicted with artificial intelligence techniques and can be used as an alternative method.