Disaster Recovery Research Articles

Review article: Current approaches and critical issues in multi-risk recovery planning of urban areas exposed to natural hazards

Abstract. Post-disaster recovery has been addressed in the literature by different sectoral perspectives and scientific communities. Nevertheless, studies providing holistic approaches to recovery, integrating reconstruction procedures and socio-economic impacts, are still lacking. Additionally, there is a gap in disaster recovery research addressing the additional challenges posed by the effect of complex, multiple, and interacting risks on highly interconnected urban areas. Furthermore, recovery has only been marginally explored from a pre-disaster perspective in terms of planning and actions to increase urban resilience and recoverability. This paper provides a critical review of existing literature and guidelines on multi-risk disaster recovery with the twofold aim of identifying current gaps and providing the layout to address multi-risk recovery planning tools for decision-making. The literature on disaster recovery is investigated in the paper by focusing on the definition of the recovery phase and its separation or overlapping with other disaster risk management phases, the different destinations and goals that an urban system follows through recovery pathways, the requirements to implement a holistic resilience-based recovery roadmap, the challenges for shifting from single-risk to multi-risk recovery approaches, and the available tools for optimal decision-making in the recovery planning. Finally, the current challenges in multi-risk recovery planning are summarized and discussed. This review can be a ground basis for new research directions in the field of multi-risk recovery planning to help stakeholders in decision-making and optimize their pre-disaster investments to improve the urban system's recoverability.

Locked into a permanent position of vulnerability? Farmers’ trust and social capital with the government from Critical Disaster Studies perspectives

AbstractIn disaster scholarship, there is limited understanding about how vulnerability is socially constructed by a convergence of varying social structural and historical processes that predispose certain vulnerable groups to disasters even before a hazard event occurs. This article aims to fill this void by using Critical Disaster Studies perspectives to explore the root causes of why crop farmers in the coastal region of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta have been locked in a permanent position of vulnerability. In order to develop more sustainable food supply chains, this exploration aims to shed light on the socio-cultural interpretations, experiences, and needs of disaster-affected farmers—the most important but vulnerable actors in the crop production hierarchy in Vietnam. Following a historic disaster between late 2015 and early 2016, local governments deliberately organised farmers into an agricultural cooperative in an attempt to support farmers in enhancing economic resilience and disaster preparedness. However, this intervention has failed since farmers refused to participate in the organisation’s activities. While this reaction may seem irrational, it reflects farmers’ distrust in the government, which was largely a result of their collective trauma from the state’s agricultural collectivisation policy implemented between 1976 and 1985. Farmers chose to cling to their individual working routines out of concern about government supervision, forcing them to take bigger risks and pay for the food supply chains’ catastrophic damage. Our findings show that a strained relationship between farmers and the government can jeopardise disaster recovery and resilience building. Our paper adds to the Critical Disaster Studies literature by revisiting the concepts of vulnerability and resilience, emphasising the importance of addressing socio-cultural vulnerability before improving disaster resilience.

The Risk-Informed Asset-Centric (RIACT) Urban Resilience Enhancement Process: An Outline and Pilot-Case Demonstrator for Earthquake Risk Mitigation in Portuguese Municipalities

This study introduces the Risk-Informed Asset-Centric (RIACT) process, a novel approach aimed at enhancing the safety and resilience of urban infrastructures against natural and man-made disasters. The RIACT method stands out for its comprehensive analysis of potential disruptions to urban areas, encompassing their susceptibility to disasters, vulnerability factors, and recovery capabilities. This study’s primary focus is on Portugal’s 308 municipalities, assessing their preparedness and ability to recover from earthquake events. Methodologically, the study involved employing geographic information system (GIS) mapping to evaluate earthquake risks, combining data on regional risk areas, demographic and economic profiles, and resilience capacities. This approach provides a detailed understanding of each municipality’s strengths and areas in need of improvement, encouraging a collaborative framework for sharing and implementing best practices. The results reveal significant variations in earthquake resilience across different regions, highlighting the need for tailored resilience strategies. Conclusively, the RIACT method not only enhances the resilience of individual municipalities but also contributes to a broader national strategy for urban resilience, offering valuable insights for effective disaster risk management and recovery planning.

Do natural disasters affect local elections? An empirical examination using subnational electoral data

AbstractDo natural disasters affect election results? Some studies have shown that natural disasters negatively impact subsequent elections, while others do not. This study investigated the link between natural disasters and local elections using data from the Japanese prefectural governor elections for the years 1985–2015. A rich data set is available for prefectural governor elections in Japan that includes information on who won, the vote shares of all candidates, and when the election was held, among others. We found empirical evidence that the number of days between an election and most recent disaster before election positively impacted the vote share of the incumbent/successor. In other words, an incumbent/successor is likely to have less support in the election immediately following a disaster by the constituencies, but can get more support as time passes after the disaster. Moreover, political alignment with the central ruling parties positively affects the vote share of an incumbent/successor over time between an election and the most recent disaster. These results suggest a possibility that politicians seek popularity not through the implementation of proper disaster recovery policies but by taking advantage of their connection with central ruling parties, which may harm citizens' welfare in the long run.

Resilient critical infrastructures: An innovative methodological perspective for critical infrastructure (CI) integrated assessment models by inducing digital technologies during multi-hazard incidents

Over the last decade, the notion of community resilience, which encompasses planning for, opposing, absorbing, and quickly recovering from disruptive occurrences, has gained momentum across the world. Critical Infrastructures (CI) are seen as critical to attaining success in today's densely populated countries. Such infrastructures must be robust in the face of multi-hazard catastrophes by implementing appropriate disaster management and recovery plans. Given these facts, it is critical to establish a new methodological perspective with an integrated system for effective disaster management of CI, as well as an intelligent application that will aid in the construction of more resilient and sustainable cities and communities. This perspective proposes a holistic gaming scenario application for assessing the vulnerability and accessibility of critical infrastructures during multi-hazard events, with a primary focus on conducting an integrated assessment for critical infrastructures and their assets. Mainly, the perspective includes a holistic gaming scenario application that will aid in accurately quantifying geographical spatial information and integrating big data into predictive and prescriptive management tools using virtual reality.•Conducting Integrated Assessment Models for evaluating vulnerability of Critical Infrastructures.•Inducing Digital Technologies during Multi-Hazard Incidents for improving Natural hazard assessment models.•Developing an open-world gaming scenario that is considered with high visual motion pictures and scenes.

Disaster Guard for Disaster Management

The "Disaster Guard" project presents a comprehensive disaster management mobile app designed to empower individuals and communities in navigating the challenges of disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. With a focus on fostering resilience, the app integrates cutting-edge features, including real-time disaster alerts, location-based services, and a user-friendly emergency services directory. The inclusion of SOS and distress signaling, coupled with two-way communication channels, ensures swift assistance during critical moments. Leveraging data prediction and early warning systems, the platform enables proactive planning, enhancing the overall preparedness for potential disasters.

Modeling post-disaster recovery: Accounting for rental and multi-family housing

Post-disaster housing recovery models increase our understanding of recovery dynamics, vulnerable populations, and how people are affected by the direct losses that disasters create. Past recovery models have focused on single-family owner-occupied housing, while empirical evidence shows that rental units and multi-family housing are disadvantaged in post-disaster recovery. To fill this gap, this article presents an agent-based housing recovery model that includes the four common type–tenure combinations of single- and multi-family owner- and renter-occupied housing. The proposed model accounts for the different recovery processes, emphasizing funding sources available to each type–tenure. The outputs of our model include the timing of financing and recovery at building resolution across a community. We demonstrate the model with a case study of Alameda, California, recovering from a simulated M7.0 earthquake on the Hayward fault. The processes in the model replicate higher non-recovery of multi-family housing than single-family housing, as observed in past disasters, and a heavy reliance of single-family renter-occupied units on Small Business Administration funding, which is expected due to low earthquake insurance penetration. The simulation results indicate that multi-family housing would have the highest portion of unmet need remaining; however, some buildings with unmet needs are anticipated to be able to obtain a large portion of their funding. The remaining portion may be filled using personal financing or may be overcome with downsizing or downgrades. Multi-family housing would also benefit the most from Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR). This benefit is a result of modeling the financing sources, that CDBG-DR is available, and that many multi-family buildings do not qualify for other sources. Communities’ allocation of public funding is important for housing recovery. Our model can help inform and compare potential financing policies to allocate public funds.

Livelihoods, work, women and climate change: women’s voice in just transition

ABSTRACT This paper analyses women’s voice at the intersection of climate change, work, and industrial relations in Australia. Despite the urgency of climate change and the need for a just transition, research on women’s voice in Australia’s climate change policy is scarce. This study conducts a content analysis of 17 policy documents from 2011–2022 related to women and climate change, produced by the National Women’s Alliances. These documents include qualitative interviews with individuals and communities affected by climate change exacerbated natural disasters. The study identifies four main themes of women’s voice: family and community care (unpaid work), employment (paid work), recognition of women’s roles and resilience, and natural disaster response and recovery. Findings highlight a focus on reactive responses to natural disasters rather than proactive measures addressing gendered impacts of climate mitigation and adaptation for a just transition. The results underscore the need for a nuanced understanding of women’s voice in shaping a just transition.

Service Level Agreement (SLAs) Model for Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) Based on Computational Resource Model of Virtual Machine

Disaster Recovery (DR) providers define the main services as backup and restore, both with critical data and applications. Most clients of data and application backup, fully rely on DR's services to restore them in the disaster events. Furthermore, in the normal conditions, DR provider backs up data, sometimes with application in routine or regular basis. Thus, providers should deliver the services in sophisticated way through several Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). In this paper, development of KPIs is focused on performance and assurance, which a laboratory testing simulates backup and restore services. On the other hand, experimental data such as network and system parameters are analysed to build performance and assurance framework. Meanwhile, interdependence among each performance and assurance of DRCs was used to build a relationship model. It is acted as a part of service level agreement, that a DR providers can present services dynamically. They also should adapt the computing resources to deliver services to meet SLA (Service Level Agreement) in flexible strategy. In turn, they can negotiate SLA with the customers based on this new approach.

Enabling Storage Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery with Ceph distributed storage

Enabling Storage Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery with Ceph distributed storage

A Hybrid Controller Enhancing Transient Performance for an Aerial Manipulator Extracting a Wedged Object

Autonomous aerial manipulation requires the capability to handle inevitable dynamic changes during physical interaction. Previously, very few studies have addressed the stability and transient performance of the scenarios involving abrupt changes in dynamics. This paper proposes a hybrid controller enhancing transient performance for an aerial manipulator extracting an object wedged in a static structure. This task incurs a significant jump in the interaction force on the end-effector so that the analysis using the concept of hybrid dynamical systems is required. To demonstrate the dynamic characteristics of the object-extracting aerial manipulator, we derive the dynamic equations for two flight modes, i.e., free-flight and object-extracting, and the rule of state jumps. Also, we design control strategies which enhance the transient performance during flight mode transition. Then, the stability of the proposed control law is proven, and the overshoot reduction after the object extraction is analyzed. To show the improved performance, we conduct plug-pulling experiments with a quadrotor-based aerial manipulator using the proposed controller and two different existing controllers. The comparative results confirm that our controller enables the aerial manipulator to maintain its stability after the flight mode transition and shows the best transient performance in overshoot minimization among three controllers. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Note to Practitioners</i> —The motivation for this article is the desire to prevent unexpected collisions between obstacles and an aerial manipulator after the vehicle extracts a wedged object from a static structure. To resolve this problem, we present a hybrid control method for such tasks while avoiding an excessive overshoot after the extraction. This method can be utilized in tasks involving abrupt changes in the dynamic model such as retrieving a device attached to a tall structure, reclaiming an object in disaster recovery, or pulling a plug out of a socket. Unlike existing methods, the proposed method simultaneously considers the stability <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">and</i> the initial overshoot right after pulling the object out of the structure, by employing a disturbance observer (DOB) in a hybrid control structure. It can be utilized for the aerial manipulator to avoid collision in a narrow space or to keep it in a safe operation envelope even though the task requires producing a relatively large pulling force.

Multimodal logistics chains for international transportation of dangerous and perishable goods

The overview article delves into the critical area of emergency logistics and supply chain management. Analyzing research conducted by experts in the field, the authors explore the potential benefits and challenges associated with the use of multimodal and intermodal international transportation of dangerous and perishable goods, and assess the potential challenges as well as the importance of emergency logistics for disaster relief and recovery. It is noted that traditional unimodal transport systems may be insufficient for swift and efficient response to emergency situations, which makes the integration of multimodal and intermodal chains an increasingly attractive alternative. Emergency logistics play a key role in ensuring the uninterrupted flow of goods during crises and disasters, especially when it comes to dangerous and perishable goods. One of the purposes of this article is to highlight the importance of vehicle diversification during such disasters. Multimodal transport involves the use of several modes of transport, such as road, rail, sea and air, under the direction of one transport operator or several carriers that cooperate in a coordinated manner. On the other hand, such transportation involves the use of standardized containers that can be easily moved between different modes of transport, offering increased flexibility and cost-effectiveness. The article provides an overview of the challenges faced by emergency logistics and the potential problems when transporting dangerous and perishable goods. It emphasizes the importance of building robust supply chains that can withstand disruptions and provide rapid response to effectively mitigate risks. The need to increase the stability and efficiency of emergency logistics chains is emphasized. The study aims to shed light on which approach offers the best balance between timeliness, adaptability and overall efficiency in the international transport of hazardous materials and perishable goods. The article refers to case studies and real-world cases of emergency logistics operations where multimodal and intermodal transport systems have been successfully applied. These cases highlight their practicality and effectiveness in mitigating potential disasters and minimizing the negative impact of accidents such as spills, explosions or spoilage, and the consequences of war. The authors note the special relevance of multimodal container transportation of dangerous and perishable goods, especially during the war that Ukraine is waging against russian aggression, since in these conditions the principle of logistics “just in time” is most in demand, and modern containers allow to ensure complete safety, speed and accuracy, and in necessary cases, the secrecy of the delivery of goods in the conditions of hostilities and other emergency situations.

Queer vulnerability and disaster situations

&lt;abstract&gt; &lt;p&gt;The appropriateness of branding certain disaster events as a natural disaster continues to be academically debated, given that few disasters are solely the result of uncontrollable forces of nature, and are instead anthropogenic in their creation, or exacerbated by the relationship humans have with actual and potential hazards. Therefore, this socially constructed nature of disasters also makes groups that are marginalized within society, such as queer people, more vulnerable to these disasters. Utilizing a Bourdieusian framework, the field of disaster preparedness, management, and recovery is examined for queer vulnerability, which is deconstructed here as a product of global and local cultures, in their distribution of economic, social, cultural, and symbolic capital away from queer people. The concepts of habitus and subsidiary concepts of ethos and doxa are deployed to understand the ingrained ways of doing and being that perpetuate discrimination against queer individuals through said inequitable distributions of capital. It is argued that the field is privileged for heteronormative lives, thus leading to heteronormative assumptions and actions that further marginalize queer experiences before, during, and after disasters during disasters. In light of this, we call for a more social justice informed approach to disaster risk reduction and relief, in which heteronormativity is consciously decentered to ensure all groups are kept safe from disasters, which can arguably never be natural.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/abstract&gt;

Unveiling the Role of social media in Shaping Responses to Natural Disasters

Natural disasters pose significant challenges to affected communities, governments, and relief organizations, necessitating innovative disaster response and recovery strategies. The rise of social media platforms in recent years has transformed disaster management, presenting both opportunities and complexities. This study delves into the multifaceted role of social media in shaping natural disaster responses. Researchers examine its utilization before, during, and after disasters for information dissemination, relief coordination, resource mobilization, and emotional support. Additionally, employing classification models like Support Vector Machine (SVM), Logistic Regression (LR), and Decision Tree (DT), the study assesses their performance using accuracy, recall, precision, and F1 score metrics. The SVM model achieves 94% accuracy, with 92% precision and 94% recall, resulting in a 95% F1 score. LR demonstrates similar performance, scoring 95% across accuracy, precision, and recall, yielding a corresponding 95% F1 score. In contrast, the DT model outperforms both, achieving 97% accuracy, 96% precision, and recall, culminating in an impressive 97% F1 score. These results highlight nuances in model efficacy, with DT showcasing superior performance. Moreover, the DT model exhibits a faster computation time at 37.203 ms compared to SVM and LR. This research sheds light on the dynamic relationship between social media and disaster response, offering insights for stakeholders to harness its potential in bolstering preparedness, response, and resilience during natural disasters.

A qualitative study to explore the immediate effects of cyclone Freddy on vulnerable learners education in Malawi

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and identify effects of Cyclone Freddy on vulnerable learners in the flood prone areas both at primary and secondary school levels. Methodology: This study used a qualitative study method, which depended on mostly secondary data, using online interviews, reviews of online news articles, social media postings and United Nations reports and observations. Data was collected from the most affected areas of Blantyre Urban, Phalombe, Mulanje, Nsanje and Chikwawa districts. Purposive and convenience sampling was applied to the education institutions to get a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. The study also targeted teachers, parents, and students of the affected schools in the districts. The tools for collecting data were questionnaires using face to face interviews, focus group interviews which mostly included observations. Information was coded and participants in this study were assured of for anonymity and confidentiality. Results: The results of the research provide a better understanding of the impacts of cyclones on education systems and possibly give pointers in terms of preparedness of education systems to cope with disasters of the same magnitude in future. Additionally, due to lack of rapid response on Psycho Social First Aid (PFA), a lot of the victims succumbed to trauma and depression. This made the go back to school campaign very difficult especially for the most vulnerable communities. Contribution to theory and practices and policy: The research findings validates the theory of disaster preparedness that exhaust all areas of rapid response as a recovery strategy, such as evacuation, supply of immediate basic needs in the areas of shelter, food, beddings and psycho-social support especially (PFA). The Government (DODMA) through Ministry of Education and other line Ministries, the donor communities and implementing partners should embark on harmonizing efforts for disaster preparedness and recovery strategies to speed up operations. Watt, (2019), suggests that, while it is a requirement to take pro-active measures to put in place realistic strategies for future natural disasters, education should also be taken as a priority in the recovery strategies.

Disaster recovery plan implementation evaluation model at the corporation

The application of information technology in addition to making internal business processes more effective and efficient, is also to improve customer service. This role is important for companies to maintain the sustainability of information systems as a strategic tool for competitive advantage so system availability is absolutely essential. Research related to the Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) needs to be carried out to see the readiness of a corporation to build a backup system in different places and locations. By using the method of factor analysis and regression analysis to form an evaluation model, it will obtain an overview of what factors must be considered and what the current conditions are. The results of the study show that there are Core Technical DRP, Organizational Preparation, and Costing factors which are the main variables in supporting DRP readiness. The conclusion from this study, through these three new factors a mathematical model can be built as a reference for improving DRP implementation in corporations.

Prioritisation of disaster recovery aspects through DEMATEL technique

Prioritisation of disaster recovery aspects through DEMATEL technique

Layerwise Quantum Deep Reinforcement Learning for Joint Optimization of UAV Trajectory and Resource Allocation

This study proposes a layerwise quantum-based deep reinforcement learning (LQ-DRL) method for optimizing continuous large space and time series problems using deep layer training. The actions in LQ-DRL are optimized using a layerwise quantum embedding that leverages the advantages of quantum computing to maximize reward and reduce training loss. Moreover, this study employs a local loss to minimize the occurrence of barren plateaus phenomena and further enhance performance. As a particular case, the proposed scheme is employed to jointly optimize: (1) UAV trajectory planning, (2) user grouping, and (3) power allocation for higher energy efficiency of a UAV as the reward. The combination of these optimized factors is referred to as action space in the presented LQ-DRL. The LQ-DRL is employed to solve the optimization problem due to its non-convexity, continuous and large action space, and time-series domain. In a practical view, LQ-DRL aims to solve the issue of energy consumption related to limited-battery energy of a UAV base station while maintaining quality-of-service (QoS) for users, by gaining maximum energy efficiency as the reward. One of real applications, as an example, LQ-DRL can be employed to maximize the energy efficiency of a UAV base station in UAV empowered disaster recovery networks scenario. The quantum circuits of layerwise quantum embedding are presented to show the practical implementation in noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers. Based on the results, LQ-DRL outperformed the classical DRL by achieving higher effective dimension, rewards, and lower learning losses. In addition, better performances were achieved using more layers.

Beyond Defense: Proactive Approaches to Disaster Recovery and Threat Intelligence in Modern Enterprises

Beyond Defense: Proactive Approaches to Disaster Recovery and Threat Intelligence in Modern Enterprises

Factors affecting the changes in body mass index among emergency workers at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Understanding the effects of lifestyle and radiation on health is important for the health management of disaster recovery workers. International research has demonstrated the relationship between natural disasters and diseases. The lifestyle and working conditions following the Great East Japan Earthquake potentially increased the incidence of cardiovascular disease and obesity among affected individuals. The aim of this study was to analyze the body mass index (BMI) of 1,341 emergency workers who responded to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The BMI of each emergency worker was measured immediately after the accident and compared with that measured at the initial survey conducted 5 years later to determine the effect of lifestyle habits on BMI. Awareness of the frequency of eating out and caloric intake helped maintain their BMI, while evacuation contributed to the increase in BMI. Prevention of obesity, which can trigger or exacerbate certain health conditions, such as heat exhaustion, infection, and cerebro-cardiovascular disease, requires diet counseling, with a focus on maintaining adequate caloric intake; moreover, special consideration should be provided to evacuated workers.