Disaster Relief Programs Research Articles

Developing Effective Disaster Mitigation Strategies in São Paulo: Process and Challenges

In Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America, recent attempts have been made to develop effective mitigation strategies to deal with natural and human disasters, especially in urban areas. This article examines the evolution and impact of one such effort undertaken in the Municipality of São Paulo since 1997. With support and technical assistance from the City of Toronto, Canada, and expert advice from several emergency response agencies in Brazil, São Paulo's Centro de Gerênciamento de Emergências was initially envisioned as a “full-service” facility designed both to mitigate the effects of natural and man-made disasters through personnel training and enhanced warning systems and to coordinate effective event response through disaster relief programs and reconstruction/repair activities. Over time, however, CGE's mandate has become increasingly restricted, and currently functions almost exclusively as an early warning system for regional flooding. The study explores the factors underlying this outcome, and assesses the prospects for broader technical cooperation between Canada and Brazil that may help to strengthen mitigation/disaster relief strategies throughout Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America.

Increased crop damage in the US from excess precipitation under climate change

Recent flooding and heavy precipitation events in the US and worldwide have caused great damage to crop production. If the frequency of these weather extremes were to increase in the near future, as recent trends for the US indicate and as projected by global climate models (e.g., US National Assessment, Overview Report, 2001, The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, National Assesment Synthesis Team, US Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC; Houghton et al., 2001, IPCC Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis, Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 335pp.), the cost of crop losses in the coming decades could rise dramatically. Yet current assessments of the impacts of climate change on agriculture have not quantified the negative effects on crop production from increased heavy precipitation and flooding (Impacts of climate change and variability on agriculture, in: US National Assessment Foundation Document, 2001. National Assessment Synthesis Team, US Global Change Research Program, Washington DC.). In this work, we modify a dynamic crop model in order to simulate one important effect of heavy precipitation on crop growth, plant damage from excess soil moisture. We compute that US corn production losses due to this factor, already significant under current climate, may double during the next thirty years, causing additional damages totaling an estimated $3 billion per year. These costs may either be borne directly by those impacted or transferred to private or governmental insurance and disaster relief programs.

Post-earthquake quality of life and psychological well-being: longitudinal evaluation in a rural community sample in northern China.

This study aims to observe longitudinal change of quality of life (QOL) and psychological well-being in a community sample affected by an earthquake and to examine the relationship between QOL and disaster exposure, post-disaster support and other related variables. The subjects, from two villages at different distances from the epicenter, were assessed using the brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL-BREF) and three subscales of a symptoms checklist at 3 months (n=335) and 9 months (n=253) after the earthquake, respectively. Exposure to the earthquake was associated with multidimensional impairment in QOL, including physical, psychological and environmental domains at 3 months, and psychological and environmental domains at 9 months. The victims also suffered significantly more psychological distress in terms of depression, somatization and anxiety. At both assessment points the group that experienced lower initial exposure but then received less post-disaster help reported poorer QOL and psychological well-being. The two victim groups also differed significantly in changing trend along time. The group that received more support showed a general improvement in post-disaster well-being from 3 months to 9 months. The results confirm that post-disaster variables could be as important to post-disaster psychosocial outcomes as variables of pre-disaster vulnerability and disaster per se. A comprehensive and prospective assessment of disaster effects is imperative for the better organization of disaster relief programs and psychosocial interventions.

Human and Habitat Needs in Disaster Relief for Pacific Northwest Salmon Fisheries

Abstract Since 1994, federal disaster relief programs have been implemented for New England, Pacific Coast, and Gulf Coast fisheries. The Pacific Northwest coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) fishery serves as a case study for results of a disaster relief program. To help salmon fishers, the U.S. government declared an ecological disaster and provided $37 million in relief over 3 years. Relief efforts included an emergency program that provided limited, one-year assistance to an estimated two-thirds of the salmon gillnetters and trollers in Oregon, Washington, and California. A multi-year Northwest Emergency Assistance Program (NEAP) sought to reverse harmful habitat and capacity conditions and helped a quarter of the salmon gillnetters and trollers. NEAP was an important catalyst for programs to restore habitat, one of the primary causes of salmon stock decline. Interview, survey, and documentary data suggest that disaster relief helped commercial fishers continue fishing but did not adequately meet many ...

Private foundation funding of employer‐related disaster relief and emergency hardship programs held violation of chapter 42 rules‐part two

The Nonprofit CounselVolume 16, Issue 10 p. 4-5 Article Private foundation funding of employer-related disaster relief and emergency hardship programs held violation of chapter 42 rules-part two Bruce R. Hopkins, Bruce R. HopkinsSearch for more papers by this author Bruce R. Hopkins, Bruce R. HopkinsSearch for more papers by this author First published: 12 March 2007 https://doi.org/10.1002/npc.3870161005AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume16, Issue10October 1999Pages 4-5 RelatedInformation

Private foundation funding of employer‐related disaster relief and emergency hardship programs held violation of chap. 42 rules‐part one

Private foundation funding of employer‐related disaster relief and emergency hardship programs held violation of chap. 42 rules‐part one

The Economics of Crop Insurance and Disaster Aid

This study is the first to provide a comprehensive and in-depth economic analysis of the origins and consequences of U.S. crop insurance and disaster relief programs.

Choice and constraints in floodplain occupation: the influence of structural factors on residential location in peninsular Malaysia.

In Peninsular Malaysia 'structural' factors are found to influence strongly people's persistent occupation of floodplains. Thus, despite a high level of flood hazard awareness, a high level of pessimism and a high level of expectation of future floods, poorer individuals seldom attempt to leave for more advantageous locations but are instead trapped in their present locations by structural factors such as poverty, low residential and occupational mobility, low educational attainment, traditional land inheritance, government aid, and government disaster preparedness, relief and rehabilitation programmes. These forces exert a strong influence upon individuals and largely control their choice of residential location in response to flood hazards, thereby reinforcing the persistent occupation of floodplains. Structural factors such as landlessness, rural-urban migration, floodplain encroachment and squatting are also highly influential in leading people to move. Even for those who move, structural factors have largely confined their choice of residential location to urban floodplains.

Information and professionalism in disaster relief programmes

DisastersVolume 9, Issue s1 p. 22-26 Information and professionalism in disaster relief programmes Frances D'Souza, Frances D'Souza International Disaster Institute London, U.KSearch for more papers by this author Frances D'Souza, Frances D'Souza International Disaster Institute London, U.KSearch for more papers by this author First published: December 1985 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7717.1985.tb00958.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume9, Issues1Special Issue: The role of disaster relief in long-term developmentDecember 1985Pages 22-26 This article also appears in:ODI@60: reflections and observations on five decades of disaster studies RelatedInformation

Secondary disaster victims: the emotional effects of recovering and identifying human remains.

The author conducted a questionnaire survey of the 592 U.S. Air Force personnel involved in transporting and identifying the bodies of the almost 1,000 persons who died in Jonestown, Guyana; 225 (38%) of the personnel involved returned the questionnaire, as well as 76 (22%) of 352 individuals who were not involved in the operation. The Guyana respondents reported significantly more short-term dysphoria, which was more pronounced in those younger than 25 years of age, those who were black, those who were enlisted men rather than officers, and those with more exposure to the bodies. The author discusses the implications of these findings in planning future disaster relief programs.

A report on the use of agricultural credit for poor disaster victims in India

One essential response to disasters is to bring relief aid for the immediate survival of the victims. Another response is often of great importance, although it receives less publicity: that of helping the victims to re‐establish themselves economically. The extension of agricultural credit is one means of achieving this where people have lost crops and/or productive assets. In Orissa, East India, from the mid‐1970's, OXFAM channelled funds through local development organizations for this purpose. In this report, Lincoln Young presents a retrospective review of some of the results of two such projects; the Winter Wheat Project following a drought and the Dalua Project following floods. The emergency nature of such schemes poses considerable problems, placing unusual stress on local administrators in making rapid day‐to‐day decisions and diminishing the possibilities of monitoring which exist in more normal circumstances. The projects described here failed to achieve their original objectives, but lessons may be learned with perhaps greater clarity than from other, somewhat more successful, disaster relief programmes.

Delayed-impact infectious disease after a natural disaster

Most recent studies of natural disasters have shown little increase in post-disaster infectious disease. The result has been a de-emphasis of the disease control portion of many disaster relief programs. This study demonstrates a significant increase in four out of the five diseases studied following two hurricanes in the Dominican Republic, with the major impact of the increases coming several months after the disaster. Posited reasons for the increase in infectious diseases are: (a) overcrowding of makeshift refugee centers with insufficient sanitary facilities, and (b) flood-caused water transmission of pathogens.

A Mid-1970 Report on the National Flood Insurance Program

The authors, in an effort to report on the progress of the National Flood Insurance program, interviewed knowledgeable people in all levels of government, insurance and housing industries, and the public. Responses of the sources were analyzed in terms of implications for land use and control, tax revenues, property values and employment. Based on this analysis, the authors conclude that despite the problems and inadequacies, the program affords the potential for reduction in loss of life and property damage caused by flood, as a result of the long-term adjustments in land use. It also offers the possibility of a more efficient and equitable method of dealing with flood losses than charity or disaster relief programs. Further, it affords an opportunity for development of economically sound flood and other disaster insurance by the private insurance industry alone. Annually, floods in the United States cause the death of many persons and extensive property damage despite increasingly sophisticated weather forecasting methods and flood warning and control measures. Floods occur in rather well defined local areas, but with considerable variation from year to year in frequency of occurrence and magnitude of damage. Because of these characteristics of floods and their catastrophic financial consequences for many flood victims, the feasiRobert S. Felton, D.B.A., C.L.U., C.P.C.U., is Pan-American Life Insurance Research Professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. William K. Ghee, Ph.D., C.L.U., C.P.C.U., is Associate Professor of Finance and Insurance at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. John E. Stinton, D.B.A., C.L.U., is Professor of Business Administration at the University of South Carolina. This study was made possible by a research grant from the American Risk and Insurance Association. The authors wish to thank the Association for its financial assistance and the many people who provided information for this study. This paper was presented at the 1970 Annual Meeting of A.R.I.A. bility of flood insurance has often been suggested. Interest in flood insurance was particularly intense following disastrous floods in 1951, 1955, and 1961, and the Alaska earthquake and flood in 1964. Hurricane Betsy in September 19-65 provided the final impetus for legislation' which directed the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to undertake a study of various programs which might be established to help provide financial assistance to those suffering property losses caused by floods and other natural disasters. The Department then conducted an extensive study of the subject under the direction of Dr. Marion Clawson. This study2 was completed and forwarded to the President and to Congress in 1966. On August 1, 1968, Congress enacted the National Flood Insur' Section 5 of the Southeast Hurricane Disaster Relief Act of 1965 (Public Law 89-339). 2 U.S. Senate Committee on Banking and Currency, 89th Congress, Insurance and Other Programs for Financial Assistance to Flood Vicims (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govermment Printing Office, 1966).

Hurricane Camille


 
 
 The Office of Emergency Preparedness, in the Executive Office of the President of the United States of America, is established to advise and assist the President in the total non-military defence and emergency preparedness of the United States, for the events either of war or natural disaster. The OEP administers for the President the natural disaster relief program for assistance to areas stricken by hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods and other natural catastrophes.