Human-made Disasters Research Articles

Development of Building Restoration Functions for Use in Community Recovery Planning to Tornadoes

AbstractPostdisaster community scale recovery and resilience assessments have gained interest in the United States and around the world following natural and human-made disasters. Tornadoes are one...

Humanitarian Relief Sustainability: A Framework of Humanitarian Logistics Digital Business Ecosystem

Humanitarian logistics constraints in response to natural and human-made disasters are subjects of much scrutiny and concern by global humanitarian actors, government, scientist and the public. Disasters impact continues to make headlines annually as lives and properties are lost. The humanitarian community, through their logistics operations, attends to such disasters when it occurs. Despite the assistance of humanitarian relief operations support, the relief community is faced challenges such as huge logistics costs, fewer donor supports, which affects the delivery of relief to affected people. The high cost of humanitarian logistics operations on disaster finances continue to pose a hurdle for operators as donor support is not worthwhile. The study uses a systematic literature review coupled with an axiological philosophical lens approach to developing a Humanitarian Logistics Digital Business Ecosystem (HLDBE) framework as an alternative way to sustain the humanitarian logistics operations and reliefs through hybrid humanitarian- business logistics sector. Seven elements derived from the framework are collaborative blocks for establishing a sustainable HLDBE for relief logistics operations in creating of the financial reserve, capacity and empowerment building for domestic and international humanitarian logistics operations under a win-win opportunity for stakeholders. Implementation of this ecosystem will have a positive impact on affected economies. Future research direction is also proposed to further the research direction.

Tokyo: Solaris - Güneş İmparatorluğu’nun Dirençli, Kırılgan ve Tehlikeli Kenti

Tokyo, Güvenli Kentler Endeksi (SCI), Dirençli Kentler Endeksi (CRI) ve Savills Dirençli Kentler Endeksi’ne göre dünyanın en dirençli kentidir. Kent, fiziki yapısı olan, doğa ve insanın birlikte geliştiği ve birbirini etkilediği sosyo-ekolojik bir sistemdir. Kentin sistemi; iklim değişikliği ve depremler başta olmak üzere doğal kaynaklı ve insan kaynaklı afetlere açıktır. Afetler kaçınılmaz olarak meydana geldiğinden Tokyo kentini; aynı anda, dirençli, kırılgan ve tehlikeli bir kent olarak tanımlamak mümkündür. Dünya üzerindeki pek çok kent afete maruz olduğundan yaygın kamu politikalarıyla riske karşı koymayı bir araç haline getirmiştir. Ancak bu kentlerin hiçbiri Tokyo kentinin dirençlilik seviyesine sahip değildir. Ayrıca Tokyo, dirençli bir kent olma yönünde teknik ve akademik çalışmaların odaklandığı veya icra imkânı bulduğu bir kenttir.Bu makale; bütüncül bir bakış açısıyla Tokyo’nun dirençli bir kent olma zorunluluğuna değinerek, kamu idarelerinin bilinçli ve belirgin anlayışları, çabaları ve uygulamalarını tespit etmeyi ve çeşitli çabaların varlığına rağmen, bugünkü tehlikeli ve kırılgan durumunu tartışmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu tartışmanın, dirençli kent olma öngörüsüne sahip olan veya olmayan diğer dünya kentlerinin birey ve karar vericilerinin düşün ve eylemlerine yön göstermesi ve dirençli kent çabalarına katkı sağlaması hedeflenmektedir. Betimleyici analiz yöntemiyle ele alınan kentin mevcut durumuyla ilgili çalışmalar eleştirel bir yaklaşımla değerlendirilmektedir. Değerlendirme, Tokyo kentinde yerinde aktif gözlemlere dayalı görsellerle desteklenmektedir.

Modeling Spatio-Temporal Evolution of Urban Crowd Flows

Metropolitan cities are facing many socio-economic problems (e.g., frequent traffic congestion, unexpected emergency events, and even human-made disasters) related to urban crowd flows, which can be described in terms of the gathering process of a flock of moving objects (e.g., vehicles, pedestrians) towards specific destinations during a given time period via different travel routes. Understanding the spatio-temporal characteristics of urban crowd flows is therefore of critical importance to traffic management and public safety, yet it is very challenging as it is affected by many complex factors, including spatial dependencies, temporal dependencies, and environmental conditions. In this research, we propose a novel matrix-computation-based method for modeling the morphological evolutionary patterns of urban crowd flows. The proposed methodology consists of four connected steps: (1) defining urban crowd levels, (2) deriving urban crowd regions, (3) quantifying their morphological changes, and (4) delineating the morphological evolution patterns. The proposed methodology integrates urban crowd visualization, identification, and correlation into a unified and efficient analytical framework. We validated the proposed methodology under both synthetic and real-world data scenarios using taxi mobility data in Wuhan, China as an example. Results confirm that the proposed methodology can enable city planners, municipal managers, and other stakeholders to identify and understand the gathering process of urban crowd flows in an informative and intuitive manner. Limitations and further directions with regard to data representativeness, data sparseness, pattern sensitivity, and spatial constraint are also discussed.

Evaluation of emergency evacuation in school buildings_ Protocol for a Systematic Review

Children are amongst the most vulnerable affected groups by natural and human-made disasters. Disaster preparedness education programs have been developed to help reduce risk and increase resilience for hazardous events. A better understanding is needed about children evacuation behaviour in schools and the time of evacuation. Therefore, a systematic review is proposed to search for relevant information about emergency evacuation response in schools. This systematic review protocol was developed to present adequate guidelines that can provide relevant research results to fulfil the sought objective. Sixteen databases will be accessed (Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect, are some examples) and a total of three keyword expressions will be used. The selection process will be thoroughly described, including detailed data treatment and used eligibility criteria, to contribute to the general research on this field.

Framing the concept design literacy for a general public

Educating the general public to be design literate can be a catalyst for both environmental protection and degradation, human aid and human-made disasters depending on how the scope of design is framed – and how ‘design literacy’ is defined. This paper explores how to cultivate design literacy that supports critical innovation and a transition towards more sustainable societies. The research approach is a literature review of key texts that promote and conceptualize design literacy as part of general education. Four narratives are identified as vital: a) ‘Awareness through making’, b) ‘Empower for change and citizen participation’, c) ‘Address complexity of real-world problems’, and d) ‘Participate in design processes’. Moving towards more sustainable modes of consumption and production, a design literate general public provides a critical mass of users empowered to question how a new innovation supports the well-being of people and the planet and to voice their own ideas.

Human migration: managing its increasing complexity

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the history of human migration till the present day. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyze the human movement from pre-hominid times, forming patterns of existence. Thus, ambient sun and water, weather and climate extremes, shelter, food supply, natural or human-made disasters gave rise to Homo sapiens’ wanderlust. Findings Despite obstacles, formidable barriers and even perilous deterrents, the species explored and exploited new soils and waters, whether beneficial or destructive of nature’s ample providence. Originality/value The authors treat societal as well as individual action, cultural behavior and the emergence of economic anthropology. Migratory legislation and regulation now risk transformation into resentment and then xenophobia.

Preparing children for an uncertain future: the role of the early childhood teacher

ABSTRACT This paper proposes that the future is uncertain for many children. Both natural and human-made disasters are adversely affecting the lives of millions of children and their families. An example of an environment-related disaster is cited from Sichuan Province, China, where a massive earthquake killed some 70,000 people in 2008. How the teachers responded to such a disaster is explained through drawings by the children illustrating their feelings. This paper discusses how early childhood teachers can prepare children before, during and after disasters. Various strategies are discussed including, facilitating children’s expressions of emotions, empathy, and resilience in the face of adversity. The use of dramatic play and storytelling are discussed with examples that can be a stimulus for curriculum development. The role of the teacher is viewed as critical in helping children readjust to life and regain some semblance of well-being.

Promoting Integrated Mental Health Care Services in Disaster Response Programs: Lessons Learned After the Impact of Hurricane María in Puerto Rico.

Meteorological and even human-made disasters are increasing every year in frequency and magnitude. The passage of a disaster affects a society without distinction, but groups with social vulnerability (low socioeconomic status, chronic medical, or psychological conditions, limited access to resources) face the most significant impact. As a result, psychological and behavioral symptoms (eg, depression and anxiety) can ensue, making the immediate response of mental health services crucial. Secondary data from a database of a temporary healthcare unit were analyzed. A total of 54 records were reviewed to collect information; univariate and bivariate analyses were done. The purpose of this article is to present our experience regarding the incorporation of a mental health services model, with its respective benefits and challenges, into a temporary healthcare unit, after Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Patient Behavior: An Extensive Review

The most frequent causes of death in the United States and globally are chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, lung diseases, and diabetes. Behavioral factors, particularly tobacco use, diet and activity patterns, alcohol consumption, sexual behavior, and avoidable injuries are among the most prominent contributors to mortality. Projections of the global burden of disease for the next two decades include increases in noncommunicable diseases, high rates of tobacco-related deaths, and a dramatic rise in deaths from HIV/AIDS. Worldwide, the major causes of death by 2030 are expected to be HIV/AIDS, depressive disorders, and heart disease. At the same time, in many parts of the world, infectious diseases continue to pose grim threats, especially for the very young, the old, and those with compromised immune systems. Malaria, diarrheal diseases, and other infectious diseases, in addition to AIDS, are major health threats to the poorest people around the world. And, like chronic diseases, their trajectory may be influenced by the application of effective health behavior interventions. Substantial suffering, premature mortality, and medical costs can be avoided by positive changes in behavior at multiple levels. Most recently, there has been a renewed focus on public health infrastructure to plan for emergencies, including both human-made and natural disasters. During the past twenty years, there has been a dramatic increase in public, private, and professional interest in preventing disability and death through changes in lifestyle and participation in screening programs. Much of this interest in disease prevention and early detection has been stimulated by the epidemiological transition from infectious to chronic diseases as leading causes of death, the aging of the population, rapidly escalating health care costs, and data linking individual behaviors to increased risk of morbidity and mortality.

A Survey of Algorithms and Systems for Evacuating People in Confined Spaces

The frequency, destruction and costs of natural and human-made disasters in modern highly-populated societies have resulted in research on emergency evacuation and wayfinding, which has drawn considerable attention. The subject is now a multidisciplinary area of research where information and communication technologies (ICT), and in particular the Internet of Things (IoT), have a significant impact on sensing and computing dynamic reactions that mitigate or prevent the worst outcomes of disasters. This paper offers state-of-the-art knowledge in this area so as to share ongoing research results, identify the research gaps and address the need for future research. We present a comprehensive review of research on emergency evacuation and wayfinding, focusing on the algorithmic and system design aspects. Starting from the history of emergency management research, we identify the emerging challenges concerning system optimisation, evacuee behaviour optimisation and data analysis, and the additional energy consumption by ICT equipment that operates the emergency management infrastructure.

The Nature of \u201cNatural Disasters\u201d: Survivors\u2019 Explanations of Earthquake Damage

The distinction between natural and human-made disasters is ingrained in everyday language. Disaster scientists have long been critical of this dichotomy. Nonetheless, virtually no attention has been paid to how disaster survivors conceptualize the causes of the disasters they experience. In this mixed-methods longitudinal study, 112 survivors of the 2016–2017 Central Italy earthquakes completed questionnaires 3 and 16 months following the earthquakes, with the aim of assessing attributions of blame for the earthquake damage. In-depth interviews were also conducted with 52 participants at the 3-month mark to explore representations of causation for the earthquake damage. The distinction between disasters caused by nature and disasters caused by humans was not supported by survivors of the earthquake. In the longitudinal surveys, building firms and the State were assigned as much blame as nature for the earthquake damage, at both 3 months and 16 months after the earthquakes. Corroborating this complexity, in the interviews, the causes of the earthquake damage, rather than being understood as purely natural, were perceived as a complex mosaic composed of political, technological, natural, and moral factors. This empirical work shows that disaster survivors combine both nature-based and human-based explanations of disasters, rather than subscribing to one or the other. These findings have practical implications for disaster risk reduction and response.

TRENDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GLOBAL ENERGY MARKET

In recent years, there have been some natural and human-made disasters and severe social clashes in globally important energy regions, which has had a negative impact on the environment in general and on the development of the energy market in particular. Therefore, the development of the modern energy industry is aimed at the broad involvement of renewable energy sources (RES) in the energy balance of the world's advanced countries. At the EU level, particular attention is given to increasing the proportion of RES in total energy consumption to 12% with the installed capacity of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems up to 3 GW. The purpose of our study is to propose a mathematical model of the electricity generation processes in renewable solar and wind energy systems by methods of the theory of impulsive, random processes as well as recommendations for the development of RES based on the analysis of the trends in consumption and production of energy resources, their supply-demand proportion, and a model for the development of the energy market. Our findings show that the proposed model will allow to optimize the structure and create adaptive energy systems of RES.Keywords: energy consumption, active consumer, energy market, electric power industry, tariffs.JEL Classifications: D24; Q43; M31DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.7728

Supporting Disaster Relief Efforts Internationally: A Call to Counseling Psychologists

The increased occurrence of natural and human-made disasters has led to a greater call for culturally sensitive engagement in disaster mental health. In this article, we aim to stimulate culturally focused participation and competence among counseling psychologists who engage in disaster mental health work. Framed within an ecological and systemic interaction of individual, cultural, community, and structural factors, the article is based on two cross-cultural competency models emphasizing, cultural intelligence, language proficiency, cognitive complexity and flexibility, and highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, in the planning and delivery of disaster relief services. In particular, we address (a) specific cultural challenges, (b) skills and competencies needed, and (c) recommendations for online resources, that are relevant to counseling psychologists who seek to promote emotional resiliency in individuals and communities impacted by a disaster.

Strategies to Decrease Nurses’ Stress in a Federal Medical Station (FMS) Medical Needs Shelter in the U.S. after a Hurricane Disaster

Introduction:National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) are used to provide medical care when local and state resources are overwhelmed in response to natural and human-made disasters. The stress these professionals experience during these events requires intentional and therapeutic interventions to support emotional and mental resilience. Evidence-based interventions will be presented.Aim:DMATs were deployed after Hurricane Maria to work in a Federal Medical Station (FMS), at the Coliseum Bencito, Manati, Puerto Rico. The FMS was operated through a collaboration of federal agencies and non-government agencies. Community infrastructure was impacted, including two damaged area hospitals, overwhelming available resources with increased patient care demands. The facility provided acute care and short-term services around the clock for a 10-day period, serving several hundred clients, in and around the municipality of Manati.Methods:Several strategies were utilized to decrease stress levels while nurses worked at the FMS included having a safe and secure environment, sharing stories with peers, taking scheduled breaks, utilizing physical activities (Zumba), and having designated sleeping areas. Additional strategies used for clients were relief supply choices, allowing one person to stay with special needs client, and bereaved care.Results:Nurses were able to decrease stress levels to themselves and clients while working with community partners providing acute and chronic health care needs at the area where health care services were impacted. Verbal and written feedback was provided during formal and informal meetings as well as receiving client comments on the services given at the facility.Discussion:Contribution to practice-heightened emotional responses in a disaster setting are expected and should be a focus of intervention even with health care providers. Nurses were able to employ disaster nursing knowledge, including mental health strategies in this setting and be able to better address the needs of others.

Media exposure and individuals’ emergency preparedness behaviors for coping with natural and human-made disasters

Emergency preparedness among individuals, families, and communities is essential to increase emergency management resilience. The present study aimed to analyze the role of media exposure in changing emergency preparedness behaviors for natural and human-made disasters. We checked the adequacy of measurements using confirmatory factor analysis and tested the hypotheses with hierarchical regression analysis based on 688 questionnaires in Hangzhou, China. The Johnson–Neyman technique was used to test the conditional effect of media exposure on risk perception and emergency preparedness behaviors. The results indicated that (1) media exposure had a positive effect on emergency preparedness behaviors and risk perception; (2) risk perception played a mediating role between media exposure and emergency preparedness cooperation behaviors; (3) disaster experiences had a moderating role between media exposure and risk perception; (4) disaster experiences moderated the relationship between media exposure and emergency preparedness cooperation behaviors; and (5) risk perception mediated the effect of the interaction between media exposure and disaster experiences on emergency preparedness cooperation behaviors.

Disaster response knowledge and its social determinants: A cross-sectional study in Beijing, China.

BackgroundThe purpose of this study is to identify the social factors that shape the disaster response knowledge of residents in Beijing, China. This study aims to provide evidence supporting the development and promotion of effective strategies for disaster response knowledge, including natural and human-made ones.MethodsA cross-sectional household survey on disaster response knowledge was conducted in Beijing, 2015. Using the multistage sampling method, data were collected from community residents through a self-administered questionnaire, and analyzed by descriptive methods and logistic regression models.ResultsAmong the 847 respondents, 44.2% had advanced disaster response knowledge in general, while only 9.4% knew how to react to human-made disasters, and 61.4% had advanced natural disaster response knowledge. Rural residents and those with higher education had more disaster response knowledge (P<0.05). Economic status did not show significant effects on residents’ disaster response knowledge.ConclusionPeople’s disaster response knowledge in Beijing was low, especially regarding human-made disasters. The findings implicate further health education on disaster preparedness and response should be implemented, also residents who lived in peri-urban and urban areas or with less education should be given more attention.

Node Authentication Using NTRU Algorithm in Opportunistic Network

The demand for using wireless paradigms for performing various information and communication operations has been exploded. The opportunistic networks is a special type of delay tolerant networks proposed to operate in an emergency manner to facilitate mobile connectivity between the nodes when there is no connectivity. These emergencies are caused either by human-made or natural disasters. Opportunistic Networks depend on mobile phones and other mobile devices that carry wireless technology. This paper is an attempt to expand the opportunistic network through the authentication nodes. We propose an NTRU algorithm for node authentication in opportunistic networks .NTRU algorithm is an asymmetric post-quantum cryptosystem. This algorithm is unbreakable and robust compared to RSA and ECC cryptosystem.

Towards Gas Discrimination and Mapping in Emergency Response Scenarios Using a Mobile Robot with an Electronic Nose.

Emergency personnel, such as firefighters, bomb technicians, and urban search and rescue specialists, can be exposed to a variety of extreme hazards during the response to natural and human-made disasters. In many of these scenarios, a risk factor is the presence of hazardous airborne chemicals. The recent and rapid advances in robotics and sensor technologies allow emergency responders to deal with such hazards from relatively safe distances. Mobile robots with gas-sensing capabilities allow to convey useful information such as the possible source positions of different chemicals in the emergency area. However, common gas sampling procedures for laboratory use are not applicable due to the complexity of the environment and the need for fast deployment and analysis. In addition, conventional gas identification approaches, based on supervised learning, cannot handle situations when the number and identities of the present chemicals are unknown. For the purpose of emergency response, all the information concluded from the gas detection events during the robot exploration should be delivered in real time. To address these challenges, we developed an online gas-sensing system using an electronic nose. Our system can automatically perform unsupervised learning and update the discrimination model as the robot is exploring a given environment. The online gas discrimination results are further integrated with geometrical information to derive a multi-compound gas spatial distribution map. The proposed system is deployed on a robot built to operate in harsh environments for supporting fire brigades, and is validated in several different real-world experiments of discriminating and mapping multiple chemical compounds in an indoor open environment. Our results show that the proposed system achieves high accuracy in gas discrimination in an online, unsupervised, and computationally efficient manner. The subsequently created gas distribution maps accurately indicate the presence of different chemicals in the environment, which is of practical significance for emergency response.

Save the world versus man-made disaster: A cultural perspective

This review article examines two sides of disaster that are inherently part of human life. From a cultural perspective, disasters can be divided into two main groups, namely natural disasters that are ‘given’ and disasters caused by human activities that do not respect the natural environment. The stewardship of nature is closely related to 1) human behavior, 2) worldview, 3) awareness, and 4) caring. These four aspects can be examined from a cultural perspective which in turn will foster a new awareness for humans as the inhabitants of the earth. ‘Save the World’ is a motto that persuades humans to safeguard the earth and the environment, while ‘Man-Made Disaster’ is a human condemnation of some other group of humans that have created environmental damage that directly or indirectly leads to disaster. The two sides of this phenomenon will be discussed reciprocally in this article, to see the common thread in which the cultural approach can be a recipient of these two poles. In other words save the world versus human-made disaster will be discussed from a cultural perspective.