Post-disaster Recovery Process Research Articles

Post-disaster recovery: the challenge of anticipation

The recurrence of disasters, sometimes in the same territories, questioned the effectiveness of the preventive logic and of the post-disaster recovery process. The present reconstruction approach aims at analysing the interactions between risk, societies and territories. The study of the recovery process in a holistic way through a medium and long-term feedback defines its operating rules, and its “good and bad practices ” regarding the objectives of risk reduction and sustainable development. The lack of anticipation, the numerous uncertainties and the emergency in which the decisions are taken, lead in many cases, to risk persistence and increased social gaps. When “preventive ethics ” is integrated into the process, it remains occasional and marginal. Reconstruction does not start from a “zero state ”; it is subjected to territorial, economic and political constraints. Thus, in order to make the postdisaster reconstruction a preventive opportunity, an anticipatory effort is needed - though necessarily limited - it must be accompanied by an ex-post planning. These considerations will be illustrated by the examples of the recovery of two French departments: the Aude department after the 12th and 13th November 1999 floods, and the Var department after the 15th and 16th June 2010 floods.

Discovering opportunities in necessity: the inverse creative destruction effect

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the changes in perceptions and actions taken on post-disaster entrepreneurial opportunities.Design/methodology/approach– Utilizing worldwide data on natural disasters (EMDAT) and entrepreneurial perceptions (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)), the authors apply analysis of covariance to compare entrepreneurial opportunity perceptions and actions before and after a disaster took place.Findings– The study found that natural disasters have a significant and positive impact on entrepreneurial opportunity perceptions and actions but not on perceptions of self-efficacy, fear of failure and entrepreneurial intentions.Research limitations implications– One limitation of the study is the use of the secondary data. While the GEM data as well as the EMDAT data are country specific, disasters usually have a direct impact on a region of a country rather than affecting the whole country’s behavior.Practical implications– The results hold important policy implications. The fact that disasters increase entrepreneurial action implies that local government institutions should include entrepreneurial action as part of the post-disaster recovery process. By providing assistance and access to resources, government institutions could further increase entrepreneurial action and could increase the number of opportunities perceived by individuals which would lead to new and innovative businesses, in addition to the rebuilding of pre-existing firms.Originality/value– Natural disasters are frequently considered to be the cause of small business failures or an obstacle to their performance, while simultaneously thought to be a vital component of post-disaster reconstruction. To date, few researchers have attempted to understand the impact of these events on entrepreneurial tendencies, behaviors and activities, even though the authors barely understand how they could serve as a source of entrepreneurial opportunity and innovation. This research is one of the first attempts to shed some light into this interesting and important phenomenon.

Industry sector recovery following the Canterbury earthquakes

The Canterbury sequence of earthquakes offers an opportunity to study the post-disaster recovery process of organisations and industry sectors. This study uses data collected via a survey of organisations affected by the 22 February 2011 earthquake in Canterbury, New Zealand. The industry sectors in the study are construction for its role in the rebuild, information and communication technology which is a regional high-growth industry, trucking for logistics, critical infrastructure, fast moving consumer goods (e.g. supermarkets) and hospitality to track recovery through non-discretionary and discretionary spend respectively. When compared to post-earthquake revenue changes, significant factors affecting organisations include customer issues, staff wellbeing and disruption to utilities. Also discussed is the differential effect these factors have on the industry sectors studied. This paper identifies the different factors that disrupted organisations in different sectors; explores the relative impact of these disruptions; and examines the differences in short- to medium-term recovery trends.

Reflections on Residential Rebuilding After the Victorian Black Saturday Bushfires

After the catastrophic 2009 bushfires in the state of Victoria, Australia, the State Government provided information and advice, short-term and temporary accommodation as well as financial assistance to bushfire-affected communities. A tension developed between quickly rebuilding housing and re-establishing known social and economic networks versus a slower and more deliberative process that focuses on long-term community outcomes. Whilst there was a widespread assumption that quick rebuilding would be beneficial, resulting in immediate pressure to do so, it became evident that many people were not prepared to, or even did not want to rebuild. Thus it became important to provide time and support for people to consider their options away from the immediate pressures to rebuild that are often inherent in post-disaster recovery processes. This became known as “holding the space” and included the introduction of interim supports such as building temporary villages and other supports which enable people to achieve appropriate interim accommodation without having to rebuild immediately. However, even two years after the bushfires a significant proportion of people remained undecided whether they wanted to rebuild or not. The post-bushfire experience pointed to a number of lessons including the importance of appropriate timing of post-disaster activities, careful targeting of financial assistance, need for developing better and lower cost interim housing options and pre-impact planning. Given the complex nature of rebuilding following a disaster, design professionals should focus not just on the final house, but also look at housing options that blur the distinction between temporary and permanent. Their designs should be quick to build, offer a good quality of life, be affordable for most and be flexible in design for future use.

TRANSITIONAL SHELTER FOR DISASTER VICTIMS: BAMBOO CORE AND INCREMENTAL HOUSES

Indonesia has experienced many catastrophic disasters since 2004. Tsunami, earthqukes, floods and volcanic eruptions have caused devastated destruction towards houses, land, belongings, and wellfare. In post-disaster recovery process, it is essential to provide a transitional shelter especially for low-income community while preparing the reconstruction of their permanent housing. This paper presents bamboo incremental house as disaster victims’ transitional shelter in Jember. An empathic approach was taken in developing the house design, taking into consideration the disaster victims’ need, perception, and their economic condition, as well as the local materials, technology and the financial support available.

Hell and High Water: Practice-Relevant Adaptation Science

Adaptation requires science that analyzes decisions, identifies vulnerabilities, improves foresight, and develops options.

Investigating the significance of disaster information management

Disaster information informs disaster risk management interventions. However, it is the systematic management of this key resource that has not yet been fully embraced. In some cases, information is still haphazardly collected, analysed, managed and disseminated. This paper, utilising mainly secondary literature sources, explores the importance of disaster information and its systematic management in disaster risk management programming. It presents challenges associated with information management in disaster situations and critiques the trend whereby the collection, management and dissemination of information are usually limited to disaster situations. This only serves to further marginalise post-disaster recovery processes, which are integral with regard to generating knowledge essential for the formulation of future disaster mitigation strategies. The paper concludes by arguing for the integration of disaster information management into current disaster risk management curriculum.

Comparative Analysis of Disaster Management between Japan & India

Natural Calamity is a bitter truth from which no one can escape. So many deaths, diseases, economic and social loss are few results of natural calamity. Disaster risk is on the rise all the way through the world. The economic losses and the number of people who have been affected by natural calamities have increased significantly over the past decades than the population growth, which slows down the economic growth of the affected country. The physical, social, particularly the emotional aspect and economic losses caused by these disasters are particularly more expensive for developing countries. To minimize the damages caused by disasters, various efforts have been taken by government, society, NGO's and international communities. Despite highest disaster preparedness by Japanese Government, on March 11, 2013, northeastern part of Japan has been severely devastated by magnitude 9 earthquake followed by tsunami (called Tohoku Earthquake) which killed 25,000 people, 50,000 people missing and made 250000 people homeless and preliminary loss of lives and properties worth of $310 billion dollars. The severity of the disaster was beyond imagination which caused such big damage of valuable lives and properties. Even as horrific disaster that struck Japan continues to linger in our minds, one cannot but wonder what would happen if a similar disaster were to strike India? For this reason, community should be more conscious about disaster prevention culture and mitigation. They should be involved in post disaster recovery and reconstruction process for facing the future disasters and mitigate it. Japan Government's initiative and commitment to mobilize local and international community to minimize the damage and loss from Disaster is highly commendable. Japanese experience of disaster management and mitigation and community involvement in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake had been proven most successful. Now days, India is also facing such consequences very frequently. Japanese lessons can be helpful to India to overcome with this challenging and vulnerable situation. In this paper we examined the major disaster phenomenon in Japan and India, a comparative study of disaster management system of Japan and India, techniques of community mobilization in Japan for successful implementation of disaster preparedness planning and recovery from post disaster situations. We would like to replicate some experience; we gained from Japan to our country and recommend some suggestions on effective community mobilization in India.

Disaster and Recovery: Processes Compressed in Time

The study of postdisaster recovery is in its infancy, and there is as yet no body of theory to guide researchers (Alesch 2005; Smith and Wenger 2007; Olshansky and Chang 2009). Few researchers have conducted in-depth research of recovery processes following more than one disaster (e.g., Haas et al. 1977; Rubin 1985; Comerio 1998; Phillips 2009; Alesch et al. 2009; Olshansky et al. 2006; Olshansky and Johnson 2010), which has further impeded the development of theory for postdisaster recovery phenomena. This is an important issue, for very practical reasons. In recent years, the world has experienced numerous disastrous events, each of which has displaced hundreds of thousands of families from their homes and killed tens of thousands of people. The most recent of these are the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011, the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, and the floods that overwhelmed Pakistan in the summer of 2010. Each such disaster devastates households and communities, requires contributions of billions of dollars from around the world, and requires a strategy for rebuilding homes, livelihoods, and urban systems. A more organized framework for studying—and learning from—recovery processes following such disasters would help to guide local, national, and international agencies in more effectively organizing for and implementing long-term recovery. Recovery involves residents rebuilding homes or seeking new accommodations, businesses repairing and surviving lean times, utilities and public agencies repairing infrastructure and facilities, and households learning to cope with new stresses. These multiple layers of recovery processes provide fruitful research opportunities for urban planners, engineers, political scientists, public administration scholars, sociologists, economists, architects, and others, all relying on theories grounded in their own disciplines. The question is, other than the causative circumstances, is there anything fundamentally different about urban redevelopment, public finance, organization of public institutions, and social and economic problems when the subject of study is in a postdisaster environment? We posit that the key characteristic that distinguishes postdisaster conditions from normal times is time compression. Stated simply, the postdisaster environment consists of a compression of urban development activities in time and in a limited space, a phenomenon that we refer to as time compression. Furthermore, time compression affects different aspects of recovery processes in different ways, thereby changing their relationships compared to normal times. For example, processes of physical construction, financial transactions, social capital formation, and institution building compress unequally in time. The place of disaster thus becomes different from other places in new ways. Researchers describe numerous characteristics of postdisaster recovery, with time compression being one of them (e.g., Haas et al. 1977; Quarantelli 1999; Olshansky and Chang 2009). We argue, however, that time compression is an important overarching characteristic, and that it provides a key to understanding recovery. Time compression explains most of what we know that distinguishes postdisaster recovery processes from similar processes in normal times. This paper offers a conceptual framework to help scholars and recovery professionals of all disciplines think more clearly about how the recovery environment distorts their normal disciplinary lenses. We first explain how time compression works, using examples from the field of urban development and planning. Next we describe how differential compression helps to explain some of the more challenging aspects of urban reconstruction following disasters. Next, several examples illustrate how well-known recovery phenomena can be explained as symptoms of time compression. Finally, we suggest how the concept of time compression can be used to improve planning processes and institutional design following disasters. In the conclusion, we suggest how scholars and practitioners in disciplines other than our own might also find the time-compression concept to be useful.

Field note from Pakistan floods: Preventing future flood disasters

Unusually heavy monsoon rains in Northern Pakistan have caused disproportionate levels of extreme flooding and unprecedented flood losses across the entire Indus River basin. Extensive land use changes and environmental degradation in the uplands and lowlands of the river basin together with the construction of a “built environment” out of balance with the functioning, capacities, scale and limits of the local ecosystems have exposed millions of people to an increased risk of extreme #ooding. The catastrophic nature of the August #ooding provides a unique opportunity to fundamentally change Pakistan’s current socio-economic development path by incorporating disaster risk reduction and climate change measures into the post-disaster recovery process to rebuild a safer, more resilient nation. In January 2005 one hundred and sixty-eight nations adopted the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA)2005-2015 to bring about a “substantial reduction in disaster losses” by 2015. Despite this global initiative a series of major disasters, including the recent flooding in Pakistan, all indicate that we are not on track to achieve the substantial reduction of disaster losses. The following fieldnote considers what can be done to accelerate progress towards implementation of the Hyogo Framework, drawing on insights and lessons learnt from the August flooding to understand how Pakistan and neighbouring countries can prevent a repeat of such catastrophic disasters in future years.

Escaping to and being active in neighbourhood parks: park use in a post‐disaster setting

Neighbourhood parks may serve as a coping resource in post-disaster communities, yet little is known about the impact of large-scale disasters on park use. The objective of this study is to explore the impact of Hurricane Katrina (August 2005) on park use by visitors from flooded areas of New Orleans, Louisiana, compared to visitors from non-flooded areas. In 2006 and 2007, following Hurricane Katrina, 201 adults who visited 27 New Orleans parks were interviewed. Visitors from flooded neighbourhoods used their parks less often and were less likely to engage in animal interaction than visitors from non-flooded neighbourhoods. They placed more importance on escape and physically-active motivations than visitors from non-flooded areas. Social reasons were also more important to visitors from flooded areas, but these differences disappeared after adjusting for race. Neighbourhood parks are a community asset that may play a role in the post-disaster recovery process by providing opportunities for escape and physical activity.

RECOVERY CURVES FOR HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION IN SRI LANKA AFTER THE 2004 INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI

On the 26th of December 2004, the Tsunami damaged to five provinces in Sri Lanka and more than 40,000 people were displaced, lost, or killed within a short time. After the tsunami, the Government provided three types of houses for the victims (temporary shelters, transitional houses, and permanent houses). The authors conducted several field surveys and interviews in the damaged area to investigate the recovery conditions, and obtained dataset, which had been collected for 13 months since December 2004 by Rebuilding and Development Agency. It shows the construction status of transitional house and permanent house in the damaged areas. This paper demonstrates recovery curves for the transitional houses and the permanent houses. With the aim of constructing post-earthquake recovery curves for Sri Lanka, the factors of time (months) and completion ratio of building construction are used. The obtained curves quantitatively clarify the regional differences in the completion dates and processes of construction. The proposed quantitative methodology will be used for other damaged countries due to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. It means that this kind of analysis is essential for investigating post-disaster recovery process because it enables comparative studies of urban/rural planning among different types of post-disaster recovery processes throughout the world.

Crisis in Urban Water Systems during the Reconstruction Period: A System Dynamics Analysis of Alternative Policies after the 2003 Earthquake in Bam-Iran

Quick restoration of critical infrastructure systems, such as water, electrical power, natural gas, and transportation systems, are essential for rapid and effective post disaster recovery and reconstruction process. A number of previous studies have assessed vulnerability of infrastructure systems to various hazards such as earthquakes, but seldom have the impacts of post disaster policies been considered. In its assessment of the water system in post disaster situation after Bam earthquake, this paper examines the impacts of various reconstruction as well as water management policies on the system failure in operation in terms of the ability of Bam urban water system to meet increased demand trends. Adopting a system dynamics modeling approach and the concept of viability loops, the paper will show that in order to minimize further crisis in the water system during the reconstruction period stricter water management policies need to be considered.

STRUCTURE OF RECOVERY PROCESS IN BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA AFTER THE 2004 INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI

Housing reconstruction projects supported with foreign agencies such as JICA and USAID are under process in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, the most damaged area due to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. As of March 2008, there are still some problems with regard to city and village planning in the post recovery process from the viewpoint of disaster management. The authors conducted a field survey in March 2008 to understand the recovery conditions, and had interview to JICA, BRR, and the victims about livelihood condition at new resettlement sites. This paper demonstrates the recovery process of affected people, and clarifies the problems of the reconstruction and rehabilitation project managed by BRR using structural chart of post-disaster recovery process.

Development of Planning Support System for Urban Rehabilitation and Reconstruction

The past post-disaster recovery process had many difficulties in planning. The importance of residents participatory urban planning is true of post-disaster planning and ordinary planning; however, there are difficult problems as follows: time-scale conflict between desire of affected households for swift recovery of their individual lives and enough consideration of urban planning to avoid speed-before-quality planning, unsmooth discussion and consensus building because of mutual conflict of their interest in the residents, and a shortage of professionals in the case that an earthquake disaster hits wide and high-density urbanized region. The concept of "pre-disaster planning" has been propounded as measures to deal with these serious situations after 1995 Hyogo-ken Nambu Earthquake in Japan. Actual measures including "neighborhood community-training program for post-disaster recovery" of Tokyo Metropolitan have been implemented in various approaches. This study has pioneering approach in this context. We focus on planning support technologies based on a geographic information system (GIS) and establish planning support system for post-disaster community-based urban planning, which will smooth discussion and increase efficiency of planning work. An introduction of the system will result in reduction of total time needed on the planning process and supplement of professionals. Though there are some problems that we identified, they will be solved in accumulated experiences such as the training program in the near future.

Alcohol Use, Mental Health Status and Psychological Well-being 2 Years After the World Trade Center Attacks in New York City

Over the past 30 years, studies have shown that survivors of community-wide disasters suffer from a variety of physical and mental health problems. Researchers also have documented increased substance use in the aftermath of these disasters. In the present study, we examined the relationship between alcohol use and mental health status within the context of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City (NYC). The data for the present report come from a 2-wave panel study of adults living in NYC on the day of the attacks. Wave 1 (W1) and Wave 2 (W2) interviews occurred one year and two years after the attacks, respectively. Overall, 2,368 individuals completed the W1 survey (cooperation rate, 63%) and 1,681 completed the W2 survey (re-interview rate, 71%). The alcohol use variables examined were binge drinking, alcohol dependence, increased days drinking, and increased drinks per day. The outcomes examined included measures of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression, BSI-18-Global Severity and measures of SF12-mental and physical health status. After controlling for demographic, stress, and resource factors, multivariate logistic regressions indicated that all alcohol measures were related to one or more of these outcomes. In particular, binge drinking was related to partial PTSD, while alcohol dependence was associated subsyndromal PTSD, severity of PTSD, depression, BSI-18 global severity, and SF-12 poor mental health status. Increased post-disaster drinking was positively associated with subsyndromal PTSD and negatively associated with SF-12 physical health. We discuss reasons for these results and the negative consequences that heavy alcohol use may have on the postdisaster recovery process.

Social Capital: A Missing Link to Disaster Recovery

Post-disaster recovery processes should be considered as opportunities for development, by revitalizing the local economy and upgrading livelihoods and living conditions. Social capital, which is defined as a function of trust, social norms, participation, and network, can play an important role in recovery. This paper examines the role of social capital in the post earthquake rehabilitation and reconstruction programs in two cases: Kobe, Japan and Gujarat, India. The Kobe case study shows that the community with social capital and with a tradition of community activities can pro-actively participate in the reconstruction program, and thereby can make a successful and speedy recovery. A model for bonding, bridging and linking social capital was developed from the Kobe experience, and was applied to Gujarat in four different communities. It was observed that the community with social capital records the highest satisfaction rate for the new town planning and has the speediest recovery rate. The role of community leaders has been prominent in utilizing social capital in the recovery process, and facilitating collective decision-making. Thus, although the two case studies differ in socio-economic and cultural contexts, the communities’ social capital and leadership are found to be the most effective elements in both cases in enhancing collective actions and disaster recovery.

ASSESSING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS DURING NATURAL DISASTER: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY

The linkages between disaster and environmental damage are recognized as important to predicting, preventing and mitigating the impact of disasters. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures are well developed for non-ndisaster situations. However, they are conceptually and operationally inappropriate for use in disaster conditions, particularly in the first 120 days after the disaster has begun. The paper provides a conceptual overview of the requirements for an environmental impact assessment procedure appropriate for disaster conditions. These requirements are captured in guidelines for a Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment (REA) for use in disasters. The REA guides the collection and assessment of a wide range of factors which can indicate: (1) the negative impacts of a disaster on the environment, (2) the impacts of environmental conditions on the magnitude of a disaster and, (3) the positive or negative impacts of relief efforts on environmental conditions. The REA also provides a foundation for recovery program EIAs, thus improving the overall post disaster recovery process. The REA is designed primarily for relief cadres, but is also expected to be usable as an assessment tool with disaster victims. The paper discusses the field testing of the REA under actual disaster conditions.