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It is impossible to ignore the relentless media reports of various human-made and natural disasters and the constant threats they pose to our society. Beyond the news headlines, recent disasters have prompted the restructuring of the U.S. government, namely the formation of the Department of Homeland Security and the reorganization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). With the ever-present threat of disasters from hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, landslides, drought, winter storms, nuclear accidents, terrorist attacks, and chemical contamination, the role of

Communities the world over continue to be alarmingly vulnerable to natural hazards, leading to no shortage of devastating consequences. Whether or not climate change brings forth an increasingly ferocious variety of hazards, actors involved in disaster response will still face a multiplicity of challenges to delivering lifesaving aid. For instance, humanitarian organizations sometimes face the challenge of overcoming the reluctance of disaster affected states to accept their assistance. When disasters extensively overwhelm state capacity the refusal of external assistance can have serious ramifications for those affected. Despite the stakes, research surrounding aid rejection in these contexts is limited. This analysis sheds more light on why aid rejection occurs and highlights to humanitarian organizations and other researchers the fundamental considerations to develop an understanding on this subject. A synthesis of existing research on disaster response reveals the very tangible political risk that disaster affected states face when engaging with international offers of assistance. It is in the effort to mitigate this political risk to their legitimacy that states may ultimately decide to reject aid. A few key state characteristics such as response capacity, level of external intervention and domestic politics may also amplify this risk, resulting in a higher likelihood that external aid is rejected. This analysis engages with these factors to determine their validity and relevancy to humanitarian practitioners seeking to develop the appropriateorganizational strategies. In an effort to better understand aid rejection a disaster dataset was developed based on the concept that disasters with higher visibility on the international scene present a higher level of political risk for an affected state, and therefore have the highest likelihood of resulting in cases of aid rejection. However, in analysing disasters that met this criterion over a 10 year period the research found no instances whereexternal aid was universally and indiscriminately rejected. This is not to say that there were no cases where an affected state rejected assistance from a particular party but that even in these instances those states did accept aid from some other source. The implication of these findings is that states affected by natural borne disasters are likely to accept external offers of assistance so long as those offers carry a manageable level of political risk. Humanitarian organizations should therefore consider how they can mitigate the political risk they might present to an affected state as part of their disaster response strategy.

Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Foreword -- Introduction: The Destructive Forces of Nature -- Chapter 1: Earthquakes and Tsunamis -- Chapter 2: Hurricanes and Floods -- Chapter 3: Thunderstorms and Tornadoes -- Chapter 4: Fire and Drought -- Chapter 5: Volcanoes, Landslides, and Avalanches -- Chapter 6: Natural Disaster Response in a Fast-Changing World -- Notes -- Discussion Questions -- Organizations to Contact -- For More Information -- Index -- Picture Credits -- About the Author -- Back Cover

The use of new communications tools and platforms can be woven in with traditional sources of information and while new tools such as crisis mapping and crowdsources have yet to be used to their full potential in emergency scenarios, inroads are being made. Sound Information Management (IM) practices form the foundation for decision-making and coordination processes when the international community engages in disaster relief. In 2007, the original Humanitarian Reform framework was expanded to include IM, with the issuance by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee of the "Operational Guidelines on Information Management Responsibilities between OCHA and the Clusters". Adapted from the source document.

Basic socio-economic trends in Bangladesh surrounded the independence of the country in the early Seventies and have contributed to the changing forms and functions of the Bangladeshi family. This period included not only a Liberation War, but a set of environmental and social upheavals that ran the gamut from floods, typhoons and famine to social and political instability. It is suggested that selected changes in social relations or social institutions, which were exacerbated by these natural and social upheavals, have become permanent aspects of daily life in the country. It is hypothesized that disasters tend to exacerbate existing trends and patterns of instability or inequality rather than initiate completely new forms of response. In one sense, disasters may be said to attack the weakest link in a society and may encourage changes which are already imminent in that society.

Machine generated contents note: PREFACE vii -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix -- INTRODUCTION xi -- SECTION I: TRANSPORTATION AND TRANSPORTATION DISASTERS -- CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND FOR NEW DISASTERS 3 -- SECTION I1: GENERAL ASPECTS OF DISASTER RESPONSE -- 2 HISTORY OF DISASTER PLANNING 11 -- 3 THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN DISASTER PLANNING 15 -- 4 VICTIMOLOGY 23 -- 5 DISASTER CYCLES 27 -- 6 PREDICTING DISASTER AND EMERGENCY PLANNING 33 -- 7 PRIVATE SECTOR 49 -- 8 WHEN DISASTER STRIKES 53 -- 9 USING THE MILITARY 61 -- 10 TRAINING 65 -- 11 WARNING AND EVACUATION 69 -- 12 SEARCH AND RESCUE 77 -- 13 DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS 83 -- 14 INFORMATION CENTERS 87 -- 15 TERRORISM AND CRIMINALITY 89 -- SECTION II1: TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF A RESPONSE -- 16 COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION 97 -- 17 MEDICAL RESPONSE 99 -- 18 POLICE OPERATIONS 111 -- 19 FIRE 131 -- 20 FORENSIC SCIENCE 141 -- 21 VOLUNTEERISM 173 -- 22 PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA AND MENTAL HEALTH 183 -- 23 MEDIA AND INFORMATION 197 -- SECTION IV MANAGEMENT ISSUES -- 24 BUSINESS RECOVERY 215 -- SECTION V: RESPONSE TO SPECIFIC TRANSPORTATION DISASTERS -- 25 AVIATION 223 -- 26 DISASTER AT SEA 247 -- 27 LAND TRANSPORTATION 253 -- SECTION VI: CONCLUSION -- 28 CONCLUSION 261

What social factors best predict the relative effectiveness of community disaster responses? This question is explored through interview and questionnaire data obtained from 62 local emergency managers whose communities were impacted by some type of disaster event. Various coordination strategies used in the year prior to the event and during the response were assessed first. These and numerous other potential sources of constraint were used in regression analyses to determine predictors of response effectiveness (both as perceived by the local emergency manager and through ten evaluative criteria). Results indicated that both measures of response effectiveness were predicted by seven factors: 1) high level of domain consensus; 2) use of more coordination strategies by the local emergency manager during the response; 3) more lengthy period of forewarning; 4) more frequent disaster training activities and actual responses during the prior two years; 5) more frequent participation by local emergency manager in local service organizations; 6) high community growth rate; and 7) use of more managerial strategies by the local emergency manager during the prior year.

With a Foreword by Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Over the last decades natural and man-made disasters have been increasing in terms of frequency, size, number of people affected and material damage caused. There is growing awareness of the importance of adequate national and international legal frameworks for disaster prevention, mitigation and response. The implementation of these frameworks, however, poses serious challenges. This book analyses International Disaster Response Law as developed in recent times and identifies the main existing normative gaps. The authors address the rights and duties of States in preventing and mitigating disasters, in facilitating access to their territory for humanitarian relief actors, as well as issues related to liability and compensation. Due attention is paid to European Union law governing disaster response (and to its reform in the light of the Lisbon Treaty) and to the main trends in domestic legislation. Human rights obligations are thoroughly examined and the potential relevance of international criminal law is assessed. Additional topics such as the status of relief personnel, the hindrances to the delivery of relief consignments by customs and excise administration, the use of civilian and military defence assets in emergency situations, the mechanisms and procedures available to offer financial support for recovery and rehabilitation, risk insurance, and the issue of corruption during disaster-related activities are specifically addressed. By drawing on the expertise of lawyers, political scientists, economists and humanitarian practitioners, the book promotes much-needed interdisciplinary dialog and sheds light on a largely uncharted field of research. It is therefore essential reading for academics and practitioners in international and EU law, policy makers, civil protection and humanitarian operators and for anyone interested in exploring the legal facets of the international community{u2019}s response to large-scale calamitous events. Over the last decades natural and man-made disasters have been increasing in terms of frequency, size, number of people affected and material damage caused. There is growing awareness of the importance of adequate national and international legal frameworks for disaster prevention, mitigation and response. The implementation of these frameworks, however, poses serious challenges. This book ana ...