Participants contributed actively to the discussions at the workshop. To facilitate this, we invited participants to submit a short comment piece or conspectus in advance of the workshop. Conspectuses are available to view on the Participant Conspectus page. The workshop also provided an opportunity for participants to display posters presenting some of their current research. Below are all participant posters presented at the Disaster Research Center’s 50th Anniversary Workshop.
More to be added shortly.
“Decision-Makers’ Use of Short-Term Climate Forecasts in Flood Planning and Management”
Patrick S. Roberts, Associate Professor and Director of Northern Virginia Programs, Center for Public Administration and Policy, Virginia Tech
Kris Wernstedt, Associate Professor and Director of Northern Virginia Programs, Urban Affairs and Planning, Virginia Tech
Joe Arvai, Professor & Syare Chair in Applied Decision Research, University of Calgary
Kelly Redmond, Deputy Director and Regional Climatologist, Western Regional Climate Center, Reno, Nevada
Technical and scientific advances in the last two decades have deepened our understanding of the connections between sub-seasonal to inter-annual fluctuations in large-scale atmospheric and oceanic patterns and hydrologic, physical, and social impacts experienced across the globe. Consequently, advance planning for climate-related natural hazards, such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes, may be able to take advantage of an improved ability to forecast or monitor such fluctuations. Translating the potential value of climate information into actual improvements in societal welfare is far from straightforward, however. The influence of any scientific information in public decision-making can be notoriously difficult to establish, and this problem is acute in the context of climate events, which typically lie beyond immediate emergency management operational and policy horizons and, by definition, can be highly uncertain. We are examining the possibilities for integrating seasonal or long-term climate information in the practice of emergency management. Our research shows that emergency managers can use short-term climate forecasts such as El Nino and La Nina information to aid in decision-making about how to prepare for floods. This climate and weather information appears to be useful for emergency managers in some counties, but not for others. A number of uncontrollable factors likely influence the utility of such information is, and we thus want to examine different ways to present this information in concert with the audience and participants. We use survey research, case studies of successful and unsuccessful uses of seasonal climate forecasts, and decision scenarios with emergency management professionals to identify the factors that encourage or inhibit the use of seasonal climate forecasts.
“Understanding the Relationships between Household Decisions and Infrastructure Investment in Disaster Recovery: Cases from Superstorm Sandy”
Alex B. Greer, MS, Sue McNeil, PhD, Joseph Trainor, PhD, Israt Jahan, MURP
Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware
PDF Version: Poster, SuperstormSandy
Due to recent catastrophes and disasters, such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and Superstorm Sandy, policymakers, researchers, and the media are all devoting more attention to the recovery phase of disaster management, specifically whether resettlement is a better option than rebuilding in situ, and whether to invest in mitigation and repair or just repair the current transportation infrastructure. While many have discussed these issues in passing, research devoted to household relocation and resettlement decision-making is relatively sparse, and research on the impact of transportation infrastructure on these decisions is even sparser. Most scholarship in this area only tangentially relates to resettlement, or merely offers “best practice” recommendations. The purpose of this study is to understand how households decide to either resettle in a new location or rebuild in situ following a disaster and to illuminate critical elements of those decisions that could inform planning models.
“Two Teams – One Fight: Improving Civil Military Coordination in Disaster Response”
Ryan P. Burke, PhD Candidate, Disaster Science and Management
University of Delaware
PDF Version: Poster, CivilMilitaryDisasterResponse
The military connection to emergency management dates back to the post-World War II Civil Defense era. Over the past three decades, there has been an apparent paradigm shift in the research perception of the military and its role in disaster response. The U.S. military can and often does provide unparalleled response capabilities during domestic and international emergencies. As a result, state and federal military forces continue to play a significant role in large-scale response scenarios. This poster presents a summary of several combined research ventures emphasizing various aspects of military civil support operations. The ongoing research combines document analysis, personal interviews, and field work to examine the evolving role of the U.S. military in support of civil authorities during domestic and international disaster response. It further seeks to understand and explain the reasons for civil-military tensions during disaster. Finally, this research describes some of the ongoing efforts to improve military civil support operations while also advocating for enhanced research collaboration among military practitioners and university researchers.
“The Analysis of Incident Command Systems (ICS)”
Hsien-Ho (Ray) Chang, PhD Candidate and Joseph Trainor, PhD
University of Delaware
PDF Version: Poster, IncidentCommandSystem
Since its establishment in the 1980’s, many ICS discussions have focused on its pros and cons. These discussions are related to the benefits and limitations of using a mechanistic system. ICS proponents like its mechanistic design elements to command and control all responders. ICS critics, however, regard ICS mechanistic elements as hurdles to managing disaster response activities, and thus they propose using more organic elements to design a new response system. Organizational theorists say that the two types of systems are not dichotomous. It is consequently possible that the ICS has some organic design elements and thus cannot be viewed as an entire command and control system. This research explores to what degree ICS is organic versus mechanistic. The researcher presents his analysis of two official ICS documents and three ICS online training courses, which indicates that ICS possesses both organic and mechanistic features. Results of content analysis demonstrate the ICS has both organic and mechanistic design elements, and the choices responders made would influence how mechanistic or organic this system will be.
“MOSAIC: Multi Organizational Situational Assessment in Crisis”
Erna Danielsson, PhD and Jorgen Sparf, PhD Candidate, Mid Sweden University
Joseph Trainor, PhD, University of Delaware
PDF Version: Poster_MOSAIC
Major disasters commonly involve many organizational and emergent actors. These actors are expected to be able to cooperate in order to solve the problems associated with the hazard. However, working together is not easy given that units enter the multi-organizational system from different perspectives that can lead to differing definitions, priorities, and decisions particularly in uncertain contexts. On one hand, this variety leads to the kinds of diverse information and knowledge needed during crises, on the other hand, harnessing that potential is difficult. All too often, the person or people who happen to end up in authority simply define the situation and make decisions in a way that excludes others views. Given the reality above, this project aims to understand if and how organizations work through their differences. More specifically, we will explore how organizational, professional, and institutional pressures influence collective sense making and multi-organizational cooperation under uncertainty.
“Next Generation Warning Systems: Integrated warnings over mobile devices for tornadoes and flash floods in DFW”
Anthony Cario, Daryl Yoder-Bontrager, and Joseph Trainor, PhD
University of Delaware
PDF Version: Poster, WarningSystems
The Next Generation Warning Systems Project aims to create and test a new kind of integrated warning system (IWS) for tornadoes and flash floods based on the opportunities created by mobile technology. The research team will: utilize x-band radar networks in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Metroplex to create improved forecast products, will leverage new cell technology to improve warning delivery infrastructure, and will sue social social science to improve messaging through location and time sensitive warnings.
“Critical Issues in Disaster Science and Management: Bridging the Divide between Disaster Scientists and Emergency Managers”
Edited by: Joseph Trainor and Tony Subio
Research Assistant: Daryl Yoder-Bontrager, University of Delaware
PDF Version: Poster_Critical Issues Disaster Science Management
The emergency management community has long been aware of a gap that persists between emergency practitioners and scientists who study disasters. The Critical Issues in Disaster Science and Management project aims to foment a dialogue between academics and practitioners that begins to bridge the divide between the two professional communities. In each chapter of this book an academic writer and a practitioner author reflect on a pertinent emergency management issue from their particular perspective and then integrate their unique viewpoints in a third “bridging the divide” section. By establishing a base knowledge of the others’ work, Critical Issues in Disaster Science and Management builds a foundation for more conversation. A FEMA Higher Education Program textbook is being developed from the interchange.
“Improving Hospital Survivability: Tools to Inform Hospital Planning and Design”
James B. Goetschius, Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware
PDF Version: Poster, Improving Hospital Survivability
The scale and impact of recent natural disasters and the threat of climate change has increased awareness of the vulnerability of our built environment to disruptions. Major storms, such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, have shown how these and other disaster events can negatively affect our health care infrastructure. Such disruptions are not new and are likely to continue in the future. National efforts, like the National Infrastructure Protection Plan and the National Health Security Strategy, recognize medical treatment facilities as key components of community emergency response for the preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the nation’s citizens. To be effective, hospitals must be prepared to remain operational during and after a disaster. We need a more comprehensive understanding of hospital functionality and the risks they face in order to devise more effective ways of ensuring the continuity of health care operations. This project sought to develop and apply lessons from disaster science and hospital emergency management to medical facility planning and design for the purpose of improving the survivability of nonstructural systems to increase the likelihood that medical treatment facilities will remain operational following disasters. Three tools were developed to improve the manner in which planners, designers, health care professionals, and emergency managers consider hospitals and their survivability during and after disaster events. The project’s objective is to develop a policy recommendation to the U.S. Army that will improve the manner in which the Service approaches the planning and design of military medical facilities. The tools are an influence diagram, hazard vulnerability mitigation framework (HVMF), and illustrative optimization model.
“External Validity of the Causal Factors on Effective Personnel Support by Local Governments during Emergency Response and Relief after the Great East Japan Earthquake”
Yuichi Honjo, Kobe Institute of Urban Research
Shigeo Tatsuki, Department of Sociology, Doshisha University
PDF Version: Poster, Effective Personnel Support East Japan Earthquake
The Great East Japan Earthquake formed a hypothesis to improve the effectiveness of personnel support by local governments. The purpose of this study is to examine the validity of the model based on this hypothesis, with the following procedures; 1. conduct a survey through questionnaires on cities and towns in Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures which have received personnel support and 2. examine a model that looks at the degree of effectiveness of personnel support by local governments which is mainly determined by the following two capacities by multiple regression analysis; capacity to receive outside support and capacity to provide support.
“The Study on Life Recovery Support System: Focusing on Disaster Case Management Program in the United States and Japan”
Mayumi Sakamoto, Disaster Mitigation Research Center, Nagoya University
Shigeo Tatsuki, Department of Sociology, Doshisha University
PDF Version: Poster, Study on Life Recovery Support System
This study focuses on the effective Life Recovery support system for disaster survivors. Life Recovery is a people-centered concept, which means people return to a feeling of normalcy in their lives. The concept was realized in the recovery process of 1995 Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) earthquake. A recovery policy which focuses only on physical recovery, such as buildings, roads and water reconstruction but not on people, could fail. Recovery should integrate people, society and safety to fulfill the unmet needs of disaster survivors.