Please find below links to recent news about some aspects of disaster resilience…
Recent emergencies/disaster
Cyclone Tino: Evacuation centres open in Fiji as storm drives across Pacific https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2020/01/cyclone-tino-evacuation-centres-open-in-fiji-as-storm-drives-across-pacific.html
Zimbabwe – Floods Cause Havoc in Matabeleland North http://floodlist.com/africa/zimbabwe-floods-matabeleland-north-january-2020
Fiji – Flash Floods From Tropical Cyclone “Tino” Leave 2 Dead http://floodlist.com/australia/fiji-tropical-cyclone-tino-january-2020
Brazil – 6 Dead After Flash Floods and Landslides in Espirito Santo http://floodlist.com/america/brazil-floods-espirito-santo-january-2020
Bolivia – 6 Dead as Severe Weather Triggers Floods and Landslides http://floodlist.com/america/bolivia-floods-january-2020
Papua New Guinea – Hundreds Displaced After Floods in Eastern Highlands Province http://floodlist.com/asia/papua-new-guinea-hundreds-displaced-after-floods-in-eastern-highlands-province
Dust storms turn central NSW towns dark https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/massive-dust-clouds-turn-day-into-night-in-central-nsw-20200120-p53sut.html
Flooding, landslides kill six in Brazil https://phys.org/news/2020-01-landslides-brazil.html
Canberra hailstorm prompts record call out for help to ACT SES https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6589708/the-hailstorm-set-a-new-record-for-calls-to-help-to-act-ses/
Indonesia – 7 Dead After Floods Cause Bridge to Collapse in Bengkulu Province http://floodlist.com/asia/indonesia-floods-bridge-bengkulu-january-2020
Guatemala – Over 500 Evacuated After Floods in Alta Verapaz and Izabal http://floodlist.com/america/guatemala-altaverapaz-izabal-floods-january-2020
Mozambique – Floods Leave 28 Dead, 58,000 Affected, Says UN http://floodlist.com/africa/mozambique-floods-january-2020-update
Indonesia – Heavy Rain Triggers Flooding in Central Java and West Sumatra http://floodlist.com/asia/indonesia-floods-centraljava-westsumatra-january-2020
Spain – Storm Surge From Storm Gloria Reaches 3km Inland http://floodlist.com/europe/spain-storm-gloria-floods-january-2020
Argentina – Evacuations After Floods in Tucumán Province http://floodlist.com/america/argentina-floods-tucuman-january-2020
Madagascar – Floods and Landslides Leave 6 Dead, More Severe Weather Forecast http://floodlist.com/africa/madagascar-floods-january-2020
Widespread flooding continues in Southern Africa, significantly affecting crops and livestock https://watchers.news/2020/01/22/widespread-flooding-continues-in-southern-africa-significantly-affecting-crops-and-livestock/
Lava now visible at White Island, elevated state of unrest continues, New Zealand https://watchers.news/2020/01/22/lava-now-visible-at-white-island-elevated-state-of-unrest-continues-new-zealand/
Storm Gloria floods major river delta in eastern Spain https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51206054
Volcanic activity worldwide 23 Jan 2020: Klyuchevskoy volcano, Popocatépetl, Dukono, Reventador https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-activity/news/96634/Volcanic-activity-worldwide-23-Jan-2020-Klyuchevskoy-volcano-Popocatepetl-Dukono-Reventador-Sa.html
Everything you need to know as the China coronavirus spreads https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-01-23/coronavirus-what-i-need-to-know-as-china-virus-spreads
Peru – Homes Damaged After Heavy Rain Triggers Floods and Landslides in Arequipa http://floodlist.com/america/peru-floods-landslides-arequipa-january-2020
Major Chinese city goes into lockdown as new virus death toll rises to at least 17 – Wuhan, Hubei https://watchers.news/2020/01/23/major-chinese-city-goes-into-lockdown-as-new-virus-death-toll-rises-to-at-least-17-wuhan-hubei/
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
David Attenborough calls Australia’s bushfires ‘the moment of crisis’ to address climate change https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jan/17/david-attenborough-calls-australias-bushfires-the-moment-of-crisis-to-address-climate-change?CMP=share_btn_tw
The climate factors contributing to Australia’s bushfires are strikingly similar to those at play in California https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/01/how-climate-change-influenced-australias-unprecedented-fires/
Fiji calls for urgent action on climate crisis as second cyclone hits in three weeks https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/17/fiji-calls-for-urgent-action-on-climate-crisis-as-second-cyclone-hits-in-three-weeks
From “wet bulb” heat waves that create deadly humidity to cascading economic effects of sea level rise, a new report catalogs some of the unanticipated consequences of runaway global warming https://www.fastcompany.com/90452018/climate-change-wont-result-in-a-new-normal-but-in-constant-horrifying-new-disasters
Climate risk and response: Physical hazards and socioeconomic impacts https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/climate-risk-and-response-physical-hazards-and-socioeconomic-impacts
The misallocation of climate research funding https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629619309119
Annual CEO survey found 65% of bosses were worried about climate, even before the bushfire crisis peaked https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/21/most-australian-chief-executives-believe-climate-crisis-a-threat-to-business?CMP=share_btn_tw
Experts say judgment is ‘tipping point’ that opens the door to climate crisis claims for protection https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/20/climate-refugees-cant-be-returned-home-says-landmark-un-human-rights-ruling?CMP=share_btn_tw
Why we can no longer ignore consecutive disasters https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2019EF001425
RBA told to ‘mobilise all forces’ to save the economy from climate change https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/rba-told-to-mobilise-all-forces-to-save-the-economy-from-climate-change-20200120-p53szi.html
This is what climate change looks like https://sophieclewis.com/2020/01/20/this-is-what-climate-change-looks-like/
Emissions of potent greenhouse gas have grown, contradicting reports of huge reductions https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2020/january/hfc-23-emissions-.html
Could Australia’s bushfire disaster alter the conversation on climate change? https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/could-australias-bushfire-disaster-change-the-conversation-on-climate-change
Bushfires have effectively doubled Australia’s annual greenhouse gas output https://earther.gizmodo.com/australias-bushfires-have-likely-doubled-the-nations-ca-1841135988?IR=T
Projected Changes to Extreme Runoff and Precipitation Events From a Downscaled Simulation Over the Western United States https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2019.00355/full
Landmark climate migration decision http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2020/01/21/landmark-u-n-decision-says-countries-may-not-turn-away-climate-migrants-in-the-future/
Funding to build seawalls in the Torres Strait, amidst calls for climate change action https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2019/12/22/funding-build-seawalls-torres-strait-amidst-calls-climate-change-action
Weather shows evidence of climate change every single day since 2012 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/01/weather-shows-evidence-of-climate-change-every-single-day-since-2012/
Rising temperatures put more US workers at risk of dying from heat https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/22/heat-deaths-workers-safety-climate-crisis?platform=hootsuite
The ‘Doomsday Clock’ has jumped closer to midnight than ever as nuclear weapons and climate disasters turn the world into a ‘pressure cooker https://www.businessinsider.com.au/doomsday-clock-moves-closer-to-midnight-than-ever-2020-1
Climate change-driven sea-level rise could trigger mass migration of Americans to inland cities, finds new AI study https://viterbischool.usc.edu/news/2020/01/sea-level-rise-could-reshape-the-united-states-trigger-migration-inland/
Modeling migration patterns in the USA under sea level rise https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0227436
Disaster risk reduction
Treat coastal erosion as a natural catastrophe, UK ministers urged https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/19/treat-coastal-erosion-as-natural-catastrophe-uk-ministers-urged-east-yorkshire
Normalised insurance losses from Australian natural disasters: 1966–2017 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17477891.2019.1609406
Applicability of Hydrological Models for Flash Flood Simulation in Small Catchments of Hilly Area in China https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/geo.2019.11.issue-1/geo-2019-0089/geo-2019-0089.xml?lang=en
Scientists fear major volcanic eruption in the Philippines https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00128-y?utm_source=twt_nnc&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=naturenews&sf228580451=1
Study finds flooding damage to levees is cumulative—and often invisible https://phys.org/news/2020-01-levees-cumulativeand-invisible.html
Boston Pushes Flood Resilience with New Design Guidelines https://www.buildinggreen.com/newsbrief/boston-pushes-flood-resilience-new-design-guidelines
Has NSW seen more than twice the amount of prescribed burning this decade compared with the last? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-22/prescribed-burning-nsw-backburning-hazard-reduction/11878316
What Controls How Quickly Faults Heal? https://eos.org/editor-highlights/what-controls-how-quickly-faults-heal
Six of the top 10 costliest disasters of 2019 were flood https://www.aon.com/global-weather-catastrophe-natural-disasters-costs-climate-change-2019-annual-report/index.html
On the Need for Prospective Disaster Survey Panels https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/disaster-medicine-and-public-health-preparedness/article/on-the-need-for-prospective-disaster-survey-panels/9ADCB98F8BA38C579996E3B07CC402A6
Floods could cost Solihull £6.4m without prevention, engineers warn https://solihullobserver.co.uk/news/floods-could-cost-solihull-6-4m-without-prevention-engineers-warn/
The Texas General Land Office announced over the weekend it was giving the city $1.3 million to buy homes and allow those residents to move to an area that doesn’t flood as often https://www.kristv.com/city-mulls-which-houses-will-benefit-from-state-flood-relief
Flooding risks could devalue Florida real estate https://floridapolitics.com/archives/316631-reports-flooding-risks-could-devalue-florida-real-estate
Intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes and implications for flash flood risks https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2020/02/rainfall-extremes/
InSAR shows massive ground deformation around the erupting Taal Volcano https://temblor.net/earthquake-insights/insar-shows-massive-ground-deformation-around-the-erupting-taal-volcano-10414/
Vesuvius eruption baked some people to death—and turned one brain to glass https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/01/vesuvius-baked-people-turned-brain-to-glass/
Evidence to explain behavior of slow earthquakes https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200123115911.htm
As Climate Risks Worsen, U.S. Flood Buyouts Fail to Meet the Need https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-climate-risks-worsen-u.s.-flood-buyouts-fail-to-meet-the-need
In an ideal world we would have river discharge measurements for every river spanning many decades and updated in real time. We all know this is very far from reality with severe gaps in the global observing network https://hepex.inrae.fr/glofas-era5-reanalysis/
Wildfire risk can be reduced with agroforestry https://phys.org/news/2020-01-wildfire-agroforestry.html
Lessons from California fires: Investing in resilience is key https://www.zurichna.com/en/about/news/news-releases/2020/lessons-from-california-fires-investing-in-resilience-is-key
Ireland: The details of the flood risk and proposed feasible measures for each of the 300 studied communities is set out in 29 Flood Risk Management Plans https://www.gov.ie/en/news/4a685e-minister-flood-relief-works/
Risk assessment for areas prone to flooding and subsidence: a case study from Bergen, Western Norway https://iwaponline.com/hr/article/doi/10.2166/nh.2019.030/71712/Risk-assessment-for-areas-prone-to-flooding-and
Emergency management
Parts of the NSW are reopening for business just weeks after bushfires ravaged local lives – and livelihoods. Businesses are desperate for people to return https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/travel/rising-up-from-the-ashes-bushfire-affected-regions-reopen-for-business/news-story/
Army chief warns continued disaster relief efforts will cost them readiness https://www.cp24.com/news/army-chief-warns-continued-disaster-relief-efforts-will-cost-them-readiness-1.4774747
How long is recovery? https://sastrugi.me/2020/01/20/this-is-how-long-it-takes/
Managed retreat presents a dilemma for at-risk communities: the countervailing imperatives of moving out of harm’s way versus retaining ties to community and place https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/2/736/htm
Rain has helped slow Australia’s fires, but it’s far from a knockout blow https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-21/australia-fires-slowed-but-not-stopped-by-rain/11885152
Update and Interim Guidance on Outbreak of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, China https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00426.asp
Australia fires: What’s being done to fight the flames? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-51008051
Three Americans killed in plane crash while fighting Australia’s wildfires https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/plane-fighting-australia-s-wildfires-goes-missing-n1120936
45 million people across Southern Africa face hunger following natural disasters and economic disarray https://watchers.news/2020/01/23/45-million-people-across-southern-africa-face-hunger-following-natural-disasters-and-economic-disarray/
Disaster education, communications and engagement
Remote sensing analyses on Twitter. Part 1: floods https://labo.obs-mip.fr/multitemp/my-remote-sensing-analyses-on-twitter-part-1-floods/
Remote sensing analyses on Twitter. Part 2: landslides https://labo.obs-mip.fr/multitemp/my-remote-sensing-analyses-on-twitter-part-2-landslides/
A glossary providing the vocabulary necessary to understand the modern glacier environment https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/index2.html
National Park Service’s $1.2M project preserving Johnstown Flood history https://triblive.com/lifestyles/more-lifestyles/national-park-services-1-2m-project-preserving-johnstown-flood-history/
What to do in a flood https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/what-to-do-in-a-flood
Campaign to show impact of flooding on mental health launched https://governmentbusiness.co.uk/news/21012020/campaign-show-impact-flooding-mental-health-launched
Ireland’s national flood information portal, providing location specific access to flood risk and flood management information http://www.floodinfo.ie/
Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities: how to create community buy-in https://floodresilience.net/blogs/flood-resilience-measurement-for-communities-how-to-create-community-buy-in
Psychology and Disasters
A familiar place among the chaos: how schools can help students cope after the bushfires https://theconversation.com/a-familiar-place-among-the-chaos-how-schools-can-help-students-cope-after-the-bushfires-129904
Flooding increases the chance of depression by 50% https://environmentjournal.online/articles/flooding-increases-the-chance-of-depression-by-50/
Impacts of Wildfire on Children https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-51727-8_90-1
Sociology and disasters
Neighborhood Ties Reduced Depressive Symptoms in Older Disaster Survivors: Iwanuma Study, a Natural Experiment https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/1/337
Risk of natural hazards and the coping capacity of the South African community in Auckland https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJDRBE-06-2019-0030/full/html
Disaster Resilience News 