Please find below links to recent news about some aspects of disaster resilience…
Recent emergencies/disaster
Brazil: Dozens killed as heavy rains cause floods, landslides https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/brazil-dozens-killed-heavy-rains-floods-landslides-200126101108232.html
Madagascar – Floods Death Toll Rises to 26, Government Declares Disaster http://floodlist.com/africa/madagascar-floods-update-january-2020-2
Indonesia – 18,000 Hit by Floods in Bandung, West Java http://floodlist.com/asia/indonesia-floods-bandung-west-java-january-2020
Earthquake triggers tsunami warning for Cuba, Jamaica and Caymans https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/28/earthquake-tsunami-warning-cuba-jamaica-cayman-islands
Tanzania – Hundreds Displaced After Floods in Iringa and Lindi http://floodlist.com/africa/tanzania-floods-iringa-lindi-january-2020
Indonesia – Deadly Landslide in Sumedang, West Java http://floodlist.com/asia/indonesia-floods-landlisde-sumedang-january-2020
Madagascar declares national emergency as massive floods claim 31 lives and inundate more than 10 000 homes https://watchers.news/2020/01/28/madagascar-declares-national-emergency-as-massive-floods-claim-31-lives-and-inundate-more-than-10-000-homes/
Heavy monsoon rains drench Queensland, causing widespread floods, Australia https://watchers.news/2020/01/28/heavy-monsoon-rains-drench-queensland-causing-widespread-floods-australia/
At least 39 killed and 1 607 injured after M6.8 earthquake hits eastern Turkey https://watchers.news/2020/01/25/sivrice-elazig-turkey-earthquake-casualties-damage/
Australia’s capital city faces worst bush fire threat since 2003, as scorching heat plots a return https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/01/29/australias-capital-city-faces-worst-bush-fire-threat-since-2003-scorching-heat-plots-return/
Severe weather affects 60 000, nearly 14 000 homes damaged or destroyed in West Java, Indonesia https://watchers.news/2020/01/28/severe-weather-affects-60-000-nearly-14-000-homes-damaged-or-destroyed-in-west-java-indonesia/
Volcanic activity worldwide 30 Jan 2020: Pacaya volcano, Fuego, Klyuchevskoy, Popocatépetl https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-activity/news/97113/Volcanic-activity-worldwide-30-Jan-2020-Pacaya-volcano-Fuego-Klyuchevskoy-Popocatepetl-Semeru.html
Flash floods kill at least 3, leaves 4 500 homeless in central and southeastern Tanzania https://watchers.news/2020/01/30/flash-floods-kill-at-least-3-leaves-4-500-homeless-in-central-and-southeastern-tanzania/
Over 200 displaced as floods hit Johor https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/over-200-displaced-floods-hit-004548490.html
Chile – Emergency Declared After Rain and Floods in Atacama http://floodlist.com/america/chile-atacama-floods-january-2020
Kenya – Hundreds Displaced After Rivers Overflow in Homa Bay http://floodlist.com/africa/kenya-floods-homa-bay-january-2020
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Australia is going up in flames, and its government calls for resilience while planning for more coal mines https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/25/opinion/sunday/australia-fires-climate-change.html
Building community resilience to climate change: The role of a Population-Health-Environment programme in supporting the community response to cyclone Haruna in Madagascar https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338841812_Building_community_resilience_to_climate_change_The_role_of_a_Population-Health-Environment_programme_in_supporting_the_community_response_to_cyclone_Haruna_in_Madagascar
As sea levels rise, little of the United States will be unaffected https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01/as-sea-levels-rise-little-of-the-united-states-will-be-unaffected/
Melting Arctic sea ice may be altering winds, weather at equator: study https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/melting-arctic-sea-ice-may-be-altering-winds-weather-at-equator-study/
Economy-wide effects of coastal flooding due to sea level rise: a multi-model simultaneous treatment of mitigation, adaptation, and residual impacts https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7620/ab6368
Climate change splits the public into six groups. Understanding them is key to future action https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-29/climate-change-global-warming-six-groups-rebecca-huntley/11893384
How the ‘Venice of Africa’ is losing its battle against the rising ocean https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/28/how-the-venice-of-africa-is-losing-its-battle-against-the-rising-ocean
‘Dire outlook’: Researchers call for urgent Australian climate action https://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/dire-outlook-researchers-call-for-urgent-australian-climate-action-20200128-p53vfq.html?cspt=1580242421|126d80fbda1923a75b4f20b6052dfc42
The outlook for humans is dire without urgent action: 81 laureates’ letter to Australia https://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/the-outlook-for-humans-is-dire-without-urgent-action-81-laureates-letter-to-australia-20200129-p53vr8.html
Emissions – the ‘business as usual’ story is misleading https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00177-3
Temperatures at a Florida-Size Glacier in Antarctica Alarm Scientists https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/climate/thwaites-glacier-melting-antarctica.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimesscience
Building a Resilient Tomorrow: How to Prepare for the Coming Climate Disruption https://global.oup.com/academic/product/building-a-resilient-tomorrow-9780190909345?cc=us&lang=en&
Disaster risk reduction
Why prescribed burns don’t stop wildfires https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/why-prescribed-burns-don-t-stop-wildfires-20200122-p53tl9.html
Practical dimension of urban and regional resilience concepts: a proposal of resilience strategy model https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338830080_Practical_dimension_of_urban_and_regional_resilience_concepts_a_proposal_of_resilience_strategy_model
Seismic biomarkers in Japan Trench fault zone reveal history of large earthquakes https://phys.org/news/2020-01-seismic-biomarkers-japan-trench-fault.html
Disaster research refocuses on climate-related flooding https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20200122094634629
The Coronavirus Is A Black Swan Event That May Have Serious Repercussions For The U.S. Economy And Job Market https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/01/27/the-coronavirus-is-a-black-swan-event-that-may-have-serious-repercussions-for-the-us-economy-and-job-market/#380ce53991b8
A homebuilder in the floodplain wants a bailout. Should Harris County cut a check? https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/A-homebuilder-in-the-floodplain-wants-a-bailout-15008952.php
Venice may put glass wall around St. Mark’s Basilica to curb future flood damage https://www.foxnews.com/travel/venice-may-glass-wall-st-marks-basilica-flood-damage
Why Venice is actually a textbook case for flood prevention https://phys.org/news/2020-01-venice-textbook-case.html
Ottawa’s latest response to calls for government flood insurance https://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/insurance/ottawas-latest-response-to-calls-for-government-flood-insurance-1004173059/
New book: Natural Hazards and Disaster Justice: Challenges for Australia and Its Neighbours https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9789811504655
Scientists are working to incorporate wildfire data into climate models, resolving hindrances related to scale, speed, and the complex feedbacks between the climate and wildfire emissions https://eos.org/features/firing-up-climate-models#.Xi88GDZqaxY.twitter
As a result of natural hazards, 2019 could bring an increase in mortgage delinquency rates, taking 12 or more months before normalizing to pre-disaster rates https://finance.yahoo.com/news/corelogic-natural-hazard-report-reveals-130000372.html
Flood Size Increases Nonlinearly Across the Western United States in Response to Lower Snow‐Precipitation Ratios https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019WR025571
New coronavirus spreads as readily as 1918 Spanish flu and probably originated in bats https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-01-29/china-coronavirus-china-likely-originated-in-bats
Community collaboration and high-resolution maps are keys to effective flood risk management https://phys.org/news/2020-01-collaborative-effective.html
Lowestoft floods ‘could have been prevented’ – report https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-51280116
California completes 34 land projects to slow wildfires https://www.marinij.com/2020/01/29/california-completes-34-land-projects-to-slow-wildfires/
New fault system off Gisborne sheds light on East Coast tsunami and earthquake risks, New Zealand https://watchers.news/2020/01/30/new-fault-system-off-gisborne-sheds-light-on-east-coast-tsunami-and-earthquake-risks-new-zealand/
‘Drivers of change’: beavers released on National Trust land to ease flooding risk https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/30/drivers-of-change-beavers-released-on-national-trust-land-to-ease-flooding-risk
A global evaluation of multi‐model ensemble tropical cyclone track probability forecasts https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/qj.3712
Emergency management
New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons is standing by his criticism of the prime minister’s bushfire response https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6126732559001
The bodies of three U.S. firefighters who died in a plane crash earlier this week in Australia’s remote bushland while battling a fierce wildfire have been recovered https://currentnewstoday.net/bodies-of-u-s-firefighters-retrieved-from-australian-air-crash-site/
China coronavirus: mayor of Wuhan admits mistakes https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/27/china-coronavirus-who-to-hold-special-meeting-in-beijing-as-death-toll-jumps?CMP=share_btn_tw
Preparing for the worst: How Tokyo will respond to an Olympic quake https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/01/23/national/preparing-worst-tokyo-will-respond-olympic-quake/#.Xi9br08zZhE
A panel of U.S. Army MEDEVAC (medicial evacuation) experts explored ways that Army MEDEVAC technology, safety, quality of care and culture has evolved over time https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-9004?loclr=eanw
Current methods to estimate evacuation time during flood events do not consider the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the population – here is a method to improve this https://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/19/251/2019/
Reflections on disaster events on the one-year anniversary of Cyclone Idai https://www.climatelinks.org/blog/reflections-disaster-events-one-year-anniversary-cyclone-idai
After Deadly Floods, West Virginia Created A Resiliency Office. It’s Barely Functioning https://www.wvpublic.org/post/after-deadly-floods-west-virginia-created-resiliency-office-it-s-barely-functioning#stream/0
From authoritarian enclave to deliberative space: governance logics in post‐disaster reconstruction https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/disa.12280
Exploding canals, collapsing malls: Watch Brazil’s deadly floods https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/exploding-canals-and-collapsing-malls-watch-brazils-deadly-floods/2020/01/29/a2347e38-42ad-11ea-b503-2b077c436617_story.html
Shane Fitzsimmons: ‘Tireless’ fire chief steering Australians through disaster https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-51230844
Disaster education, communications and engagement
As Virus Spreads, Anger Floods Chinese Social Media https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/technology/china-coronavirus-censorship-social-media.html?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits
Do Face Masks Really Protect You From Getting Sick? https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/do-face-masks-prevent-virus_l_5e304a13c5b6ce51a4ec0a09
Gov. Brown pushes new bill, declares earthquake preparedness week https://www.kptv.com/news/gov-brown-pushes-new-bill-declares-earthquake-preparedness-week/article_4f7e1882-4183-11ea-87f2-ebac52927982.html
Science Communication Demands a Critical Approach That Centers Inclusion, Equity, and Intersectionality https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2020.00002/full?utm_source=F-NTF&utm_medium=EMLX&utm_campaign=PRD_FEOPS_20170000_ARTICLE
As climate change worsens – and with it, the bushfire risk – it’s well worth considering how to protect the public against disinformation campaigns in future fire seasons https://theconversation.com/we-have-the-vaccine-for-climate-disinformation-lets-use-it-130008
How to mitigate flooding https://www.houstoniamag.com/news-and-city-life/2020/01/how-to-mitigate-flooding
Psychology and Disasters
Adding Psychedelic Drugs to Psychotherapy May Help Treat PTSD https://psychcentral.com/news/2020/01/18/adding-psychedelic-drugs-to-psychotherapy-may-help-treat-ptsd/153502.html
Sociology and disasters
Making social connections builds social capital, community resilience https://www.times-standard.com/2020/01/25/lori-dengler-making-social-connections-builds-social-capital-community-resilience/
Research shows that community connectedness improves outcomes in disasters https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/articles/what-we-can-learn-about-community-resilience/
Disaster Resilience News 