Today in disaster resilience (19 February 2021)

Please find below links to some aspects of disaster resilience that were in the news recently…

Dear colleague,

Please find links below to some aspects of disaster resilience that were in the news this week…

Recent emergencies/disasters

Japan quake brings back memories of deadly 2011 tsunami https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-quake/japan-quake-brings-back-memories-of-deadly-2011-tsunami-idUSKBN2AE01Y

New Ebola outbreak declared in Guinea https://www.afro.who.int/news/new-ebola-outbreak-declared-guinea

Africa’s confirmed COVID-19 cases surpass 3.74 mln http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-02/14/c_139743239.htm

South Africa – Over 30 Fatalities Reported After Weeks of Floodinghttp://floodlist.com/africa/south-africa-floods-january-february-2021

Albania – Floods and Evacuations in Shkodra http://floodlist.com/europe/albania-floods-shkodra-february-2021

Bolivia – Floods Affect Thousands in Beni and Santa Cruz http://floodlist.com/america/bolivia-floods-beni-santa-cruz-february-2021

Large landslide hits East Java, leaving 18 people dead or missing, Indonesia https://watchers.news/2021/02/15/large-landslide-hits-east-java-leaving-18-people-dead-or-missing-indonesia/

Intense explosive activity at Etna volcano, Aviation Color Code raised to Red, Italy https://watchers.news/2021/02/16/eruption-etna-volcano-italy-february-16-2021/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Historic cold temps and snow in Wichita, Kansas https://watchers.news/2021/02/16/historic-cold-temps-and-snow-in-wichita-kansas/

Forced evacuation of communities near Taal volcano, Philippineshttps://watchers.news/2021/02/16/forced-evacuation-of-communities-near-taal-volcano-philippines/

Unusual, very large landslide hits Chunchi, Ecuador https://watchers.news/2021/02/16/unusual-very-large-landslide-chunchi-ecuador/

3 people were killed and 10 more injured after a tornado struck coastal North Carolina https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/16/us/north-carolina-tornado-tuesday/index.html

Second major winter storm threatens wide swath of U.S. with millions still suffering after first https://www.cbsnews.com/news/second-winter-storm-coming-millions-suffering/

Historic snowstorm leaves 3 dead in Greecehttps://watchers.news/2021/02/17/historic-snowstorm-leaves-3-dead-in-greece/

Persistent flooding damages thousands of homes and wide swaths of land in southern Mozambique https://watchers.news/2021/02/17/persistent-flooding-damages-thousands-of-homes-and-wide-swaths-of-land-in-southern-mozambique/

Volcanic activity worldwide 17 Feb 2021: Etna volcano, Pacaya, Fuego, Popocatépetl, Semeru https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-activity/news/122098/Volcanic-activity-worldwide-17-Feb-2021-Etna-volcano-Pacaya-Fuego-Popocatepetl-Semeru-Reventa.html

Peru – 1 Dead, 9 Missing After Floods and Mudslides in Cusco http://floodlist.com/america/peru-floods-mudslides-cusco-february-2021

Shallow M5.6 earthquake hits Iran, injuring 43 people and cutting off electricity and water to Sisakht https://watchers.news/2021/02/18/iran-earthquake-damage-february-18-2021/

Extreme Weather and Climate Change

Arctic Report Card Founder Discusses the Fate of the Pole https://eos.org/articles/arctic-report-card-founder-discusses-the-fate-of-the-pole

Ausgrid installs “first of many” community batteries on Sydney network https://reneweconomy.com.au/ausgrid-installs-first-of-many-community-battery-installations-in-sydney-network/

Climate action could save ‘millions of lives’ through clean air, diet and exercise https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/10/climate-action-could-save-millions-of-lives-through-clean-air-diet-and-exercise

Mexico was once a climate leader – now it’s betting big on coal https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/15/mexico-coal-fossil-fuels-climate-crisis-amlo

Pacific governments call for urgent action on disaster displacement in light of the climate crisis https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/76052

Community forests prepare for climate change https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/76044

Glacier collapse in India a worrying sign of what’s to come https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/76041

Climate change is making extreme cold much less likely, despite the UK plummeting to -23°C https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-making-extreme-cold-much-less-likely-despite-the-uk-plummeting-to-23-c-155177

Increasing hurricane intensity around Bermuda linked to rising ocean temperatures https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/76036

The climate coalition health report 2021: the impacts of climate change on public health https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/76049

Climate risk in Africa: Adaptation and resilience https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/76004

As NZ gets serious about climate change, can electricity replace fossil fuels in time? https://theconversation.com/as-nz-gets-serious-about-climate-change-can-electricity-replace-fossil-fuels-in-time-155123

Devastating Flood in Himalayas Highlights Risks of Development in the Era of Climate Change https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2021/02/16/flood-himalayas-development-climate/

A slippery slope: could climate change lead to more landslides? https://eos.org/features/a-slippery-slope-could-climate-change-lead-to-more-landslides

EU to seek fossil fuel phase-out in energy charter treaty talks -document https://news.trust.org/item/20210216131010-j11sw/

New ANU institute for climate, energy & disaster solutions https://energy.anu.edu.au/news-events/news/new-anu-institute-climate-energy-disaster-solutions

Climate denialism, ‘doom porn’, deflection and The New Climate War https://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/climate-denialism-doom-porn-deflection-and-the-new-climate-war-20210215-p572kh.html

Why it matters that the U.S. rejoined the Paris climate agreement https://fortune.com/2021/02/16/paris-climate-agreement-us-rejoined-biden-administration-why-it-matters/

How new design patterns can enable cities and their residents to change with climate change https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/76073

Working paper: Climate change and human mobility – Impacts and actions across sectors https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/76092

Australians fear climate change more than catching Covid, survey shows https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/19/australians-fear-climate-change-more-than-catching-covid-survey-shows

Does Cold Weather Disprove Climate Change? https://ucsusa.org/resources/does-cold-weather-disprove-climate-change

Why communication is critical to tackling the climate crisis https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/katharine-hayhoe-climate-crisis

Heat and health in the WHO European Region: updated evidence for effective prevention https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/76117

Sea level data confirms climate modeling projections were right https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/sea-level-data-confirms-climate-modeling-projections-were-right

Disaster risk reduction

Good governance and good planning includes everyone and leads to action on reducing disaster risk https://iddrr.undrr.org/

A post-quake lesson: Brick buildings should come with warnings https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/letters/2021/02/14/letter-post-quake-lesson/801-237-2900/

Mozambique: The time to prepare for the next cyclone is now https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/76037

Wildfire Risk Report for every U.S. community https://headwaterseconomics.org/natural-hazards/wildfire-risk-report/

Supercomputer-developed AI predicts tsunami flooding in real-time on a PC https://newatlas.com/environment/worlds-fastest-supercomputer-artificial-intelligence-predicts-tsunami-flooding/

Is Texas’s Disaster a Harbinger of America’s Future? https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/austin-texas-ice-storm-climate-change-1129183/

Past earthquakes triggered large rockslides in the Eastern Alps https://phys.org/news/2021-02-earthquakes-triggered-large-rockslides-eastern.html

Slow motion precursors give earthquakes the fast slip https://phys.org/news/2021-02-motion-precursors-earthquakes-fast.html

Learning from crisis: from disruption to transformation https://www.resilienceshift.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/LFC-summary-report-160221.pdf

Risky Cities Flood Project https://riskycities.hull.ac.uk/

The COVID-19 road ahead is long, winding and uncertain https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/76114

Fujitsu leverages world’s fastest supercomputer and AI to predict tsunami flooding https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/76115

Innovation in flood risk management: An ‘Avenues of Innovation’ analysis https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/76104

Emergency management

Australia Considers New Covid-19 Quarantine Strategy: Outback Isolation https://www.wsj.com/articles/australia-considers-new-covid-19-quarantine-strategy-outback-isolation-11610704005?mod=wsjtwittertest19&twclid=11361045683684265984

Advancing the Field of Disaster Response Management: Toward a Design Science Approach https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13753-021-00330-0

Equal, Rapid Access to Vaccines Is More Important Than Ever as New COVID-19 Variants Emerge https://www.rand.org/blog/2021/02/equal-rapid-access-to-vaccines-is-more-important-than.html

Labor steps up criticism of bushfire grants after damage report by federal agency revealed https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/15/labor-steps-up-criticism-of-bushfire-grants-after-damage-report-by-federal-agency-revealed

COVID-19: Vaccines giving 67% protection after three weeks, large-scale research shows https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-vaccines-giving-67-protection-after-three-weeks-large-scale-research-shows-12217943

Four reasons experts say coronavirus cases are dropping in the United States https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/02/14/why-coronavirus-cases-are-dropping/

Australian Disaster Mapper audit https://www.aidr.org.au/news/australian-disaster-mapper-audit/

Bushfire prediction tech to bolster emergency response efforts https://www.afac.com.au/auxiliary/publications/newsletter/article/bushfire-prediction-tech-to-bolster-emergency-response-efforts

Vaccine Delays in Developing Nations Risk Prolonging Pandemic https://www.wsj.com/articles/faltering-covid-19-vaccine-drive-in-developing-world-risks-prolonging-pandemic-11613557801?mod=hp_lead_pos11

Firefighter health, wellness and fitness https://www.usfa.fema.gov/operations/ops_wellness_fitness.html

Mapping the Gaps aims to address some of the issues around fragmentation of post-flood support https://floodinnovation.co.uk/the-flood-innovation-centre-launches-mapping-the-gaps-a-new-research-partnership-for-delivering-effective-post-flood-support/

How soon will COVID-19 vaccines return life to normal? https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/02/how-soon-will-covid-19-vaccines-return-life-normal

Disaster education, communications and engagement

Preparing for extreme weather at your school https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZT4mZQXKyA&feature=youtu.be

Among the storm chasers: witnessing the terrifying power of tornadoes https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/14/among-the-storm-chasers-how-extreme-weather-enthusiasts-help-predict-storms?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Play School team up with Australian Red Cross and The Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR) to share early childhood safety messages relevant during times of emergency https://www.abc.net.au/abckids/shows/play-school/everyday-helpers/13149796

Citizen scientists could be the key to early earthquake warning system https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/124244520/citizen-scientists-could-be-the-key-to-early-earthquake-warning-system

AIDR is now well into the process of developing the Disaster Resilience Education for Young People Handbook https://www.aidr.org.au/news/disaster-resilience-education-handbook/

How to become a flood resilient communityhttps://www.floodtoolkit.com/how-to-guides/community-project/

Participatory early warning and monitoring systems: A Nordic framework for web-based flood risk management https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212420917301553

Engaging haitian community leaders in emergency preparedness https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420921000571?via%3Dihub

Transformative learning and community resilience to cyclones and storm surges: The case of coastal communities in Bangladesh https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420921000297?via%3Dihub

Rivers from above https://riversfromabove.zenfolio.com/

Emergency Services Affected In Australia Due To Facebook Ban Internet https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/emergency-services-affected-in-australia-due-to-facebook-ban-internet-2372914

Students receives training on hazard mapping https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/76107

Psychology and disasters

Volcanic hazard map visualisation affects cognition and crisis decision-making https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420921000686?via%3Dihub

Australian bushfires: Simple activities for children and adolescents https://www.phoenixaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Bushfires-Evacuation-activities-for-children.pdf

A comparative analysis of the relationship between flood experience and private flood mitigation behaviour in the regions of England https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfr3.12700

COVID-19 and the violence against women and girls: ‘The shadow pandemic’ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764021995556

How the media may be making the COVID-19 mental health epidemic worse https://theconversation.com/how-the-media-may-be-making-the-covid-19-mental-health-epidemic-worse-153616

Sociology and disasters

How do those affected by a disaster organize to meet their needs for justice? Campaign strategies and partial victories following the Grenfell Tower fire https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/xrcfq/

Vaccine inequality, health systems under pressure, socio-economic fallout https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/maps-and-graphics/2021/coronavirus-humanitarian-update-map-data-vaccine-aid-response

Strengthening Disability Inclusion in Community-based Disaster Preparednesshttps://www.australianhumanitarianpartnership.org/library-contents/thematic-guidance-note-strengthening-disability-inclusion-in-community-based-disaster-preparedness

‘You never know if you will be treated properly and with respect’: voices of LGBTIQA+ people who lived through disasters https://theconversation.com/you-never-know-if-you-will-be-treated-properly-and-with-respect-voices-of-lgbtiqa-people-who-lived-through-disasters-153190

Acquiring vulnerability indicators to geo-hydrological hazards: An example of mobile phone-based data collection https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/76027

How heat is radically altering Americans’ lives before they’re even born – video https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2021/feb/16/degrees-of-racism-how-heat-is-radically-altering-americans-lives-before-theyre-even-born-video?CMP=share_btn_tw

Warming stations and shelters open throughout the Houston area https://abc13.com/heres-where-you-can-go-if-you-need-to-get-warm/10338709/

England’s poorest areas hit by Covid ‘perfect storm’ – leaked report https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/17/englands-poorest-areas-hit-by-covid-perfect-storm-leaked-report?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other