Please find a list of links to some aspects of disaster resilience that were in the news recently…
Recent emergencies/disasters
Cuba still fighting massive blaze after lightning strikes Matanzas Supertanker Base https://watchers.news/2022/08/07/cuba-still-fighting-massive-blaze-after-lightning-strikes-matanzas-supertanker-base/
Major flash flooding hits Death Valley after nearly a year’s worth of rain in a couple of hours, California https://watchers.news/2022/08/06/major-flash-flooding-hits-death-valley-after-nearly-a-years-worth-of-rain-in-a-couple-of-hours-california/
Gundagai homes protected despite major flooding along Murrumbidgee River https://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/7850921/gundagai-homes-protected-despite-major-flooding/
Fourth person reported drowned in New Mexico wildfire area floods https://news.yahoo.com/fourth-person-reported-drowned-mexico-062353466.html
Colombia – 21 Buildings Collapse After Floods in Antioquia https://floodlist.com/america/colombia-antioquia-floods-august-2022
Senegal – Deadly Flash Floods in Dakar https://floodlist.com/africa/senegal-deadly-flash-floods-in-dakar
Mexico – Two Dead, Several Rescued After Flash Floods in Sonora https://floodlist.com/america/mexico-floods-sonora-august-2022
9 dead, 6 missing in record rainfall in Seoul, surrounding areas https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220809000856315
The Horn of Africa is in the grips of a deadly drought as threat of famine looms https://currentlyhq.com/global/horn-of-africa-deadly-drought-threat-of-famine-looms/
Extremely heavy rainfall battering parts of northern Japan https://watchers.news/2022/08/10/extremely-heavy-rainfall-battering-parts-of-northern-japan/
Volcanic activity worldwide 10 Aug 2022: Popocatépetl volcano, Ibu, Reventador, Sangay, Sakurajima https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-activity/news/188794/Volcanic-activity-worldwide-10-Aug-2022-Popocatepetl-volcano-Ibu-Reventador-Sangay-Sakurajima.html
‘Fire tornado’ produced by Sam Fire in Los Angeles, California https://watchers.news/multimedia_gallery/fire-tornado-produced-by-sam-fire-in-los-angeles-california/
‘We fought all night’: A thousand firefighters battle Bordeaux blaze https://www.euronews.com/2022/08/10/thousands-evacuated-near-bordeaux-as-wildfires-ravage-french-countryside
Sudan – Floods and Heavy Rain Leave 25 Dead, 5,800 Homes Destroyed https://floodlist.com/africa/sudan-floods-august-2022
Venezuela – Hundreds Displaced After Floods in Barinas, Táchira and Miranda https://floodlist.com/america/venezuela-floods-august-2022
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Germany’s Economy Is Carried on the Rhine’s Shrinking Back https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/07/23/climate-rhine-river-transport-germany/
Temperatures rise as France tackles its worst drought on record https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/temperatures-rise-france-tackles-its-worst-drought-record-2022-08-07/
Climate change: Tears of joy as US bill clears Senate hurdle https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62457386
Mapped – Attributing extreme weather to climate change https://www.carbonbrief.org/mapped-how-climate-change-affects-extreme-weather-around-the-world/
New Zealand has launched a plan to prepare for inevitable climate change impacts: 5 areas where the hard work starts now https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-has-launched-a-plan-to-prepare-for-inevitable-climate-change-impacts-5-areas-where-the-hard-work-starts-now-188221
Business can no longer ignore extreme heat events – it’s becoming a danger to the bottom line https://theconversation.com/business-can-no-longer-ignore-extreme-heat-events-its-becoming-a-danger-to-the-bottom-line-188151
Over half of known human pathogenic diseases can be aggravated by climate change https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1
Weather agency: July was Spain’s hottest month on record https://apnews.com/article/spain-weather-climate-and-environment-caebe9e8e7679989c01525e1e8f11178
A volcano is erupting again in Iceland. Is climate change causing more eruptions? https://theconversation.com/a-volcano-is-erupting-again-in-iceland-is-climate-change-causing-more-eruptions-187858
Is a 43 per cent emissions cut enough? https://www.theage.com.au/national/is-a-43-per-cent-emissions-cut-enough-20220809-p5b8c6.html
Europe’s worst ever drought: in pictures https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2022/aug/08/europes-worst-ever-drought-in-pictures
Kenyan youth help climate-hit communities prepare for disaster https://news.trust.org/item/20220808155305-kz61q/
Satellite data shows Antarctic sea ice is at it’s lowest July level since monitoring began https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-10/lowest-july-antarctic-sea-ice-on-record/101317492
Response of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet to past and future climate change https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04946-0
Too little, too late for people seeking climate relief https://publicintegrity.org/environment/harms-way/fema-buyout-seeking-climate-relief/
The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet, new research shows https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/11/us/arctic-rapid-warming-climate/index.html
America’s summer of floods: climate crisis fueling barrage, scientists say https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/11/america-summer-floods-rainfall-climate-crisis
Land temperatures on the rise, weather fluctuations more severe, Europe space chief says https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/europe-climate-change-1.6548001
Record Death Valley flooding ‘a once-in-1,000-year event’ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/10/death-valley-floods-climate-crisis
Simultaneous extreme heat and drought events have consequences in a variety of areas https://www.news.uzh.ch/en/articles/media/2022/Extreme-Events.html
Disaster risk reduction
Raising Warragamba Dam is not the best flood mitigation strategy, Premier https://johnmenadue.com/raising-warragamba-dam-not-the-best-flood-mitigation-strategy-premier/
Abandoned mines and poor oversight worsened Kentucky flooding, attorneys say https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/lack-regulation-abandoned-mines-worsened-kentucky-flooding-attorneys-s-rcna41716
Brillhart builds resilient house on stilts to withstand Miami’s floods and hurricanes https://www.designboom.com/architecture/brillhart-architecture-stewart-avenue-residence-miami-florida-08-07-2022/
Development of disaster risk reduction policy in Thailand https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/DPM-08-2019-0244/full/html
New tool to provide a harmonised fire risk assessment across the Pan-European region https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news/new-tool-provide-harmonised-fire-risk-assessment-across-pan-european-region-2022-08-05_en
Prescribed fires: Why they’re still trusted despite runaway blaze https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2022/0719/Prescribed-fires-Why-they-re-still-trusted-despite-runaway-blaze
Machine learning approaches are proactively mitigating the risk of bushfires caused by powerlines, ensuring the safe and regular supply of power to business and communities https://utilitymagazine.com.au/using-machine-learning-for-bushfire-prevention-in-australia/
MP joins chorus of voices calling for the NSW government to act on floods https://www.hawkesburypost.com.au/post/mp-joins-chorus-of-voices-calling-for-the-nsw-government-to-act-on-floods
USask researchers explore how floods and droughts are challenging science and society globally https://news.usask.ca/articles/research/2022/usask-researchers-explore-how-floods-and-droughts-are-challenging-science-and-society-globally.php
Swamped by public outcry, Oregon withdraws controversial wildfire risk map https://www.opb.org/article/2022/08/05/oregon-wildfire-prevention-map-risk-forest-fire-insurance/
‘Dry lightning’ sparked the most destructive wildfires in California https://www.newscientist.com/article/2332755-dry-lightning-sparked-the-most-destructive-wildfires-in-california/
53 million Nigerians at risk of flooding, environmental expert warn https://gazettengr.com/53-million-nigerians-at-risk-of-flooding-environmental-expert-warn/
Kashmir’s flood management plan faces heavy criticism https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/livelihoods/kashmir-flood-management-plan-faces-heavy-criticism/
Estimating undisclosed flood risk in real estate transactions https://www.milliman.com/en/insight/Estimating-undisclosed-flood-risk-in-real-estate-transactions
Using Water Resources More Sustainably with a Hydrological Database https://www.kit.edu/kit/english/pi_2022_075_using-water-resources-more-sustainably-with-a-hydrological-database.php
Oregon State researchers develop framework for modeling post-earthquake infrastructure resilience https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/oregon-state-researchers-develop-framework-modeling-post-earthquake-infrastructure-resilience
A wet spring: what is a ‘negative Indian Ocean Dipole’ and why does it mean more rain for Australia’s east? https://theconversation.com/a-wet-spring-what-is-a-negative-indian-ocean-dipole-and-why-does-it-mean-more-rain-for-australias-east-188167
Modelling urban sewer flooding and quantitative microbial risk assessment: A critical reviewhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfr3.12844
As floodwaters hurtled towards Lismore, several rain and river gauges stopped working https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-09/lismore-floods-several-rain-and-river-gauges-stopped-working/101315822
Identification of floodwater source areas in Nepal using SCIMAP-Flood https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfr3.12840
Multiple factors make Afghan communities vulnerable to earthquakes https://temblor.net/earthquake-insights/multiple-factors-make-afghan-communities-vulnerable-to-earthquakes-14301/
Modelling the behaviour of corporations during the flood damage recovery process using multi-agent deep reinforcement learning https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfr3.12845
Physically based cold regions river flood prediction in data-sparse regions: The Yukon River Basin flow forecasting system https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfr3.12835
In 2021, the Emergency Event Database (EM-DAT) recorded 432 disastrous events related to natural hazards worldwide https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/2021-disasters-numbers
Emergency management
Thousands stranded in China resort city amid COVID lockdown https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/thousands-stranded-china-resort-city-amid-covid-lockdown-88033915
Does BA.5 spread more easily outdoors than previous variants? https://www.today.com/health/health/ba5-variant-outdoor-transmission-rcna41300
Firefighters ‘stretched to the limit’ and running out of crew as service braces for another UK heatwave https://inews.co.uk/news/firefighters-stretched-limit-braces-uk-heatwave-1784412
Northern NSW flood report probing government response to be released today https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-09/northern-nsw-flood-response-report-to-be-released-/101311728
Parliamentary flood report finds SES and Resilience NSW failed Lismore, northern NSW communities https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-09/nsw-parliamentary-flood-inquiry-report-finds-agencies-failed/101302802
Hawkesbury Community Alliance calls on NSW government to act now on urgent flood mitigation https://www.hawkesburypost.com.au/post/hawkesbury-community-alliance-urges-nsw-government-to-act-now-on-urgent-flood-mitigation
Disaster education, communications and engagement
Machine learning model uses social media for more accurate wildfire monitoring https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/238432/machine-learning-model-uses-social-media/
Residents Vote on Tax for Wildfire Mitigation and Response https://www.govtech.com/em/preparedness/residents-vote-on-tax-for-wildfire-mitigation-and-response
Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) has ramped up its ongoing efforts to educate the community about home fire safety https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/incident.php
Psychology and disasters
The Mental Health of Minority and Marginalized Young People: An Opportunity for Action https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00333549221102390
Climate change and extreme heat are making us more anxious https://theconversation.com/climate-change-and-extreme-heat-are-making-us-more-anxious-187830
Sociology and disasters
Status and Social Capital: A Cross-Sectional Quantitative Investigation of Flood Survivors in South Punjab, Pakistan https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362322408_Status_and_Social_Capital_A_Cross-Sectional_Quantitative_Investigation_of_Flood_Survivors_in_South_Punjab_Pakistan
Do disasters trigger protests? A conceptual view of the connection between disasters, injustice, and protests—The case of COVID-19 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2022.836420/full
These communities are trapped in harm’s way as climate disasters mount https://grist.org/article/these-communities-are-trapped-in-harms-way-as-climate-disasters-mount/
Beating the Heat: Investing in Pro-Poor Solutions for Urban Resilience https://www.adb.org/publications/beating-heat-pro-poor-solutions-urban-resilience
Disaster Resilience News 