A list of links to some aspects of disaster resilience that were in the news recently…
Recent emergencies/disasters
Malaysia – 30,000 Displaced by Floods in Johor, Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan https://floodlist.com/asia/malaysia-floods-johor-pahang-malacca-negerisembilan-march-2023
Gulf of Carpentaria communities enduring biggest floods in decade brace for further heavy rain https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-06/gulf-of-carpentaria-biggest-floods-in-decade-more-to-come/102057244
Properties under threat as emergency alert level bushfire spreads amid punishing NSW heatwave https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-06/bushfire-emergency-threatens-properties-nsw-heatwave/102058288
Powerful winter storm hits U.S., leaving at least 13 people dead and over 3 million without power, U.S. https://watchers.news/2023/03/06/powerful-winter-storm-hits-u-s-leaving-at-least-13-people-dead-and-over-3-million-without-power-u-s/
Tropical Cyclone “Freddy” — The longest-lived and one-of-a-kind tropical cyclone in history https://watchers.news/2023/03/06/tropical-cyclone-freddy-the-longest-lived-and-one-of-a-kind-tropical-cyclone-in-history/
Brazil – Hundreds Displaced by Floods in Northern Paraná https://floodlist.com/america/brazil-floods-parana-march-2023
Indonesia – Heavy Rain Triggers Deadly Landslide in Riau Islands https://floodlist.com/asia/indonesia-landslide-riau-islands-march-2023
School bus swept into river near Batchelor, south of Darwin, three students rescued https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-08/nt-school-bus-batchelor-finniss-river/102070668
Out-of-control bushfire burning more than 15,000ha continues to spread near Hill End, NSW https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-09/large-hill-end-nsw-bushfire-continues-to-spread/102070400
Heavy rains produced by Cyclone Yaku cause severe flooding and landslides in western Ecuador https://watchers.news/2023/03/09/heavy-rains-produced-by-cyclone-yaku-cause-severe-flooding-and-landslides-in-western-ecuador/
Heavy downpour leads to severe flooding in Accra, Ghana https://watchers.news/2023/03/09/heavy-downpour-leads-to-severe-flooding-in-accra-ghana/
Wet season delivers welcome rain for Barkly and Top End cattle stations, despite floods https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-09/nt-wet-season-best-in-years-barkly-rainfall-flooding/102068298
Volcanic activity worldwide 8 Mar 2023: Fuego volcano, Popocatépetl, Shiveluch, Dukono, Reventador https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-activity/news/205986/Volcanic-activity-worldwide-8-Mar-2023-Fuego-volcano-Popocatepetl-Shiveluch-Dukono-Reventador.html
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
EV battery recycler hits 95% recovery rate in world-first collection program https://thedriven.io/2023/03/03/ev-battery-recycler-hits-95-recovery-rate-in-world-first-collection-program/
‘Everyone should be concerned’: Antarctic sea ice reaches lowest levels ever recorded https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/04/everyone-should-be-concerned-antarctic-sea-ice-reaches-lowest-levels-ever-recorded
NSW government called out on net zero goal as own data projects coal and gas emissions until 2050 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/04/nsw-government-called-out-on-net-zero-goal-as-own-data-projects-coal-and-gas-emissions-until-2050
Beat the Heat https://www.blacktown.nsw.gov.au/Services/Health-and-safety/Beat-the-heat#section-5
Gas could make up one-third of Victoria’s climate pollution by 2035: report https://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/gas-could-make-up-one-third-of-victoria-s-climate-pollution-by-2035-report-20230306-p5cprk.html
Fossil fuels kill more people than Covid. Why are we so blind to the harms of oil and gas? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/28/fossil-fuels-kill-more-people-than-covid-why-are-we-so-blind-to-the-harms-of-oil-and-gas
Revealed: 1,000 super-emitting methane leaks risk triggering climate tipping points https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/06/revealed-1000-super-emitting-methane-leaks-risk-triggering-climate-tipping-points
With global warming of just 1.2°C, why has the weather gotten so extreme? https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/03/with-global-warming-of-just-1-2c-why-has-the-weather-gotten-so-extreme/
Variability conceals emerging trend in 100yr projections of UK local hourly rainfall extremes https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36499-9
Climate change to cost Germany up to 900 billion euros by 2050 – study https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/climate-change-cost-germany-up-900-bln-euros-by-2050-study-2023-03-06/
Threat of rising seas to Asian megacities could be way worse than we thought, study warns https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/07/asia/rising-sea-levels-asia-cities-threat-climate-intl-hnk-scn
Intense Downpours in the UK Will Increase Due to Climate Change Says New Study https://floodlist.com/europe/united-kingdom/intense-rain-increase-climate-change
Disaster risk reduction
Who should pay when development causes floods? https://thenarwhal.ca/ontario-development-floods/
Dam engineers criticised for 2011 Brisbane floods defend handling, say governments need to act on planning regulations https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-05/brisbane-2011-floods-engineers-dam-management-wivenhoe/102038192
A new review of the UN’s disaster prevention framework finds more than half of countries are still lacking fit-for-purpose risk monitoring systems https://www.preventionweb.net/news/world-set-miss-un-targets-preventing-deadly-and-costly-disasters-2030-warns-international
Inferring the depth and magnitude of pre-instrumental earthquakes from intensity attenuation curves https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/23/1007/2023/
River hydraulic modeling with ICESat-2 land and water surface elevation https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/27/1011/2023/
Introducing the GRRIEn Analysis Framework: Defining standards for reproducible and robust supervised learning of earth surface processes at large spatial scales https://waterprogramming.wordpress.com/2023/03/06/introducing-the-grrien-analysis-framework-defining-standards-for-reproducible-and-robust-supervised-learning-of-earth-surface-processes-at-large-spatial-scales/
For the first time, scientists have a high-resolution model of how today’s geophysical landscapes were created and how millions of tonnes of sediment have flowed to the oceans https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2023/03/03/most-detailed-geological-model-reveals-earths-past-100-million-years-science.html
When summer turned extreme: A statistical analysis of New Zealand’s remarkable summer of 2022/23 https://watchers.news/2023/03/03/when-summer-turned-extreme-a-statistical-analysis-of-new-zealands-remarkable-summer-of-2022-23/
Digital technologies that allow experts to better predict future city environments may be a key tool in sustainable urban design https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/creating-digital-twins-to-save-our-cities
A Monte Carlo simulation and sensitivity analysis framework demonstrating the advantages of probabilistic forecasting over deterministic forecasting in terms of flood warning reliability https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022169423002822
Without cross-border flood alerts, disaster risk grows in Nepal https://www.context.news/climate-risks/without-cross-border-flood-alerts-disaster-risk-grows-in-nepal
The London neighbourhoods that could flood as Environment Agency issues warning after snow and rain https://www.mylondon.news/weather/london-neighbourhoods-could-flood-environment-26427371
What Turkey’s earthquake tells us about the science of seismic forecasting https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00685-y
Emergency management
More than $7.2 million in grants has been made available for 32 projects aimed at rebuilding flood damaged arts, culture and recreation infrastructure assets https://nema.gov.au/about-us/media-centre/Arts-Culture-Priority-030323
Targeted funding is now available to repair, restore and enhance First Nations-owned social and cultural assets damaged last year in the February and June floods https://nema.gov.au/about-us/media-centre/First-Nations-Support-020323
Heart of the community soars after Black Summer bushfires https://nema.gov.au/Rappville-Black-Summer-Bushfires
New South Wales flood affected sports facilities, programs, and sporting organisations will get a share of $36 million to get community sport back on the field https://nema.gov.au/about-us/media-centre/Sports-Assets-NSW-020323
California nurses slam state decision to roll back COVID-19 requirements in health care settings https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3883607-california-nurses-slam-state-decision-to-roll-back-covid-19-requirements-in-health-care-settings/
Cyclone Gabrielle Broke Vital Communication Links When People Needed Them Most – What Happened and How Do We Fix It? https://floodlist.com/australia/cyclone-gabrielle-communication-links-failure
Australia sending rapid response team, HMAS Canberra to assist clean-up after ‘evil twin’ cyclones smash Vanuatu https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-06/vanuatu-in-recovery-mode-after-cyclone-disaster/102058182
New Zealand – Insurers Expect Auckland Flood Claims to Exceed $1 Billion NZ https://floodlist.com/australia/new-zealand-auckland-flood-insurance-claims
Long Covid is associated with significantly increased risk of death, heart and lung problems, study finds https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/03/health/long-covid-health-consequences/index.html
The red and yellow sticker dilemma – how do we balance safety with the desire to return home after a disaster? https://theconversation.com/the-red-and-yellow-sticker-dilemma-how-do-we-balance-safety-with-the-desire-to-return-home-after-a-disaster-201283
Disaster education, communications and engagement
Crowdsourced Reports Can Quickly Identify an Earthquake’s Impact https://www.seismosoc.org/news/crowdsourced-reports-can-quickly-identify-an-earthquakes-impact/
Knowing The Australian Fire Danger Ratings Could Save Your Life https://nema.gov.au/stories/australian-fire-danger-ratings
Disaster Distress Memory Game https://strengthafterdisaster.org/memory-game/
Psychology and disasters
One year on from the 2022 QLD and NSW floods https://nema.gov.au/2022-QLD-and-NSW-floods
Disaster response and recovery must include mental health support plan https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-03-disaster-response-recovery-mental-health.html
Sociology and disasters
Morality in the Pandemic https://jayvanbavellab.substack.com/p/morality-in-the-pandemic
Changes in corporate social responsibility activity during a pandemic: The case of COVID-19 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/beer.12527
Public administration in disasters: Integrating emergency management into jail and prison preparedness https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/puar.13608
Vietnamese women leading the way on flood resilience https://floodresilience.net/blogs/vietnamese-women-leading-the-way-on-flood-resilience-participation/
On International Women’s Day 2023, we celebrate those who are forging women’s equality in all walks of life https://www.preventionweb.net/news/women-leaders-forge-change-reduce-disaster-risk-all
Disaster Resilience News 