Delaware Does It Again
Every year, the Natural Hazards Center receives a stack of the latest article reprints, preliminary reports, and other publications produced by the Disaster Research Center (DRC), the first social science research center in the world devoted to the study of disasters. Located at the University of Delaware, researchers at the center conduct field and survey research on a broad range of disasters, including hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hazardous chemical incidents, and plane crashes.
Over the past year, DRC has published articles on statistical and conceptual problems in the study of disasters, modeling earthquake impacts on lifeline systems, community resilience following the World Trade Center attack, the convergence of volunteers and donations at Ground Zero, disaster resistant communities, the implications for disaster planning following September 11, business vulnerability to disasters, sustainable development, and the sociology of panic.
Many of the DRC’s papers and articles are available free on its web site. The center also publishes books, reports, historical and comparative studies, dissertations, and other documents, many of which are also available on-line. To obtain a catalog, contact the DRC, Publications, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716; (302) 831-6618; http://www.udel.edu/DRC/publications.html.
NEMA Issues Report on State Structures for Addressing Terrorism
The National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) represents the emergency management directors in all 50 states, territories, and the District
of Columbia who are responsible to their governors for disaster preparedness. In October of last year, NEMA undertook a survey of states to identify trends and commonalities in terrorism preparedness at the state level, both before and after September 11, 2001. The results of the survey are now available in the report, State Organizational Structures for Homeland Security. Thirty-nine states responded to the survey, and partial data for the others was collected through public information sources.
Questions that were posed to states included:
- Does your current state structure continuously identify threats and vulnerabilities?
- Does your state take corrective action to reduce identified threats and vulnerabilities?
- Does your current organizational structure promote interagency cooperation and information sharing?
- Does your state have the capability to respond to and fight a terrorist incident?
Many state-based emergency management systems in the country have been preparing for a terrorist attack since the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma. Since then, a number of states have developed and tested local response plans and conducted needs assessments. Overall, the report found that on a state-by-state basis, disaster response structures have not changed much since September 11. However, since then, many states have created new entities or diversified functions within existing entities to better respond to terrorist threats.
As of January 2002, 18 states had established new entities such as homeland security offices, and 27 states had created terrorism task forces, committees, or working groups. The creation of new functions is in part due to the White House Office of Homeland Security’s request for a point of contact in each state. The location of this point of contact varies from state to state. State individuals may be housed in the governor’s office, the military department, the emergency management structure, or the public safety department. Point-of-contact positions also vary greatly in how they were created (e.g., by legislative changes, gubernatorial orders, etc.), but all share a key emphasis on integrated coordination among many state organizations.
The report, State Organizational Structures for Homeland Security, is available on-line in PDF format on NEMA’s web site: http://www.nemaweb.org/News/NEMA_Homeland_Security_Report.pdf. For information about the report, contact: Chad S. Foster, Council of State Governments, 2760 Research Park Drive, PO Box 11910, Lexington KY 40578; (859) 244-8032.
NOAA Creates Citizen Heat Wave Warning System
In May 2002, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that a new method to warn people of advancing heat waves up to seven days before their onset has become operational.
The Mean Heat Index is a measure of how hot the temperature actually feels to people over the course of a day. The index combines factors such as surface and ambient heat along with humidity and other environmental factors. The index averages the more traditional Heat Index from the hottest and coldest times of the day to provide a more dynamic understanding of the effects of a heat wave. For example, it can incorporate the increased impact of a heat wave during periods when the nighttime temperature does not drop very much from daytime highs, an important distinction that is not reflected in the Heat Index.A Mean Heat Index above 85 degrees is considered dangerous. Alerts and Mean Heat Indices are issued to the general public through daily, graphical representations of the contiguous U.S. as well as a more localized text forecast that is sent out by NOAA for over 90 cities across the country. Mean Heat Indices are also sent out in NOAA’s National Weather Service suite of extended range forecasts. The Mean Heat Index gives local emergency officials advanced warning of prolonged periods of dangerously high heat.
For more information, contact: NOAA/National Weather Service, National Centers for Environmental Protection, Hydrometeorological Prediction Center, 5200 Auth Road, Camp Springs, MD 20746; http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/heat_index.shtml.
Table of Contents for This Issue of the Natural Hazards Observer
