Looking for Some Major Independent Studies of H. Sandy Recovery

Posted on March 13, 2014 by recoverydiva

The Diva would love to see a respected, independent organization — such as the GAO, CRS, Congressional committee or a major think tank — do a comprehensive study of the recovery process after Hurricane Sandy. Since billions of taxpayer money went into that recovery, it would be nice to know what got accomplished and if new knowledge, processes, regulations, techniques etc. were used.

I am not talking about after-action reports but about in-depth studies. Here is an example of what I would like to see:

Far From Home: Deficiencies in Federal Disaster Housing Assistance After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and Recommendations for Improvement. Special report of the Ad Hoc Subcommittee of Disaster Recovery of the Senate Committee on HS and Gov. Affairs. Dated Feb. 2009. S-PRT # 111-7.

If any such studies are contemplated or are underway, please let me know.

Update on March 14th: So far I have been told about two pending studies, one at GAO and one at the Senate Committee on HSGA.

Another H. Sandy Is Possible Say Geologists

Posted on October 22, 2013 by recoverydiva

One more set of concerns, this time from geologists. Geologists: Sandy could happen again. Some excerpts:

Sandy’s storm surge hit the coast at high tide, but storm and tidal conditions were not the only cause of the devastation. Seawaters off New York’s coast have risen sixteen inches since 1778, the year of New York City’s first major recorded storm. Geologists say that due to rising sea levels, smaller storms could produce significant flooding.

Almost a year after Hurricane Sandy, parts of New York and New Jersey are still recovering from billions of dollars in flood damage. Tufts University geologist Andrew Kemp sees the possibility of damage from storms smaller than Sandy in the future.

“Rising sea levels exacerbate flooding,” says Kemp. “As sea level rises, smaller and weaker storms will cause flood damage.”
An assistant professor in Tufts’ Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Kemp co-authored a study on sea-level change close
to New York that was published recently in the Journal of Quaternary Science.

http://now.tufts.edu/news-releases/could-sandy-happen-again

Historic Newspaper Files

Posted on October 5, 2013 by recoverydiva

I recently attended a local book fair and chatted with some of the staff of the Library of Congress. One interesting resource I discovered is their LOC service that provides copies of Historic American Newspapers.

I have not yet used it, but it would be a useful source for those doing research on historic disasters. As a disaster historian, I welcome this resource.

Learn from Experience? — not necessarily for some in Congress

Posted on September 24, 2013 by recoverydiva

A new report from the Center for American Progress is titled States With most federal disaster aid sent climate science deniers to congress.

Since this report is only 8 pages long, I suggest you read it all. One excerpt:

Interestingly, many of the states that received the most federal recovery aid to cope with climate-linked extreme weather have federal legislators who are climate-science deniers. The 10 states that received the most federal recovery aid in FY 2011 and 2012 elected 47 climate-science deniers to the Senate and the House. nearly two-thirds of the senators from these top 10 recipient stated voted against grants federal emergency aid to NJ and NY after Superstorm Sandy.

World’s Most Vulnerable Cities – from Swiss Re

Posted on September 20, 2013 by recoverydiva

From a article in USAToday, using data from the insurance co. Swiss Re; fortunately, only one of these is in the U.S. No others are in North America.

World’s most vulnerable cities, with population:

Tokyo-Yokohama, Japan (57.1 million)
Manila, Philippines (34.6 million)
Pearl-River Delta, China (34.5 million)
Osaka-Kobe, Japan (32.1 million)
Jakarta, Indonesia (27.7 million)
Nagoya, Japan (22.9 million)
Kolkata, India (17.9 million)
Shanghai, China (16.7 million)
Los Angeles (16.4 million)
Tehran, Iran (15.6 million)

There also is a 36 page report that provides more details, available at this site. There are smaller reports for various continents available also.

A Note on Selection of Reports

Posted on September 13, 2013 by recoverydiva

The Diva wants you to know that she does not write a posting about a new report unless she thinks it contains significant new information, is reasonably well written, and makes a contribution to knowledge. In the past week or so, two new reports I read did not meet those criteria.

Every once in a while a report from a reputable think tank or even governmental organization turns out to be a not-very-informative rehash of existing information. And on occasion a junior or not-well- informed staffer is the lead author of a report. It might be news but it is not necessarily new knowledge. Sometimes, I talk to my friends and colleagues about a new report and get a sort of informal peer review.

The bottom line: I do not write about everything that I learn about. I select the reports that meet my standards.

New Category – “Research Repositories”

Posted on August 26, 2013 by recoverydiva

I just added a new page to this blog and am calling it “Research Repositories.” So far it has a central site for research re two major disasters, H. Katrina, and Superstorm Sandy. Hopefully, this page will be helpful to researchers and others looking for major reports and other resources about recent major disasters.

Superstorm Sandy Research Lab

Posted on August 9, 2013 by recoverydiva

As noted in the bulletin of the Hazards Center at the Univ. of CO/Boulder:

“The Superstorm Research Lab is a collective of scholars working to cross boundaries between traditional academic publishing and information sharing for the common good—all within the scope of social and environmental issues surrounding Hurricane Sandy. The group’s open online resource site hosts a wealth of information including qualitative interviews, data sets, maps, and documents from a variety of sources. Whether you’re in the market to find or share, this site is a treasure trove of Sandy info.”

The Diva liked the Public Reports page especially. The Lab is supported by NY University.

New GAO Report Criticizes R and D Efforts at DHS

Posted on July 19, 2013 by recoverydiva

A new, 11 page report from GAO titled DHS:Oversight and Coordination of Research and Development Efforts Could Be Strengthened. Following up on their 2012 recommendations, GAO is still pressing DHS to develop a more strategic effort to reconcile R & D spending.

“The Road to Recovery”

Posted on July 5, 2013 by recoverydiva

Don’t miss this article ( 8 pp.) by two of the best and most experienced disaster researchers in the U.S. See The Road to Recovery; Governing Post-Disaster Reconstruction, by Laurie A. Johnson and Robert B. Olshansky.

This article “… summarizes ongoing research into the roles of various government levels in successful disaster recovery and rebuilding…. It represents the synthesis of two decades of recovery research and planning practice following some of the of the larges disaster of our time….”

The focus of the article is national organizations established for governance after a major disaster.

For those interested in recovery research, be sure to read the last section titled “Next Steps in Our Research.”

Recovery Diva

Long-Term Recovery from Disasters

Category Archives: Research