Book Review: Handbook of Disaster Research (2nd Edition). Rodríguez, H., Trainor, J. & Donner, W. (Eds.) (2018). Handbook of Disaster Research (2nd Edition). Springer International Publishing AG. 619 pp. $349.99 (hardcover). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63254-4 . Reviewed by Laura L. Olson, PhD.
Note: Since this is an unusually large and important book, and this review is 4 pages long, please click here to see the full review: Handbook of Disaster Research
New GAO Report: Federal Disaster Assistance: Individual Assistance Requests Often Granted but FEMA Could Better Document Factors Considered. GAO-18-366, Published: May 31, 2018.
This is not a new publication, but one worth noting: FEMA P-1000, Safer, Stronger, Smarter: A Guide to Improving School Natural Hazard Safety (2017)
From Politico: People just give up: Low-income hurricane victims slam federal relief programs. Nine months after Harvey, middle-class Houston has recovered, but low-income neighborhoods are in disarray.
From the GAO Watch blog: Keeping the Lights On; Building Resilience in U.S. Electricity Grid.
Historic town suffered it second 1,000 year flood in two years. See: Do You return After Another 1000 year Flood? Some excerpts from the article about the rebuilding efforts there for the past two years:
Funding for water infrastructure programs finally did come through, just three weeks ago, with a little more than $1 million for flood-mitigation in Ellicott City from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
But that will barely get the front-end loaders cranking on a project that’s a $10 million event — for openers.
The planning folks warned everyone this would happen. They issued a 2014 report that detailed what needed to be done to tame those raging waters. And nothing happened. Then, after the 2016 flood, the report was rebooted last June as the “Ellicott City Hydrology/Hydraulic Study and Concept Mitigation Analysis. Conclusion: “The nature and scope of such improvements is significant in scope, impact and cost. It will require a long term planning and implementation effort.”
From CNN: Florida, Mississippi and Alabama declare emergencies ahead of storm Alberto.
Hurricane season doesn’t officially begin until June 1, but Alberto apparently missed the memo. The tropical system became a subtropical storm Friday, the hurricane center said. As it travels up the warm waters of the Gulf, it could well become a full tropical storm.
Already some are calculating $1B in economic losses in the Gulf Coast.
We know that some parts of the country are more vulnerable to disasters than others, and some communities suffer repetitive losses over the years. The article provides an amazing amount of detail, via data and maps, showing where those events and losses have occurred in the U.S.
From the NY Times: The Places in the U.S. Where Disaster Strikes Again and Again.
In the last 16 years, parts of Louisiana have been struck by six hurricanes. Areas near San Diego were devastated by three particularly vicious wildfire seasons. And a town in eastern Kentucky has been pummeled by at least nine storms severe enough to warrant federal assistance.
Update on May 29: After trying several times to print out a useful copy of this excellent article, I contacted the NY Times. They did not provide much help, but perhaps a reprint could be ordered. I did learn that some articles appear only in their digital version of the paper and not in the hard copy. Good to know for future reference for the researchers out there.
From the WashPost; Fresh from Hurricane Harvey’s flooding, Houston starts to build anew — in the flood plain
There has to be a better way to rebuild. Any suggestions from readers?
Recovery Diva 