In 2011, despite continued developments in forecasting, tracking, and warning technology, the United States was hit by the deadliest tornado season in decades. More than 1,200 tornadoes touched down, shattering communities and their safety nets, and killing more than 500 people--a death toll unmatched since 1953.Drawing on the unique analysis described in their first book, "Economic and Societal Impacts of Tornadoes," economists Kevin M. Simmons and Daniel Sutter here examine the factors that contributed to the outcomes of such tornadoes as the mid-April outbreak that devastated communities in North Carolina, the "Super Outbreak" across the southern and eastern United States in late April, and the single, mile-wide funnel that touched down in Joplin, Missouri, in late May. In the course of their study the authors identify patterns and anomalies, and reconsider previous assertions about the effectiveness of the Doppler radar and storm warning systems. Their conclusions, as well their assessment of early recovery efforts, are aimed at helping community leaders and policy-makers keep vulnerable populations safer in the future.

This publication discusses lessons learned from and achievements of the Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRM) Fund in supporting ADB technical assistance projects in Southeast Asian developing member countries. The Government of Canada and ADB established the IDRM Fund in February 2013 to advance proactive integrated disaster risk management measures on a regional basis in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The IDRM Fund funded 19 technical assistance projects with a gender-focused approach to IDRM and reflecting regional solutions that produce cross-border disaster management.

Many countries are increasingly threatened by major landslide disasters and fatalities due to extreme weather events which have major implications for public safety and the sustainability of infrastructure and the built environment. A further increase in such a trend could come from climate change. This book helps to fill in the gap due to the fact that landslide hazards are commonly not covered under the policy debate on climate change. The book highlights the importance of raising awareness to the challenges of landslide hazards due to climate impact. It provides a holistic frame for understanding the key issues and new tools that could be used to assess and manage the landslide risks. The book gathers contributions from 21 countries and regions in the form of national reports or summaries with respect to four key aspects: a) the methods used for evaluating changing weather and changing landslide patterns; b) the changing weather patterns; c) the changing landslide patterns and hazard scenarios; d) the applications to risk management and the formulation of adaptation measures. Recommendations are made for enhanced preparedness and resilience. Improved crisis management and areas for future work are suggested.

The Asian tsunami in December 2004 severely affected people in coastal regions all around the Indian Ocean. This book provides the first in-depth ethnography of the disaster and its effects on a fishing village in Tamil Nadu, India. The author explores how the villagers have lived with the tsunami in the years succeeding it and actively worked to gradually regain a sense of certainty and confidence in their environment in the face of disempowering disaster. What appears is a remarkable local recovery process in which the survivors have interwoven the tsunami and the everyday in a series of subtle practices and theorisations, resulting in a complex and continuous recreation of village life. By showing the composite nature of the tsunami as an event, the book adds new theoretical insight into the anthropology of natural disaster and recovery.

There are many connections between human communities and their surrounding environments that influence community resilience and health in the Gulf of Mexico. The impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Gulf communities and ecosystems - coupled with the region's preexisting health challenges and environmental stressors - illustrate the need to better understand these connections. In the future, natural and man-made disasters, climate change impacts, and other environmental stressors will present complex challenges to the physical, mental, and social well-being of communities in the Gulf. Understanding the interrelationships among health, ecological, and economic impacts of disasters and other environmental stressors will be crucial to addressing these challenges. Opportunities for the Gulf Research Program: Community Resilience and Health summarizes a Gulf Research Program workshop held on September 22-23, 2014, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The workshop examined opportunities to improve the health, well-being, and resilience of communities in the Gulf region through discussions with about 50 participants with diverse expertise and experience. These discussions identified perceived needs, challenges, and opportunities that align with the Gulf Research Program's mission and goals - particularly its goal to improve understanding of the connections between human health and the environment to support the development of health and resilient Gulf communities. This workshop is expected to lead to the development of additional Program activities and opportunities for the research community. Table of Contents Front Matter 1 Introduction 2 Human Health, Public Health Practice, and Community Resilience 3 Perspectives on Resilient Communities 4 Reducing Risk and Improving Disaster Recovery 5 Building Resilience in the Gulf Region 6 Capacity to Address Environmental Health Risks 7 Long-term Opportunities 8 Lasting Benefit References A--Workshop Agenda B--Statement of Task C--Speaker Biographies D--Workshop Attendees E--Related Funding Programs

David Strohmaier's long career as a firefighter has given him intimate knowledge of wildfire and its complex role in the natural world of the American West. It has also given him rare understanding of the painful losses that are a consequence of fire. Strohmaier addresses our ambivalence about fire and the realities of loss to it. He also examines the process of renewal that is yet another consequence of such destruction, from the infusion of essential nutrients into the soil, to the sprouting of seeds that depend on intense heat for germination, to the renewal of species as the land restores itself. ""Drift Smoke"" is a powerful and moving meditation on wildfire by someone who has seen it in all its terror and beauty, who has lost colleagues and beloved terrain to its ferocity, and who has also seen new life sprouting in the ashes. The debate over the role and control of fire in the West will not end soon, but Strohmaier's contribution to the debate will help us to better appreciate both the complexity of the issues and the possibilities of fresh solutions.

This book addresses disaster risk reduction (DRR) policies, focusing on reducing the paradox that exists between the compulsory implementation of DRR policies and continuing limitations The authors use their knowledge of the ever-evolving threats associated with disasters and their prevention to investigate this famous paradox and propose solutions that will help readers understand and reconsider its existence. The authors also discuss conditionings behind this paradox, helping readers understand the existing solutions, also suggesting how to reduce the limitations of DRR policies.

In this fifth volume of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Culture of Health series, Community Resilience: Equitable Practices for an Uncertain Future highlights the importance of resilience, or the set of assets that allow a person or place to recover when adversity hits, by illustrating the policies and stories of lived experience surrounding health equity. Whether that adversity is acute-such as an environmental disaster or an abuse of police power-or chronic-such as that engendered by poverty and racism-local innovation and community engagement are key to nurturing resilience and promoting health equity. Community Resilience positions storytelling and narrative shifts as essential to influencing our perceptions of who deserves empathy or support, and who does not, by examining the systemic barriers to resilience and the opportunities to reshape the landscape to overcome those barriers. The central message of this volume-across immigration or imprisonment, opioids or trauma, housing or disaster preparedness-is that we must act intentionally and allow a shift in power in order to make progress.