This open access book brings together research studies, developments, and application-related flash flood topics on wadi systems in arid regions. The major merit of this comprehensive book is its focus on research and technical papers as well as case study applications in different regions worldwide that cover many topics and answer several scientific questions. The book chapters comprehensively and significantly highlight different scientific research disciplines related to wadi flash floods, including climatology, hydrological models, new monitoring techniques, remote sensing techniques, field investigations, international collaboration projects, risk assessment and mitigation, sedimentation and sediment transport, and groundwater quality and quantity assessment and management. In this book, the contributing authors (engineers, researchers, and professionals) introduce their recent scientific findings to develop suitable, applicable, and innovative tools for forecasting, mitigation, and water management as well as society development under seven main research themes as follows: Part 1. Wadi Flash Flood Challenges and Strategies Part 2. Hydrometeorology and Climate Changes Part 3. Rainfall-Runoff Modeling and Approaches Part 4. Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation Part 5. Reservoir Sedimentation and Sediment Yield Part 6. Groundwater Management Part 7. Application and Case Studies The book includes selected high-quality papers from five series of the International Symposium on Flash Floods in Wadi Systems (ISFF) that were held in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020 in Japan, Egypt, Oman, Morocco, and Japan, respectively. These collections of chapters could provide valuable guidance and scientific content not only for academics, researchers, and students but also for decision-makers in the MENA region and worldwide.

Development and assistance in disasters is about helping people to help themselves. It is to do with facilitating 'sustainable livelihoods' and addressing the ills of social discrimination. These seem to be self-evident propositions. In fact, they are a minefield. If development workers intervene to assist in the creation of environmentally sustainable livelihoods, what judgemental codes are contained in the everyday cultural and linguistic assumptions of development practitioners? What account do they give of the environment and people's relationship to it? If livelihoods are to be economically sustainable, by which economic criteria is the judgement made? Is the objective to keep projects going until the funds run out, or, like cancer patients, to survive for five years, or to knit people into the world's trading systems? If projects are to be sustainable, they must be socially just. By whose justice do we judge? At present much development and disaster relief work derives its importance solely from providing opportunities for honing survival skills. The authors of this book examine these questions and others in detail and argue that the assumptions of the social-democratic world, including those of international NGOs, are tied to the perpetuation of capitalism. Neil Middleton and Phil O'Keefe suggest that the issue, in the face of anarchic global financial power, is to re-think the nature of class in a late capitalist world and to recognise indigenous NGOs as the new political vehicles for its struggle.

Coastal Defences aims to present the broad spectrum of methods that engineers use to protect the coastline and investigates the sorts of issues that can arise as a result. The first section of the book examines 'traditional' hard techniques, such as sea walls and groynes, whilst the second looks at the more recent trend of using techniques more sympathetic to nature. By looking at each of the main methods of coastal protection in detail, the book investigates the rationale for using each method and the consequent management issues, presenting a case for and against each of the techniques.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203187636

Coastal Defences aims to present the broad spectrum of methods that engineers use to protect the coastline and investigates the sort of issues that can arise as a result. The first section of the book examines 'traditional' hard techniques such as sea walls and groynes, whilst the second looks at the more recent trend of using techniques more sympathetic to nature. The 'soft' techniques, such as beach feeding and managed realignment, may work more harmoniously with natural processes, but still produce some environmental impacts. By looking at each of the main methods of coastal protection in detail, the book investigates the rationale for using each method and the consequent management issues, presenting a case for and against each of the techniques.

1. This represents the first book to bring together a wide range of community development literature focusing on the theory, research, and application behind effective locally -driven disaster mitigation 2. This book will provide local governments, NGOs, citizen groups and others a body of knowledge to use as they prepare to respond to natural and manmade disasters. 3. This book will help to enhance government level responses to disaster by providing a companion structure for disaster response and recovery

This book is concerned with the causes and consequences of river and coastal floods and the ways in which people can respond to the flood hazard. Individual chapters address issues such as floods as natural hazards; impacts and interpretations of flood hazard; causes, spatial characteristics and form of river floods and coastal floods; flood estimation; flood defence; flood forecasting and warning; other responses including land use planning and insurance; and a concluding discussion of problems, policies and prospects. Floods has been written by two experienced and successful authors whose complementary skills are combined to give a broad, comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of the subject which can be used not only as a text book or learning manual but also as an authoritative reference source. This has been achieved by organising and structuring the material to demonstrate the continuity and linkages between the causes and impacts of flooding and the many possible responses to the flood hazard. At the same time the book ensures that discussion of each of the main themes and topics is, as far as is practicable, self-contained. The book is timely in several aspects. It addresses the topicality and universality of floods which are an increasing hazard at a time of global environmental change (climate, land use, population distribution etc.). It also offers the layman and practitioner alike a synthesis and clarification of many individual research efforts near the close of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.

Dreadful Visitations offers a rare historical perspective on the cultural impact of disasters, examining eighteenth-century responses to the natural catastrophes that challenged the period's claim to reason and mastery of the environment.

Throughout history, varying responses to catastrophe have revealed much about a society's cultural and philosophical character. In "Dreadful Visitations," leading scholars of different disciplines examine eighteenth-century responses to natural disaster, showing how human agency played an active role in the creation of destructive circumstances, and how these disasters helped to establish national and moral identities in the Age of Reason.
Contributors: David Arnold, Daniel Gordon, Carla Hesse, George Starr, Alan Taylor, Steven Tobriner and Charles Walker.

Case Studies in Disaster Mitigation and Prevention: Disaster and Emergency Management: Case Studies in Adaptation and Innovation series presents cases illustrating efforts to reduce human and material losses associated with disasters. This volume demonstrates that mitigation is an ongoing phase in which communities continually pursue long-term hazard resistance and reduction. Cases illustrate the importance of risk assessment in the development of mitigation strategies through hazard mapping and multi-hazard mitigation planning. Cases also illustrate approaches to reduction risk through structural and non-structural means, giving consideration to benefits or limitations of these strategies in different contexts. The contributions of different mitigation activities to disaster risk reduction efforts are examined using the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 is considered to have been one of the worst natural disasters in history, affecting twelve countries, from Indonesia to Somalia. 175,000 people are believed to have lost their lives, almost 50,000 were registered as missing and 1.7 million people were displaced. As well as this horrendous toll on human life, the tsunami destroyed property worth billions of dollars and ruined many local economies. Based on their experience and analysis of this tsunami, the authors have developed methodologies for predicting and preparing for tsunamis. A basis is provided for a cost-effective warning and preparedness strategy, drawing on the example of existing systems used in earthquake disaster management and tidal wave warning, from genesis to impact. The book comprehensively addresses the fundamentals of tsunami science, identifying potential areas where tsunamis might be generated, predicting the anticipated course of tsunamis and considering how the geophysical, ecological and socioeconomic location of a community may determine the severity of tsunami damage. The authors suggest how precursors can be used to enhance the advance warning time, how tsunamis can be detected at the time of their occurrence, and the manner in which warnings should be communicated to the populations likely to be affected. Finally, improvement in eco-sociological resilience through the application of dual-use technologies is identified as a pivotal aid in allowing coastal communities to be better prepared. The book will be of interest to a global audience of professionals and academics active in seismology, ocean science, meteorology, coastal management, earthquake engineering and disaster management.

This book constitutes a landmark attempt to address, comprehensively and in-depth, a policy-focused approach to the many timely and important issues associated with building a culture of disaster prevention and disaster risk reduction. This book not only provides key insights into the field of natural hazard and disaster studies but also assesses the causes, perspectives, and consequences of natural disasters, as well as providing a global survey of post-recovery policies. The contributions found herein discuss disaster risk reduction strategies and policies for managing the unexpected and cascading impacts of natural disasters. A particular focus is placed on transboundary catastrophes that cross policy domains, geographic, political, and sectoral boundaries. Since the disaster management and natural resources policy research field draws on a diverse range of paradigms and influences, the book includes case histories, empirical studies, conceptual-theoretical investigations, policy perspectives, institutional analysis, and risk analyses. The role of human culture, disaster psychology and environmental monitoring are examined in depth. Deficiencies and inequalities in local, national, and global disaster response are also discussed. Original strategies for reducing disaster risk are put forward and the prospects for a major change in the direction of global policy on disasters. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research.

Disasters raise serious challenges for contemporary legal orders: they demand significant management, but usually amidst massive disruption to the normal functioning of state authority and society. When dealing with disasters, law has traditionally focused on contingency planning and recovery. More recently, however, 'resilience' has emerged as a key concept in effective disaster management policies and strategies, aiming at minimising the impact of events, so that the normal functioning of society and the state can be preserved. This book analyses the contribution of law to resilience building by looking at law's role in the different phases of the disaster regulatory process: risk assessment, risk management, emergency intervention, and recovery. More specifically, it addresses how law can effectively contribute to resilience-oriented distaster management policies, and what legal instruments can support effective resilience-building.

On December 26, 2004, a massive tsunami triggered by an underwater earthquake pummeled the coasts of Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and other countries along the Indian Ocean. With casualties as far away as Africa, the aftermath was overwhelming: ships could be spotted miles inland; cars floated in the ocean; legions of the unidentified dead -- an estimated 225,000 -- were buried in mass graves; relief organizations struggled to reach rural areas and provide adequate aid for survivors. Shortly after this disaster, researchers from around the world traveled to the region's most devastated areas, observing and documenting the tsunami's impact. The Indian Ocean Tsunami: The Global Response to a Natural Disaster offers the first analysis of the response and recovery effort. Editors Pradyumna P. Karan and S. Subbiah, employing an interdisciplinary approach, have assembled an international team of top geographers, geologists, anthropologists, and political scientists to study the environmental, economic, and political effects of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The volume includes chapters that address the tsunami's geo-environmental impact on coastal ecosystems and groundwater systems. Other chapters offer sociocultural perspectives on religious power relations in South India and suggest ways to improve government agencies' response systems for natural disasters. A clear and definitive analysis of the second deadliest natural disaster on record, The Indian Ocean Tsunami will be of interest to environmentalists and political scientists alike, as well as to planners and administrators of disaster-preparedness programs.

Political disillusionment is widespread in contemporary society. In Japan, the search for the 'outside' of a stagnant reality sometimes leads marginalised young people to a disastrous image of social change. The Fukushima nuclear disaster was the realisation of such an image, triggering the largest wave of activism since the 1960s. The disaster revealed the interconnected nature of contemporary society. The protesters regretted that their past indifference to politics prefigured such a catastrophe and became motivated to protest in the streets. They did not share any totalising ideology or predetermined collective identity. Instead, the activism provided a space for each body to encounter others who forced them to feel and think, which also introduced an ethical dimension to their politics. In this book, Azumi Tamura proposes a concept of politics as a series of endless experiments based on creative responses to unexpected forces. Instead of searching for a transcendental reference for politics, she investigates an immanent force within individuals that motivates them to become involved in political action. Referencing Deleuzian philosophy, Tamura provides a different epistemological and ontological approach to the social movement studies. She suggests social movements themselves generate knowledge about how one may live better in a complex society and where our lives are exposed to uncertainty. This knowledge is neither empirical knowledge, nor normative political theory of 'how we should live'. Instead, social movements bring affective knowledge into politics as they offer a space for experimenting with 'how we might live.' The encounter with such knowledge galvanizes our desire for 'how we want to live' and encourages new experiments.

Femke, her mother Trijn and her grandfather have very different ideas about how to run their family farm. Tensions between mother and daughter are growing; Femke wants to switch to sustainable growing principles, whilst her mother considers this an attack on tradition. To make matters worse, their home province of Groningen is experiencing a series of earthquakes caused by drilling for gas at a site close to their farm. While the cracks and splinters in their farmhouse increase, the authorities and the state-owned gas company refuse to offer the local farming community any help. In Shocked Earth, Saskia Goldschmidt investigates what it means to have your identity intensely entwined with your place of birth and your principles at odds with your closest kin. And how to keep standing when the world as you know it is slowly falling apart.

Of all the huge natural disasters that claimed the lives of thousands in Asia, the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 was the largest, estimated to have killed more than 230,000 people. The scope of damage brought about by this natural disaster urges focus on recovery and post-disaster reconstruction from several perspectives. Here we find an in-depth ethnography of Thailand and the role of culture and religion as an underpinning issue in post-disaster recovery. Following the post-tsunami recovery over five years, the book provides knowledge on socio-cultural responses from affected local communities after natural hazards, and is based on original material collected in Thailand after the 2004 tsunami. With a focus on how culture and religion interplay in the processes of building resilience and decreasing vulnerability, it gives a deeper understanding of how disasters are experienced and dealt with on a local level. It examines survivors' experiences of rituals and ceremonies that became a part of the survivors' lives in new ways after the tsunami, offering psychological reassurance and religious efficaciousness as well as communication links between themselves and the deceased. Using observations, narratives and material from in-depth interviews with survivors, relatives, relief workers, officials and Buddhist monks and nuns, this book contributes to the research on anthropology of disaster and to the development of research on cultural resilience and religion in post-disaster recovery. It will be of interest to scholars of Disaster Studies, Buddhist Studies and Asian Studies.

This book is a critical analysis of several of the most disaster-prone regions in Asia. Its unique focus is on the legal issues in the phase of disaster recovery, the most lengthy and difficult stage of disaster response that follows the conclusion of initial emergency stage of humanitarian aid. In the stage of disaster recovery, the law decides the fate of reconstruction for the individual houses and livelihoods of the disaster-affected people and sets the limit of governmental support for them during the lengthy period of suspension of normal living until full recovery is obtained. Researchers who were participant-observers in the difficult recovery phase after the mega-disasters in Asia analyse the reality of the functions of law which often hinder, rather than foster, efforts to restore disaster victims' lives. The book collects research conducted with an emphasis on empirical approaches to legal sociology, including direct interviews with people affected by the disaster. It offers a holistic approach beyond the traditional sectionalism of legal studies by starting with a historical review and incorporating both spheres of public law and private law, in order to obtain a new perspective that can concurrently achieve disaster risk reductions and human-centered recoveries. With particular emphasis on the unexplored area of law in the post-disaster recovery phase, this book will attract the attention of students and scholars of disaster studies, legal studies, Asian studies, as well as those who work in the practice of disaster management.

Natural disasters have long been seen as naturally generated events, but as scientific, technological, and social knowledge of disasters has become more sophisticated, the part that people and systems play in disaster events has become more apparent. Production of Disaster and Recovery in Post-Earthquake Haiti demonstrates how social processes impact disasters as they unfold, through the distribution of power and resources, the use of discourses and images of disaster, and the economic and social systems and relations which underlie affected communities. The authors show how these processes played out in post-earthquake Haiti to set in motion the mechanics of the disaster industrial complex to (re)produce disasters and recovery rather than bring sustainable change. The book reveals that disaster and recovery rhetoric helped create fertile conditions for neoliberal disaster governance, militarized and digital humanitarianism, non-profiteering, and disaster opportunism to flourish while further disenfranchising marginalized populations. However, the Haiti earthquake, as is the case with all disaster sites, was ripe with mutual aid, community building, and collective action, all of which further local resilience. The authors seek to re-construct dominant discourses, policies, and practices to advance equitable, participatory partnerships with local community actors and propose a praxis for a people's recovery as an action-oriented framework for resisting the transnational disaster industrial machinery. The authors argue for new synergies in policymaking and program development that can respond to emergencies and plan for true long-term, sustainable development after disasters that focuses as much on humans and the natural world as it does on economic progress. Production of Disaster and Recovery in Post-Earthquake Haiti will be of great interest to students and scholars of disaster studies, humanitarian studies, development studies, Haitian studies, geography and environmental studies, as well as to non-governmental organizations, humanitarians, and policymakers.

Extreme weather events, such as droughts, strong winds and storms, flash floods and extreme heat and cold, are among the most destructive yet fascinating aspects of climate variability. Historical records and memories charting the impacts and responses to such events are a crucial component of any research that seeks to understand the nature of events that might take place in the future. Yet all such events need to be situated for their implications to be understood. This book is the first to explore the cultural contingency of extreme and unusual weather events and the ways in which they are recalled, recorded or forgotten. It illustrates how geographical context, particular physical conditions, an area's social and economic activities and embedded cultural knowledges and infrastructures all affect community experiences of and responses to unusual weather. Contributions refer to varied methods of remembering and recording weather and how these act to curate, recycle and transmit extreme events across generations and into the future. With international case studies, from both land and sea, the book explores how and why particular weather events become inscribed into the fabric of communities and contribute to community change in different historical and cultural contexts. This is valuable reading for students and researchers interested in historical and cultural geography, environmental anthropology and environmental studies.

The apocalyptic visions of climate change that are projected in the media often involve extreme weather events, disasters and mass migration of poor people. This book takes a critical look at this notion, drawing on research in Bangladesh, a country located at the heart of debates on climate change and migration. This book argues that rather than leading to dramatic events, climatic and environmental impacts often cause incremental changes in people's habitats and livelihoods, making them migrate in search of better places and income. With or without climate change, climatic and environmental factors can impoverish people, and drive displacement and migration, especially in the global South. These influences, including disasters, need not necessarily make people move, but instead sometimes trap the poorest and the most vulnerable people in their places exposed to hazards or make them migrate to even riskier places, such as crowded and flood-prone urban slums. This book argues that restrictions placed on people's mobility options could increase their vulnerability and favours proactive migration policies. This timely contribution explains the climate-hazard-migration nexus in an accessible, engaging language for students of geography, development studies, politics and environmental studies, as well as humanitarian and development practitioners and policymakers.

A gripping description of New England's storm of the century.

Scientists predict the earth is facing 40-to-60 years of climate change, even if emissions of carbon dioxide and other global warming gases stopped today. One inevitable consequence of the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere will be an increase in the frequency and severity of natural disaster events. Global Warming, Natural Hazards, and Emergency Management documents the imperative need for communities to prepare for the coming effects of climate change and provides a series of in-depth, road-tested recommendations on how to reduce risks for communities and businesses. Frontline Advice for Increasing Defenses and Reducing Impacts of Global Warming Authored and edited by emergency management and environmental protection professionals from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Sierra Club, this book offers case histories from communities across America that have successfully reduced the extent and consequences of natural disasters. These examples are becoming increasingly important to understand and replicate as the risks to communities created by a changing climate rise. This book recognizes three fundamental principles essential to developing a disaster-prevention strategy: The protection of natural systems is an important security measure The reduction of disaster risk, not just response, is of great importance Local communities must take the lead in prevention efforts Provides Local Governments with Replicable Case Histories of Hazard Mitigation Efforts This no-nonsense reference is a procedural roadmap for emergency managers, policy makers, and community officials. It explains how to develop community partnerships among a myriad of stakeholders; identifies staffing and resource requirements for successful programs; and p

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book takes an in-depth look at Louisiana as a state which is ahead of the curve in terms of extreme weather events, both in frequency and magnitude, and in its responses to these challenges including recovery and enhancement of resiliency. Louisiana faced a major tropical catastrophe in the 21st century, and experiences the fastest rising sea level. Weather specialists, including those concentrating on sea level rise acknowledge that what the state of Louisiana experiences is likely to happen to many more, and not necessarily restricted to coastal states. This book asks and attempts to answer what Louisiana public officials, scientists/engineers, and those from outside of the state who have been called in to help, have done to achieve resilient recovery. How well have these efforts fared to achieve their goals? What might these efforts offer as lessons for those states that will be likely to experience enhanced extreme weather? Can the challenges of inequality be truly addressed in recovery and resilience? How can the study of the Louisiana response as a case be blended with findings from later disasters such as New York/New Jersey (Hurricane Sandy) and more recent ones to improve understanding as well as best adaptation applications - federal, state and local?

This book represents a landmark effort to probe and analyze the theory and empirics of designing water disaster management policies. It consists of seven chapters that examine, in-depth and comprehensively, issues that are central to crafting effective policies for water disaster management. The authors use historical surveys, institutional analysis, econometric investigations, empirical case studies, and conceptual-theoretical discussions to clarify and illuminate the complex policy process. The specific topics studied in this book include a review and analysis of key policy areas and research priority areas associated with water disaster management, community participation in disaster risk reduction, the economics and politics of 'green' flood control, probabilistic flood forecasting for flood risk management, polycentric governance and flood risk management, drought management with the aid of dynamic inter-generational preferences, and how social resilience can inform SA/SIA for adaptive planning for climate change in vulnerable areas. A unique feature of this book is its analysis of the causes and consequences of water disasters and efforts to address them successfully through policy-rich, cross-disciplinary and transnational papers. This book is designed to help enrich the sparse discourse on water disaster management policies and galvanize water professionals to craft creative solutions to tackle water disasters efficiently, equitably, and sustainably. This book should also be of considerable use to disaster management professionals, in general, and natural resource policy analysts. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Natural Resource Policy Research.