The Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAMS&T Centre) has brought out a publication entitled Management of Natural Disaster in Developing Countries based on the proceedings of the International Workshop on the above subject held in Asian institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand, 24-27 January, 2000. Natural hazards are naturally occurring processes forming an experience to human being, depending on where one lives. Floods, volcanoes, tornadoes, bushfires and hurricanes are the possible threats, which affect the environment and thus our lives. To find out the outcome of the problem, it requires exploring the reason of its origin and the possible antidotes so that it can dwindle to some extent. Planning, managing and implementing environmentally sound strategies are the supreme measures in this concern. Also, organizing a series of workshops/trainings on Management of Natural Disaster could be an aid in consecutive steps. Hence, the above workshop was organised and the proceedings of the workshop have been arranged in a sequential manner. The volume contents mainly aim at identifying areas of mitigating flood, cyclone and storm surge disaster. The Status Reports from well know experts from different countries namely, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Syria, Thailand and Viethnam are also included in this Volume. Contents Chapter 1: Mitigating Cyclone and Storm Surge Disasters by Jamilur R Choudhury; Chapter 2: Management of Natural Disasters by Aminul Kawser Khan; Chapter 3: S&T Initiatives for Natural Hazard Mitigation by K R Gupta and R K Midha; Chapter 4: Improved Understanding About Indian Earthquake Hazard by G D Gupta & H N Srivastava; Chapter 5: R&D for Cyclone Disaster Mitigation by T V S R Appa Rao; Chapter 6: Natural Disaster and its Mitigation by Wisyanto; Chapter 7: The ESCAP-IDNDR Regional Survey on Assessment of Achievements during the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (DNDR) by Le Huu Ti; Chapter 8: Overview of Experiences and Responses to Recent Disasters by Cengiz Ertuna; Chapter 9: Accomplishments, Current Activities and Future Requirements for Disaster Reduction by Kamal Bin Hussain; Chapter 10: Management of Natural Disasters by Veersing Boodhna; Chapter 11: Management of Natural Disasters by Krishna Prasad Paraujuli; Chapter 12: Forecasting, Early Warning and Reporting Procedure in Case of Disasters by Muhammad Munir Sheikh; Chapter 13: Manageable Procedures to Encounter the Natural Disasters by Abdul Qader Melhem; Chapter 14: Channel Changes Using Satellite Data for Flood Mitigation, Watershed Degradation the Flood Plain Monitoring by Lal Samnarakoon, Kiyoshi Honda and Akichika Ishibashi; Chapter 15: Cyclone Disasters due to Heavy Rainfall by Suphat Vongvisessomjai; Chapter 16: Cyclone Disasters due to Strong Wind and Surge by Suphat Vongvisessomjai; Chapter 17: Mitigation of Typhoons and Flood by Daong Quang San.
In 1999 natural catastrophes and man-made disasters claimed more than 105,000 lives, 95 percent of them in the developing world, and caused economic losses of around US$100 billion. In 1998 the twin disasters of the Yangtze and Hurrican Mitch accounted for two-thirds of the US$65 billion loss. The geographical areas affected may vary, but one constant is that the per capita burden of catastrophic losses is dramatically higher in developing countries. To respond to an increased demand to assist disaster rcovery programmes, the World Bank set up the Disaster Management Facility in 1998, to help provide the Bank with a more rapid and strategic response to disaster emergencies. The DMF focuses on risk identification, risk reduction, and risk sharing/transfer, the three major topics in this volume. The DMF also promotes strategic alliances with key private, government, multilateral and nongovernmental organisations to ensure the inclusion of disaster risk reduction as a central value of development. The most important of these partnerships is the ProVention Consortium, launched in February 2000, based on the premise that we must all take responsibility for making the new millennium a safer one.
Climate change is increasingly of great concern to the world community. The earth has witnessed the buildup of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere, changes in biodiversity, and more occurrences of natural disasters. Recently, scientists have begun to shift their emphasis away from curbing carbon dioxide emission to adapting to carbon dioxide emission. The increase in natural disasters around the world is unprecedented in earth's history and these disasters are often associated to climate changes. Many nations along the coastal lines are threatened by massive floods and tsunamis. Earthquakes are increasing in intensity and erosion and droughts are problems in many parts of the developing countries. This book is therefore to investigate ways to prepare and effectively manage these disasters and possibly reduce their impacts. The focus is on mitigation strategies and policies that will help to reduce the impacts of natural disasters. The book takes an in-depth look at climate change and its association to socio-economic development and cultures especially in vulnerable communities; and investigates how communities can develop resilience to disasters. A balanced and a multiple perspective approach to manage the risks associated with natural disasters is offered by engaging authors from the entire globe to proffer solutions.
A disaster can be a natural or a man-made hazard that results in large scale physical destruction, human suffering and loss of life. It can be a tragic event resulting from events such as tsunami, earthquakes, floods, catastrophic accidents, fires, explosions, etc. In general, developing countries suffer the most when a disaster hits, primarily because of the lack of management and unpreparedness to meet such eventualities as compared to the developed countries. The capabilities for risk assessment, forecasting, monitoring and early warning system, emergency management, prevention strategies, improving awareness, political will and a need to involve the professionals, scientific bodies and public-private partnerships are some of the key elements that need urgent attention particularly in the context of the developing countries. In this direction, the strategic thinking is required to unfold scenarios before they really occur so that road map to human safety could be updated, game plan could be revised and strategic sense could be sharpened to fight natural disasters. It is essential to build joint programmes and win-win partnerships on natural disasters management among the developing countries to prevent human sufferings and the loss of life, to the maximum extent. The present publication is a follow up of the international roundtable on 'Lessons from Natural Disasters, Policy Issues and Mitigation Strategies' organised at Vellore, India during 8-12 January, 2007 by the NAM S&T Centre and the Centre for Disaster Mitigation and Management (CDMM) of the VIT University. It includes 16 research papers including country status reports from 12 developing countries of Asian, African and Latin American regions. The book presents significant insights on various kinds of natural disasters and concerned management strategies for the developing countries and is expected to be of great value for the researchers and professional engaged with the disaster management issues.
Stefan Hochrainer develops a catastrophe risk management model. It illustrates which trade-offs and choices a country must make in managing economic risks due to natural disasters. Budgetary resources are allocated to pre-disaster risk management strategies to reduce the probability of financing gaps. The framework and model approach allows cross country comparisons as well as the assessment of financial vulnerability, macroeconomic risk, and risk management strategies. Three case studies demonstrate its flexibility and coherent approach.
This book presents strategies for managing disasters and reducing risks in Asian countries. Given the dynamic changes in the natural environment as well as the patterns of land use and management, the growing populations of the developing nations in Asia, migration patterns, and other social-cultural aspects, the impacts of disasters have increased manifold in Asian countries. Against this backdrop, the book examines disaster management issues such as disaster preparedness, post-disaster reconstruction, peace, development and corruption. The views of different groups of stakeholders are incorporated in the discussion to ensure a comprehensive analysis of and findings on the governance process, as well as best practices in pre- and post-disaster management. The book also includes chapters focusing on aspects often overlooked in the context of disaster management, such as the need to invest in public education to improve public awareness, and approaches to supporting the disabled, the vulnerable and the elderly from disaster risks. In closing, the book presents research on disaster management methods employed by different countries in the Asian region. Acknowledgement: The editors acknowledge the role of the Network of Asia Pacific Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Governance (NAPSIPAG), which is the largest governance research network in the Asia Pacific region,in bringing out this book. NAPSIPAG has been regularly organizing international meetings of administrators, academia and non-state bodies to provide a forum to the regional scholars to deliberate with the international governance experts. It has also helped the international policy organizations to have a better understanding about the region through a local lens of Asiatic anthropology, ethnography and culture of administration.
Disaster Risk Management (DRM) has recently become a significant concern for development cooperation among international and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in development programs. Natural disasters have devastated an increasing number of regions (especially those in the developing phase), destroyed national and international investments, and set back progress gained with development. Developing countries are not able to reduce the impact of large-scale catastrophes because they lack building codes, land registration processes, regulatory mechanisms, and development itself. Also, they tend to prioritize other development projects and underestimate the risks presented by natural events. Finally, the quality of construction is very low in these countries, and the effects of natural phenomena are therefore catastrophic. The United Nations initiative for an International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (1990-99) has placed this concern at the top of the international agenda. International and national actors (UN agencies, the World Bank, NGOs, and donor countries) involved in the development of poor countries are now more concerned about prevention in their development programs. DRM is considered an effective tool for protecting development projects, yet it is infrequently considered by developing countries in their programs (even in highly vulnerable countries). As such, developing countries are not able to effectively integrate a strategic approach to DRM into their national policy on their own, causing the poorest communities to suffer the most as a result. The improvement of living conditions and the promotion of a sustainable development are the core objectives of the organizations involved in the development of poor countries. They intend to pursue those goals by including natural risk reduction and mitigation programs in their projects, for development can be sustainable only by preventing (or, at least, minimizing) the effects of natural disasters. In order to do so, they have set up programs and mechanisms aimed at supporting developing countries' local institutions to develop their DRM capacity and include it in their national policy.Natural disasters are not a challenge to developing countries only; they are also a challenge for development cooperation. Strategies have been developed and implemented to reduce the vulnerability of populations in poor countries and to decrease disaster risk. Developing countries should strengthen their capability to manage natural disasters by allocating more resources to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) programs and by cooperating with developed nations to reduce their higher vulnerability to natural hazards.
The world is currently experiencing changes in climate and environment that often lead to natural disasters. Nearly three million people worldwide may have been killed in the past 20 years by natural disasters. In total, 90% of the natural disasters and 95% of all disaster-related deaths occur in the developing countries. Recently such problems have accelerated due to LULC change, biodiversity degradation, increased tourism, urbanization and climate change. This book, consisting of 27 chapters, explores the topics of climate, environment and natural disasters in developing countries. It is essential to discuss these diverse issues in the field of geography as it encompasses interdisciplinary topics. The range of issues on national, regional and local dimensions is not only confined to geography but also concerned to other disciplines as well. Therefore, this book is a valuable source for scientists and researchers in allied fields such as climatology, disaster management, environmental science, hydrology, agriculture, and land use studies, among other areas. Furthermore, this book can be of immense help to the planners and decision-makers engaged in dealing with the problems of climate, environmental change and natural disasters in developing countries.
Natural disasters are increasingly affecting the world, taking lives unexpectedly and leaving many others injured and homeless. Moreover, disasters disrupt local, national and even global economies, instantly changing the direction of development. In the first half of 2011 alone, 108 natural disasters occurred, killing over 23 thousand people, affecting nearly 44 million others and causing more than 253 billion US dollars of economic damages (CRED 2011,1). Large urban settlements have become increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters. The concentration of substandard infrastructure and housing, material assets, and inherent socio-economic inequalities increase vulnerability to disasters in large urban areas, especially in developing countries. The size, number, functions, and geographical distribution of large- and megacities create a special concern for disaster risk. Good urban management practices can be a powerful catalyst for reducing losses from natural disasters, while simultaneously helping to develop a sustainable environment. Yet, the existing situation indicates that sustainable planning and risk management measures are not taken into consideration or may not be put into practice for a variety of financial, political, and social reasons. This book argues that, on one hand, socio-economic disparities resulting from unsustainable urban development can increase vulnerability to natural hazards, and on the other hand, when paired with natural hazards this increased vulnerability can negatively affect urban areas, resulting in further inequality. This book will showcase this argument with theoretical reviews and quantitative analyses on the interplay between sustainable development and disaster vulnerability as well as an in-depth case study of the role of urban planning and risk management practices in creating the socio-economic and spatial vulnerabilities and predicted earthquake risk in the megacity of Istanbul.
This book offers a systematic, empirical examination of the concepts of disasters and sustainable economic development applied to many cases around the world. It presents comprehensive coverage of the complex and dynamic relationship between disaster and development, making a vital contribution to the literature on disaster management, disaster resilience and sustainable development. The book collects twenty-three chapters, examining theoretical issues and investigating practical cases on policy, governance, and lessons learned in dealing with different types of disasters (e.g., earthquakes, floods and hurricanes) in twenty countries and communities around the world.
This study investigates the complex link between natural disasters, individual behaviour – in the form of an individual’s risk-taking propensity and level of trust – and the demand for microinsurance. Developing countries are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of natural hazards and climate change as they affect their development processes and set back poverty reduction efforts. Using a unique data set for rural Cambodia based on a survey, experimental games and a discrete choice experiment, the study highlights the importance of perceptions, expectations and psychological factors in decision-making processes with substantial consequences for long-term economic perspectives and poverty alleviation.
