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Emergency Management - Global

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This working group is focused on discussions about emergency management.

The mission of this working group is to focus on discussions about emergency management.

Members

JAB455s Kathy Gilbeaux mdmcdonald

Email address for group

emergency-management-global@m.resiliencesystem.org

How Social Media Is Changing Disaster Response

 

 

Image: Flickr/John

submitted by Robyn Wyrick

Congress is grappling with the benefits and risks of using Facebook, Twitter and other social media during emergencies

scientificamerican.com - by Dina Fine Maron - June 7, 2013

When Hurricane Katrina ravaged the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, Facebook was the new kid on the block. There was no Twitter for news updates, and the iPhone was not yet on the scene. By the time Hurricane Sandy slammed the eastern seaboard last year, social media had become an integral part of disaster response, filling the void in areas where cell phone service was lost while millions of Americans looked to resources including Twitter and Facebook to keep informed, locate loved ones, notify authorities and express support.

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OCHA - Humanitarian Kiosk

       

The Humanitarian Kiosk (H.Kiosk) application provides a range of up-to-the-minute humanitarian related information from emergencies around the world.

OCHA now offers a Humanitarian Kiosk app for Apple devices (iOS5+).

unocha.org - March 21, 2013

What is Humanitarian Kiosk?

One of the challenges faced by humanitarian workers is access to timely, relevant and accurate information.   New technology provides an opportunity for humanitarian workers to develop better ways to access and share this information, and get aid to those who need it more quickly and effectively.  OCHA has developed the Humanitarian Kiosk to address the diverse information needs of humanitarian agencies and workers.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

You can install the app on any of your Apple devices (iOS5+) through this link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/humanitarian-kiosk/id546482411

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OCHA - Japan: An Earthquake, a Tsunami – and a Handwritten Newspaper

      

A rescue worker uses a two-way radio transceiver during heavy snowfall at a factory area devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in Sendai, northern Japan, 16 March 2011. Credit: REUTERS/KIM KYUNG-HOON

unocha.org - March 15, 2013

When one of the most technologically sophisticated countries in the world is hit by a triple emergency, should we count on web platforms and social media to deliver lifesaving information? Not necessarily, according to a new report by Internews into the communications aspects of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan.

. . . instead of their usual high-tech operation, local newspaper reporters went back a few decades in time and produced a handwritten newspaper.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Internews Report - Connecting the Last Mile: The Role of Communications in the Great East Japan Earthquake
http://www.internews.org/research-publications/connecting-last-mile-role-communications-great-east-japan-earthquake

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Verily: Crowdsourced Verification for Disaster Response

                   

irevolution.net - by Patrick Meier - February 19, 2013

Social media is increasingly used for communicating during crises. This rise in Big (Crisis) Data means that finding the proverbial needle in the growing haystack of information is becoming a major challenge.

QCRI and Masdar have launched an experimental  platform called Verily. We are applying best practices in time-critical crowd-sourcing coupled with gamification and reputation mechanisms to leverage the good will of (hopefully) thousands of digital Samaritans during disasters.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Veri.ly
http://www.veri.ly/

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Making Communities More Resilient to Climate-Induced Weather Disasters

submitted by Samuel Bendett

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - February 18, 2013

Mounting scientific evidence indicates climate change will lead to more frequent and intense extreme weather that affects larger areas and lasts longer. We can reduce the risk of weather-related disasters, however, with a variety of measures. Experts say that a good strategy should include a variety of actions such as communicating risk and transferring it through vehicles such as insurance, taking a multi-hazard management approach, linking local and global management, and taking an iterative approach as opposed to starting with a master plan.

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After Disaster, Governor Faced with Challenge of Keeping Jakarta Dry

      

Since last month, when the worst flooding in six years hit Jakarta, occupancy at Marunda public housing complex north of Jakarta has jumped.

nytimes.com - by Sara Schonhardt - February 20, 2013

JAKARTA, Indonesia — At the Marunda housing projects in North Jakarta, weeds push up through cracks in concrete foundations and grimy facades beg for paint. The rent-subsidized apartments have little access to public transportation, and drainage ditches that ring each building smell of sewage.

It seems unlikely that people would line up to live here.

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Solomons Quake Triggers Tsunami, Destroys Villages

      

ABC News - Live Coverage Blog - February 5, 2013

A magnitude 8.0 earthquake off Solomon Islands has generated a tsunami and destroyed three villages.

(GO TO THE LIVE BLOG)

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
http://ptwc.weather.gov/

From GDACS . . . Estimated wave height and arrival times of Tsunami
http://tinyurl.com/a72nss9 . . .

USGS - 8.0 Earthquake
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000f1s0#summary

West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center
http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/

National Data Buoy Center - Facebook Announcement
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=401774316576562&id=128538033843673

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Solar Ship Receives Grant to Build Emissions-Free Airship to Deliver Supplies to Disaster Areas

SOLAR SHIP

inhabitat.com - by Kristine Lofgren - January 17th, 2013

Submitted by Samuel Bendett

In 2011 we wrote about Solar Ship, a helium zero-emissions cargo plane that is capable of delivering much-needed goods to people in remote areas where vehicles simply cannot reach. Today, Solar Ship is now one step closer to reality after receiving a grant to build a next-generation airship that could fly critical supplies to First Nation communities in North America. In order to realize their goal, they are turning to crowd funding to raise much-needed additional financial support.

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Explaining Risks

Aftereffects of the L'Aquila earthquakeImage: Aftereffects of the L'Aquila earthquake

compression.org - October 25th, 2012 - Robert W. "Doc" Hall

The difficulties of explaining risk are the nub of the recent conviction on manslaughter changes of six Italian seismologists and a public official for inadequately forewarning the public of the L’Aquila earthquake in 2009: 309 fatalities, over 1500 injuries, and about 20,000 buildings destroyed. Seismologists classified the L’Aquila as a “moderate earthquake,” 6.3 Richter, but losses were very high in a densely populated area.

The case has drawn media attention, but Nature has a more detailed account.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Italian Scientists Convicted of Not Warning of Earthquake

      

Collapsed church building from 2009 earthquake in central Italy

voanews.com - October 22, 2012

An Italian court on Monday convicted seven scientists and experts of manslaughter for underestimating the risks of a killer earthquake and failing to adequately warn citizens before it struck the central Italian town of L'Aquila in 2009.

More than 300 people were killed, tens of thousands were left homeless, and the town's historic center and medieval churches were destroyed in the 6.3-magnitude quake.

Prosecutors argued that the defendants - members of a national panel that assesses major risks - offered "incomplete, imprecise and contradictory information" to residents.

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