Post Natural Disaster : Transitional Shelters

Scientific evidence showing Earth’s climate change is abundant and profound. The shift our planet has experienced is so drastic that author and environmentalist Bill McKibben says we should give it a new name, such as “Eaarth (McKibben 2).” The title is familiar yet so very different. By burning fossil fuels, mankind has increased Earth’s temperature by “more than a degree and a half Fahrenheit (McKibben 3).” This rise in warmth is enough to prompt a “45 percent increase in thunderstorms (McKibben 3),” which is capable of producing violent amounts of rain and hail. More storms mean more lightning; in 2008, lightning in California triggered “1,700 different fires...burning a million acres and

Tragic events that cause damage to property and life may destroy the social, cultural and economic life of a community. Communities must be engaged in the various phases from prevention to recovery to build disaster resilient communities. In order to do this, there must be a disaster preparedness plan in place that involves multiple people in various roles.

The natural environment is, of course, not “getting its revenge”. Geophysical, meteorological, and hydrologic processes are unfolding as they have for millennia, beginning long before humans occupied the earth and continuing to the present. Given the eons-long perspective of the natural environment, it would be very difficult to identify meaningful changes in event frequency for the short time period in which scientific records are available on geological, meteorological, and hydrological phenomena. Event frequency, from an emergency management perspective, is not really the issue. It is certainly true that, over the years, more people have been affected by natural disasters and losses are becoming progressively greater. The significant feature driving these observations, however, is the extent of human encroachment into hazard prone areas. With increasing population density and changing land use patterns, more people are exposed to natural hazards and consequently our accumulated human and economic losses are increasing. Much of this exposure is a matter of choice. Sometimes people choose hazardous places, building houses on picturesque cliffs, on mountain slopes, in floodplains, near beautiful volcanoes, or along seismic faults. Sometimes people choose hazardous building materials that fail under extreme environmental stresses—for example, unreinforced masonry construction in seismically active areas. Some exposure results from constrained choices; the cheap land or

Editor’s Note: This Chapter is the continuation of an adaptation of a state plan for disaster preparation and response. In total, the original chapter comprises Chapters 1, 14, 16-18.

The differing needs of a vulnerable population have to be addressed in order to alleviate issues that were noted after Katrina. In particular, the needs which are known prior to a disaster, such as evacuation for the infirmed, elderly, impoverished, and those who lack the means to evacuate. The Department of Homeland Security represented a solution to addressing these needs via a three phase response: “pre-event planning and preparation, the event, and recovery” (Dept. Homeland Security, 2008). It has been widely studied that residents of a vulnerable community may be impacted more severely and are disproportionately affected than those with means following a disaster. Assessing how to prepare for each of the phases represents an issue for emergency managers especially when it comes to those who lack the means to prepare for themselves. Quickly rebuilding homes in a devastated area won’t help a community when a disaster strikes again. Platt stated that “disasters offer a window of opportunity to strengthen communities”, via “construction and change land uses to prevent a recurrence of a disaster”. (Platt, 1998) It also can be argued that following a disastrous event, this is when a true opportunity arises, by providing an opportunity to work through solving the societal issues that are the basis for a vulnerable populous via comprehensive political reforms and

In the article, “What We Can Say About The Louisiana Floods and Climate Change”, Chris Mooney states that due to climate change our planet is warming, causing the increase the of rainfall throughout the world. He claims that a warming planet overall breaks warm temperature records more frequently than cold temperature records. Due to the atmosphere warming its ability to retain water increase as the water vapor increased this past year, and dumping more than two feet of rainfall. He points out that heat and moisture helps caused heavy rainfall due to the amount of moisture in the atmosphere. The purpose of this article is to help us explore and understand that climate change could be a possible reason why extreme weather is occurring more

Critical incidents require immediate action (Levinson & Granot, 2002). Additionally, they also require ongoing support in order to ensure that they are correctly managed and the long-term effects are mitigated (Schneid & Collins, 2001). Addressed here are four specific events - earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tornados. There are ways to mitigate the damage of these events, and there are also ways to try to prepare for them. Additionally, the type of response to these events is important as is the recovery from them. For earthquakes, mitigation is limited. It is possible to build houses and buildings stronger and more able to withstand shaking, and in earthquake-prone areas the cabinets often have latches and large appliances are strapped to the wall (U.S., 2007). People who live there should also have emergency supplies of food and water, and should be prepared for an earthquake by knowing information about evacuation routes (U.S., 2007). The response to earthquakes and the recovery from them are usually strong, because the areas that are most prone are also most prepared. When an earthquake hits in an unusual area, however, it can take much longer to help people and to rebuild the infrastructure.

Disasters are bound to strike at a given time and they more often find us unaware, this is the sole reason why the majority of the disasters that happen are usually fatal and destructive. This then calls for the need to try as much as possible to prevent these disasters and in particular in our cities. This is due to the fact that in the cities there are large populations that live close to each other or work in offices crammed together hence the likelihood of a disaster turning absolutely fatal if and when it strikes. However, due to the inevitable nature of these disasters, it is upon us to make adequate preparations that can enable us to minimize the effects of the natural disasters as much as possible when and if they happen.

Regardless of their causes, disasters invoke human reactions in the context of social institution, small communities or long-term care facilities. The attempt to reestablish the social order of the culture after a disaster requires anticipation and collaborative planning prior to any disaster. Planning is acquired through government officials and scientists in an attempt to avoid future

Thus, if we can identify where the responsibility lies (or more accurately, how responsibility is ‘distributed’ as it would be unfair for us to presume that the government is solely responsible), then we can push for changes to occur toward a more positive direction. After responsibility is identified and positive change occurs, the new model for disaster preparedness can be emulated by other local governments, especially those that are prone to hurricanes and other extreme weather phenomena such as New

According to scientific research, the average temperature of the earth has risen by between ten and twenty degrees Celsius (M.L. Weitzman, 2008). These high temperatures could well be described as a ‘recipe for disaster’, and could produce results that would be catastrophic on a global scale. What is more alarming however, is that there is already a lot of evidence of predicted results of climate change, for instance, in Australia especially, severe draughts have been common in farming areas in the last few decades, there has been an increase of intense and extreme weather events, for example floods, flash floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and tornados, almost all of the natural disasters listed have occurred for ‘unknown’ reasons in the past few years. Rises in sea water level and temperature due to higher acid levels caused by global warming, threaten the existence of species and in some areas, entire eco-systems resulting in the loss of natural biodiversity. ‘Climate change is pushing the world to the verge of environmental and economic collapse, whether global deniers want to believe it or not’ (N. Klein, 2011).

Victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) often seek help from emergency shelters like Hays-Caldwell Women’s Center (HCWC), and the clients of these emergency shelters are generally in need of temporary housing, counseling, transportation, and/or advocacy (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence [NCAVD], 2015). The overriding problem for these shelters is lack of space (NCAVD, 2015). In 2015, a one-day census conducted by the National Network to End Domestic Violence found over 40,000 adults and children seeking refuge from IPV through the use of emergency shelters, with an additional 30,000 individuals receiving other services like counseling, transportation, and legal advocacy (National Network to End Domestic Violence [NNEDV],

Disasters weather man-made, natural, or technological are ineluctable. Community stakeholders, leaders, and citizens are ultimately culpable for ensuring that a sound disaster preparedness and recovery plan is in place should a calamity materialize. Failure to enact such a plan comes with immeasurable consequences. Over the discourse of this paper, the Banqiao Dam disaster will be examined as a case analysis, to render what preparedness and recovery plans were sanctioned, as well as the scope of the response effort.

“Natural disasters have killed more than 600,000 people and left behind trillions of dollars in damages in the last two decades, the United Nations said Monday.” (Chan) Extreme weather has caused millions of casualties and extreme damages over the years, but lately there has been an increase in severe weather events. This is causing problems in the US, with the amount of tornadoes rising in tornado alley “Tennessee experienced a 67 percent increase in tornado activity in 1983-2013 compared to the 1954-1983 time period. Oklahoma experienced a nearly 35 percent decrease in tornadoes in 1983-2013 compared to 1954-1983.”

Contemporary designers and architects are addressing the short and medium term needs of people who require emergency and refugee shelters, by evaluating the requirements of people once they have been displaced from their home due to a natural disaster, or any other adversity that they may face. This article will compare and contrast different types of emergency shelters, both short and long term, and appraise the key considerations that contemporary designers and architects must make while creating these refuges.