All hazards

Citation

(2001), "All hazards", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 10 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2001.07310aag.002

All hazards

All hazards

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)http://www.fema.gov

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Web site has been remodelled. With more than 30,000 pages now available from the site, a primary goal of the new design is to make it easier for visitors to quickly find the information they need. New features include immediate search engine access, mouse-over menus, and a cleaner, tighter layout. With this upgrade, a new page – http://www.fema.gov/emanagers – has been launched to provide emergency managers with quick access to information of professional interest. FEMA is interested in comments and suggestions about the new design, particularly comments from the emergency management community about the new "Emanagers" page. Comments can be e-mailed to eipa@fema.gov

Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN)http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/eden

Following the Great Mississippi Floods of 1993, several state cooperative extension services (CESs) were inundated with requests for information on disaster response and recovery, but found themselves ill-prepared to provide it. Subsequently the US Department of Agriculture issued a grant to 12 north-central CESs to explore ways to better prepare for such events. Seven years later the result is a 30-state network of CESs – the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) – that is working to develop or enhance educational resources on disasters and to educate and train CES staff. The EDEN Web site provides extensive information about the network and many of the disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation resources the network has identified or prepared. EDEN maintains a shared database of disaster-related resources available from member states and direct links to extension service online disaster information. The site also provides a directory of state EDEN representatives with complete contact information.

Farm Service Agency Natural Disaster Assistance Web pagehttp://www.fsa.usda.gov/pas/disaster/assistance1.htm

The US Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency Natural Disaster Assistance Web page furnishes information for farmers who have sustained damage due to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. The Emergency Conservation, Emergency Loan Assistance, Emergency Haying and Grazing Assistance, and the Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance programs all provide aid to farmers to rehabilitate eligible farmland damaged by natural disasters. The site provides information regarding the assistance for which farmers and ranchers may be eligible, as well as details on how to apply.

Region III Green Communities Web pagehttp://www.epa.gov/region03/greenkit/q5_disas.htm

The Environmental Protection Agency's Region III Green Communities Web page includes a "Green communities assistance kit" designed as a comprehensive reference guide for identifying and resolving needs, interests, and problems of urban, suburban, and rural communities. Included is a "Tools for natural disasters" page offering a lengthy list of Internet resources divided into policy and planning tools, regulatory tools, technical tools, and financial tools. This Web resource covers everything from hurricane preparedness training to disaster recovery programs.

US National Atlashttp://www.nationalatlas.gov

In 1970, the US Geological Survey published its first National Atlas and in 1997 began compiling an even more extensive digital database that is now available at no cost from the Web. The site enables a viewer to zoom in and out and download any of dozens of different informational layers. A user can choose a geographical focus and then, if interested in hazards, download information on active volcanoes, West Nile virus outbreaks, high-hazard dams, significant and historic earthquakes, or zebra mussel locations. (If, on the other hand, you are interested in Lepidoptera, you could download information about butterfly or moth distribution …)

Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED)http://www.cred.be

The Web site for the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, has recently moved to this new URL. CRED maintains one of the more extensive databases on disasters on the Web. This site not only provides access to that database but also offers news and information about the centre, including details about projects, courses, personnel, research, and more.

Natural Catastrophes and Developing Countries (CAT)http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/CAT/index.html

The Natural Catastrophes and Developing Countries (CAT) Project at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria was created in 1999 as part of a research partnership with the World Bank's Disaster Management Facility and the Swiss Reinsurance Company. The project has developed a modelling technique to integrate direct estimated costs of natural disasters into macroeconomic planning models for developing countries. The modelling will provide a base to help interested parties evaluate tools for financing the cost of post-disaster reconstruction. The CAT team will develop a series of four case studies of the impacts of natural catastrophes on the economies of Argentina, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Mozambique. The long-term objective is to create a planning tool that can help developing countries evaluate options to prevent, mitigate, or transfer the costs of natural catastrophes. This CAT Web site provides descriptions of research and other activities, a list of publications and a suggested bibliography, links to related sites, and information about the research team. Additional information is available from the Natural Catastrophes and Developing Countries Project, IIASA, Schlossplatz I, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria. Tel: (+43) 2 236 8070; Fax: (+43) 2 236 71313.

Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Projecthttp://www.oas.org/en/cdmp

The Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project, sponsored by the US Agency for International Development and undertaken by the Organization of American States, came to a close at the end of 1999. However, the project's Web site remains a good source of guidelines and publications on disaster management in the region. In particular, it offers a wide array of publications on its "Papers and publications" page: http://www.oas.org/en/cdmp/publist.htm