Disaster Response and Recovery: Strategies and Tactics for Resilience Second Edition

Abstract

There is a growing sense among scholars and practitioners that greater emphasis needs to be placed on prevention and mitigation activities in the increasingly important profession of emergency management. Recurring hazards, new threats, rising losses, and further vulnerability all lead to the inescapable conclusion that a proactive approach to disasters is undeniably warranted. At the same time, it is also necessary to recognize that response and recovery operations will always be required—to some degree or another— after earthquakes, hazardous materials spills, or terrorist attacks. Furthermore, as the reaction to Hurricane Katrina illustrates, there is ample room for improvement in how we deal with disasters. At least some of the mistakes made in New Orleans could have been avoided if the extensive disaster literature had been heeded by politicians, public servants, corporations, nonprofit agencies, and citizens alike. In addition, there is no doubt that postdisaster functions also have an immediate or long-term impact on the protection of life, property, and the environment as well as the minimization of human suffering and social disruption. For these reasons, Disaster Response and Recovery: Strategies and Tactics for Resilience has been written. Its goal is to integrate the lessons provided by both researchers and professionals, updating the field with current studies and practical guidelines. Rather than address these reactive phases as if they were the only responsibilities of today’s emergency managers, this book attempts to illustrate that successful warning, evacuation, and other disaster functions require careful implementation as well as advanced preparedness measures. Recovery likewise provides a prime opportunity to implement change, thereby reducing the probability and consequences of future disasters. Of course, no book can provide sufficient or fail-proof ideas on how to react successfully to the complexities of today’s disasters, and the reader should not consider the information in this text to be the best or only way to respond to or recover from deadly, destructive, and disruptive events. In spite of this fact, it is hoped that this volume will be of benefit to students, emergency managers, and others interested or involved in disaster management. In order to meet these goals, Disaster Response and Recovery provides a thorough review of the challenges confronting emergency managers (and others)