Havidan Rodriguez

Rising to the Challenges of a Catastrophe: The Emergent and Prosocial Behavior following Hurricane Katrina

Using several data sources including an extensive database of media reports and a series of government documents, but relying primarily on the University of Delaware’s Disaster Research Center’s field research in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the authors describe the nontraditional behavior that emerged in that catastrophe. They also discuss the prosocial behavior (much of it emergent) that was by far the primary response to this event, despite widespread media reports of massive antisocial behavior. Their study focuses on individual and group reactions in Louisiana during the first three weeks following the hurricane. The authors limit their systematic analyses of emergent behavior to five groupings: hotels, hospitals, neighborhood groups, rescue teams, and the Joint Field Office. Their analysis shows that most of the improvisations undertaken helped in dealing with the various problems that continued to emerge following Katrina. The various social systems and the people in them rose to the demanding challenges of a catastrophe.

A snapshot of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami: societal impacts and consequences

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the societal impacts and consequences of the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.Design/methodology/approach – One month after the tsunami, a group of social science researchers from the Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware, and the Emergency Administration and Planning Program, University of North Texas, participated in an Earthquake Engineering Research Institute reconnaissance team, which traveled to some of the most affected areas in India and Sri Lanka. Data were obtained through informal interviews, participant observation, and systematic document gathering.Findings – This research yielded important data and information on disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. A number of issues are identified that emerged from the field observations, including: tsunami education and awareness; the devastation and the loss; economic impact; mental health issues; irregularities and inequities in community based response and recovery efforts and...

Hurricane Katrina and the healthcare infrastructure: A focus on disaster preparedness, response, and resiliency

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina provides a window of opportunity to address a frail and failing healthcare system. Katrina was the rare incident that disrupted the external systems supplying hospitals with key services and resources needed for the organizations to function; increased the number of patients, both present and expected, that required medical care; and affected directly the physical plants of the hospitals, challenging their functionality. Sorting through and gleaning useful lessons to increase the resilience of hospitals for this type of catastrophic incident will take time and will require system-wide public health planning and intervention. In this article, the authors focus on how hospitals prepared for, responded to, and coped with Katrina. They also provide a brief overview of the current situation and the healthcare crisis confronting hospitals and communities in the region affected by Katrina and discuss the impending need to develop disaster-resilient medical and healthcare systems. Planning, access to adequate resources, networking, effective communication and coordination, and training and education of doctors, nurses, technicians, and medical staff are essential in the development of a resilient healthcare infrastructure that will be able to provide the much needed services to populations affected by future disasters.

Integrating Data Analysis (IDA): Working With Sociology Departments to Address the Quantitative Literacy Gap

The NSF-funded Integrating Data Analysis (IDA) Project undertaken by the American Sociological Association (ASA) and the Social Science Data Analysis Network sought to close the quantitative literacy gap for sociology majors. Working with twelve departments, the project built on lessons learned from ASAs Minority Opportunities through School Transformation (MOST) Program, where curricular change was a departmental (not individual faculty) agenda. A critical mass of faculty in each IDA department developed and used quantitative modules in lower division courses. This article reports on the steps to develop departmental curricular change and the important results for student learning and future professional success.

Business closure and relocation: a comparative analysis of the Loma Prieta earthquake and Hurricane Andrew.

The occurrence of a number of large-scale disasters or catastrophes in recent years, including the Indian Ocean tsunami (2004), the Kashmir earthquake (2005), Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Hurricane Ike (2008), have raised our awareness regarding the devastating effects of disasters on human populations and the importance of developing mitigation and preparedness strategies to limit the consequences of such events. However, there is still a dearth of social science research focusing on the socio-economic impact of disasters on businesses in the United States. This paper contributes to this research literature by focusing on the impact of disasters on business closure and relocation through the use of multivariate logistic regression models, specifically focusing on the Loma Prieta earthquake (1989) and Hurricane Andrew (1992). Using a multivariate model, we examine how physical damage to the infrastructure, lifeline disruption and business characteristics, among others, impact business closure and relocation following major disasters.

Tornado Warnings in Three Southern States: A Qualitative Analysis of Public Response Patterns

Abstract Recent research in three Southern states supplied data describing the role community structure and culture played in shaping public response to tornado risks. The following study identifies and describes how residents received, made sense of, and ultimately used information to make decisions about responding to warnings. In addition to a range of theoretical concerns, research was also intended to develop a set of safety policies derived from what the data reveals about the social psychology of risk perception, economic constraints to shelter, and the cultural aspects of response. Data analysis reveals a diverse set of social factors governing community response to tornado warnings, including social networks, language, issues in comprehension, siren ambiguities, false alarms, tornado tracking, local business behaviors, warning specificity, and cultural myths.

The Social Impacts and Consequences of the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami: Observations from India and Sri Lanka

The 26 December 2004 tsunami is one of the most severe disasters of the last several decades. Less than one month after the disaster, a group of social science researchers from the University of Delaware and University of North Texas participated in an Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) reconnaissance team. This team traveled to some of the most heavily impacted areas in India and Sri Lanka. Focusing on the social impacts and consequences of the disaster, the team identified a number of emerging issues, including loss of life and destruction of property and infrastructure, impact on livelihoods, a persistent sense of uncertainty, variation in community-based response and recovery efforts, inequities in disaster relief distribution, gender and age vulnerability and capacities, temporary shelter and housing, and long-term relocation planning.

A “Long Walk to Freedom” and Democracy: Human Rights, Globalization, and Social Injustice

Before I entered the polling station, an irreverent member of the press called out, “Mr. Mandela, who are you voting for?” I laughed. “You know,” I said, I have been agonizing over that choice all morning.” I marked an X in the box next to the letters ANC and then slipped my folded ballot paper into a simple wooden box; I had the first vote of my life. . . . The Images of South Africans going to the polls that day are burned in my memory. Great lines of patient people snaking through the dirt roads and streets of towns and cities; old women had waited half a century to cast their vote saying that they felt like human beings for the first time in their lives; white men and women saying they were proud to live in a free country at last. The mood of the nation during those days of voting was buoyant. The violence and bombings ceased, and it was as if we were a nation reborn. Even the logistical difficulties of the voting, misplaced ballots, pirate voting stations, and rumors of fraud in certain places could not dim the overwhelming victory of democracy and justice. (Mandela 1994, Long Walk to Freedom, p. 618).

The Social Construction of Disasters: From Heat Waves to Worst-Case Scenarios1

Opening Remarks Terrorist attacks on the United States (September 11, 2001), Madrid (March 2004), and London (July 2005); the Indian Ocean tsunami (December 2004); Hurricane Katrina (August 2005); and the Pakistan earthquake (October 2005), among others, have once again captured the interest of the international community, researchers, academics, and the media. The social science disaster research community has made important contributions to our understanding of disasters and has had a significant impact on disaster preparedness, mitigation, and recovery initiatives, and has managed (albeit limitedly) to bridge the gap between theory and practice. However, the massive failures in the aftermath of the tsunami and Katrina show that, to a large extent, decision-makers have ignored the extensive body of knowledge and the theoretical, methodological, and substantive contributions of disaster researchers, spanning close to five decades, with sociologists as the pioneers of this field of study. It is in this context that we have selected