Tricia Wachtendorf

Elements of Resilience After the World Trade Center Disaster: Reconstituting New York City's Emergency Operations Centre

In this paper we examine the reconstitution of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) after its destruction in the World Trade Center attack, using that event to highlight several features of resilience. The paper summarises basic EOC functions, and then presents conceptions of resilience as understood from several disciplinary perspectives, noting that work in these fields has sought to understand how a natural or social system that experiences disturbance sustains its functional processes. We observe that, although the physical EOC facility was destroyed, the organisation that had been established to manage crises in New York City continued, enabling a response that drew on the resources of New York City and neighbouring communities, states and the federal government. Availability of resources--which substituted for redundancy of personnel, equipment and space--pre-existing relationships that eased communication challenges as the emergency developed and the continuation of organisational patterns of response integration and role assignments were among the factors that contributed to resilience following the attack.

Emergency Logistics Issues Affecting the Response to Katrina: A Synthesis and Preliminary Suggestions for Improvement

Extreme events pose serious logistical challenges to emergency and aid organizations active in preparation, response, and recovery operations, because the disturbances they produce have the potential to turn normal conditions suddenly into chaos. Under these conditions, delivering critical supplies (e.g., food, water, medical supplies) becomes an extremely difficult task because of the severe damage to the physical and virtual infrastructure and the limited or nonexistent transportation capacity. In this context, the recovery process is made more difficult by the prevailing lack of knowledge about the nature and challenges of emergency supply chains. As a result, the design of reliable emergency logistics systems is hampered by lack of knowledge about how formal and informal (emergent) supply chains operate and interact; methods to analyze and coordinate the flows of priority and nonpriority goods; and, in general, scientific methods to analyze logistics systems under extreme conditions. This paper describes the key logistical issues that plagued the response to Hurricane Katrina. The logistical failures following Katrina, which in August 2005 devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast, provide an example of the need to improve the efficiency of supply chains to the site of an extreme event. The paper is based on public accounts of the event and interviews conducted during a number of field visits to the Katrina-affected area in the aftermath of the event, as part of a research project funded by the National Science Foundation.

RECONSIDERING CONVERGENCE AND CONVERGER LEGITIMACY IN RESPONSE TO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER DISASTER

The World Trade Center disaster generated many of the features seen in other disasters in the U.S., including post-disaster convergence. We conceptualize emergency management activities as taking place within a multilocational “response milieu,” and we suggest that the study of convergence should focus on the negotiated legitimacy of people in and wishing to enter it. We discuss the five types of personal convergers and how the access of each of these groups to the response milieu was related to their legitimation status. We then identify two additional forms of convergence: supporters or fans, and those who came to mourn or to memorialize. We conclude by discussing implications for policy.

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...

Material Convergence: Important and Understudied Disaster Phenomenon

AbstractThis paper reports the research conducted on material convergence, which is one of the most important and, ironically, one of the most understudied disaster phenomena. This spontaneous flow of supplies, equipment, and general donations to the impacted area brings much-needed relief and major complications to the operations. The paper reviews empirical evidence from disaster literature and complements it with lessons learned from fieldwork to identify the problems created by the nonpriority component of the material convergence. The paper ends with policy suggestions regarding the use of appropriate material convergence management and control strategies.

Community Innovation and Disasters

In this chapter, we examine community innovation. We begin first by conceptualizing community and innovation as they relate to hazard and disaster. We identify the difficulties inherent in the terms community, innovation, and community innovation, presenting some working concepts that seem to align best with overall disaster research experience. We examine the characteristics of communities that make innovation both necessary and difficult, using examples of innovations drawn from the United States and internationally. This discussion will point toward some directions for future research, including an understanding of community that might be suitable for newer, complex, and diffuse hazards – such as bioterrorism, cyberterrorism, and slow onset hazards related to climate change. The discussion will also point to some needed reorientations in policy that might proceed from either subsequent or existing research.

Catastrophe Characteristics and Their Impact on Critical Supply Chains: Problematizing Material Convergence and Management Following Hurricane Katrina

Abstract The influx of supplies after disaster events helps to meet the emergent needs of the impacted area and fill gaps in logistical plans. This same materiel convergence, however, can present a challenging social problem. Organizations must contend with difficulties in supply acquisition, reception, transport, storage, and distribution. In this paper, we use Hurricane Katrina, which impacted the Gulf Coast of the United States in 2005, as a case study to test whether Enrico L. Quarantelli’s six characteristics of catastrophe generate unique relief provision challenges. Qualitative analysis of interviews with key organizational actors in the response effort revealed that the six characteristics did influence the manifestation of the social problem. Analysis also revealed a seventh catastrophe characteristic: mass and extended out-migration of people.

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 mixed method study of hurricane evacuation: demographic predictors for stated compliance to voluntary and mandatory orders

ABSTRACT The present paper examines the role of several demographic indicators on stated hurricane evacuation thresholds, or the lowest category storm for which participants indicated they would evacuate, for mandatory and voluntary orders. Quantitative analyses reveal that race was significantly associated with a lower stated evacuation threshold in both the bivariate and multivariate models and that previous refusal to comply with evacuation orders was associated with higher stated evacuation thresholds. Qualitative analyses reveal two key findings: (1) wind is perceived as more dangerous than water (rain and storm surge) associated with hurricanes; (2) traffic concerns were the most frequently cited reason listed for possible refusal to comply with evacuation orders. Implications of the findings include the value of future evaluations of race and trust, storm characteristics and threat perception, and other practical considerations for improving evacuation compliance such as the amelioration of traffic concerns. Findings also lead to the discussion of the social complexities of race and hurricane vulnerability as a key finding.

The Effect of Situated Access on People with Disabilities: An Examination of Sheltering and Temporary Housing after the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

The 11 March 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake and tsunami that devastated coastal communities in three Japanese prefectures resulted in tremendous loss of life, loss of property, and community disruption. Yet research on the disaster pointed to differential impacts for people with disabilities compared to the rest of the population. Reconnaissance fieldwork took place in Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures 3, 10, and 17 months after the disaster. Interviews and observations point to situated access as a contributor to how and to what extent people with disabilities (PWD) received resources and services. That is, the ability of evacuees to acquire and utilize information, material resources, or services was based both on the physical location of the individual or group (including shelter type to where they evacuated) and the social standpoint or circumstances of the individual or group within that physical location. We offer a close examination of the effect of situational access for people with disabilities in particular. Where limitations were present, they often led to additional disparities.