Emergency and Disaster Management Commons^™

Rebuild Puerto Rico: A Guide To Federal Policy And Advocacy, Center For Puerto Rican Studies

CUNY Centro, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies

Puerto Rico is in a unique position as a beneficiary of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act, 1974), the law that structures federal natural disaster assistance for state and territories. As explained in this report, disaster support often requires multiple and special appropriations from Congress and the funding allocated for this purpose goes to a multiplicity of local and federal agencies that include Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and many others. Funding includes short-term assistance, disaster recovery efforts, and multiple assistance programs to individuals, businesses and …

We Provided Psychological First Aid After The Las Vegas Shooting – Here’S What We Learned., Michelle Paul, Heather Dahl, John A. Nixon, Noelle Lefforge

Psychology Faculty Research

What is “psychological first aid”? How do mental health experts like you work side by side with traditional first responders? The goal of psychological first aid is to sooth, assist and help people function and cope in a healthy way in the wake of a traumatic event. It’s employed in the hours and days following the event, when people’s immediate needs, including medical care, as well as basic needs like food, shelter and water, must be met, along with their psychological and physical safety needs.

The Politics Of Disaster: The Great Singapore Flood Of 1954, Fiona Williamson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Singapore in the 1950s was a deeply divided society. Struggling to recover from the hardships ofthe Second World War and fighting an internal battle that the British government termed an‘emergency’, it was a time of hardship, tension, and anxiety. In the midst of this crisis, Singapore’sinhabitants continued to manage the natural elements of their climate and environment, especiallythe dangerous combination of heavy monsoonal rains, low-lying marshland, and tidal flooding.This article examines the circumstances surrounding a particularly severe episode of flooding thatoccurred in December 1954. It explores how the flood’s impact was exacerbated by humanexigencies, especially recent government resettlement plans and …

Puerto Rican Exodus: One Year Since Hurricane Maria, Jennifer Hinojosa

CUNY Centro, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies

One year since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, nearly 160,000 residents of the island have relocated to the United States. This exodus represents one of the most significant movements of Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland in the island’s history in terms of both volume and duration. The new emigration estimates — of 159,415 with an upper bound confidence interval of 176,603 — is as high as the net migration flow in the previous two years combined (144,801).1

However, measuring population movement in real time, especially after a natural disaster like Hurricane Maria, continues …

The Optimization Of Emergency Response For Oil Spill In Wusongkou Waters, Fei Hong

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

Puerto Rico: Two Years After Hurricane Maria, Center For Puerto Rican Studies

CUNY Centro, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies

Two years since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, between 220,000 to 255,000 residents of the island have relocated to the United States. This exodus represents one of the most significant movements of Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland in the island’s history in terms of both volume and duration. Two-years post-Hurricane Maria, we expect that an estimate of 60,000 to as high as 78,751 left the Island in 2019. One year since Hurricane-Maria, emigration estimates — of 159,415, with an upper bound confidence interval of 176,603 — is as high as the net migration …

Developing An Implementation Plan For Program Success: Sjsu Campus Community Emergency Response Team (C-Cert), Waynette Fernandez Santos

Master's Projects

San Jose State University would benefit from the implementation of the Campus Community Emergency Response Team (C-CERT), a program that many higher education institutions use to train community members in disaster preparedness. With a C-CERT program, trained people are empowered to know how to conduct themselves during an emergency, and learn how to keep themselves, their friends and colleagues safe. This research surveyed and interviewed emergency management professionals in other higher education institutions to determine best practices for C-CERT implementation. The goal of this research was to analyze other higher education institutions’ C-CERT success, identify what characteristics make their C-CERT …

Underestimated: Our Not So Peaceful Nuclear Future (Second Edition), Henry D. Sokolski

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

No abstract provided.

U.S. Government Aviation Safety Information Resources, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Presentation covering U.S. Government aviation safety information resources. Topics addressed include U.S. laws,legislation, regulations, court cases, information resources from agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Security Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, congressional aviation oversight committees and congressional support agencies including the Congressional Budget Office, Congressional Research Service, and Government Accountability Office.

A Novel Cloud Removal Method Based On Ihot And The Cloud Trajectories For Landsat Imagery, Shuli Chen, Xuehong Chen, Xiang Chen, Jin Chen, Xin Cao, Miaogen Shen, Wei Yang, Xihong Cui

Faculty Publications - Emergency Management & Homeland Security

Cloud removal is significantly needed for enhancing the further utilization of Landsat imagery, since such optical remote sensing satellite images are inevitably contaminated by clouds. Clouds dynamically affect the signal transmission due to their different shapes, heights, and distribution. Generally, pixel replacement is the only and common method used to remove thick opaque clouds, and radiometric correction techniques has been widely adopted to remove the thin clouds. However, no methods can remove both thick and thin clouds at the same time. In this paper, a new method is proposed based on fitting “trajectory” of cloudy pixels with the help of …

Qualitative Profiling Of The Humoral Immune Response Elicited By Rvsv-Δg-Ebov-Gp Using A Systems Serology Assay, Domain Programmable Arrays, Mariano Sanchez-Lockhart, Daniel S. Reyes, Jeanette C. Gonzalez, Karla Y. Garcia, Erika C. Villa, Bradley P. Pfeffer, John C. Trefry, Jeffrey R. Kugelman, Margaret L. Pitt, Gustavo Palacios

University of Nebraska's National Strategic Research Institute: Publications

Development of an effective vaccine became a worldwide priority after the devastating 2013–2016 Ebola disease outbreak. To qualitatively profile the humoral response against advanced filovirus vaccine candidates, we developed Domain Programmable Arrays (DPA), a systems serology platform to identify epitopes targeted after vaccination or filovirus infection. We optimized the assay using a panel of well-characterized monoclonal antibodies. After optimization, we utilized the system to longitudinally characterize the immunoglobulin (Ig) isotype-specific responses in non-human primates vaccinated with rVSV-ΔG-EBOV-glycoprotein (GP). Strikingly, we observed that, although the IgM response was directed against epitopes over the whole GP, the IgG and IgA responses were …

The Effect Of Cobra Training On First Responder Self-Confidence To Work In A Toxic Chemical Or Biological Agent Environment, Robert A. Mann

Dissertations

First responders are our nation’s front line defense against intentional or accidental releases of toxic chemical or biological agents. Self-confidence which is a building block of self-efficacy is hypothesized to be malleable and increased through training. The purpose of this study was to determine the change if any, which first responders undergo during Chemical, Ordnance, Biological, and Radiological (COBRA) training, in their self-confidence to operate in a toxic chemical or biological agent environment. That is to determine if there is a correlation between increased self-confidence and COBRA training. The methodology of this study was based on quantitative methods of analysis …

A National Pragmatic Safety Limit For Nuclear Weapon Quantities, Joshua M. Pearce, David C. Denkenberger

Civil and Architectural Engineering Faculty Research

This study determines the nuclear pragmatic limit where the direct physical negative consequences of nuclear weapons use are counter to national interests, by assuming all unknowns are conservatively optimistic. The only effect considered is nuclear winter (“nuclear autumn” in the low weapons limits) and the resultant effects on the aggressor nation. First, the ability of low nuclear weapon limits is probed for maintaining deterrence in the worst-case scenario of attacking the most-populous nation. Second, the ability of aggressor nations to feed themselves is assessed without trade and industry resultant from a nuclear attack causing “nuclear autumn” (10% global agricultural shortfall). …

Climate Change Vulnerabilities In The Coastal Mid-Atlantic Region, Charles Colgan, Juliano Calil, Hauke Kite-Powell, Di Jin, Porter Hoagland

Publications

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO) has identified increased understanding of the possible effects of climate change on the socio-economic assets and systems of the region as a priority need. This is based both on recent experience studying climate change and concern for the economic values that have been placed at risk. Changes in ocean temperatures and chemistry are already affecting fisheries, while the critical marine transportation facilities of the region must now address concerns about sea level rise in addition to shifting global transportation markets. New research is showing that coastal and ocean ecosystems are already changing …

U.S. Presidential Leadership And Crisis Rhetoric, Robert Mccabe

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

My capstone project seeks to determine what are U.S. presidents attempting to accomplish in (or with) their speeches? This matters because presidential responses to crises can reflect how a president’s leadership abilities are perceived by the people he serves. This perception plays a large role in determining how much political strength the president has to accomplish his agenda. I address this research question by analyzing four different speeches: President Kennedy’s Address to the American Society of Newspaper Editors on the Bay of Pigs, President Kennedy’s Address on the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Bush’s National Cathedral Speech after the September 11th …

Natural Disasters: Continued Security In The Aftermath, Victoria Quinones

Master in Management for Public Safety and Homeland Security Professionals Master's Projects

This paper reviews one of the leading threats that the United States faces: natural disasters. As the rate, strength, and cost of damages increases, so too does the vulnerabilities of the country’s security and that of its people’s. This paper highlights several significant points that surround the topic of natural disasters. First, identifying first the importance of such a topic and the threats that natural disasters pose; and, secondly, how to manage those threats. This paper shows the development of a strategic plan that incorporates a multidisciplinary approach, intelligence gathering, and an assessment of the proposed plan. This strategy identifies …

Human Trafficking In The Wake Of Natural Disasters: Is The United States Any Different Than Third World Countries?, Samantha Stout

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research compares the impacts of devastating natural disasters on levels of human trafficking in developed countries to the impacts experienced in third world countries. The two disasters selected for this study were Hurricane Isaac in Louisiana and the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. Factors selected to measure the impacts of the natural disaster include income level, homelessness, and unemployment rates.

Human trafficking is a crime that touches nearly every country around the world. It is known that human trafficking levels are impacted by factors including poverty levels of regions, political unrest, and even natural disasters. There is …

Throughput Of The Strategic National Stockpile Points Of Distribution, Maryann Fenwick

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background and Significance

In the event of a national public health emergency, FEMA has a 48-hour timeline between the declaration of the emergency and the treatment of the last person in need of medical countermeasures (CDC, 2016b; Fisk, 2015; The National Academies of Sciences, 2017). The staff of the health department only is not enough to get the medications dispensed in the 48-hour requirement (CDC, n.d.). Senior nursing students are uniquely suited to fill the gap as they are not currently obliged to report to work as a nurse in emergent times and they have training that qualifies them to …

Climate Change, Colonialism, And Second-Class Citizenry: A Case Study Of The Impacts Of Hurricane María In Puerto Rico, Aislyne Calianos

Senior Honors Projects

The hurricane season of 2017 was a historic one, with mammoth storms making landfall one after another, in what seemed like an unrelenting assault on our coastal cities and communities. Hurricane Harvey inundated Houston, Irma plowed through Florida, and Maria devastated Puerto Rico, but one of these storms was unlike the others. Why is it that the American citizens of our southern states were able to recover so much more quickly than our citizens in Puerto Rico? In the era of climate change, we will be forced to reckon with the modern legacy of colonialism, as vulnerable communities must face …

Safety In Sanctuaries: A Threat Assessment Of Omaha Churches, Matthew Spicka

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Churches are a soft target for people with malicious intentions. They are filled with a large amount of people, including large groups of children and elderly folk. Religions also encourage people to be friendlier towards outsiders, which could result in the church goers lowering their defenses and being more vulnerable to attacks. Church security teams are also primarily composed of volunteers, which means there is limited experience in security protocol and that could lead to limited incentive to perform security tasks thoroughly. Churches are a crucial part of the spiritual wellness of a community. All these factors make churches a …

Benchmarking The Delivery Of Fema Training To Operation Line Employees Within Surface Transit Agencies, Matthew E. Mccann

Master's Projects

In February 2003, in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, the administration of then President George W. Bush developed Homeland Security Presidential Directive-5 (HSPD-5), which mandated the use of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), and the Incident Command System (ICS) by all agencies receiving federal funding (Bush, 2003). The intent of HSPD-5 was to “enhance the ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents by establishing a single, comprehensive national incident management system” (Bush, 2003), or in other words, to ensure that emergency response by the many disparate agencies under the umbrella of government funding …

Storm Surge: Report On The Findings From The Hartford Foundation For Public Giving Survey On Impact Of Post- Maria Displacement Of Puerto Ricans And U.S. Virgin Islanders On Households In The Greater Hartford Region, February, Carlos Vargas-Ramos, Charles R. Venator-Santiago

CUNY Centro, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies

On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico as a category 4 cyclone, with minimum sustained winds blowing at 145 mph, peaking at 155 mph as it made landfall. The northwest trajectory of the storm assured that the entire island would be affected by its effects. One month henceforth, the island’s authorities indicate that 49 people had died as a direct result of the hurricane. The Puerto Rican government figures indicated 64 deaths were directly related to the hurricane, even though journalistic accounts pointed to more than 1,000 deaths and a Harvard University Study estimated the count at 4,645.1 …

The Dilemma Of Responsibility To Protect In The Great Lakes Region, Ruth B. Aluoch

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

This paper examines the underlying complexities that constitute a dilemma for the responsibility to protect in Africa most specifically the Great Lakes Region. I argue that clarifying the meaning and intention of the doctrine in any given context is predicated on understanding the distinct and complex environment in which the doctrine is invoked. These complexities and their differentiation on a case by case basis construe the doctrine as progressive; with political, legal and moral significance making it fit for its purpose. On the other hand the variation of prevention and protection amounts to the denunciation of it as being selective, …

Who Will Stay, Who Will Leave: Decision-Making Of Residents Living In Potential Hurricane Impact Areas During A Hypothetical Hurricane Event In The Rio Grande Valley, Dean Kyne, Arlett Sophia Lomeli, William Donner, Erika Zuloaga

Sociology Faculty Publications

The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) has been impacted by various hurricanes throughout history. While Hurricane evacuation has been studied extensively in other contexts, there is limited systematic research on the warning and response to a large-scale severe weather event in South Texas. This study attempts to understand the evacuation decision-making behavior of Southern residents in the event of a Hurricane making landfall over the Rio Grande Valley. The study uses an online survey questionnaire with 1060 participants: 275 students attending the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley and the remaining 785 are members of the community. Throughout the course of the …

First Responder Preparedness Campaign For The Olympia Fire Department, Gabe Padukiewicz

CUP Undergraduate Research

The city of Olympia, Washington rests just inland of one of the biggest tectonic plate fault lines in all of North America, this is what is known as the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Scientists believe that it is only a matter of time until there is a massive mega-quake due to the tectonic plates friction as we can read, “the plates are stuck, and the stress will build up until the fault suddenly breaks. This last happened in 1700: the result was an earthquake on the order of magnitude 9.0, followed within minutes by a large tsunami—much like the earthquake and …

Clark County Fire & Rescue: Partnership Proposal, Samuel Gillenwater

CUP Undergraduate Research

(HLS) has evolved to combat our nations threats. Emergency preparedness is one area that must remain in a continuous state of increasing improvement. Federal entities, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have developed hundreds of plans, policies, and procedures to mitigate a wide range of emergency situations from natural disasters to terrorism. This paper will address the collective approach our federal agencies want to see at the local level, and more specifically how first responders can combine efforts to deliver a more effective service. First Responders are the foundation to our nations stability and mitigating elements.

Clark County …

Emergency Action Plan For Lakeview Recreation Center, Jade Fessler

CUP Undergraduate Research

The objective of the Lakeview Recreation Center Emergency Action Plan (EAP) is to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency Action Plan Standard, 29 CFR 1910.38 and to prepare employees for dealing with emergency situations. This plan is designed to minimize injury, loss of human life and company resources by training employees, procuring, and maintaining necessary equipment and assigning responsibilities. This plan addresses all emergencies that may reasonably be expected to occur at Lakeview Recreation Center.

Living Water Church: Emergency Action Plan, Angela Hage

CUP Undergraduate Research

Fires, lockdowns, and active shooters are all too common in today’s world. In June 2017, a house in Waterbury Connecticut caught on fire while service was being held in the church adjacent to it (Stewart, 2017). In March 2018, a church in Mississippi was placed on lockdown while law enforcement officials used the grounds as a staging area during an active investigation (WAPT News, 2018). And in November 2017, a gunman opened fire inside First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Twenty-six people lost their lives, and many more were gravely wounded in the deadliest mass shooting in an American …

Genetic Characterization Of Enterovirus A71 Circulating In Africa, Maria Dolores Fernandez-Garcia, Romain Volle, Marie-Line Joffret, Serge Alain Sadeuh-Mba, Ionela Gouandjika-Vasilache, Ousmane Kebe, Michael R. Wiley, Manasi Majumdar, Etienne Simon-Loriere, Anavaj Sakuntabhai, Gustavo Palacios, Javier Martin, Francis Delpeyroux, Kader Ndiaye, Maël Bessaud

University of Nebraska's National Strategic Research Institute: Publications

We analyzed whole-genome sequences of 8 enterovirus A71 isolates (EV-A71). We confirm the circulation of genogroup C and the new genogroup E in West Africa. Our analysis demonstrates wide geographic circulation and describes genetic exchanges between EV-A71 and autochthonous EV-A that might contribute to the emergence of pathogenic lineages.

Genogroup E was previously identified and characterized only on the basis of VP1 analysis (3). This study confirms the circulation in West and Central Africa of EV-A71 isolates belonging to the new genogroup E on the basis of the characterization of whole genomes. The divergence among isolates indicates that this genogroup …

Preparing Nursing Students To Respond To Disasters: Faculty Perspectives, Melissa Jayne Freshwater

Dissertations

This mixed methods study explored emergency preparedness and disaster response in the concept-based learning curriculum adopted by the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) in 2016. The concept-based curriculum employs active learning in lieu of the traditional lecture-style teaching methods.

This study addressed the problem that educators may be unfamiliar with this content and are unsure how to present this material to students. The purpose of this study was to gain insight on teaching methodologies, to better prepare nursing students on this content.

Kolb’s 1984 Experiential Learning Theory was the framework that parallels closely with this curriculum. Kolb emphasizes four stages …