Emergency and Disaster Management Commons^™

Age Differences In Perceived Individual And Community Recovery After Tornadoes: Implications For Community-Centered Recovery Policy In An Aging Society, Sizhuo Chen, Zhen Cong

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

"This study examines perceived individual recovery and perceived community recovery among tornado survivors across three waves spanning four years. Using three-wave longitudinal survey data from survivors in Dallas, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Birmingham, Alabama collected in 2021, 2022, and 2025, we estimate recovery trajectories using linear mixed-effects growth models. We link respondents to tract-level SVI 2020 component measures to examine whether tract-level social vulnerability contextualizes age differences in recovery perceptions. We ask: (1) How do perceived individual recovery and perceived community recovery change over time? (2) Do these trajectories differ by age group? (3) Do community social vulnerability measures contextualize …

Cyberspace Collaborative Awareness: A Model For Unity Of Effort In Homeland Defense, Mike Knapp, Sean Atkins, Matthew Mclaughlin

Joint Force Quarterly

The increasing frequency and severity of cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure continue to confound homeland defense efforts. Defending against state cyber campaigns that threaten the nation’s most critical systems requires a new awareness model that can enable unity of effort across public and private actors. Examining homeland defense awareness in other domains reveals principles and approaches that can inform the development of a collaborative awareness model in cyberspace. This new framework acknowledges the interconnectedness of government and commercial networks and the independent goals of each player in the domain. Doing so provides a viable path to achieving shared domain awareness …

From Himalayan Catastrophe To National Resilience: Lessons From The 2026 Bhote Koshi And Trishuli River Floods In Nepal, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

On the morning of 26 August 2026, the mountains above Nepal’s northern frontier delivered a disaster of almost unimaginable speed and scale. A massive mass of ice, rock, and sediment detached in the high Himalayan terrain near the Nepal–Tibet border, descended roughly 1,200 metres, interacted with the Lhende Khola system, and generated a debris-rich flood that surged through the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridors, destroying settlements, markets, roads, bridges, hydropower facilities, and an international border crossing and transforming them into fields of mud, boulders, and wreckage within minutes (ICIMOD, 2026b; Reuters, 2026a). Satellite analysis indicates that a substantial section …

Dynamic Flood Risk Assessment For Transportation Infrastructure In Fresno, Ca, Yushin Ahn, Fayzul Pasha

Mineta Transportation Institute

Urban roadway flooding in flat metropolitan environments often shows up as small areas of standing water rather than large, flowing floods. In low-gradient urban environments, subtle micro-topographic features—such as pavement crowns, curbs, and localized depressions—often control where surface water accumulates following rainfall. Accurately identifying these localized ponding areas is important for roadway flood screening and infrastructure management. This study develops a LiDAR-based depression mapping framework to identify roadway segments susceptible to surface ponding in flat urban environments. High-resolution airborne LiDAR datasets were used to generate detailed elevation maps (down to less than a foot in resolution) from ground-classified point clouds …

Business Educational Skills For Successful Aviation Fire Officers, Leo Sedlmeyer

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Purpose: This paper explored the business educational skills aviation fire officers use to manage airport fire departments.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The methodology was a qualitative phenomenological study design. The participants began with 10 aviation fire officers from airports throughout the USA who were at least 28 years old, in a leadership role, and had at least 10 years of experience as aviation fire officers (Buttenschon, 2016). Saturation was reached at seven during the interview phase. The limitations of this study were gaining participants' trust and obtaining comprehensive information from them.

Findings: Six themes emerged from this study, with the top three identified: …

Protecting America’S Critical Infrastructure: A Shared Responsibility In An Era Of Escalating Cyber Threats, Alan Saquella

Publications

The recent cyberattacks targeting municipal water facilities across multiple U.S. states serve as another reminder that America’s critical infrastructure remains under constant attack. According to the FBI, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), attackers successfully compromised operational technology (OT) devices, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs), by exploiting Internet-connected systems, changing administrator credentials, and disrupting normal operations. Fortunately, local operators responded quickly by isolating affected systems, restoring backups, and preventing what could have become a significant public health crisis.

While these incidents focused on water treatment facilities, they represent a much larger national security issue. …

Wildfire Risk & Preparedness For Urban Rail Operators Supporting Large Stadium Events, Karl Kim, Eric Yamashita, Daniele Spirandeli, David Rother

Mineta Transportation Institute

The project team, in collaboration with partners and stakeholders, developed a four-hour training course designed to build a foundational understanding of how wildfire hazards affect rail systems infrastructure operations and how this knowledge can help equip urban rail operators with tools and best practices for proactive risk management. Led by the University of Hawaiʻi and the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center, in partnership with Haley & Aldrich, Inc., this technical report presents an overview of the four modules and scenario planning exercise that together make up the four-hour Wildfire Risk & Preparedness for Urban Rail Operators Supporting Large Stadium Events …

Enhancing Wildfire Resilience In The Rail Industry: Developing A Community Resilience Extreme Events Portal (Creep), Karl Kim, Eric Yamashita, Daniele Spirandeli, David Rother, Chris Chiesa, Greg Hampe, Michele Toner

Mineta Transportation Institute

The Community Resilience Extreme Events Portal (CREEP) provides a centralized platform for accessing wildfire danger indices, critical asset locations, and vulnerability scores for rail segments. The project team developed a data-driven, indicator-based vulnerability assessment framework that defines vulnerability as a function of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. To build this framework, the team selected publicly available datasets, prioritizing national datasets whenever possible to ensure transparency, reproducibility, and scalability. The portal allows users to analyze and visualize vulnerability across 1-kilometer segments of Class I freight and passenger rail lines in California, supporting planning and mitigation prioritization to help reduce rail-related fatalities, …

Theory-Informed Generative Agents For Human Behavioral Modeling In Disasters, Liming Lu

All Dissertations

This dissertation develops a theory-informed generative-agent framework for modeling human behavioral decisions in disasters. Existing flood and disaster preparedness models often emphasize physical hazards, infrastructure exposure, or statistical correlations, but they struggle to capture the heterogeneous and evolving choices households make. This limitation is especially important for climate-related hazards, where future damage depends not only on changes in rainfall, inundation, and urban development, but also on decentralized protective actions such as house elevation, flood insurance, evacuation, and early preparedness. The dissertation integrates two empirical studies: a flood-risk study in Charleston, South Carolina, and a household disaster-preparedness study across hurricane contexts. …

Mind The Gap: Freight And Rail System Resilience Between Planning And Practice A Synthesis Of Freight Plan Best Practices And Survey Results From U.S. Transportation Professionals, Serena Alexander, Carmella Uwineza

Mineta Transportation Institute

Freight and rail networks across the United States face mounting risks from weather-related hazards and other systemic disruptions that threaten operational continuity, economic stability, and community well-being. While state freight plans are federally mandated, local and metropolitan freight planning varies widely, leaving gaps in how resilience is addressed across scales. This study examines how resilience is being integrated into freight and rail planning through a two-part approach: (1) a content analysis of 43 recent state and metropolitan freight plans, and (2) a nationwide survey of 56 transportation professionals engaged in freight and rail planning. Findings show broad consensus on the …

Drones In Wildfire Airspace Management: Developing A Scalable Framework For Mid-Sized Cities, Victoria Denise Tanner Williamson

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Wildfires are becoming increasingly frequent and severe, creating growing risks for mid-sized communities with limited emergency response resources. The January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires—which burned more than 57,000 acres and destroyed over 18,000 structures—underscore the urgent need to strengthen wildfire response strategies through the integration of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) (Hardy, 2025).

This study develops a scalable framework for drone-assisted wildfire response in resource-constrained environments. Using the city of Waynesboro, Virginia, as a case study, the research examines how mid-sized jurisdictions can integrate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to improve preparedness, response, and recovery. A three-round, mixed-methods Delphi study engages emergency …

The Impact Of The Interaction Between Negotiation Strategies And Tactics On Enhancing Security Crisis Management At The General Headquarters Of Ras Al Khaimah Police, Abdulrahman Obeid Al Khatri

Journal of Police and Legal Sciences

The study falls within the context of emphasis on negotiation as a strategic tool in the management of security crises owing to challenges that have become so complicated and dynamic against security institutions. According to reports by the UAE Ministry of Interior, more than 1,200 different types of security crises have been recorded within the last five years. This can range from field to organizational and emergency crises. Therefore, there is an immediate requirement for developing new negotiation methodologies through which response capacities can be boosted to make swift and precise decisions during critical moments.

This study has tried to …

Synoptic Conditions Favoring Tropical Cyclone-Enhanced Southwest Monsoon High Precipitation Events In The Philippines, Alwin Andriel L. Bathan, Lyndon Mark P. Olaguera, Faye Abigail T. Cruz, Jose Ramon T. Villarin, John A. Manalo, Jun Matsumoto

SOSE Affiliate: Manila Observatory

The interaction of tropical cyclones (TCs) with the southwest monsoon frequently causes heavy precipitation events (HPEs) and widespread flooding across the Philippines. Despite their substantial socio-economic impacts, the synoptic conditions that favor these events remain insufficiently understood, underscoring the need for systematic investigation to help improve forecasting and risk assessment. Lag composite analysis of daily rainfall records and reanalysis data from July to September for the period 1981–2023 shows that HPEs are more likely to occur when: (1) enhanced monsoon westerlies are present over the tropical Indian Ocean for at least nine days before the HPE, (2) a TC passes …

Influence Of Stormwater Flooding Events On The Mobile County School District Student Population, Kadence Kali Johnston

Honors Theses

Mobile County, Alabama, receives among the highest annual rainfall totals in the United States resulting in frequent stormwater flooding that intersects with existing socioeconomic vulnerabilities. Within the Mobile County Public School System (MCPSS), 77% of students are economically disadvantaged and over 10% experience homelessness, creating heightened risk for educational disruption during flood events. This study investigates how stormwater flooding influences school attendance, closures, and academic performance across MCPSS, providing insight into how climate-driven hazards exacerbate educational inequities. The research integrates flood frequency, school performance metrics, and GIS flood-zone mapping and teacher perceptions to understand how flooding affects student learning opportunities. …

From Risk Perception To Readiness: Understanding Us Wildfire Preparedness Drivers, Dominic Kyei, William Donner, Arlett Sophia Lomeli, Dean Kyne

Sociology Faculty Publications

Background: Wildfires in the USA are becoming more frequent and severe as climate change and population growth expand exposure in fire-prone regions. Understanding the human dimensions of wildfire preparedness—particularly how individuals perceive risk, build awareness, and develop evacuation readiness—is critical for effective fire management.

Methods: This study examines cognitive, experiential, behavioral, and sociodemographic predictors of wildfire preparedness using the wildfire-specific subsample (n = 509) from the 2023 FEMA National Household Survey. Generalized structural equation modeling (GSEM) was used to analyze three key outcomes: readiness awareness, evacuation readiness, and perceived wildfire risk.

Results: Results show that readiness awareness and preparedness self-efficacy …

The Role Of Urban Forests In Mitigating Flooding Effects: A Case Study In Savannah, Georgia, Gillian Bush

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Flooding in coastal communities is shaped by the interaction between natural systems and urban development. Chatham County, a low-elevation region in the Savannah, Georgia metropolitan area along the eastern coast of the United States, is prone to coastal storms and frequently affected by flooding. It serves as a useful case study to better understand the factors behind flooding and the areas that are most at risk. This study uses GIS-based analysis to examine the overlap between flood risk, urban forest cover, and impervious surfaces. The results indicate elevated vulnerability along major transportation corridors and barrier islands, where high-risk flood zones …

Does The Availability Of An Additional Set Of Bunker Gear Impact Firefighter Health, Safety, And Operational Readiness?, Ryan Riley

Certified Public Manager® Applied Research

Firefighting is a complex and inherently dangerous profession. Firefighters today face a growing array of occupational hazards, not just from the effects of being exposed to fire and smoke, but also from the personal protective gear they wear, commonly referred to as “bunker” or “turnout” gear. While this gear is designed to protect firefighters in dangerous environments, prolonged use and repeated exposure to smoke, chemicals, and products of combustion can compromise the gear. Research has shown that bunker gear contains and can also retain cancer-causing chemicals. To this end, this paper examines whether the availability of an additional set of …

Breaking Barriers: Harnessing Collaboration Between Individuals With Disabilities And Emergency Management In New Jersey, Daniel Wrinn

Master of Science in Emergency & Disaster Management Capstones

No abstract provided.

“There Was Nothing Left To Give”: Experiences Of Compassion Fatigue Among Former In-Patient Psychiatric Clinicians, Katie Ladner

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

Compassion Fatigue (CF) is a state of emotional and physical exhaustion resulting from prolonged exposure to stressful or traumatic experiences, specifically among healthcare workers, and it negatively impacts their ability to provide care to their patients and perform their jobs effectively (Singh et al., 2020). The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the lived experiences of compassion fatigue in mental health clinicians who previously worked in in-patient psychiatric hospitals and their subsequent resignations. This phenomenological research explored participants' understanding and descriptions of their CF experiences in their roles within psychiatric hospitals and how CF contributed to their leaving …

Urban Conflagrations: Structural Ash And Soil Metal(Loid) Contamination After California’S Eaton And Palisades Fires, S. Anselme Dossou, Leon Kelly, P. Louis Lu, Robin Jones, Oliver O'Donnell, Justin St. P. Walsh, Daniel D. Richter

Art Faculty Articles and Research

In the weeks after California’s Eaton-Palisades wildfires, structural ash of burned homes and soils from yards and curbsides were sampled for analysis of Pb, As, and eight metals from 32 burned residences. About six months after fires and after US Army Corps of Engineers’ Phase 2 cleanups removed 15 cm from structural ash footprints, 17 properties were resampled within about a meter of original sampling sites. Concentrations of metal(oid)s in structural ash and residential soils varied between and within properties with significant spatial and temporal patterns. Lead concentrations were highest in structural ash and soil of yards of select pre-1970s …