According to a report published by the Zurich based reinsurance company, Swiss Re, in 2014, the next storm that hits New York will be even more massive than Super Storm Sandy, with damage well north of the billions of dollars, reports the Examiner.
According to a report published by the Zurich based reinsurance company, Swiss Re, in 2014, the next storm that hits New York will be even more massive than Super Storm Sandy, with damage well north of the billions of dollars, reports the Examiner. Mexico is still breathing a collective sigh of relief that the danger posed from Hurricane Patricia last week was not as brutal as originally predicted. The lessons learned from Katrina and Sandy have taken hold, and more attention is being given to preparedness and fortifying infrastructure against future storms.
Disaster management ministers from Japan, China and South Korea agreed Wednesday to strengthen cooperation on promoting a U.N. action plan adopted in March to respond to emergencies, reports Japan Times. At a meeting held in Tokyo, Taro Kono, Japan’s minister for disaster management, Dou Yupei, China’s vice minister of civil affairs, and Lee Sung Ho, South Korea’s deputy minister of public safety and security, signed a joint statement vowing enhanced ties to promote the 15-year action plan. “The three countries have been affected by similar natural disasters including earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons,” Kono said, expressing hope that the Asian neighbors will enhance their ties by sharing past experiences.
Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI) in Haiti is celebrating the International Day for Disaster Reduction 2015 in strict collaboration with its local partner AGERCA (Alliance for Disaster Management and Business Continuity committee) and the CTESP (Comité thématique d’éducation et de sensibilisation du public). COOPI’s projects on Disaster Reduction are funded by the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) and the US Agency for International Development (OFDA/USAID).
Ontario is making it easier and faster for municipalities and individuals to get financial assistance following natural disasters. Requests for provincial disaster assistance have doubled in the last five years and are expected to continue to rise due to climate change. As a result, the province is replacing the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program with two new programs that will be more responsive to the needs of individuals and communities following a natural disaster.
Experts from the Americas have pledged to spur moves to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a 15-year global plan that aims to rein in mortality and losses caused by natural and man-made hazards. “We must be at the forefront of compliance with the objectives and goals of Sendai for the protection of and improved quality of life on the planet,” said Major General Miguel Ernesto Perez Guarnizo, Director-General of Colombian Civil Defense.
First world cities have an unhealthy dependence on the 'urban machine' — the modern engineering solutions within their infrastructure—making their inhabitants vulnerable to disaster, reports Phys.org. That's according to Victoria University of Wellington's Professor Penny Allan from the School of Architecture. "The infrastructure in the modern city is problematic in that it's designed to operate as a highly connected system of parts, but if one part fails, everything can fail," says Professor Allan.
According to the report, America’s GPA with regard to the state of critical infrastructure — roads, bridges, dams, drinking water, hazardous waste — is about a 1.3, equivalent to a grade of D+, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). An example of addressing the issue is the Regional Plan Association, who addresses building back better and planning by using scenario planning as a tool to develop plans. The concept is to consider a number of options that might occur in the future. “The idea is you don’t just plan for the storm that just happened; you know the future is uncertain and that any number of things might happen,” said Robert Freudenberg, director of the association’s Division of Energy and Environment. “You choose a range of scenarios that are likely to happen and start thinking through each of those.”
By Brigitte Leoni
Bangkok - The government of Thailand today announced details of a new five-year national disaster prevention and mitigation plan which incorporates the priorities for action of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The priorities are focused on understanding disaster risk in all its aspects, improved risk governance, investment in disaster risk reduction and better preparedness and are at the heart of the Sendai Framework, adopted in March at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.
Havana – Disasters need not be deadly and its risks can be greatly reduced, particularly when local governments and at-risk communities are involved, according to a new UN Development Programme (UNDP) publication Sharing What Works: South-South Cooperation for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Caribbean , launched here today. The report describes the South-South Cooperation experience of transferring a successful Cuban risk management model to five Caribbean countries, as part of the Caribbean Risk Management Initiative (CRMI) project.