FLOOD03837 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

IV NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report \\'3S approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine, The members of the committee responsible for the fClXlrt were chosen for their special comperences and with regard for appropriate balance, This report has been reviev.-ed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine, The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the fur- therance of science and technology and to their use for the general 'welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters, Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences, The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government, The Na- tional Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages educa- A limited number of copies of this report are available without charge from: Advisory Committee on the IDNHR Division of Geotechnical Engineering and Hazard Mitigation 2101 Constirution Ave., N.W Washington, D,C 20418 Printed in the United States of America tion and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M, White is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Samuel O. Thier is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology \....ith the Academy's purposes of furthering knO\~'ledge and of advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in provid- ing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of ,Medicine. Dr, Frank Press and Dr, Robert.M. \X'hite are chairman and vice chainnan, respectively, of the National Research CounciL This study was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Federal Emergency lv1anagement Agency to the National Academy of Sciences, as well as by the Thomas Lincoln Casey Fund. ON THE COVER: Color-infrared photographs from the Landsat-1 satellite focus on three of the world's disaster hot spots. At left, China's Yellow River -long a source of disastrous floods - winds through the mountainous north-central prov. ' ince of Shansi At center, Mount St. Helens in the U.S, slumbers three years before its cataclysmic eruption in _May 1980. At right, the mighry Brahmaputra River flows through northeastern India on its way to Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. Annual floods, rich with sediment, are essential to the region's agriculture, but can combine with cyclone-caused rain and storm surge to inundate vast areas, (Photographs courtesy of NASA.) Book Design: Pamela Steele Reznick