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Last modified
1/25/2010 7:10:51 PM
Creation date
10/5/2006 2:45:22 AM
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Floodplain Documents
County
Statewide
Basin
Statewide
Title
Disasters by Design - A Reassessment of Natural Hazards in the United States
Date
1/1/1999
Prepared For
US
Prepared By
Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center
Floodplain - Doc Type
Project
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<br /> <br />A New Approach to Hazards <br />Re~earchers and practitioners in the hazards community need to shift their strategy to cope <br />with the complex factors that contribute to disasters in today's-and especially tomorrow's- <br />world. Here are the main guidelines for improving our ability to mitigate hazards. <br />. Adopt 0 global systems perspective. Rather than resulting from surprise environmental events, <br />disasters arise from the interactions among the tarth's physical system'), its human systems. <br />and its built infrastructure. A broCld view that encompasses all three of these dynamic systems <br />and interactions among them ran enable professionals to find better solutions. <br />. Accept responsibility for hazards and disasters. Human beings-not nature-are the cause of <br />disaster losses, which stem from choices about where and how human development will <br />proceed. Nor is there a final solution to natural hazards, since technology cannot make the <br />world safe from ALL the forces of nature. <br /> <br />. Anticipate ambiguity and change. The view that hazards are relatively static has led to the <br />false conclusion that any mitigation effort is desirable and will-in some vague way-reduce <br />the grand total of future losses. In reality, change can occur quickly and nonline<lrly. Human <br />adaptation to hazards must become as dynamic as the problems presented by hazards <br />themselves. <br /> <br />. Rejectshort-term thinking. Mitig<ltion as frequently conceived is too short-sighted. In gen- <br />eral, people have a cultural and t'conomic predisposition to think primarily in Iht" ",hort It"rm. <br />Sustainable mitigation will rf'quire a longer-term view that takes into account the overall <br />effect of mitigation efforts on this and future generations. <br />. Account for social forces. Societal factors, such as how people view both hazards and mitiga~ <br />tion efforts or how the free market operates, playa critical role in determining whieh steps <:Ire <br />actually taken, which are overlooked, and thus the extent of future disaster losses. Because <br />such socia! forces are now known to be much more powerful than disaster specialists previ~ <br />ously thought, growing understandinq of physical systems and improvt'd technology cannot <br />suffice. To effectively address natural hazards, mitigation must become d basic "udal value. <br />. Embrace- sustainable development principles. Disasters are more likely where unsustainable <br />development occurs, and the converse is also true: dis<lsters hinder movement toward $U$- <br />tainability because, for example, they degrade the environment and undercut the quality of <br />life. Sustainable mitigation activities should strengthen a community's social, economic, and <br />environmental resiliency, and vice versa. <br /> <br />12 <br /> <br />PRO\lDE CO:\IPBEHEl\"SIVE EDCCATIO~ A:'\'D TR-\I:\'I;'IiG. Today hazard <br />managers are being called upon to tackle problems they hm'e never before <br />confronted, such as understanding complex physical and social systems. <br />conducting sophisticated cost-bellefil analyses, and offering long-lenT! solu- <br />tions. Education in hazard mitigation and preparedness should therefore <br />exp,lI1d to include interdisciplinary <lnd holistic degree programs. j\lembers <br />of the higher education community \vill have to in\'cnt uni\'ersity-based pro- <br />grams that move away from traditional dis<.:iplim,.'s toward interdisciplinary <br />education that sokes the re,ll-world prohlems entailed in linking hazards <br />and sustainahility. This will require not only new degree programs but also <br />changes in the way institutions of higher education re\\'ard racultj; who no\\" <br />are encouraged to do theoretical work. <br />i\ll':AsuBI': PIl()(;HI:SS. Baselines for mcasuring sllstainahility should <br />he f'stahlislwd now so the nation (';111 g<-lUge Future progress. Interim goals <br />for mitigation and other aspects of managing hazards should he set, and <br />progress in reaching those goals regularly evaluated. This effort will require <br />delermining how to apply eriteril.:l slleh as disaster resiliency. environmenlal <br />quality, intra- and inter-generational ('quity, quality of liF{" and {>cnnomk <br />vitality to the plans and programs of local communities. <br />Also important is evaluating hazard-mitigation efforts already in place <br />before taking further steps in the same din..'ction. For eXiJmple, the <br />i\:ational Flond Insurance Program, which comhines insurance, incentives, <br />and land-use and building standards, has existed for :10 years, yet its effec- <br />tiveness has ne\"(~r been thoroughly appraised. <br />Each disaster yields new knowledge rt.'Je"anl to halarJ mitigation and <br />disaster response and [(.'cuvery, yet no enlily collects lhis informatioll sys- <br />tematically, synthesi7es it into a coherent hody of knowledge, and e\'aluates <br />the nation's progress in putting knowledge into practice. Systematic post- <br />disaster audits. called for in the IY75 assessment by \Vhite and lIaas. arc <br />still needed. <br /> <br />SIIAIlI': Ki\:()WI,I.,I)(~F I;\TI':H.~ATIO:\JAII.Y. The United States I11ust share <br />knowledge and technolog;y related to sustainahle ha7,ard mitigation with <br />other nations, and he willing to learn from those nations as well. Roth here <br />and abroad, disaster experts also need to collaborate with deyelopment <br />
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