Much of the published work on disaster response has focused on specific disasters, highlighting what went wrong. Taking a new approach, this book explores ways in which transformational leadership principles may be applied to an organization’s disaster preparation and response, moving the organization away from a competitive or top-down approach and toward a more collaborative one. Rather than focus on centralizing responsibility, with commands emanating from the top, author William Lester offers readers a new paradigm, with step by step instructions on placing transformative and collaborative systems front and center, in order to develop a sustainable disaster response system – one that is not centered on a specific leader or time, but instead focuses on the changes needed to build a system that can outlive any one leader. Implementation plans to move from concept into workable, effective strategies that can be used immediately are included. Assuming no prior background in either organizational theory or disaster response systems, the book offers practical examples and hands-on explorations of the responses to Hurricanes Sandy, Harvey, Irma, and Maria, written by experts who know those disasters best – delivering important insight into what elements make the best disaster response system.

Much of the published work on disaster response has focused on specific disasters, highlighting what went wrong. Taking a new approach, this book explores ways in which transformational leadership principles may be applied to an organization's disaster preparation and response, moving the organization away from a competitive or top-down approach and toward a more collaborative one. Rather than focus on centralizing responsibility, with commands emanating from the top, author William Lester offers readers a new paradigm, with step by step instructions on placing transformative and collaborative systems front and center, in order to develop a sustainable disaster response system - one that is not centered on a specific leader or time, but instead focuses on the changes needed to build a system that can outlive any one leader. Implementation plans to move from concept into workable, effective strategies that can be used immediately are included. Assuming no prior background in either organizational theory or disaster response systems, the book offers practical examples and hands-on explorations of the responses to Hurricanes Sandy, Harvey, Irma, and Maria, written by experts who know those disasters best - delivering important insight into what elements make the best disaster response system.

Survival in times of disaster is a question of utmost importance to both the victims of those events and to the professionals and people in authority who are there to serve them. In Disaster Emergency Management, Liza Ireni Saban examines what leads some nations, communities, and individuals to rise to the occasion during these times of trauma, while others do not. Utilizing case studies of China, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States, she focuses in particular on the dilemma faced by local emergency officials who, rather than elected officials, find themselves "on the front lines," suddenly confronted with complex public problems. Recent studies have pointed to a breakdown of government and bureaucratic decision making in the face of intense crisis situations. Saban demonstrates the inadequacies of grappling with what are in truth contested ethical issues within a framework whose approach is technical-rational. She draws on communitarian ethics to redefine the role of the bureaucrat so that community resilience, through attention to local values and needs, is fostered prior to the actual crisis.

The start of the new millennium will be remembered for deadly climate-related disasters—the great floods in Thailand in 2011, Super Storm Sandy in the United States in 2012, and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013, to name a few. In 2014, 17.5 million people were displaced by climate-related disasters, ten times more than the 1.7 million displaced by geophysical hazards. What is causing the increase in natural disasters and what effect does it have on the economy? Climate Change and Natural Disasters sends three messages: human-made factors exert a growing influence on climate-related disasters; because of the link to anthropogenic factors, there is a pressing need for climate mitigation; and prevention, including climate adaptation, ought not to be viewed as a cost to economic growth but as an investment. Ultimately, attention to climate-related disasters, arguably the most tangible manifestation of global warming, may help mobilize broader climate action. It can also be instrumental in transitioning to a path of low-carbon, green growth, improving disaster resilience, improving natural resource use, and caring for the urban environment. Vinod Thomas proposes that economic growth will become sustainable only if governments, political actors, and local communities combine natural disaster prevention and controlling climate change into national growth strategies. When considering all types of capital, particularly human capital, climate action can drive economic growth, rather than hinder it.

Great natural disasters are rare, but their aftermath can change the fortunes of a city or region forever. This book and its companion Policy Focus Report identify lessons from different parts of the world to help communities and government leaders better organize for recovery after future disasters. The authors consider the processes and outcomes of community recovery and reconstruction following major disasters in six countries: China, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States. Post-disaster reconstruction offers opportunities to improve construction and design standards, renew infrastructure, create new land use arrangements, reinvent economies, and improve governance. If done well, reconstruction can help break the cycle of disaster-related impacts and losses, and improve the resilience of a city or region.

David Campbell's personal and professional life changed course in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004. A chance remark to a friend about the tragedy led his companion to reveal that he had dined, just a week prior to the tsunami, on a hotel patio where everyone had been killed. "In that moment," Campbell remembers, "a faraway event was brought much closer." That meeting launched Campbell into action. After researching travel and lodging, he packed everything he thought he would need in a major disaster zone and boarded a plane to Thailand. But his most important asset was his vast network of friends in the technology industry and his decades of experience in businesses management. His colleagues and friends wanted to help and he wanted to help them do it. Campbell didn't realize it at the time but he had stumbled on the key elements of what would become All Hands Volunteers, an entirely new kind of disaster relief organization: his own credibility, creative use of the Internet to make connections, and most importantly, the immeasurable power of "being there." ALL HANDS: THE EVOLUTION OF A VOLUNTEER-POWERED DISASTER RESPONSE ORGANIZATION shares the story of how, over the past ten years, Campbell and thousands of dedicated volunteers have personally and profoundly impacted the lives of people reeling in the wake of natural disaster.

Events such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Japanese earthquakes and tsunamis in 2011 have provided unfortunate reminders of the susceptibility of many communities to devastating losses from natural hazards. These events provided graphic illustrations of how extreme hazard events adversely impact on people, affect communities and disrupt the community and societal mechanisms that serve to organize and sustain community capacities and functions. However, there is much that communities can do to mitigate their risk and manage disaster consequences. The construct that epitomizes how this is done is resilience. The contents of this volume provide valuable insights into how societal resilience can be developed and sustained. This considerably expanded new edition presents major topics of: Coexisting with Natural Hazards; Urban Resilience in Asia; Lifelines and Urban Resilience; Business Continuity in Disaster; Hazard Mitigation in Communities; Hazard Readiness and Resilience; Child Citizenship in Disaster Risk; Old Age and Resilience; Gender and Disaster Resilience; Impact of High Functionality on Resilience; Art and Resilience; Cross-Cultural Perspectives and Coping with Hazards; Religious Practices and Resilience; Living in Harmony with our Environment; Critical Incidence Response; Governance; Heat Wave Resilience; Wildfire Disaster Resilience; and Progress and Challenges to Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience. This exceptional book brings together contributions from international experts in core areas and includes chapters that provide and overarching framework within which the need for interrelationships between levels to be developed is discussed. The book will be an outstanding resource for those researching or teaching courses in emergency management, disaster management, community development, environmental planning and urban development. In addition, it will serve law enforcement and emergency agencies, welfare agencies, and professionals in applied psychology.