Disaster Management In The U S And Canada

Emergency management has become a vital profession, better able to meet ever-increasing public demands, better able to advance post-disaster cost recovery and relief, and better able to put communities back together after a disaster. This book is designed and intended to help the reader, whether familiar or unfamiliar with the field, better understand the human impacts that emergencies have on us all. It examines laws, policies, regulations, and arrangements of the intergovernmental world of disaster management. DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN THE U.S. AND CANADA is a complete overhaul of the first edition. Most chapters are new, and the three which are not were completely rewritten and revised. More chapters are included, more disciplinary perspectives are represented, and more emphasis is given to national, state, and provincial roles in disaster management but without ignoring the continuing centrality of local emergency management. The book is intended as a text for graduate and undergraduate courses that address disaster policy and emergency management, whether in public administration, political science, intergovernmental relations, disaster sociology, organizational studies, or urban studies. It will also be of benefit to anyone in the vast community of emergency management, whether working at the local, state, provincial, or federal level.

Whether it is wildfires in Alberta, widespread flooding in Newfoundland, or massive snowstorms in Nova Scotia, Canadian governments must be prepared to manage a range of emergencies. Many organizations and resources have to be coordinated in emergency management, and the quality of emergency planning has a direct impact on the effectiveness of disaster response. Municipalities have primary responsibility, but emergency management requires authority and resources from all levels of government as well as collaboration with stakeholders from the private and voluntary sectors. Drawing on extensive documentary evidence and many interviews with government officials and stakeholders, Multilevel Governance and Emergency Management in Canadian Municipalities provides a comprehensive assessment of the structure and dynamics of emergency management in Canada. Contributors analyze the role of the federal government, compare policies and governance in three different provinces, and examine approaches to emergency planning in thirteen municipalities of varying sizes. In addition to describing political and legal frameworks, essays investigate how emergency management policies are shaped by the relationships between municipal, provincial, and federal officials, as well as with social interests that are concerned about planning for emergencies. Contributors also assess the quality of emergency management. Despite the growing importance of emergency management, there has been little comparative research on Canadian policy making in this field. Multilevel Governance and Emergency Management in Canadian Municipalities provides insights into how governments have readied themselves for emergencies and how they can better prepare. Contributors include Norm Catto (Memorial University), Malcolm Grieve (retired, Acadia University), Geoffrey Hale (University of Lethbridge), Daniel Henstra (University of Waterloo), Luc Juillet (University of Ottawa), Junichiro Koji (PhD, University of Ottawa), Stephen Tomblin (Memorial University), Lori Turnbell (Dalhousie University), and Robert Young (University of Western Ontario).

These chapters provide valuable and comprehensive information on a variety of hazards, including both scientific and social aspects of disasters. The work introduces the concept of large, medium and small scale hazards, and includes many useful case studies as well as working examples of theoretical concepts. As readers will acknowledge, today the distinction between natural and technological hazards is becoming blurred and a new concept of NATECH hazards is evolving. For permanent hazards (such as tides, wind waves, coastal erosion and climate change) routine predictions are made, whereas for evanescent hazards (including droughts, sea level rise, and coastal subsidence), monitoring of various parameters is the norm. Only for episodic hazards (for example hurricanes, winter storms, tsunamis, and river floods), early warning systems are used, with varying degrees of success. The book explores how, for certain episodic hazards like tornadoes, landslides, forest fires, snow avalanches, and volcanic eruptions, the early warning systems are still in various stages of development. Readers will gain knowledge of theoretical and practical concepts of risk evaluation which assist in better understanding of disaster dynamics, and readers will become better equipped in quantification of disaster risk and vulnerability. The author explains how risk reduction initiatives, taking into account stakeholders’ participation and perception, can provide a roadmap to building resilient communities and cities. This book will be useful not only to practitioners of disaster management but also to research scholars and graduate students. It is highly readable and will appeal more broadly too, to all those who are interested in the very latest thinking on, and expert analysis of, hazards and disasters.

Disaster Policy and Politics combines evidence-based research with mini-case studies of recent events to demonstrate the fundamental principles of emergency management and to explore the impact that disasters have had on U.S. policy. Paying special attention to the role of key actors—decision makers at the federal, state, and local levels; scientists; engineers; civil and military personnel; and first responders—author Richard Sylves explores how researchers contribute to and engage in disaster policy development and management. The highly anticipated Third Edition explores the radical change in policy and politics after the occurrence of recent disasters such as Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria; Hawaii’s false nuclear attack warning; and responses to U.S. wildfires. This book’s comprehensive “all-hazards” approach introduces students to the important public policy, organizational management, and leadership issues they may need as future practitioners and leaders in the field.