Browsing by Subject "Disaster recovery"
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Item A comparative study of single family and multifamily housing recovery following 1992 Hurricane Andrew in Miami-Dade County, Florida(2009-05-15) Lu, Jing-CheinAnecdotal evidence in disaster studies suggests that multifamily housing takes longer to recover than single family homes, but almost no studies have provided quantitative evidence to clarify this ?multifamily home lag? phenomenon. This research examines the recovery of single family, duplex, and apartment complex housing in south Miami-Dade County, Florida, after 1992 Hurricane Andrew to determine if there is indeed a "multifamily home lag." This research also provides a better understanding of the factors influencing the recovery trajectories of these three housing types. The findings of this research indicate that duplexes and apartment buildings have slower recovery trajectories than single family dwellings. In addition, rental housing, housing that sustained higher levels of damage, and single family dwellings and duplexes located in predominately non-Hispanic Black neighborhoods show significantly slower recovery trajectories. The analyses specific to apartment buildings also finds that apartment buildings with fewer than 10 units have significantly slower recovery trend than apartment buildings with more than 50 units.Item Building opportunity : disaster response and recovery after the 1773 earthquake in Antigua Guatemala(2013-08) Pajon, Mauricio A.; Deans-Smith, Susan, 1953-Building Opportunity centers on disaster response and recovery after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake destroyed the city of Antigua Guatemala, the capital of colonial Guatemala, on July 29, 1773. It also concentrates on the colonial government’s decision to relocate Antigua Guatemala and establish a new capital, New Guatemala. This dissertation examines how the cultural, economic, political, and social views of inhabitants -- bureaucrats, clerics, Indians, architects, and the poor -- shaped their reactions to the tremor. Furthermore, it contends that the migration from Antigua Guatemala to New Guatemala created socioeconomic opportunities through which individuals made strong efforts to rebuild their lives. Debates on natural catastrophe in colonial Latin America have emphasized the ability of calamity to ignite power struggles over competing ideas about emergency management. However, in addition to an analysis of such disputes, this dissertation advances new understandings of the ways in which the earthquake gave victims chances to reshape their world. How did individuals' beliefs influence their attitudes toward the cataclysm? How did the effort to create a new city forge openings for survivors to refashion their identities? This study shows that individual groups' notions of fear, hazard mitigation, history, and socioeconomics defined arguments about whether or not to move. It also demonstrates that the tragedy produced spaces in which officials, ecclesiastics, indigenous peoples, and the impoverished worked to improve their lives. In various ways, administrators and victims turned adversity into an opportunity to become disaster managers and survivors, respectively.Item Disaster mitigation and recovery: a study of Hurricane Hugo’s effect on South Carolina(2016-05) Roper, Vance Andrew Lewis; Paterson, Robert G.; Spelman, WilliamDeath, destruction, and loss are what many people experience when they encounter a disaster such as a hurricane. One key fact to remember about disasters is that they are a human made event. This is because disasters only occur when a natural hazard comes into contact with human made items. One such natural hazard, hurricanes, can result in significant destruction and have a major impact on humankind. While humankind is effected by natural hazards, it can also have an effect on the results from these hazards. Using proper techniques, damage from disasters can be reduced by significant portions. This can be accomplished through mitigation, resilience and recovery. The combination of these three components can both reduce and eliminate destruction from disasters caused by natural hazards. This paper will look at each of these three components and how they apply to disasters caused by hurricanes. The focus will be looking at how differing building requirements can have an effect on the amount of damage caused by hurricanes. These results will then be used to recommend what types of building codes should be used and the political viability of using such codes.Item Project management process for disaster recovery projects(2010-12) Gonzales, Steven Anthony; Lewis, Kyle, 1961-; McCann, BruceA project is an organized endeavor aimed at accomplishing a specific nonroutine or low-volume task (Shtub, Barb, & Globerson, 2005). Natural hazards particularly hurricanes and flooding do not exactly match this definition, but the recovery from them does. Recovery is not only about restoration of structures, systems and services – although they are critical. A successful recovery is also about the individuals and families being able to rebound from their losses, and sustain their physical, social and economic well-being (Department of Homeland Security, 2010). To be able to do this requires a comprehensive disaster recovery plan comprised of consistent action to be taken before, during and after a disaster. Flooding and wind related damages from hurricanes and tropical storms create the most widespread natural hazard disasters resulting in billions of dollars in property losses each year. Southeast Texas is vulnerable to flooding because of its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and its flat terrain. 2004, 2005, and especially the 2008 hurricane season have highlighted the need for additional guidance, structure and support specifically oriented to long-term disaster recovery. The 2008 hurricane season was particularly active for Texas with a tropical storm and three named hurricanes. Hurricane Ike was the largest to hit the Texas coast in history and the third most destructive in the nation’s history. An estimated total damage of $29 billion for the 2008 hurricane season devastated Texas (Office of the Governor of the State of Texas, 2008). Luckily, the recovery efforts for Hurricane Ike have been marked by positive outcomes when compared to previous responses to events, but more work could have been done in the pre-disaster planning of an event. This thesis will outline a process that will look at ways to mitigate the hazard by planning long-term to lessen the recovery time and lead to a more sustainable community by hardening infrastructure and strengthening residential building codes in anticipation of future disasters.Item Texas disaster recovery capacity : the impacts of leadership structures on local resilience(2014-08) Joslin, Nicole Marie; Wilson, Barbara B. (Barbara Brown)This report examines the leadership structures of four disaster recovery housing programs in two Texas communities in order to identify leadership models that contribute to future individual and community resilience. Disaster recovery is a physical and social process that requires both scientific knowledge of best practices and practical local knowledge of community context. The level of a community's physical, organizational, and social capacity relates directly to its ability to deliver needed disaster recovery services. The variation of capacity at all levels of governmental agencies and community organizations across Texas has become dramatically apparent over the last decade of disasters with clear consequences to the success of disaster recovery efforts. Information collected from those involved in the housing recovery efforts from two recent disasters in Texas, Hurricane Dolly in 2008 and the Bastrop Complex Wildfires in 2011, provide a window into the current governance models being employed. Communities in the Rio Grande Valley and Bastrop County are now administering multiple housing recovery efforts through assorted levels of government and community organization. By documenting and analyzing the structure of leadership in each program through quantitative and qualitative methods this report reconstructs the capacities of each leadership model that are relevant to articulated recovery goals. Findings from this analysis reveal opportunities for improvement in the design of future disaster recovery programs at the state and local level.