Suchergebnisse

Hurricane Katrina brought to light many questions about Americans' preparedness for handling large-scale disasters: Is FEMA effective? Are the local, state, and federal governments sufficiently coordinated? Examining issues from various perspectives, this work offers students the tools to form their own opinions by bringing such events into focus

Billions of dollars and millions of people are involved in disaster relief, yet catastrophes around the world continue to take a huge toll in human lives and treasure. This book covers the response to disasters. It covers issues in both historical and contemporary context, with information on disaster relief around the world

A vast literature currently exists focusing on disaster response. This literature clearly suggests that victims of natural disasters need outside support to cope with hardships and distress caused by extreme events. This is particularly true for victims in developing countries, where disasters create demands that cannot be met by domestic resources. However, many hazard researchers claim that relief goods that are often sent are not properly distributed and these goods are often not of the appropriate type nor sufficient in quantity. These researchers further claim that emergency aid is counter-productive and it increases dependency on external sources. The objective of this paper is to critically review the provision of disaster relief in developing countries, with special reference to Bangladesh. The primary emphasis of this paper is on changes that have occurred in the area of disaster relief over the last three decades. This paper provides evidence that, because of these changes, relief efforts have become more integrated with development projects and less burdened with the problems outlined in earlier literature critical of the provision of emergency relief to disaster victims.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present an operations research (OR) model for planning water distribution tours in disaster relief. Especially in situations after a disaster occurrence, characterized by instability and the immediate need of help, high‐quality decisions have to be made fast. For this reason, it is very useful if planning decisions can be alleviated by a decision support system (DSS) using an efficient multi‐objective metaheuristic as its algorithmic core.Design/methodology/approachThe paper develops a metaheuristic search technique based on evolutionary concepts for a real‐world extension of a multi‐objective covering tour problem.FindingsThe proposed method supports decision makers in finding appropriate compromise solutions with respect to conflicting objectives (e.g. coverage and travel time). With this work, the authors want to reduce the gap between theory and practical applications. They apply OR methods to a real‐world application in the field of disaster relief operations planning.Research limitations/implicationsThe success of the proposed approach depends on the availability of reasonable and useful data. However, data generation in this context represents an upcoming discipline, especially under the circumstances of increasing threat by natural hazards.Practical implicationsWhen the approach is integrated in a DSS, different scenarios can be investigated immediately and presented with a geographic information tool. The most appropriate solution for the decision makers can be realized.Originality/valueHeterogeneous transport modes and different road types were not considered so far in these types of problems.