Disaster Response and Recovery: Strategies and Tactics for Resilience, 2nd Edition

PREFACE

There is a growing sense among scholars and practitioners that greater emphasis needs to be placed on prevention and mitigation activities in the increasingly important profession of emergency management. Recurring hazards, new threats, rising losses, and further vulnerability all lead to the inescapable conclusion that a proactive approach to disasters is undeniably warranted.

At the same time, it is also necessary to recognize that response and recovery operations will always be required—to some degree or another—after earthquakes, hazardous materials spills, or terrorist attacks. Furthermore, as the reaction to Hurricane Katrina illustrates, there is ample room for improvement in how we deal with disasters. At least some of the mistakes made in New Orleans could have been avoided if the extensive disaster literature had been heeded by politicians, public servants, corporations, nonprofit agencies, and citizens alike. In addition, there is no doubt that postdisaster functions also have an immediate or long-term impact on the protection of life, property, and the environment as well as the minimization of human suffering and social disruption.

For these reasons, Disaster Response and Recovery: Strategies and Tactics for Resilience has been written. Its goal is to integrate the lessons provided by both researchers and professionals, updating the field with current studies and practical guidelines. Rather than address these reactive phases as if they were the only responsibilities ...