Tsunami action had resulted in negative impacts in many ways, it had resulted in great changes to coastal areas, especially in terms of physical change to the coastal landscape, affected on economy, loss of life and physical damage to property. After the devastation, hotel bookings in the island were dropped, people have lost their jobs and some small-scale tourism businesses have got the hardest time as well. Some lifestyle entrepreneurs felt hopeless and have given up on doing business, which resulted to their businesses had to be closed because they were unable to access financial resources and did not have budget to restart their businesses again. Some might take longer time to rehabilitate their firms due to various limitations and conditions. While some have to fight back and develop their firms by turning crisis into opportunity and taking advantage of the crisis. This research is made in order to study and examine the impacts of and the recovery to the 2004 December tsunami disaster in Phuket, especially to small tourism businesses in Karon beach, which will be described through a disaster management model. The goal of this research is to study how the tsunami has affected on small firms and how they performed in order to rehabilitate their businesses, and even how they have been working and cooperating with the local government to draw back tourists to the destination.

The problem facing the Tlokwe Local Municipality is that it is Constitutional and legislatively obliged to avoid and/or mitigate the impact of potential disasters within its boundaries, through the effective management of potential disaster risks and disasters. The lack of effective risk management tools is especially concerning in the context of the water catchment management of the Mooi River, which is the main water supply of the Tlokwe local Municipality. The Mooi River is exposed to many potential catchment related hazards that could affect the municipality of which the origins are both anthropogenic and natural. Although, many of the impacts on the catchment arise beyond the boundaries and the control of the municipality, this does not relieve the municipality from the responsibility to develop tools to manage the risks. The aim of the study is to assist in addressing the above stated problem through establishing the requirements for a conceptual model for an effective spatial information system that will assist the municipality in effectively managing the potential disaster risks and disasters that may arise in the Mooi River Catchment area that could impact on the Tlokwe Local Municiaplity. The aim gives rise to three-research questions that are formulated as research objectives that are used to identify the conceptual model requirements. The first is to identify and conceptualise the constitutional and legislative obligations in respect of disaster risk management in general and specifically those governing the disaster disk management in the water catchment area for the Mooi River. The study of this objective not only highlight the constitutional and legal obligations that the local municipality is subject to, but provides legislatives remedies that the local municipality can utilise to assist with disaster risks reduction. The second is to identify and conceptualise the generic hazards that are related to water catchment areas (including the related groundwater compartments) and those specific in the Mooi River catchment area. In this section, potential anthropogenic and natural hazards are listed, a methodology for risk and vulnerability analyses is provided, and a concise study of quaternary catchment C23D is provided. The third is to identify and conceptualize the requirements for an effective conceptual model of GIS for Disaster Risk Management in the Tlokwe Local Municipality. An overview of a GIS is provided. The essential components of a generic information system namely, people, software, hardware, procedures and processes, data and telecommunications or networks are discussed. The information and system requirements cumulating from the analyses of the three research questions, serve as the drivers of the goal, outcomes and transformation process of the system as well as the requirements for the conceptual model. In this section: a comparison of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Framework for Applied Systems Thinking (FAST), problem solving and the phases addressed in this study; the identification of the conceptual model requirements; and a concise systems conceptualisation of an effective GIS is provided. As the, mini-dissertation focuses on the needs for a conceptual model, the additional activities required before the system can be implemented are identified and formulated as recommendation that provide the opportunity for future research. / M Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The problem facing the Tlokwe Local Municipality is that it is Constitutional and legislatively obliged to avoid and/or mitigate the impact of potential disasters within its boundaries, through the effective management of potential disaster risks and disasters. The lack of effective risk management tools is especially concerning in the context of the water catchment management of the Mooi River, which is the main water supply of the Tlokwe local Municipality. The Mooi River is exposed to many potential catchment related hazards that could affect the municipality of which the origins are both anthropogenic and natural. Although, many of the impacts on the catchment arise beyond the boundaries and the control of the municipality, this does not relieve the municipality from the responsibility to develop tools to manage the risks. The aim of the study is to assist in addressing the above stated problem through establishing the requirements for a conceptual model for an effective spatial information system that will assist the municipality in effectively managing the potential disaster risks and disasters that may arise in the Mooi River Catchment area that could impact on the Tlokwe Local Municiaplity. The aim gives rise to three-research questions that are formulated as research objectives that are used to identify the conceptual model requirements. The first is to identify and conceptualise the constitutional and legislative obligations in respect of disaster risk management in general and specifically those governing the disaster disk management in the water catchment area for the Mooi River. The study of this objective not only highlight the constitutional and legal obligations that the local municipality is subject to, but provides legislatives remedies that the local municipality can utilise to assist with disaster risks reduction. The second is to identify and conceptualise the generic hazards that are related to water catchment areas (including the related groundwater compartments) and those specific in the Mooi River catchment area. In this section, potential anthropogenic and natural hazards are listed, a methodology for risk and vulnerability analyses is provided, and a concise study of quaternary catchment C23D is provided. The third is to identify and conceptualize the requirements for an effective conceptual model of GIS for Disaster Risk Management in the Tlokwe Local Municipality. An overview of a GIS is provided. The essential components of a generic information system namely, people, software, hardware, procedures and processes, data and telecommunications or networks are discussed. The information and system requirements cumulating from the analyses of the three research questions, serve as the drivers of the goal, outcomes and transformation process of the system as well as the requirements for the conceptual model. In this section: a comparison of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Framework for Applied Systems Thinking (FAST), problem solving and the phases addressed in this study; the identification of the conceptual model requirements; and a concise systems conceptualisation of an effective GIS is provided. As the, mini-dissertation focuses on the needs for a conceptual model, the additional activities required before the system can be implemented are identified and formulated as recommendation that provide the opportunity for future research. / M Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

<p>Two executable simulation models for answering policy questions were designed and implemented. The first for a flood management case, and the second for a disease transmission case that is currently underway. The flood simulation model differs from earlier natural disaster simulation models in several respects. It represents explicitly the geographical location and the economic strength of each household. It is also equipped with a graphical user interface, making it possible to design policies interactively, and to test their outcomes. If policy options are compared, the simulation results can automatically be transformed into decision trees. The flood simulation model shows that a micro-level representation makes it possible to investigate the distributional effects of policy changes. Novel features of the disease transmission model include the use of (anonymized) data representing nine million individuals, the inclusion of important parts of the contact patterns, and the explicit representation of places. The disease transmission model shows that the incorporation of social structure allows for a more realistic representation of disease spread than do models that assume homogenous mixing. Using this model, it is possible to conduct experiments of significant policy relevance, such as investigating the initial growth of an epidemic on a real-world network. Together, the two cases demonstrate the usefulness of a spatially explicit micro-level representation for policy simulation models in the area of disaster management.</p>

Two executable simulation models for answering policy questions were designed and implemented. The first for a flood management case, and the second for a disease transmission case that is currently underway. The flood simulation model differs from earlier natural disaster simulation models in several respects. It represents explicitly the geographical location and the economic strength of each household. It is also equipped with a graphical user interface, making it possible to design policies interactively, and to test their outcomes. If policy options are compared, the simulation results can automatically be transformed into decision trees. The flood simulation model shows that a micro-level representation makes it possible to investigate the distributional effects of policy changes. Novel features of the disease transmission model include the use of (anonymized) data representing nine million individuals, the inclusion of important parts of the contact patterns, and the explicit representation of places. The disease transmission model shows that the incorporation of social structure allows for a more realistic representation of disease spread than do models that assume homogenous mixing. Using this model, it is possible to conduct experiments of significant policy relevance, such as investigating the initial growth of an epidemic on a real-world network. Together, the two cases demonstrate the usefulness of a spatially explicit micro-level representation for policy simulation models in the area of disaster management.

In the past few years, natural disasters have been taking more lives and, especially more in the lesser-developed countries. There have been debates in the scientific world on what could be the best ways to mitigate disasters and reduce their impacts. In addition, there is a growing concern about finding the best way of restoring normal lives in the disaster affected communities. Traditional top-down approaches practiced by local governments, aid-agencies, and NGOs have now been replaced by community-based disaster management approaches. International aid-agencies such as the World Bank, UNDP, CIDA, USAID etc., emphasize on the involvement of the community for development purposes and long term sustainability. However, experiences from catastrophic disasters such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 or the Hurricane Katrina of 2005 revealed post-disaster scenario to be chaotic and at times insensitive to local cultures and needs of victims. Literature review of past theories indicated the widening gap in disaster management approaches for establishing effective models to deal with recurrent mega-disasters. To address some of the gaps and issues related to disaster management strategies and approaches, an ongoing reconstruction process of the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 was evaluated in the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu, India. Four underlying objectives were set. The first was to review the evolving disaster paradigm and related theories and concepts in literature and to build connections with planning models and community based planning. Gaps in the literature were identified and a ‘common framework’ to study both the domains of environmental planning and disaster management was designed. The ‘framework’ was designed using other interdisciplinary planning frameworks, and suffices the second objective of this dissertation. The third objective was to assess an ongoing reconstruction process using an appropriate methodology and suitable indicators. Environmental issues and disaster related problems have risen over the last decade with its effects worsening in the developing countries. Despite technological advancements, it seems almost impossible to make disaster related losses negligible. However, losses can be minimised with proper interventions and community preparedness. Case studies were carried out within disaster affected fishing communities in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, India.

In the past few years, natural disasters have been taking more lives and, especially more in the lesser-developed countries. There have been debates in the scientific world on what could be the best ways to mitigate disasters and reduce their impacts. In addition, there is a growing concern about finding the best way of restoring normal lives in the disaster affected communities. Traditional top-down approaches practiced by local governments, aid-agencies, and NGOs have now been replaced by community-based disaster management approaches. International aid-agencies such as the World Bank, UNDP, CIDA, USAID etc., emphasize on the involvement of the community for development purposes and long term sustainability. However, experiences from catastrophic disasters such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 or the Hurricane Katrina of 2005 revealed post-disaster scenario to be chaotic and at times insensitive to local cultures and needs of victims. Literature review of past theories indicated the widening gap in disaster management approaches for establishing effective models to deal with recurrent mega-disasters. To address some of the gaps and issues related to disaster management strategies and approaches, an ongoing reconstruction process of the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 was evaluated in the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu, India. Four underlying objectives were set. The first was to review the evolving disaster paradigm and related theories and concepts in literature and to build connections with planning models and community based planning. Gaps in the literature were identified and a ‘common framework’ to study both the domains of environmental planning and disaster management was designed. The ‘framework’ was designed using other interdisciplinary planning frameworks, and suffices the second objective of this dissertation. The third objective was to assess an ongoing reconstruction process using an appropriate methodology and suitable indicators. Environmental issues and disaster related problems have risen over the last decade with its effects worsening in the developing countries. Despite technological advancements, it seems almost impossible to make disaster related losses negligible. However, losses can be minimised with proper interventions and community preparedness. Case studies were carried out within disaster affected fishing communities in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, India.

abstract: Remote sensing has demonstrated to be an instrumental tool in monitoring land changes as a result of anthropogenic change or natural disasters. Most disaster studies have focused on large-scale events with few analyzing small-scale disasters such as tornadoes. These studies have only provided a damage assessment perspective with the continued need to assess reconstruction. This study attempts to fill that void by examining recovery from the 1999 Moore, Oklahoma Tornado utilizing Landsat TM and ETM+ imagery. Recovery was assessed for 2000, 2001 and 2002 using spectral enhancements (vegetative and urban indices and a combination of the two), a recovery index and different statistical thresholds. Classification accuracy assessments were performed to determine the precision of recovery and select the best results. This analysis proved that medium resolution imagery could be used in conjunction with geospatial techniques to capture recovery. The new indices, Shortwave Infrared Index (SWIRI) and Coupled Vegetation and Urban Index (CVUI), developed for disaster management, were the most effective at discerning reconstruction using the 1.5 standard deviation threshold. Recovery rates for F-scale damages revealed that the most incredibly damaged areas associated with an F5 rating were the slowest to recover, while the lesser damaged areas associated with F1-F3 ratings were the quickest to rebuild. These findings were consistent for 2000, 2001 and 2002 also exposing that complete recovery was never attained in any of the F-scale damage zones by 2002. This study illustrates the significance the biophysical impact has on recovery as well as the effectiveness of using medium resolution imagery such as Landsat in future research. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Geography 2011

Magister Artium - MA / The extent of a community experiencing social vulnerability depends on the community’s ability to access resources that may contribute to coping mechanisms (either within the household or provided externally by a responsible authority) that decrease the impacts and effects of a disaster. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to identify the existence of social and institutional mechanisms that aim to reduce experiences of water inaccessibility and the causes of social vulnerability, and increase coping mechanisms within Kayamandi. Kayamandi is a low income residential community on the north-westerly periphery of the greater Stellenbosch town in the Western Cape. The research attained responses through questionnaires and surveys from residents,community organisations and responsible personnel. These surveys allowed the researcher to produce raw attribute data for each household that assisted in spatially representing vulnerable households and informing the five priority areas of the Hyogo Framework for Action. Contributing to this method of attaining information, secondary geographic data collection was obtained through the Stellenbosch Local Municipality, the National Geospatial Information Directorate and the National Demarcation Board. The findings of this thesis established that household and public water infrastructure contribute to the risk of experiencing social vulnerability that affects economic standings and quality of health within the community. Contributing to this and due to Kayamandi’s politically sensitive and historically fractioned community, social cohesion has also been noted as an area of vulnerability. Although these vulnerabilities are experienced, residents are able to implement technical, social and municipal reliant coping mechanisms. However, although efforts from Stellenbosch Local Municipality do respond to most of the key indicators within the Hyogo Framework for Action, the study found no concrete efforts within the Stellenbosch Local Municipality that illustrate integrated mechanisms to reduce the impacts of disasters and compound effects.

Each disaster presents itself with a unique set of characteristics that are hard to determine a priori. Thus disaster management tasks are inherently uncertain, requiring knowledge sharing and quick decision making that involves coordination across different levels and collaborators. While there has been an increasing interest among both researchers and practitioners in utilizing knowledge management to improve disaster management, little research has been reported about how to assess the dynamic nature of disaster management tasks, and what kinds of knowledge sharing are appropriate for different dimensions of task uncertainty characteristics. Using combinations of qualitative and quantitative methods, this research study developed the dimensions and their corresponding measures of the uncertain dynamic characteristics of disaster management tasks and tested the relationships between the various dimensions of uncertain dynamic disaster management tasks and task performance through the moderating and mediating effects of knowledge sharing. Furthermore, this research work conceptualized and assessed task uncertainty along three dimensions: novelty, unanalyzability, and significance; knowledge sharing along two dimensions: knowledge sharing purposes and knowledge sharing mechanisms; and task performance along two dimensions: task effectiveness and task efficiency. Analysis results of survey data collected from Miami-Dade County emergency managers suggested that knowledge sharing purposes and knowledge sharing mechanisms moderate and mediate uncertain dynamic disaster management task and task performance. Implications for research and practice as well directions for future research are discussed.