No description available.

This paper analyzes and assesses the success and failures of the implemented methods of two mailed survey research projects conducted in post-Katrina New Orleans. Mailed survey research is an essential part of the recovery process following a major disaster in which people have been displaced. A survey can provide insight into how many residents intend to return to the area as well as resident needs and concerns. Traditional methods alone are inadequate in a post-disaster setting and supplemental measures must be taken. The collected data from a survey in this setting will be unrepresentative of the pre-disaster population. Spatial analysis of the response combined with a comparison of the collected data to known census data identifies the ways in which the data is unrepresentative. Knowledge of the data shortcomings increases its utility in planning and recovery efforts in the affected region.

This thesis examines how 18 University of Canterbury students based in Christchurch experienced housing insecurity during the three years after a series of major earthquakes from late 2010 and throughout 2011. I adopted a qualitative exploratory approach to gather students’ accounts and examine their experiences which were analysed using constructivist grounded theory methods. Three core categories were identified from the data: mobility, recreating security, and loss. Mobility included the effects of relocation and dislocation, as well as how the students searched for stability. Recreating security required a renewed sense of belonging and also addressed the need to feel physically safe. Lastly, loss included the loss of material possessions and also the loss of voice and political representation. The theory that emerged from these findings is that the extent to which students were able to control their mobility largely explained their experiences of housing insecurity. When students experienced a loss of control over their mobility they effectively addressed this by being resourceful and drawing on existing forms of capital. This resourcefulness generated a new form of capital, here called security capital, which represents a conceptual contribution to existing debates on students’ experiences of homelessness in a disaster context.

This thesis analyzes how the Central Government of India (GoI) frames and justifies the post-disaster recovery phase in the recovery chapters of its 2016 and 2019 National Disaster Management Plans using Constructivist Grounded Theory and Textual Analysis. My analysis of the National Disaster Management Policy of 2009 demonstrates how disaster management mainly focuses on pre-disaster activities and how, as a result, recovery activities are less explored. I observed the same results in the National Plans, justifying the relevance of my thesis. The most significant findings of this research include: first, the GoI uses both Plans to detail decentralized efforts in recovery activities. Second, the GoI successfully puts the needs of communities at the heart of both Plans but fails to address communities as stakeholders and lacks consistency concerning the most vulnerable sections of the communities. Third, the GoI highlights psychological needs similarly in both Plans but does not acknowledge how psychological recovery is a long and ongoing process when explaining the recovery process. Lastly, it overly uses the “Build Back Better” (BBB) term but does provide details about concrete ways to achieve it. Drawing on the concepts of “disaster” and “recovery”, I argue that the GoI focuses on recovery based on hazards and fails to address the underlying causes of disasters in the recovery chapters of its Plans. Moreover, I argue that it successfully harmonizes with the dominant discourse of the international community but uses some institutional concepts such as BBB as buzzwords. Finally, I argue that the Plans reflect the priorities of the Government and that the 2019 Plan is not more inclusive as it aspires to be.

Studies on post-disaster housing in rural areas of Turkey show that these houses do not respond to all the needs of users. After the earthquake of June 2000, 1,221 permanent post-disaster houses (PDH) were erected in the villages of &Ccedil / ankiri. Some of these PDH were built with Typical Designs while others were custom-designed for the beneficiaries who had rejected the Typical Designs of the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement. The aim of this study was to pinpoint those factors of the PDH which led to satisfaction or dissatisfaction among the beneficiaries and, hence, abandonment of these houses. A survey was carried out in the area to determine the types of PDH built &amp / #8211 / used or abandoned &amp / #8211 / any additions or alterations made and for which purpose, and user&amp / #8217 / s degree of satisfaction with their houses. Those PDH which were altered and to which any additional spaces were added were measured and drawn to visually record the changes made by the beneficiaries. A random sample of 90 families was selected for the investigation. A questionnaire was prepared for the study which was administered to the permanent users of the PDH with Typical Designs and Custom Designs and the beneficiaries who refused to move to the PDH with Typical Designs. Data obtained from the questionnaires was analysed with the help of statistical tools. It was revealed that Traditional Houses in the villages are better equipped to answer the local needs / PDH with Typical Designs do not meet the needs of the users / PDH with Custom Designs are closer to user needs / and that some beneficiaries who refused to move to new settlements preferred to construct PDH on the lots of their previous houses. In addition, a survey was carried out in the villages to understand geographical, topographical and climatic conditions and house typology in the region. Additions and modifications made in the PDH with Typical Designs were recorded and at the end of the study, guidelines for post-disaster reconstruction works and design of PDH in rural areas have been proposed.

Tertiary students, not just working populations, might be experiencing feelings of burnout following the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. In the aftermath of a major disaster, the gap between the resources available to handle pressures (e.g., support) and the demands inherent in the pursuit of an academic degree (e.g., heavy workload) may lead to feelings of burnout among students. This study hypothesised that burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion and disengagement) would be related to students’ perceptions of immediate institutional support, extended institutional support, peer support, family support, and work overload. Additionally, it was proposed that institutional and social support would moderate the relationship between work overload and burnout. Two hundred and seventy one third and fourth year students were sampled using an online questionnaire. These particular students were expected to be at greater risk of emotional exhaustion and academic disengagement because they were at the earliest stage of their tertiary education when the major earthquakes first hit. Family support and extended institutional support were found to be associated with decreased levels of emotional exhaustion and disengagement. Meanwhile, work overload was found to be related to increased levels of emotional exhaustion and disengagement. Furthermore, both peer support and immediate institutional support were found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between work overload and disengagement. This study has exposed unique findings which contribute to burnout research especially in a post-disaster context, and raises the importance of providing the right types of support for individuals who are particularly dealing with the consequences of a natural disaster.

In the current built environment, structures require regular observation and maintenance. Many of these structures can be quite challenging to evaluate. The required scaffolding, lifts, or similar access facilities can become quite costly to rent and construct, and can be a long term disturbance to those who use and manage the particular structure. Furthermore, there are situations where examination for the purpose of detailed analysis can be quite hazardous, if not entirely unsafe for humans. In a post-disaster environment traditional methods may not be safe or adequate for gaining access to parts of a structure that require observation or analysis. The use of a remotely controlled unmanned vehicle is a reliable, safe and cost effective substitute for assessing structures before and after seismic, terrorist, or other destructive events.

No description available.

Severe recovery deficits after post-disaster interventions have become the landscape seen globally. Humanitarian operations have struggled to find coherence between relief and recovery activities, which has resulted in a perceived operational gap between relief, recovery and development. This current dynamic has caused significant deficiencies within humanitarian programming, such as weak strategy, a lack of transition mechanisms, exit plans and effective recovery. A situation that stems from the current paradigm the humanitarian system operates under and the framework that has evolved around it. Supporting the development of adaptive resilience of a disaster-affected population, within the humanitarian sphere, has been theoretically posed to be fundamental for recovery; a programmatic consideration that could ensure former weak resilience would not hinder post-disaster recovery. Therefore, could a resilience building approach offer much needed solutions to the challenge of recovery within post-disaster contexts? This research aimed to understand whether resilience building within post-disaster environments could increase potential recovery of disaster affected populations and whether it is feasible to build individual/household (HH) level resilience through emergency response operations? The research looked specifically at adaptive resilience at the individual/HH level, clarifying the concept and understanding its modality in order to operationalise it within humanitarian programming. The common barriers to recovery experienced by individuals/HH in a crisis event were gauged, and the relationship between adaptive resilience and recovery determined. A unique singular case study was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data required to answer the key objectives of this research. The case study chosen was the 2010 Haiti earthquake response. Primary data was collected over a 7 months period through 37 semi-structured interviews and 31 online questionnaires with donors, government, INGOs, LNGOs and the private sector, that were operating within the Haiti response, and 18 disaster affected community members within a community discussion forum. Bringing a total participation of 86 individuals and organisations. An in-depth case study was developed in order to offer an evidence base for the proposed theory, that supporting adaptive resilience through emergency response programming has the ability to stimulate recovery. A new data collection tool was trialed within the community discussion forum, namely the Sociogram. This tool looked to assess the main components of adaptive resilience. Methodological rigour was introduced through the use of methodological and data triangulation to ensure validity and reliability of the research. The research successfully identified the main barriers to recovery, pinpointed the key components for adaptive resilience and the influence of emergency programming on the development of adaptive resilience, establishing the relationship between them. The role emergency response operations can play in the development of adaptive resilience was then explored. It has been demonstrated that to ensure recovery and allow for a more resilient society to evolve, adaptive resilience needs to be and can be supported and developed within emergency response operations. The research has been able to demonstrate, through the analysis of the Shelter and WASH response undertaken in Haiti, that developing resilience in the post-disaster environment is possible and an approach that is able to improve strategy within emergency response operations. Improvements would be seen in the provision of essential services within the response, a substantial increase in transitional and exit options and an increased capacity to proactively stimulate rapid recovery. This strategic approach to emergency response programming has the ability to offer the coherence needed between relief, recovery and development. Determining that a resilience building approach within emergency response operations could be the missing link or resolution to the perceived operational gap between relief, recovery and development. Pursuing a resilience building approach has the potential to bring much needed cultural change within the humanitarian sector that will shape operations for a more strategic and successful future.

Fondée sur dix-sept mois d’enquête ethnographique à Tongoa (entre 2013 et 2015), une île du Vanuatu, cette thèse et la réflexion qui la sous-tend portent sur les espaces travaillés, en mer comme sur terre. Elle prend comme fil conducteur les jardins de subsistance et met en évidence les relations qu’entretiennent les habitants de l’île, tant entre eux et avec ces deux types d’espaces, qu’avec les collectifs de non-humains qui peuplent leur monde. L’étude de la nature domestique révèle que la terre et la mer sont pensées dans un cadre commun et montre en quoi elles sont constitutives du mode de vie et des représentations de ceux qui les créent et les exploitent. L’environnement dans lequel évoluent les Man-Tongoa est marqué du sceau de catastrophes, dont la contingence constitue, pour eux, un inéluctable donné de l’existence. Les espaces appropriés sont régulièrement bouleversés, voire temporairement anéantis, par un événement sismique ou climatique de grande ampleur – comme le cyclone Pam, intervenu en mars 2015. L’ethnographie de cet événement et l’étude des différents phénomènes relevant de la catégorie locale de disasta démontrent comment est localement construite la notion de catastrophe lorsque la « tradition », les dénominations chrétiennes et les ONG en proposent des explications parfois incompatibles. / Based on seventeen months of fieldwork carried out between 2013 and 2015 on Tongoa, an island in the archipelago of Vanuatu, the present PhD dissertation and its underlying reflection aim to study domesticated spaces, both on the ground and in the sea. This research explores and follows the logics of subsistence gardens, underlying the relationships cultivated both between islanders and these spaces, and between them and the non-human entities inhabiting their world. Such an approach helps underline how the land and the sea are conceptualised in a common frame of understanding, and shows how both spaces equally build up the way of living and thinking of those who create them and tap into their resources. The environment of the Man-Tongoa bears the weight of potential disasters, whose very contingency is an inescapable given of daily reality. The appropriated spaces are regularly shattered, sometimes even temporarily wrecked, by large-scale seismic or climatic events – as demonstrated by the cyclone Pam, which took place in March 2015. The ethnography of this event and the analysis of the various phenomena pertaining to the local category of disasta demonstrate how the notion of disaster is locally constructed, when “tradition”, Christian denominations, and NGOs offer non mutually intelligible or compatible explanations.