Small-business demise and recovery after Katrina: rate of survival and demise

Post-disaster research is often plagued by displacement of subjects, loss of infrastructure, and the disruption of communication. Economic losses and business disruptions caused by a disaster tend to affect small businesses on a greater scale. With the majority of small businesses being operated out of a home, the inability to recover affects both economic and overall well-being of the business and the family. Specifically for small businesses, post-disaster research is important because it leads to increased preparedness and survival strategies for the sector and reduced economic vulnerabilities in owner-controlled areas. Historically, most of what is known about preparation, response, and recovery of small businesses from natural disasters is based on businesses that have recovered. However, there exists a need for understanding recovery also from the perspective of those that tried, but failed to recover. Grounded in a pragmatic approach, this study presents a methodology for tracking demised small businesses after Hurricane Katrina. Supported by empirical evidence, solutions to the problems of timing, generalizability, and access are presented, providing a systematic methodology for successfully studying small businesses after a disaster event. Rate of survival and demise data are presented, providing more useful numbers than prior estimates. Locating demised and recovered small businesses efficiently is the first step in understanding how business owners prepare, react, adjust, and strive to recover from disaster-driven events. A solution to this challenging issue of access makes the study of demised small businesses possible.     

Key factors affecting sustained business operations after an earthquake: a case study from New Beichuan,China, 2013–2017

Most disaster research has focused on business recovery at a point in time or over a short period of time, with the goal of summarizing the experience to reduce business vulnerability in future disasters. However, studies on long-term business recovery processes may be more useful for providing lessons that support sustained business operations after a disaster. This study considers the changes in business’ operating statuses following the initial survival of a large earthquake and examines how different factors influence sustained business operations during the long-term recovery after a disaster. The study uses logistic regression techniques along with field investigations and questionnaire data collected from 256 New Beichuan businesses that remained open following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China. The study results showed that some of the original surviving businesses closed during the subsequent post-disaster operation process. As such, identifying businesses reopening after the disaster cannot be equated with long-term recovery. Factors significantly influencing the sustained operation of a business after the Wenchuan earthquake included: pre-disaster financial conditions, post-disaster monthly average profit, borrowing of money from family or friends, the business owner’s gender, and government subsidies. Study findings have important theoretical implications for research on the long-term recovery of businesses after an earthquake. Findings also have practical value for business owners selecting post-disaster sustainable operation strategies.

     

Minority women’s microenterprises in rural areas of the United States of America: African American,Hispanic American and Native American case studies

Women in many rural areas of the US often engage in small-scale businesses as one of several avenues for contributing to household incomes. In those geographical areas that contain a significant minority population, many of the women's businesses display the cultural diversity of the regions in which they live. Likewise, women's roles as economic providers as well as wives and mothers are reflected in the manner in which they operate their businesses. Candida Brush suggests that women's strategies for operating their businesses are highly integrative because women's business decisions are intertwined with familial responsibilities, household economic demands and desires to contribute to their communities. Hispanic and Native American women in the Four Corners region of southwestern US and African American women in central Virginia participated in interviews in which they responded to numerous short answer and open-ended questions about their businesses and decision-making strategies. From these interviews an image emerges of rural minority business women who are operating their businesses at the nexus of family obligations, economic necessities, cultural ties and with a commitment for serving their communities. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Small business disaster recovery: a research framework

Exogenous, non-normative shocks to small businesses such as natural disasters have been understudied. Moreover, most disaster research on small businesses has focused on business recovery as a dichotomy at one point in time. However, disaster recovery for small businesses is an iterative process set in the context of individual, family/household, and community recovery over time. A new dynamic research framework for small business recovery is proposed which allows for a shared framework and vocabulary.     

A hurricane surge risk assessment framework using the joint probability method and surge response functions

Hurricane surge events have caused devastating damage in active-hurricane areas all over the world. The ability to predict surge elevations and to use this information for damage estimation is fundamental for saving lives and protecting property. In this study, we developed a framework for evaluating hurricane flood risk and identifying areas that are more prone to them. The approach is based on the joint probability method with optimal sampling (JPM-OS) using surge response functions (SRFs) (JPM-OS-SRF). Derived from a discrete set of high-fidelity storm surge simulations, SRFs are non-dimensional, physics-based empirical equations with an algebraic form, used to rapidly estimate surge as a function of hurricane parameters (i.e., central pressure, radius, forward speed, approach angle and landfall location). The advantage of an SRF-based approach is that a continuum of storm scenarios can be efficiently evaluated and used to estimate continuous probability density functions for surge extremes, producing more statistically stable surge hazard assessments without adding measurably to epistemic uncertainty. SRFs were developed along the coastline and then used to estimate maximum surge elevations with respect to a set of hurricane parameters. Integrating information such as ground elevation, property value and population with the JPM-OS-SRF allows quantification of storm surge-induced hazard impacts over the continuum of storm possibilities, yielding a framework to create the following risk-based products, which can be used to assist in hurricane hazard management and decision making: (1) expected annual loss maps; (2) flood damage versus return period relationships; and (3) affected business (e.g., number of business, number of employees) versus return period relationships. By employing several simplifying assumptions, the framework is demonstrated at three northern Gulf of Mexico study sites exhibiting similar surge hazard exposure. The framework results reveal Gulfport, MS, USA is at relatively more risk of economic loss than Corpus Christi, TX, USA, and Panama City, FL, USA. Note that economic processes are complex and very interrelated to most other human activities. Our intention here is to present a methodology to quantify the flood damage (i.e., infrastructure economic loss, number of businesses affected, number of employees in these affected businesses and sales volume in these affected businesses) but not to discuss the complex interactions of these damages with other economic activities and recovery plans.     

A hurricane surge risk assessment framework using the joint probability method and surge response functions

Hurricane surge events have caused devastating damage in active-hurricane areas all over the world. The ability to predict surge elevations and to use this information for damage estimation is fundamental for saving lives and protecting property. In this study, we developed a framework for evaluating hurricane flood risk and identifying areas that are more prone to them. The approach is based on the joint probability method with optimal sampling (JPM-OS) using surge response functions (SRFs) (JPM-OS-SRF). Derived from a discrete set of high-fidelity storm surge simulations, SRFs are non-dimensional, physics-based empirical equations with an algebraic form, used to rapidly estimate surge as a function of hurricane parameters (i.e., central pressure, radius, forward speed, approach angle and landfall location). The advantage of an SRF-based approach is that a continuum of storm scenarios can be efficiently evaluated and used to estimate continuous probability density functions for surge extremes, producing more statistically stable surge hazard assessments without adding measurably to epistemic uncertainty. SRFs were developed along the coastline and then used to estimate maximum surge elevations with respect to a set of hurricane parameters. Integrating information such as ground elevation, property value and population with the JPM-OS-SRF allows quantification of storm surge-induced hazard impacts over the continuum of storm possibilities, yielding a framework to create the following risk-based products, which can be used to assist in hurricane hazard management and decision making: (1) expected annual loss maps; (2) flood damage versus return period relationships; and (3) affected business (e.g., number of business, number of employees) versus return period relationships. By employing several simplifying assumptions, the framework is demonstrated at three northern Gulf of Mexico study sites exhibiting similar surge hazard exposure. The framework results reveal Gulfport, MS, USA is at relatively more risk of economic loss than Corpus Christi, TX, USA, and Panama City, FL, USA. Note that economic processes are complex and very interrelated to most other human activities. Our intention here is to present a methodology to quantify the flood damage (i.e., infrastructure economic loss, number of businesses affected, number of employees in these affected businesses and sales volume in these affected businesses) but not to discuss the complex interactions of these damages with other economic activities and recovery plans.

     

A methodology for estimating business interruption loss caused by flood disasters: insights from business surveys after Tokai Heavy Rain in Japan

This study proposes a probabilistic methodology for estimating the business interruption loss of industrial sectors as an extension of current methodology. The functional forms and parameters are selected and calibrated based on survey data obtained from businesses located in the inundated area at the time of the 2000 Tokai Heavy Rain in Japan. The Tokai Heavy Rain was a rare event that hit a densely populated and industrialized area. In the estimation of business interruption losses, functional fragility curves and accelerated failure time models are selected to estimate the extent of damage to production capacity and production recovery time. Significant explanatory variables, such as inundation depth, distinct vulnerability, and the resilience characteristics of each sector, as well as the accuracy of fit of the model, are analyzed in the study. The function obtained and the estimated parameters can be utilized as benchmarks in estimating the probabilistic distribution of business interruption losses, especially in the case of urban flood disasters.

     

Poverty and Disasters in the United States: A Review of Recent Sociological Findings

This article synthesizes the literature on poverty and disasters in the United States and presents the results from a wide range of studies conducted over the past twenty years. The findings are organized into eight categories based on the stages of a disaster event. The review illustrates how people of different socioeconomic statuses perceive, prepare for, and respond to natural hazard risks, how low-income populations may be differentially impacted, both physically and psychologically, and how disaster effects vary by social class during the periods of emergency response, recovery, and reconstruction. The literature illustrates that the poor in the United States are more vulnerable to natural disasters due to such factors as place and type of residence, building construction, and social exclusion. The results have important implications for social equity and recommendations for future research and policy implementation are offered.     

Measuring long-run economic effects of natural hazard

This paper studies the long-run economic effects of severe weather on regional economies. A catastrophic event, such as a hurricane, will have an effect on both the directly impacted region and adjacent regions. With dramatically increasing damage from catastrophic weather events over the past few decades, comprehensive assessment of the long-run economic impact of natural disasters across the broader region becomes more important than ever for planning for post-disaster recovery. We estimate the long-run effect of Hurricane Katrina on the unemployment rate of Houston, TX by employing time-series and fixed-effect models. Using Dallas as a control, we find that Katrina is associated with a higher long-run unemployment rate in Houston than would otherwise have been expected. This implies that the hurricane-generated adverse relative effects on Houston. Our findings suggest that areas that are geographically proximate to the directly impacted region can sustain lasting negative economic consequences.     

Modeling a major source of economic resilience to disasters: recapturing lost production

Terrorist attacks and natural disasters have potentially severe economic consequences in terms of property damage and business interruption. However, experience from the September 11 World Trade Center attack and other disasters indicates that the economy has a great deal of resilience. This refers to the ability to dampen the maximum potential economic output (business interruption) loss. One of the most prominent sources of resilience is the ability of businesses to reschedule, or recapture, lost production after the event. Although there have been applications of a fixed parameter recapture factor for each of several aggregated sectors of the economy, there has been little formal analysis of this resilience action. This study offers a theoretic framework for analyzing production rescheduling. It distinguishes the major conditions influencing two aspects that have previously been neglected: (1) the maximum time span over which the rescheduling can take place and (2) the likely decline of the maximum recapture as the business interruption increases. We divide the relevant time path into two periods after recovery. One is a function of a recaptured output path after recovery to the status of normal production. The other is a function for the maximum recaptured production, based on the recaptured output path. The recaptured output path function is assumed to follow a normal distribution function, and hence, total recaptured output follows the cumulative normal distribution function over time after productive capacity is restored. Also, we develop a new cumulative normal distribution function for interruption time duration, which is symmetric with respect to the output axis. This recapture function has unknown parameters. Empirical data on the recaptured amounts following an actual disaster can be used to estimate the parameters of this function using simulation methods.     

淮河流域旱涝灾害致灾气候阈值

采用淮河流域内1959—2008年110个气象站的逐日降水资料,结合流域1978—2008年农作物旱涝灾害受灾面积数据,基于降水致灾因子与农作物承灾体受损程度等研究,提出旱、涝致灾气候阈值概念,在此基础上分析旱涝灾害发生的时空特征,确定淮河流域合理的旱涝致灾气候阈值区间并建立致灾气候阈值与农作物受灾面积之间的定量关系。结果表明:① 致灾气候阈值可通过计算发生旱涝事件时间段累积降水量除以1959—2008年相应时段累积降水量的平均值来定义,得到的旱、涝致灾气候阈值在不同尺度下对旱、涝灾害事件均有较好地稳定反映,可满足研究区旱、涝事件分析需求;② 洪涝致灾气候阈值与农作物受灾面积存在一致的变化趋势,而干旱致灾气候阈值与农作物受灾面积相关系数高达0.96,构建了基于干旱致灾气候阈值的农作物受灾面积预测模型。     

Disaster risk assessment of ports based on the perspective of vulnerability

Global environmental changes have led to frequent occurrences of climatic extremes. The increasingly frequent and high-magnitude natural disasters in Taiwan have caused significant mortality, injury, and property damage. In response, there have been requests to improve the capacity to cope with extreme climatic conditions through increased awareness and identification of vulnerability. Disruptions to transportation systems affect the resilience for sustaining daily operations. Among the various types of transportation systems, ports provide substantial employment and industrial activity, contributing to national and regional development. In addition, ports integrate the functions of supply chains such as services in logistics, information, and business, becoming the location of industrial clusters. Therefore, this study examines the risk of port failures from the perspective of vulnerability. Specifically, seven vulnerable factors derived from the extant literature and lessons learned from the previous disaster cases are evaluated using geographic information systems. The results reveal that port capacity and efficiency have a significant effect on port vulnerability in which the efficiency of gantry cranes, labor productivity, free trade zone business volume, and ground access networks play crucial roles in port failure. Moreover, the risks associated with port operation are evaluated by overlapping a hazard map of areas prone to debris flows and tsunami inundation. The risk maps can assist decision makers in understanding the vulnerability and adopting appropriate strategies to minimize disaster risks.     

Hazard Assessment of Cold and Hot Damage for Double-Season Early Rice (DSER) in Lower-Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River Basin

Cold and hot damages which are both common disasters occurring in DSER growth time in lower-middle reaches of the Yangtze River Basin harm early rice. The two disasters occurrence should be deeply studied to protect the DSER yield. This study was based on meteorological data of 48 agricultural meteorological stations during 1961-2010 period and agricultural meteorological data during 1981-2010 for DSER in lower-middle reaches of the Yangtze River Basin. In this study, the growth time was divided into several phases according to the growth stage, including tillering stage, booting stage, flowering stage and filling stage. The disasters taking place at some stages was identified by building new judging standard and their intensity value was calculated by harm accumulated temperature calculation model. Fisher optimal division method was used to classify the disasters and H-P filter was used to consider the reduction of the yield. It was conducted to analize the disasters’ characteristics in growing season, the intensity of hazard and the weight of hazard at each stage by judging and quantifying cold and hot damage and developing hazard assessment model of disasters. All findings were displayed in maps by GIS technology. The results showed that: ①New disaster judging standard was more suitable for DSER and the hazard assessment model could reveal the disaster situation in lower-middle reaches of the Yangtze River Basin. ②Cold damage was severe at tillering stage while hot damage was severe at filling stage. In the view of the distribution of the decadal disaster intensity, cold damage became to be weak and hot damage became to be strong. Compared with the plains, mountainous region and hilly ground were attacked by cold damage frequently and hot damage rarely from the perspective of spatial distribution of disasters. Distinctly, plains near large areas of water were often harmed by cold damage at booting and flowering stage. ③The area of high hazard value and high disasters value at each stage were overlapped by each other roughly. Studying the hazard of the whole growth season showed that the highest hazard value was in Zhejiang province, and the next in Hubei Province. So Hu’nan and Jiangxi Provinces were quite suitable to grow DSER. ④In contrast with the hazard weight at each stage, the vulnerable phases of the whole growth time were in sequence of filling stage> tillering stage> flowering stage > booting stage. What’s more, aiming at defensing and fending off risk, some special stages in special province should be paid close attention including booting and filling stages in Hubei Province, tillering and flowering and filling stages in Hu’nan Province, tillering and filling stages in Jiangxi Province, flowering and filling stages in Zhejiang Province. The conclusion can be taken as theoretical basis for the government management of agricultural production, disaster prevention and mitigation.     

我国雷电灾害及相关因素分析

为了更好地揭示雷电灾害的时空分布规律和成因机制过程,在1997—2006年全国雷电灾害数据库和星载闪电探测数据的基础上,分析研究了雷电灾害及相关因素的特征,包括雷电灾情、孕灾环境、致灾因子、承灾体及其相互作用,得到以下一些结果:①雷灾事故数、雷灾人员伤亡数与我国不同地区的致灾因子(闪电活动)、承灾体(人口和经济发展现况)成正相关;雷电灾情不同类型与承灾体类型(城乡人口比例、经济发展现况)有密切关系;②我国雷电灾情和闪电活动的时间特征是紧密相关的,同时雷电灾情的时间特征与人们的作息时间相关;③不同的孕灾环境下造成雷电伤害人员的方式特征不同,雷击死亡人数在农田最多,而受伤人数在建构筑物内最多;④80%的雷灾伤亡人员事故只涉及1~2人的生命安全,其中1人遭受雷击的占总事件的61%;⑤重大雷灾伤亡事件直接与承灾体的脆弱性有关。     

Megacities and natural disasters: a comparative analysis*

Natural disasters are a worsening problem in many of the world's largest cities. Since an increasing majority of the world's population will soon live in cities, and mostly in large cities, the trend towards increasing urban hazard poses serious societal challenges for the future. Beginning in the mid-1990s, the International Geographical Union's Study Group on the Disaster Vulnerability of Megacities undertook a series of case studies of megacities that have been – and are – exposed to major natural disasters. These include: Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, Lima, Mexico City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, London and Dhaka. Case studies focused on reviewing the historic record of major disasters in each city and on documenting recent changes in different components of hazard including, risk, exposure, vulnerability and response. It was found that exposure and vulnerability are the components of hazard that are changing fastest and with the gravest implications for urban populations. Because hazards are only one part of the typical urban management agenda, hazards management in large cities should be pursued with careful regard to the context of general urban policy manking and management. Sustainability has become a guiding principle of urban management but the relationship between hazard and sustainability is little understood and little explored. The way lies open for hazard researchers to develop alternative contextualized approaches to the analysis and resolution of urban hazard issues. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

基于简化Newmark模型的长白山天池火山诱发崩塌滑坡危险性评价

火山喷发过程所伴生的地震活动会诱发大量的崩塌滑坡次生灾害,其所造成的人员财产损失甚至超过火山活动本身。2002年以来长白山天池火山区地震活动的异常,表明火山深部的岩浆正在发生变化,天池火山存在喷发的危险。地震崩塌滑坡的危险性区划是降低生命财产损失的有效手段。将火山伴生地震作为崩塌滑坡灾害的诱发因素并据此设置地震参数,利用简化的Newmark累积位移模型,考虑地形因素对地震的放大效应,对长白山地区天池火山喷发下次生崩塌、滑坡灾害的危险性进行评价。通过探讨不同地震震级下的危险性分区结果,认为不同地震参数的设置对危险性分区结果没有影响。将研究区划分为极高、高、中等、低、极低等5个危险等级,其中,极高危险区主要分布在3个区域:以天池口为中心,40km为半径的范围内;沿江乡—两江镇—松江镇条带区域;长白县境内鸭绿江沿岸区域。     

Constructing environmental responsibility: Perceptions from retail business

This paper examines how retail businesses have employed the concept of environmental responsibility in order to justify their activities in the environmental arena. The sources of such publicised responsibility are investigated in terms of the relationship between the business and the consumer and how far responsibility has a moral base within the company or an economic justification with respect to demand. Data come from in-depth interviews with national and local managers of large multiple grocery superstores in the U.K. as well as from material published by these companies both through leafletting and more standardised reporting channels. Emphasis is placed upon the contradictions between the declaration of internally derived responsibility and the external pressures of demand, legislation and public image, suggesting an anticipatory form of environmental responsibility has been developed by retailers and that this may produce more proactive measures as the environmental debate matures.     

Impact of the 11 March 2011, Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami on the chemical industry

The Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami damaged or destroyed many industrial facilities housing or processing hazardous substances, such as refineries, petrochemical facilities and other types of chemical industry. This showed that also generally well prepared countries are at risk of suffering natural hazard triggered technological (Natech) accidents. An analysis of data collected from open sources and through interviews with authorities was performed to understand the main reasons for the industrial damage and downtime as well as the extent of hazardous-materials releases and the associated impact on society. The analysis of the data set confirmed the findings from other studies with respect to main damage and failure modes, as well as hazardous-materials release paths. In addition, gaps in Natech risk management were identified. Based on the data analysis and interviews lessons learned in support of a more far-reaching Natech risk management are presented.     

Prioritization of hazard profile for Istanbul using Analytical Hierarchy Process

The compilation of the data for past disasters is vital for taking lessons from the past, investigating their reasons, preventing the loss in the future and for disaster planning-related works. In Turkey, especially in Istanbul which has a historical background of more than 8000 years, the demand for backdated disaster data increases to determine the dangers that the city is faced with and to analyze them. The purpose of our work is to develop a hazard profile identification model for Istanbul by using “Analytic Hierarchy Process.” Therefore, we searched for different types of disasters and hazard classifications in various national and international databases. We scrutinized the kinds of disasters, hazards and hazard characteristics that should be used for a proposed model. By examining “Istanbul’s 2000 Years of Disaster Database” and 100 years of Republic’s statistics prepared for Istanbul, we identified the disaster categories and criteria, ran the Analytic Hierarchy Process and created a hazard profile model for Istanbul. Consequently, we proved that the most important types of disasters that affect Istanbul are geophysical disasters followed by climatological, hydrological, meteorological and technological disasters. The work also shows us that the districts which have a high rate of the population such as Bagcilar, Kucukcekmece and Esenyurt are more vulnerable to these hazards.     

Reduction of future disaster damages by learning from disaster experiences

This paper examines the effect of a country’s own past disaster experiences and nearby countries’ past experiences on subsequent disaster damage. We use global disaster data from 1990 to 2010, which include disaster-related death tolls for both natural and technological disasters that are further divided into sub-categories. Overall, we find evidence of a reduction effect of past disaster damage on future disaster damage. More detailed analyses show that an adaptation effect seems to be present for certain combinations of disaster types and levels of economic development. The results show that a country’s own experiences reduce future damage for natural disasters but that the marginal effect is larger for lower-income countries. On the other hand, for technological disasters, a robust impact of experiences was found only in higher-income countries. In terms of the disaster experiences of nearby countries, the adaptation effect was found only for natural disasters, and the marginal impact was relatively higher for higher-income countries.