Evacuees’ information sources and reentry decision making in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike

In the aftermath of a hurricane, local emergency managers need to communicate reentry plans to households that might be scattered over multiple counties or states. To better understand evacuees’ households’ reliance on different information sources at the time they decided to return home, this study collected data on reentry after Hurricane Ike. The results from a survey of 340 evacuating households indicated that there was low compliance with official reentry plans and that none of the information sources produced greater compliance with official reentry plans. Nonetheless, there were significant changes in the utilization of different sources of emergency information over the course of an evacuation but local news media remained the most common sources throughout the event. There also were significant differences in the relative importance of different sources of reentry information, with people relying most on information from peers. In summary, local authorities need to identify more effective ways to communicate with evacuees that have relocated to distant communities and to motivate them to comply with official reentry plans.     

The influence of citric acid,EDTA, and fulvic acid on U(VI) sorption onto kaolinite

Uranium(VI) sorption onto kaolinite was investigated as a function of pH (3–12), sorbate/sorbent ratio (1 × 10^?6–1 × 10^?4 M U(VI) with 2 g/L kaolinite), ionic strength (0.001–0.1 M NaNO₃), and pCO₂ (0–5%) in the presence or absence of 1 × 10^?2–1 × 10^?4 M citric acid, 1 × 10^?2–1 × 10^?4 M EDTA, and 10 or 20 mg/L fulvic acid. Control experiments without-solids, containing 1 × 10^?6–1 × 10^?4 M U(VI) in 0.01 M NaNO₃ were used to evaluate sorption to the container wall and precipitation of U phases as a function of pH. Control experiments demonstrate significant loss (up to 100%) of U from solution. Although some loss, particularly in 1 × 10^?5 and 1 × 10^?4 M U experiments, is expected due to precipitation of schoepite, adsorption on the container walls is significant, particularly in 1 × 10^?6 M U experiments. In the absence of ligands, U(VI) sorption on kaolinite increases from pH ～3 to 7 and decreases from pH ～7.5 to 12. Increasing ionic strength from 0.001 to 0.1 M produces only a slight decrease in U(VI) sorption at pH < 7, whereas 10% pCO₂ greatly diminishes U(VI) sorption between pH ～5.5 and 11. Addition of fulvic acid produces a small increase in U(VI) sorption at pH < 5; in contrast, between pH 5 and 10 fulvic acid, citric acid, and EDTA all decrease U(VI) sorption. This suggests that fulvic acid enhances U(VI) sorption slightly via formation of ternary ligand bridges at low pH, whereas EDTA and citric acid do not form ternary surface complexes with the U(VI), and that all three ligands, as well as carbonate, form aqueous uranyl complexes that keep U(VI) in solution at higher pH.     

Macroseismic Intensity Modelling of Earthquakes in Southern Spain: Attenuation and Tectonic Implications

A modelling of the observed macroseismic intensity of historical and instrumental earthquakes in southern Spain is proposed, with the aim of determining the macroseismic parameters for seismic hazard evaluation in a region in which the characterization of intensity distribution of seismic events shows different levels of difficulty referable to the complex faults system of the area in study. The adopted procedure allows an analytical determination of epicenters and principal attenuation directions of earthquakes with a double level of verification with reference to the maximum shaking area and structural lineaments of the region, respectively. The analyses, carried out on a suitable number of events, highlight, therefore, some elements for a preliminary characterization of a seismic zonation on the basis of the consistency between seismic intensity distribution of earthquakes and corresponding structural framework.     

The Econo-techno-social Design of Invasive Animal Management: costs and benefits or beneficiaries and benefactors?

This paper examines invasive animal management institutions, using theories at the interstices of anthropology and geography, to question current approaches to management based on neoclassical and neoliberal economic rationales. I present an analysis of two feral pig management regimes in Far North Queensland, Australia: (i) bounty systems of payment for feral pig control; and (ii) a community-based feral pig trapping program. I show how these management methods reshape important social and cultural processes through their overlapping technological and economic elements. On the basis of this analysis, I propose a conceptual framework for invasive animal management planning that incorporates a beneficiary–benefactor analysis alongside cost–benefit analyses. I argue that ecological-economic theories of pest management may be usefully enhanced by addressing the links between economic and social behaviours.     

The meteorologically abnormal year of 2006 and natural disasters in the Philippines

In the early part of 2006 the Philippines was hit by a La Nina event which brought floods, flashfloods and landslides. The most significant event was the February 2006 landslide that covered the whole community of Guinsaugon, in Southern Leyte, resulting in 154 deaths with 973 people still missing. Another rare event was the simultaneous presence of two tropical cyclones inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility （PAR） in August-- Tropical Depression Bopha and Tropical Storm Saomai--that enhanced the southwest monsoon. With the strong winds and high waves associated with the southwest mon- soon, an oil tanker, the M/T Solar 1, sank, resulting in the worst oil spill the country has ever suffered. Lastly, with a weak El Nino phenomenon forming in the Pacific Ocean and affecting the Philippines, a destructive typhoon, Xangsane, made a multi-landfall before hitting Metropolitan Manila. This was followed by the landfall of three superty- phoons--Cimaron, Chebi and Durian--during the last quarter of the year, bringing tremendous destruction of life and property. The occurrence of these weather events are attributed to climate variability the effects of which were exacerbated by a range of factors that include inappropriate land use.     

Natural Variability of Shear Strength in a Granite Residual Soil from Porto

The renewal imposed by the Eurocodes regarding the methodologies of safety evaluation requires a statistical analysis of the variability of ground geotechnical parameters. However, the studies published in the reviewed literature do not cover the typical materials from the northeast region of Portugal—residual soils from granite—to which a strong heterogeneity is associated. Hence, a statistical characterization of the natural variability of a granite residual soil from Porto has been made through a significant amount of experimental tests, focusing on its geomechanical properties. In order to provide a database for probabilistic analysis of problems involving this type of soils, an appropriate statistical law has been used to model its variability, which has been quantified by means of coefficients of variation and scales of fluctuation.