Literature Review on Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness
Rebecca Gager (5672691)
American Military University (SSGS 500)
Dr. Phil Fellman
April 22, 2018
Literature Review on Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness
Accepting the U.S Census Bureau information, the earth’s population increased originating at projected 2.5 billion people to an estimated 6.3 billion people since 1950 to 2003. A more considerable amount of individuals are exposed to natural disasters nowadays for the reason that there are additional individuals in the earth to be susceptible to. It doesn't matter how well-developed countries are, not one state in the U.S. is invulnerable to the increase of disasters. The quantity and quality of relentlessness for catastrophe are more significant than past years. Not only do disasters occur at any moment it happens in whatever place it desires (Newkirk, 2002).
The federal government and insurance businesses are required and demanded to manage through the swift swell and unexpected disaster expenses. Among several circumstances, requisitions that are associated with disaster are progressively on the rise by ten times fold within the decade (Newkirk, 2002). In 2016, disasters monetary damage came to $188 billion which almost was twice the fold in 2017 calculating to $306 billion (NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 2018). Each year the United States has endured an increase of the quantity of disasters, yet only half of the disasters qualify for federal assistance through FEMA (FEMA, 2018). The impact of catastrophes has a more significant effect due to human nature, not because of the disaster itself (Riebeek, 2005).
Population’s Impact on Nature
Data has shown an increase in cost of natural or man-made disasters is for one reason is a more considerable amount of individuals are constructing more luxurious structures in regions that are more predisposed to natural disasters such as hurricanes, firestorms, flooding, drought, tornados, mudslides, etc. (NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 2018). The second reason for the rise of monetary damage in human-made or natural disasters is due to the expansion of development on United States soil, the changes to the land, and the upsurge in population in which creates the disaster to be more acute then it should have been (Riebeek, 2005). With landscape development and the increase of population develops ordinary disaster impacts like hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes convert progressively more important to the degree of all types of disasters that acquire a substantial amount of fatalities and victims of loss property (Than, 2005).
The landscape of the United States
Along with the everlasting media stories of reoccurring and the numerous amounts of natural and human-made disasters, the Earth could be viewed as increasing aggressiveness and be becoming a dangerous place all the more so (Than, 2005). The terrain of the United States is enormous. Disasters that take part due to the hydrological, geophysical, biological climatological, and meteorological properties of the earth consist of avalanches, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic activity, disease epidemics, extreme temperatures, floods, landslides, insect or animal plagues, cyclones, and more (Garrett, 2015). The quantity of individuals reaching close to a thousand of people in famous vacation regions that are tropical is in an ideal pathway of destructions for environment misfortunes and fatalities in a less amount of time it would take for a larger area of land (Garrett, 2015).
Mitigation
Mitigations objective is to diminish risk by decreasing the threat to estate, assets and our existences. With that being said, it takes account of pre-disaster and post-disaster current buildings and organizations along with impending production environments (FEMA, 2018). To accomplish this method is by a code of practice, community regulations, property consumption, and construction processes along with mitigation plans to decrease or eradicate continuing peril arising out of threats and its impacts (FEMA, 2018).
With the application of mitigation, individuals and communities foresee property loss and life on the decline, could quickly restore normalcy and decrease the disorder after a disaster and minimize the financial burden for individuals and as a nation. For instance, the United States saves roughly $1.1 billion each year by accepting the meticulous building requirement that endorsed thru twenty thousand communities throughout the United States (FEMA, 2018).
For the response to a disaster to proceed successfully, it is vital for federal, state and local governments to possess a universal knowledge on the development to regard the influences for catastrophe. Despite the fact that disasters have escalated in the last decade, numerous communities fail to embrace a plan for mitigation or emergency preparedness. Although several cities do not have any emergency or disaster strategies altogether (Newkirk, 2002). In local towns and communities to implement a hazard mitigation plan or emergency preparedness, a variety of these strategies do not encompass mitigation but do incorporate an insignificant spectrum of conceivable hazards and disasters (Newkirk, 2002).
The Application and Results of Human Behavior
There is various research done by scholars in organizational behavior, economics, psychology, political science, sociology, and social psychology. These scholars have distinguished different factors that could shed light on the elements that lead to the decision on why individuals prepare for emergencies and disaster and the individuals that choose not to prepare (Mileti, 1999, p. 136). There are two frequent psychologies that individuals have towards disaster is (1) denial and (2) exhibits an absence of accountability.
Most individuals do not prepare in advance or make arrangements to ensure the safety in the event of a disaster. Individuals' not able to safeguard his or her security during a disaster is the result of the loss of human life. It is understood that has humans contribute their decision making for disasters on speculations concerning the likelihood of a disaster and its probable results, contingent on the knowledge that is provided. Individuals behaviors could be anticipated after that individual's values, beliefs, and attitudes towards emergency preparedness (Mileti, 1999, p. 140).
Conclusion
Mitigation and emergency preparedness development among local communities is vital for these strategies to be efficient for the response to human-made or natural disaster (Newkirk, 2002). Various factors take part in the lack of mitigation and emergency preparedness for disasters among individuals, local communities, state, and the federal government. It is essential for each citizen of the United States to be accountable for his or her welfare in the event of a natural or human-made disaster. The variation of relief aid that is provided to victims by each level of government is to be an adjunct to an individual's mitigation and emergency preparedness effort.
References
FEMA. (2018, February 13). What is Mitigation. Retrieved from FEMA: https://www.fema.gov/what-mitigation
Garrett, S. (2015, June). Are Natural Disasters Increasing? Retrieved from The Borgen Project: https://borgenproject.org/natural-disasters-increasing/
Haddow, G. D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2014). Introduction to Emergency Management. Oxford, UK: Elsevire, Inc.
Haddow, G. D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2014). The Disciplines of Emergency Management: Mitigation. In G. D. Haddow, J. A. Bullock, D. P. Coppola, & P. Chester (Ed.), Inrodction to Emergency Management, Fifth Edition (p. 72). Oxford, UK: Elsevier, Inc.
Mileti, D. S. (1999). Disasters by Design: A reassessment of Natural Hazards in the United States. Joseph Henry Press.
Newkirk, R. T. (2002, December 16). The Increasing Cost of Disasters in Developed Countries: A Challenge to Local Planning and Government. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management , 159-170.
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. (2018). U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters. Retrieved from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI): https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/
Riebeek, H. (2005). The Rising Cost of Natural Hazards. Retrieved from The Earth Observatory: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/RisingCost/printall.php
Than, K. (2005, October 17). Scientists: Natural Disasters Becoming More Common. Retrieved from Live Science: https://www.livescience.com/414-scientists-natural-disasters-common.html