Browsing by Author "Kaiser L"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Children and Disasters: A tribute to Professor Kevin Ronan
    (Massey University, 2022-11-01) Johnston DM; Vinnell LJ; Becker JS; Kaiser L
    In 1997, Professor Kevin Ronan published a paper in the first ever edition of the Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies, titled “The Effects of a “Benign” Disaster: Symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress in Children Following a Series of Volcanic Eruptions”. Over the next 23 years, Kevin and his many colleagues pursued aspects of children and disasters to both improve practice and advance scholarship in this area. In March 2020 we were saddened by the untimely passing of Kevin. As a tribute to Professor Ronan this special issue of the Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies brings together accounts of current research and practice initiatives inspired by, building upon, and directly influenced by Professor Ronan’s work.
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    Community preparedness for volcanic hazards at Mount Rainier, USA
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2021-12-09) Vinnell L; Hudson-Doyle EE; Johnston DM; Becker JS; Kaiser L; Lindell MK; Bostrom A; Gregg C; Dixon M; Terbush B
    Lahars pose a significant risk to communities, particularly those living near snow-capped volcanoes. Flows of mud and debris, typically but not necessarily triggered by volcanic activity, can have huge impacts, such as those seen at Nevado Del Ruiz, Colombia, in 1985 which led to the loss of over 23,000 lives and destroyed an entire town. We surveyed communities around Mount Rainier, Washington, United States, where over 150,000 people are at risk from lahar impacts. We explored how factors including demographics, social effects such as perceptions of community preparedness, evacuation drills, and cognitive factors such as risk perception and self-efficacy relate to preparedness when living within or nearby a volcanic hazard zone. Key findings include: women have stronger intentions to prepare but see themselves as less prepared than men; those who neither live nor work in a lahar hazard zone were more likely to have an emergency kit and to see themselves as more prepared; those who will need help to evacuate see the risk as lower but feel less prepared; those who think their community and officials are more prepared feel more prepared themselves; and benefits of evacuation drills and testing evacuation routes including stronger intentions to evacuate using an encouraged method and higher self-efficacy. We make a number of recommendations based on these findings including the critical practice of regular evacuation drills and the importance of ongoing messaging that focuses on appropriate ways to evacuate as well as the careful recommendation for residents to identify alternative unofficial evacuation routes.
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    Emergency managers’ perspectives on Māori response and recovery approaches: managing catastrophic hazard events in Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience, 2025-04-01) Kaiser L; Kenney C
    Iwi, hapū and Māori communities have consistently demonstrated an ability to effectively engage in readiness, response and recovery for catastrophic hazard events in Aotearoa New Zealand. These actions are operationalised, both independently and in collaboration with local Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) groups. There are increasing calls from the Aotearoa New Zealand Government and from iwi and hapū to formalise relationships and support available. Little work has been done to understand what the perspectives and experiences of Māori and non-Māori emergency managers have been in navigating past events and planning for future ones. This qualitative research included a series of interviews with emergency managers from across the country on barriers and opportunities for Māori participation in response and recovery. It compares participant experiences with findings from recent reports, research and formal inquiries. This study provides recommendations for areas of focus for the emergency management sector in Aotearoa New Zealand to effectively optimise Māori response and recovery.
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    Kura e tai aniwhaniwha (schools and tsunami): Bi-cultural and studentcentred tsunami education in aotearoa New Zealand
    (Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience, 2020-04) Kaiser L; Boersen K
    Recent events in Aotearoa New Zealand, such as the Canterbury earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 and the Kaikōura earthquake in 2016, highlight the need for comprehensive and inclusive disaster education programs that are geographically and contextually relevant. Disaster risk reduction activities in Aotearoa New Zealand have historically adopted a top-down, expert-driven approach. They have also employed relatively homogenous methods for how communities in New Zealand can prepare for and respond to disasters. As a result, the inclusion of Māori communities and voices within traditional disaster risk reduction planning has been sparse. In addition, there is a lack of preparedness materials for tsunami designed specifically by Māori with Māori community needs front and centre. This paper documents a pilot education project taking an inclusive approach to increasing the knowledge and preparedness of tamariki (children) and rangatahi (youth) in coastal areas of Aotearoa New Zealand that are vulnerable to tsunami. Research was undertaken to develop a toolkit with kura kaupapa Māori (Māori-language immersion schools) and schools located in tsunami evacuation zones in Hawke’s Bay, on the east coast of the North Island. A Māori-led, bi-cultural approach to developing and running the activities was taken. The aim was to create culturally and locally relevant materials for ākonga (students) and kura kaupapa Māori as well as giving ākonga a proactive role in making their communities better prepared for a tsunami event.
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    Understanding mariners’ tsunami information needs and decision-making contexts: A post-event case study of the 2022 Tonga eruption and tsunami
    (Elsevier Inc, 2025-02-21) Harrison SE; Lawson RV; Kaiser L; Potter SH; Johnston D
    The 15 January 2022, Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcanic eruption generated a tsunami that spread across the Pacific Ocean and prompted a tsunami advisory in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). Concurrently, a severe weather warning was issued for ex-Tropical Cyclone Cody, passing east of NZ and producing heightened swells along the North Island coast. Numerous boats were significantly damaged or sunk in Tūtūkākā Marina, Northland, NZ. Mariners raised concerns over the perceived lack of tsunami warnings. We interviewed mariners in Tūtūkākā to understand their experiences on the night of 15 January 2022 and their needs and expectations of tsunami warnings. The complexity of the multi-hazard event made it difficult to assess and convey the severity of the expected tsunami. We found that mariners require information about expected wave height and arrival time, weather, and sea conditions to inform their anticipatory mitigation actions. This event shows the importance of multi-hazard risk assessments to produce effective warnings and action advice.
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    Understanding residents’ capacities to support evacuated populations : A study of earthquake and tsunami evacuation for Napier Hill, Napier, Aotearoa New Zealand.
    (Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Massey University, 2019-12-19) Payne B; Becker J; Kaiser L
    Due to a large regional subduction zone (the Hikurangi subduction zone) and localised faults, Napier City located on the East Coast of Aotearoa/New Zealand is vulnerable to earthquake and tsunami events. On feeling a long or strong earthquake people will need to evacuate immediately inland or to higher ground to avoid being impacted by a tsunami, of which the first waves could start to arrive within 20 minutes (based on the Hikurangi earthquake and tsunami scenario presented in Power et al., 2018). Napier Hill is one such area of higher land, and it is estimated that up to 12,000 people could evacuate there in the 20 minutes following a long or strong earthquake. To understand the capacity of Napier Hill residents to support evacuees, three focus groups were held with a diverse sample of residents from Napier Hill on 21 and 22 July 2019. A follow up email was sent to all participants a week after the focus groups, containing a link to a short six question survey, which was completed by 68 people, most of whom were additional to the focus group attendees. Data from the focus groups and the survey was analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis. The findings highlight that in general people were happy to host evacuees and offer support if they were in a position to do so. However, key issues in being able to offer support included the likely lack of resources available after a disaster, ranging from basic needs though to agency support. The research findings will directly inform Napier City Council and Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group’s planning for future readiness and response by providing valuable insights for evacuation planning