Journal Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915

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    Situation report (SITREP) visualization for effective management of disaster incidents in Sri Lanka
    (EnPress Publisher LLC, 2023-10-18) Tillekaratne HI; Wickramagamage P; Werellagama I; Rathnayake U; Siriwardana C; Bandara A; Madduma-Bandara CM; Bandara TWMTW; Abeynayaka A; Gu Q
    During and after any disaster, a situation report (SITREP) is prepared, based on the Daily Incident Updates (DIU), as an initial decision support information base. It is observed that the decision support system and best practices are not optimized through the available formal reporting on disaster incidents. The rapidly evolving situation, misunderstood terms, inaccurate data and delivery delays of DIU are challenges to the daily SITREP. Multiple stakeholders stipulated with different tasks should be properly understood for the SITREP to initiate relevant response tasks. To fill this research gap, this paper identifies the weaknesses of the current practice and discusses the upgrading of the incident-reporting process using a freely available software tool, enabling further visualization, and producing a comprehensive timely output to share among the stakeholders. In this case, “Power-BI” (a data visualization software) is used as a 360-degree view of useful metrics—in a single place, with real-time updates while being available on all devices for operational decision-making. When a dataset is transformed into several analytical reports and dashboards, it can be easily shared with the target users and action groups. This article analyzed two sources of data, namely the Disaster Management Center (DMC) and the National Disaster Relief Service Center (NDRSC) of Sri Lanka. Senior managers of disaster emergencies were interviewed and explored social media to develop a scheme of best practices for disaster reporting, starting from just before the occurrence, and following the unfolding sequence of the disasters. Using a variety of remotely acquired imageries, rapid mapping, grading, and delineating impacts of natural disasters, were made available to concerned users.
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    The impact of Earthquakes on apartment owners and renters in te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) aotearoa New Zealand
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2021-08-01) Blake D; Becker JS; Hodgetts D; Elwood KJ
    Apartment dwelling is on the increase in many cities in Aotearoa New Zealand, including those in earthquake-prone regions. Hence it is important that people working in disaster management and housing improve their understanding on how the living situations of apartment dwellers influence their disaster management practices. This knowledge is crucial for efforts to promote safety and preparedness. This paper explores what enables and constrains apartment dwellers in their ability to prepare for an earthquake. Eighteen people were interviewed who resided in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) two years after the 2016 7.8 magnitude (Mw) Kaikōura earthquake. Of central concern was people’s ability to prepare for disasters and access knowledge about building and structural safety and how this knowledge mattered to what apartment dwellers were able to prepare for. We found that the agency to prepare was dependent on whether people owned or rented their dwellings. We report on participant accounts of dealing with body corporations, landlords, emergency kits, other emergency items, and evacuation plans.
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    Shakes, rattles and rollouts: The untold story of Māori engagement with community recovery, social resilience and urban sustainability in Christchurch, New Zealand
    (Elsevier, 30/12/2014) Kenney CM; Phibbs SR
    On September 4, 2010 a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Canterbury region of New Zealand, heralding a sequence of earthquakes, which included a fatal 6.2 earthquake centred under Christchurch City on February 22, 2011. In response, local Māori recovery initiatives were collaborative, effective and shaped by cultural values, including the principle ‘aroha nui ki te tangata’ (extend love to all). Disaster sector stakeholders are increasingly recognising the value of community-led initiatives that facilitate social resilience. In contrast, cultural approaches to facilitating community resilience receive minimal acknowledgement. The Māori response to the Christchurch earthquakes and subsequent recovery process constitutes an exemplar of best practice. The Joint Centre for Disaster Research in partnership with the Christchurch Iwi (tribe) Ngāi Tahu, conducted research to identify, and document the ways Māori cultural factors facilitated community resilience in response to the earthquakes. A Māori qualitative research methodology has shaped the community-based participatory research design. Māori research participants views were ascertained though semi-structured and focus group interviews. Dialogical and narrative interviewing approaches were used to foster community engagement, as well as capture Māori understandings and practices associated with disaster management, recovery and resilience. Data analysis drew on social theories, risk perspectives and indigenous epistemological concepts. Analysis of the results suggest that New Zealand's disaster response policies may be enhanced by the integration of Māori approaches to facilitating disaster risk mitigation, community recovery and social resilience. This paper documents the different levels of support that were extended to whānau (families), communities and responding agencies. The cultural principles that underpin the extension of support are examined in relation to Bruno Latour's theories about how technologies shape action and Putnam's ideas on social capital. The impact of cultural support strategies on social resilience is addressed and the relevance to national and local authority disaster recovery strategies outlined.
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    Children's knowledge, cognitions and emotions surrounding natural disasters: An investigation of Year 5 students, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2013) King TA; Tarrant RAC
    New Zealand schools have a responsibility to ensure that children are informed about potential natural disasters, and are prepared with protective strategies. The present study aimed to investigate children’s knowledge, cognitions, and emotions concerning natural disasters, with a particular focus on earthquakes and tsunami. Thirty Year-5 school students (aged 9-10 years) from the Wellington region of New Zealand participated in researcher-led focus groups. The children were generally well informed, demonstrating an understanding of causes, characteristics, and potential consequences of earthquakes and tsunami. Thoughts and expectations regarding natural hazards, earthquakes in particular, centred on the unpredictability of natural disasters and on the expectation that there would be significant earthquakes in their region in the future. However, the children demonstrated assurance that the school and family were prepared with emergency supplies, and that they themselves and their families knew strategies for keeping safe in a disaster event. The children discussed these reassurances as a factor in reducing their fear of disasters, fear being the predominant negative emotion discussed by the children. The children indicated that learning at school had contributed to discussions with friends and family, this finding suggesting that disaster education at school is a critical component of children’s education and that this education has a flow-on effect at home and in the wider community.