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    Slot n' Slide : a concept design for a life jacket for flood events in India : an exegesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Design at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2022) Shaik, Areef
    India endures numerous flood events every year due to its tropical monsoon climate. River delta regions affected by these disaster events are often heavily populated and experience considerable damage and loss of life through drowning. The life jacket currently in use by first responders in India negatively impacts performance with unsatisfactory levels of protection, comfort, and stowage. In addition, these products present fit and usability challenges and lack cultural sensitivity to end-users. This research project addresses the suitability of this life jacket to respond efficiently in an emergency by using a practice-led prototyping investigation to develop a specific flood rescue product that is reflective of the context of use and responsive to the cultural context of India. The outcome of this creative practice research is a ‘slot n slide’ panel life jacket inspired by the traditional Indian sari. This conceptual design accommodates a diverse range of body anthropometry in a one-size-fits-all solution, achieved by an innovative inter-panel strapping system with integrated side adjustments. This concept provides new and perceivable benefits, including improvements in utility for first responders, single product deployment, efficient stowage and provisioning with easier donning and doffing, broad size accommodation, and a single adjustment strap, improving usability for end-users.
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    Effects of disturbance and nutrient regimes on freshwater invertebrate community structure : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Ecology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2018) Taylor, Joanna Marie
    Freshwater ecosystems globally are under threat from anthropogenically driven impacts including water abstraction for drinking and agriculture, exotic species invasion, eutrophication, channelization and destruction or modification of habitat. In New Zealand, eutrophication from nutrient enrichment is one of the most pervasive and detrimental impacts. High nutrient levels in waterways is detrimental not only to the species that inhabit them, but can also affect drinking and irrigation water for humans and result in loss of recreational and aesthetic values. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus can cause large amounts of periphyton to grow which in turn can impact water quality and the community composition of stream macroinvertebrates. Macroinvertebrate communities are also strongly affected by floods. More or less frequent flooding can cause changes in composition of stream invertebrate communities. Streams are usually affected by multiple stressors but the effect of those stressors are often considered in isolation for management. As macroinvertebrates are often used as indicators of ecosystem health, it is important to assess how different stressors interact and how these impacts those communities. In this study, macroinvertebrate communities in four Taranaki streams were sampled to assess the interactive effects of nutrient enrichment and flood regime. Nutrient enrichment resulted in invertebrate communities changing markedly between upstream and downstream sites. All four streams had a similar composition at the upstream sites whereas downstream sites in most streams were very different. In two of the streams with lower disturbance regimes, nutrients were the most important driver of invertebrate community composition. In the two streams with a higher disturbance regime, the invertebrate communities were more similar between upstream and downstream sites indicating that flooding was overriding the effects of nutrient enrichment as the most important driver of community composition.
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    Is Queenstown a sanctuary? : a retrospective study of the preparation, mitigation and recovery of the Queenstown community from the effects of the Queenstown flood and hazard slip events of 1999 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2002) Richardson, Vivien
    Using a salutogenic paradigm, the present study examined the factors that contributed to hardiness and resilience, in the Queenstown community, following the flood and slip events of November 1999. It was hypothesised that sense of community, coping style, self-efficacy, and social support would predict stress, as measured by the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-21 (HSCL). It was also hypothesised that unique environmental qualities of Queenstown, i.e. the lakes, mountains, small community and being a visitor destination, would make a significant contribution to participants sense of community. Hazard knowledge, preparation and mitigation, with particular reference to flood hazards was also examined Additionally, in depth interviews with a high intensity sample of participants, were also carried out. This qualitative information was intended to examine the strengths within the community that had helped the community to deal with the flood and slip events. Additionally, the interviews were used as a forum, for participants to raise their own issues, relating to these events. The hypothesis that the selected variables would predict resilience, was not supported, but support was found for the importance of the unique physical and environmental qualities of Queenstown to residents. The interview results provided support for the view that the Queenstown community was able to withstand the effects of the flood and slip events, with recovery of businesses and tourism being almost complete at four months post event. Though some of those properties affected by the event could never be restored, resulting in irreplaceable losses and changes to individuals' lives, the community showed remarkable strengths and had done much to address inadequacies highlighted by the events.
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    Assessing the impacts of extreme floods on agriculture in Vietnam : Quang Nam case study : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Management at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Châu, Vũ Ngọc
    Vietnam is situated within the tropical monsoon and typhoon zone of South-East Asia and is susceptible to extreme flood events. Since the most productive agricultural land is concentrated along the low-lying river systems, losses to agriculture resulting from extreme flooding can be significant. More than 70% of the country's population live in rural areas, many in flood prone zones, and depend upon subsistence agriculture. However, to date, there have only been a limited number of studies addressing the impact of extreme flood events on agriculture in Vietnam. Using the Quang Nam province of central Vietnam as a case study, geographic information systems and digital elevation modeling are used to create geospatial inundation maps of flooded agricultural land. The mapped areas are populated with agricultural land use data and the direct costs of agricultural flood damage are calculated. Additionally, the institutional and legislative framework of Vietnam is assessed to determine whether there may be ways of streamlining systems and institutions to improve responses to extreme flooding events. This study shows that 1:10, 1:20 and 1:100-year flood events result in inundation levels of 27%, 31% and 33% of arable land respectively. The direct crop damage incurred in the inundated regions, expressed as a percentage of total value, are 12%, 56% and 62% respectively. The study also offers recommendations to improve flood management strategies.
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    The response to and recovery from the 2004 Eastern Bay of Plenty flood event : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Emergency Management at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2010) Busby, Erle
    Incident Management Systems used in New Zealand have their origins in the fire-fighting organisations of the United States of America in the 1970’s. They began in an atmosphere of disciplined quasi-military emergency response organizations. Emergency management research, theory and practice have since evolved to incorporate comprehensive facets acknowledging disasters are about people, individually and collectively and their environment. Emergency Management now includes addressing psycho-social aspects. New Zealand emergency services adopted the Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) as a result of a requirement following the Cave Creek disaster of 1995, where a multi- agency response to the event was found to be unsatisfactorily managed. Emergency management in the modern era now requires the orchestration of many and varied agencies and organisations including government and non-government organisations. These organisations are not necessarily suited to command type management styles and during a recovery phase of an incident, an approach involving a coordination style is more appropriate than a command style. An examination of the 2004 eastern Bay of Plenty flood event highlights that improved coordination by using a suitable incident management system benefits the response and recovery process. The Eastern Bay of Plenty community has social and cultural characteristics that impact on the effectiveness of emergency management outcomes. An incident management system that improves communication within the multi-agency organisation and between an emergency management organisation and the disaster-affected communities contributes to overall trauma reduction by stress reduction and facilitating early support and interventions. This allows where necessary, for modern emergency management to use systems that can utilise the unique community cultures, structures and networks that form the dynamic communities that they serve. If disasters magnify pre-existing social and community problems then the incident management system model used in a disaster can determine the degree of magnification.