Engineers know how and where to build to minimize earthquake damage. But laws don’t always reflect that wisdom. A new study suggests it’s because of a mismatch between risk perceptions and reality.
A Monmouth County, N.J. home in 2015.
Jack L. Harris
Jack L. Harris, State University of New York at New Paltz
Getting everyone whose lives were thrown off-track back takes a lot of personal effort, paired with work done by a constantly shifting mix of nonprofits and governmental agencies over many years.
Rescue personnel search through debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Florida, on Oct. 11, 2018.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
An engineering professor explains why rural areas are especially vulnerable to hurricanes, and what they can do to ensure that no one is left without help.
Drones already help with search and rescue, but teaching machines to identify victims on their own could free up human rescuers to do other crucial work.
The urge to provide disaster aid is borne out of the best characteristics of humanity. But it’s important to consider when to donate to disaster survivors, along with what and to whom to give.
Loading new furniture donated to Hurricane Irma survivors in Chokoloskee, Fla.
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
The billions of dollars worth of aid dispatched every year to alleviate the suffering and damage after earthquakes and hurricanes would do more good if it didn’t get clumped up.
Epidemiologists study disease outbreaks in populations to determine who gets sick and why. In the wake of this year’s hurricanes, they are assessing impacts from mold, toxic leaks and other threats.
Mass evacuations in response to natural disasters like Hurricane Maria are a logistical challenge, but also face psychological barriers to residents being willing and able to leave.
EPA
The aid and assistance Britain’s Caribbean territories will need to rebuild will make highlight the fault lines in the relationship between Westminster and its former colonies.
Relatively few homes hit by Harvey have flood insurance.
Reuters/Carlo Allegri
The federal government created a program in 1968 to insure homes in the US from flooding, yet few of the houses hammered by Harvey’s record rainfall were covered.
As flooding took hold in the Houston area, volunteers who suffered through Hurricane Katrina made their way to Texas.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
A multibillion-dollar effort is just beginning to build an all-new nationwide wireless broadband network for emergency responders. How will it work, why do we need it and how will it last 25 years?
In an emergency, responders’ telecommunications could get delayed by overloaded networks.
City of Hampton, Virginia