Volume 5, Issue 1

March 2010

PDC Highlights

Social media and disaster management: PDC now has accounts on both Twitter and Facebook. Both sites are regularly and automatically updated with bulletins about natural hazard threats and disaster events. Anyone can follow the informational releases and the advisories, alerts, watches and warnings, on the DisasterAWARE (PDC) Twitter page any time. Anyone with a login for Facebook can see all the bulletins, as well. On Facebook, PDC will also post non-emergency information from time to time, including such things as disaster preparedness instructions, notices about PDC projects and public appearances. The Twitter and Facebook outlets for PDC emergency information are invaluable. They give the public access to real, reliable and timely information by way of computers and mobile devices 24/7 anywhere in the world.

Earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, Tsunami in the Pacific

PDC support for the responses to disaster events like the major earthquakes in Haiti on January 12 and in Chile on February 26, and the Pacific-wide tsunami warning on February 27 demonstrate the Center’s “concentric circles” of responsibility and activity. Initially established, in 1996, to improve disaster resilience in Hawaii (the tsunami warning); PDC soon extended its products and services to the entire Asia Pacific region (the Chile earthquake). Now, PDC products and services are used globally, as they were in the response to the Haiti earthquake. Also, the general public, worldwide, can use PDC’s Global Natural Hazards and Vulnerabilities Atlas.

PDC Creates Disaster Management Courses for Vietnam

PDC’s Dr. Erin Hughey conducted a train-the-trainer course in Maui to support the Vietnam Education and Training Program. Some staff members took the training as professional development, others were certified to teach all six training courses: Multi-hazard Disaster Management, Natural Hazards of Vietnam, Decision Making and Problem Solving, Disaster Communications, Mapping for Disaster Management, Disaster Risk and Vulnerability. Vietnam-based trainers were also certified before the eight-week training activity began on March 22. (More images: PDC team and training in Vietnam. Related story)

Maps that Lead to Places Safe from Vog

Vog, the plumes of irritating gas released by Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, can stretch across the entire state of Hawaii. For some people, in some places, and at certain times, vog becomes far more than an irritant, it becomes a threat to health. In such cases, areas might have to be evacuated, and a record of vog-safe rooms is required to guide both the civil defense workers managing an evacuation and the public seeking refuge from the toxic air. PDC Geographic Information Systems analysts created the needed map for Hawaii County in January.

PDC Tools Are Used for Far More than Weather

Planning for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games had to include being prepared for man-made hazards such as transportation tie-ups, as well as unusual weather. One of the important tools used to accomplish the tasks was PDC’s Emergency Operations system. The same tools, customized for each situation, were pressed into service to make the nation’s capital ready for the State of the Union Address which involved forecasts of potential transportation issues, and preparation for rapid reaction to unforeseen threats. When the Haiti Earthquake occurred, The Bahamas discovered they were not as prepared for a possible tsunami as they needed to be, so they called on PDC, and were supplied with a Tsunami Awareness Kit (TAK). Discussions are underway to enhance the capabilities of The Bahamas, possibly including customized TAK. (More about earthquakes)

Paper on Mapping Vulnerable Populations Published

Springer Netherlands, a major publisher of professional papers and journals, has released a journal article by PDC Senior Risk Assessment Analyst Christina Finch, Christopher T. Emrich and Susan L. Cutter. At the moment, the paper on mapping vulnerable populations, titled “Disaster disparities and differential recovery in New Orleans” appears online in Population and Environment, Vol. 31 Nos. 1–3. SpringerLink, Online; 9 January 2010. Publication in the printed journal to follow. (PDC Publications and Presentations)

National Disaster Preparedness Training Center

In June 2009, U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka announced funding for a new National Disaster Preparedness Training Center to be developed at the University of Hawaii. Just under eight months later, on February 9, PDC Executive Director Ray Shirkhodai, Chief Information Officer Chris Chiesa and several PDC senior staff members attended the NDPTC’s opening ceremony at the Imin Conference Center at the East-West Center, Oahu. The next day, PDC Hazard Mitigation Specialist Sharon Mielbrecht participated in a day-long Tsunami Awareness Demonstration Course presented by NDPTC in Waikiki. PDC welcomes a new partner in the Pacific. (Some other PDC partners)