DISASTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

The climate crisis (SEE TOOLKIT CLIMATE CHANGE)  is expected to lead to an increase in the severity and frequency of disasters caused by natural processes such as drought, wildfires, and floods (Banholzer, Kossin & Donner, 2014).

The threat of disasters has risen to the forefront of people’s minds as we look at the high social and economic costs of disasters such as the Australian and North American wildfires, Atlantic hurricanes, and tropical storms. These severe weather events resulted in loss of life, injury, social and economic turmoil.

Even when lives and livelihoods are not at risk, the psychological and environmental consequences of disasters can affect communities for years (Everly Jr, Perrin, & Everly, 2008).

Researchers from diverse disciplines (e.g., tourism, social work, psychology, management) are working to understand the complexity of emergency management to inform planning and procedures within their fields to minimize consequences of disasters (McEntire, 2007).