Introduction to Natural and Man-made Disasters and their Effects on Buildings

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Author : Roxanna McDonald
Genre : Architecture

Summary : This is a comprehensive guide to all types of natural and man made disasters and their effect on buildings. It gives overall guidance and a basic technical understanding of prevention, mitigation and management of disaster, and outlines a checklist of preventive design elements for each situation. Every category is illustrated with a case study which pin points the essential information that is crucial to architects and engineers in designing buildings with disaster prevention in mind. The aim of the book is to give a clear understanding of the nature of events and problems, and to enable readers to respond with knowledge to the unique demands placed on their designs. A special emphasis is also placed on re-building as an opportunity to start again. For the specialists this is a process of constant learning and improving techniques in the light of events past.

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Author : Marq de Villiers
Genre : Nature

Summary : What is the fate of the world as we know it? Tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, pandemics, cosmic radiation, gamma bursts from space, colliding comets, and asteroids—these things used to worry us from time to time, but now they have become the background noise of our culture. Are natural calamities indeed more probable, and more frequent, than they were? Are things getting worse? Are the boundaries between natural and human-caused calamities blurring? Are we part of the problem? If so, what can we do about it? In The End, award-winning writer Marq de Villiers examines these questions at a time when there is an urgent need to understand the perils that confront us, to act in such a way as best we can for the inevitable disasters when they come. We can do nothing about some natural calamities, but about others we can do a great deal. De Villiers helps us understand which is which, and lays out some provocative ideas for mitigating the damage all such calamities can inflict on us and our world. The End is a brilliant and challenging look at what lies ahead, and at what we can do to influence our future.

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Author : William G. Ramroth
Genre : Architecture

Summary : Disasters, throughout the ages, have shaped the built environment. The way city planners, architects, engineers and politicians plan and design cities, buildings, highways, tunnels and bridges have all been fashioned to some degree by the mischievous hands of disasters. Planning for Disaster will trace the impact of natural and manmade disasters on urban planning, building design and the design of large-scale engineering projects such as bridges, tunnels and levees. The book will reference recent disasters such as the Loma Prieta Earthquake (1989), the Oklahoma City Bombing (1995), the 9/11 Terrorist Attack (2001), Hurricane Katrina (2005), as well as catastrophic events from history such as the burning of Rome in AD 64, the London fire of 1666, the New York fire of 1835, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. Planning for Disaster will include approximately 25 illustrations (photographs and figures) in support of the text.

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Author : Roxanna McDonald
Genre : Business & Economics

Summary : Building and architecture has developed a language of its own, with terms and jargon that can confuse an expert let alone an outsider. Misunderstandings over what a word means can be irritating but unimportant, but could in the worst cases be costly or even dangerous. Traditional building dictionaries rely on the reader to already know what the correct word is, and that's not always the case. Roxanna McDonald's technique is radically different, and makes full use of the power of visual communication to convey information. Each stage of the building and design process is illustrated, and each hand-drawn illustration is carefully labelled with the relevant technical terms, to ensure that each term is used correctly and consistently by everyone working on a project. The 'Illustrated Building Pocket Book' is a radical approach to the age-old problem of the ambiguous use of technical language in building and architecture. By using drawings – which leave little room for ambiguity – clarity, safety and certainty can be achieved.

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Author : The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Genre : Political Science

Summary : Natural hazard induced disasters (NHID), such as floods, droughts, severe storms, and animal pests and diseases have significant, widespread and long lasting impacts on agricultural sectors around the world. With climate change set to amplify many of these impacts, a “business as usual” approach to disaster risk management in agriculture cannot continue if we are to meet the challenges of agricultural productivity and sustainability growth, and sustainable development. Drawing from seven case studies – Chile, Italy, Japan, Namibia, New Zealand, Turkey and the United States – this joint OECD?FAO report argues for a new approach to building resilience to NHID in agriculture. It explores the policy measures, governance arrangements, on?farm strategies and other initiatives that countries are using to increase agricultural resilience to NHID, highlighting emerging good practices. It offers concrete recommendations on what more needs to be done to shift from coping with the impacts of disasters, to an ex ante approach that focuses on preventing and mitigating the impacts of disasters, helping the sector be better prepared to respond to disasters, and to adapt and transform in order to be better positioned for future disasters.

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Author : National Research Council
Genre : Science

Summary : Initial priorities for U.S. participation in the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, declared by the United Nations, are contained in this volume. It focuses on seven issues: hazard and risk assessment; awareness and education; mitigation; preparedness for emergency response; recovery and reconstruction; prediction and warning; learning from disasters; and U.S. participation internationally. The committee presents its philosophy of calls for broad public and private participation to reduce the toll of disasters.

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Author : National Research Council
Genre : Science

Summary : Natural disasters-including hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and floods-caused more than 220,000 deaths worldwide in the first half of 2010 and wreaked havoc on homes, buildings, and the environment. To withstand and recover from natural and human-caused disasters, it is essential that citizens and communities work together to anticipate threats, limit their effects, and rapidly restore functionality after a crisis. Increasing evidence indicates that collaboration between the private and public sectors could improve the ability of a community to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. Several previous National Research Council reports have identified specific examples of the private and public sectors working cooperatively to reduce the effects of a disaster by implementing building codes, retrofitting buildings, improving community education, or issuing extreme-weather warnings. State and federal governments have acknowledged the importance of collaboration between private and public organizations to develop planning for disaster preparedness and response. Despite growing ad hoc experience across the country, there is currently no comprehensive framework to guide private-public collaboration focused on disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Building Community Disaster Resilience through Private-Public Collaboration assesses the current state of private-public sector collaboration dedicated to strengthening community resilience, identifies gaps in knowledge and practice, and recommends research that could be targeted for investment. Specifically, the book finds that local-level private-public collaboration is essential to the development of community resilience. Sustainable and effective resilience-focused private-public collaboration is dependent on several basic principles that increase communication among all sectors of the community, incorporate flexibility into collaborative networks, and encourage regular reassessment of collaborative missions, goals, and practices.