Disaster Recovery Operations

commentary

Disaster Recovery Creates Its Own Bubble

Shortages of workers and materials inevitably make rebuilding slower and more expensive after a natural disaster. In Maui, this is likely to be a problem for agencies like FEMA that provide public assistance. But it will also be a problem for individual households if private insurance payouts are insufficient to rebuild.

Aaron Strong @resourceecon

commentary

It's Time to Take Societal Resilience Seriously

To build the societal resilience required to respond effectively to everything from climate-related emergencies to pandemics, to intentional state-on-state attacks, and disinformation, a joint approach is needed, not only across government, but across wider society.

Rebecca Lucas

blog

Maui Wildfires, Regulating AI, Ukraine's Civilian Resistance: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the invisible damage of Maui’s wildfires, making the artificial intelligence supply chain safer, how Ukrainian civilians resist Russia, and more.

blog

Ukraine's Recovery, Mental Health First Aid, School Staffing: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the trade-offs of Ukraine's reconstruction, the effects of a Mental Health First Aid training program, school staffing challenges, and more.

commentary

Puerto Rico's Food Security Must Factor in Planning Energy Security

The tragedy of disaster recovery has unlocked substantial capital for Puerto Rico to rewrite its interdependent security in energy and food. Considering food security in this context could help to ensure the population has access to both power and food.

Ismael Arciniegas Rueda, Andrew Star, et al.

commentary

Ohio's Train Derailment—Not Spy Balloons—Is the Real National Security Threat

The slow degradation of infrastructure and disaster response is less a spectacle than an overflying balloon, but the train derailment and chemical spill in Ohio highlights just how bizarre such a focus on perceived external national security threats has become. The far greater threat may be from within.

Bradley Martin, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg @aclarkginsberg

q&a

Earthquake in Turkey, Syria: Insights from RAND Researchers

Thousands of people have been confirmed dead in one the strongest earthquakes to hit Turkey and Syria in the past century. As search-and-rescue missions ended and recovery began, a handful of RAND researchers shared some of their initial thoughts.

blog

Legalizing Cannabis, the Russian Nuclear Threat, Digital Offshoring: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on cannabis legalization, the Russian nuclear threat, the effects of digital offshoring, and more.

q&a

Q&A with the Experts: Puerto Rico

When Hurricane Fiona struck Puerto Rico on September 18, electricity went out across the island. It was a reminder that recovery from 2017's Hurricane Maria is far from complete. RAND researchers discuss the difficulties Puerto Rico is still facing.

blog

Putin's Latest Threats, U.S. Policy in the Middle East, Disaster Recovery: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on Russia's troop mobilization and the ongoing war in Ukraine, U.S. policy in the Middle East, building a more diverse teacher workforce, and more.

commentary

The Disaster Bills Coming Due

The United States largely waits for a disaster to strike and then spends billions to repair damages. Investing in resilience today can significantly reduce the costs to recover after a disaster strikes.

Jessie Riposo, Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson

blog

U.S. Labor Market, 988 Hotline, Firearm Homicides: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the U.S. economy’s uneven pandemic recovery, a new national mental health hotline, firearm homicides, and more.

commentary

Rebuilding Ukraine for a Changing Climate

When the war in Ukraine ends, the country will in all likelihood undergo a massive reconstruction. Ukraine could rebuild in a way that would both lower its carbon footprint and construct infrastructure resilient to the effects of climate change.

Mark Stalczynski, Ismael Arciniegas Rueda, et al.

essay

Citizen Science Helps Communities Participate in, Understand, and Trust Science

Good citizen science brings a community together and helps it prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. A RAND guide takes non-expert investigators from the early stages of defining their questions and setting their goals, through building their teams, to planning for action.

blog

RAND Commentary Highlights of 2021

Vaccine rollouts, an attack on the U.S. Capitol, massive ransomware attacks, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, record numbers of job openings and people quitting, and more. RAND researchers weighed in on all these topics and more.