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Disaster Recovery Operations

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Recovery in the aftermath of natural or man-made disasters is directly related to the availability of local resources and the infrastructure and operational ability to deliver assistance from outside the affected region. RAND researchers have helped governments, militaries, and private organizations organize recovery operations during disasters, learn from past experience, and prepare for future disasters.

Report

Assessing Social Equity in Disaster Preparation, Response, and Recovery

Nov 16, 2021

In this webinar, senior social scientist Melissa Finucane reviews the complex nature of social equity--including contextual, procedural, and distributional equity dimensions--and how a robust, evidence-based approach is needed to measure progress toward equity in disaster contexts.
Commentary

New Thinking to Translate Infrastructure Dollars into Resilience

Jun 2, 2021

Infrastructure investments the United States makes today to recover from the pandemic can help boost resilience for the future. We will need to think beyond what we've done in the past to ensure that these investments can continue to protect the nation from shifting threats in the future.

Explore Disaster Recovery Operations

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.

Jan 4, 2022
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.

Dec 21, 2021
Multimedia

The U.S. Army's Role in the Pacific Theater: A Panel Discussion with General Charles A. Flynn

Speaking at a RAND Corporation event, General Charles A. Flynn, head of the U.S. Army Pacific, said that the nation's land force provides two distinct values in a maritime region: (1) supporting allies and partners and (2) providing enabling capabilities to the Joint Force, including sustainment and logistics.

Dec 6, 2021
Journal Article

Lessons from Harvey: Improving Traditional Damage Estimates with Social Media Sourced Damage Estimates

Social media systems were incredibly active during disasters. Traditional sources such as the initial FEMA damage estimates can miss areas of heavy impact. This study provides a novel use case in crisis informatics.

Nov 16, 2021
Multimedia

Disaster Mitigation and Recovery: Preparing Communities Through Planning

RAND senior social and behavioral scientist Melissa Finucane discusses disaster planning, the importance of addressing the impacts of multiple overlapping disasters, and what equity in disaster planning means.

Oct 22, 2021
Report

Enhancing Defence's Contribution to Societal Resilience in the UK: Lessons from International Approaches

This study sought to understand other nations' approaches to societal resilience to enhance UK resilience. The study defined societal resilience and its importance, analysed other countries' practices, and identified lessons relevant to UK Defence.

Oct 21, 2021
Journal Article

Disaster Risk Creation and Cascading Disasters Within Large Technological Systems: COVID-19 and the 2021 Texas Blackouts

Here we describe the 2021 Texas blackouts during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of disaster risk creation and cascading disaster, showing how risk emerges and propagates across large technological systems.

Oct 15, 2021
Tool

Citizen Science for Disasters: A Guide for Local Health Departments

This toolkit provides guidance to local health departments on engaging with disaster citizen science to support public health preparedness.

Sep 29, 2021
Tool

Citizen Science for Disasters: A Guide for Community Groups

This toolkit provides guidance to community groups on engaging with disaster citizen science to support public health preparedness.

Sep 29, 2021
Journal Article

When Disaster Management Agencies Create Disaster Risk: A Case Study of the US's Federal Emergency Management Agency

This study is the first to examine disaster risk creation from an organizational perspective, and the first to focus explicitly on how disaster management agencies can shape risk creation.

Sep 28, 2021
Commentary

Hurricane Ida Is Part of a Cycle of Disasters—Mitigating Their Impact Means Building Back Better

Building back better means focusing on recovery that not only restores damage from a disaster but also reduces future risk. To meet that goal today, we need to look at the ways our disaster preparedness and response systems actually create risk themselves, by reinforcing things like wealth inequality, systemic discrimination, or access to crucial services.

Sep 13, 2021
Report

Developing the Great Lakes National Center of Expertise for Oil Spill Preparedness and Response: An Opportunity to Reduce Risk and Impacts of Future Spills in Freshwater

In 2016, Congress directed the U.S. Coast Guard to establish the Great Lakes National Center of Expertise for Oil Spill Preparedness and Response. This report makes recommendations for the center, its staffing, potential partnerships, and location.

Aug 31, 2021
Journal Article

Building A Resilient Telecommunications Sector in Puerto Rico in the Aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria

Describes courses of action for rebuilding the telecommunications sector in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Significant progress has been made, but substantial investment is still required to achieve a resilient, robust telecommunications sector.

Aug 3, 2021
Report

Assessing Racial Equity in Disaster Preparation, Response, and Recovery

Disasters have the potential to exacerbate preexisting racial inequities. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency have made commitments to reduce social inequities, but frameworks, indicators, and metrics are needed for tracking progress toward equity goals.

Jul 15, 2021
Commentary

Four Strategies to Reduce Disaster Risk in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Contexts

Addressing the circumstances for the more than two billion people living in fragile and conflict-affected contexts is crucial for delivering on the United Nations commitment for disaster risk reduction. Four strategies can help reduce risk and improve resilience for these communities.

Jul 9, 2021
Report

Adapting to Adversity amid a Global Pandemic: Stakeholder Insights About Progress and Next Steps for Taking Integrative Action to Build Resilient Systems

In 2020, the global pandemic and ongoing chronic stressors caused multiple shocks in the United States. The authors describe recommendations to advance an integrative resilience research and practice agenda based on recent stakeholder experiences.

Jun 11, 2021
Periodical

RAND Review: May-June 2021

The cover story highlights the value of invention, analyzing the economic and social impacts of winners of the Lemelson-MIT Prize. A second feature focuses on human rights abuses against ethnic Uyghurs in China and what we know from satellite images.

May 6, 2021
Report

Defence Mobilisation Planning Comparative Study: An Examination of Overseas Planning

Against the 2020 Defence Strategic Update, the authors use evidence from several countries to highlight the merits of a 'total defence' approach to mobilisation planning for Australia with the goal of meeting contemporary threats.

May 3, 2021

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RAND Topic:
Disaster Recovery Operations

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