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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
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.
Nov 16, 2021
Commentary
New Thinking to Translate Infrastructure Dollars into Resilience
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.
Jun 2, 2021

Explore Disaster Recovery Operations

Dissertation
Financial Mechanisms in a Disaster Aftermath: The Mexican Case
Explores the financial mechanisms available to individuals and governments after a disaster in developing countries, using Mexico as a case study.
Oct 25, 2022
Brochure
Disaster Management and Resilience
This brochure describes RAND's work, which directly supports decisionmakers in developing actionable planning and policy for disaster management and resilience.
Oct 20, 2022
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.
Oct 14, 2022
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.
Oct 10, 2022
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.
Sep 23, 2022
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.
Sep 20, 2022
Report
Harnessing the Power of Science and Technology Communities for Crisis Response
In this Perspective, RAND researchers describe how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security could leverage science and technology communities to support the use of science, technology, innovation, and analytical capabilities during crisis response.
Sep 19, 2022
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.
Jul 22, 2022
Dissertation
Ovens and Tinderboxes in the Golden State: A Mixed-Methods Exploratory Analysis of Joint Heatwave Power Outage Events
Examines associations between hazards, outages, and health outcomes for California cities from 2008–2020.
Jul 21, 2022
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.
Jul 8, 2022
Report
Streamlining Emergency Management: Issues, Impacts, and Options for Improvement
Researchers sought ways to streamline, simplify, and strengthen the U.S. emergency management system, assessing how overlap, duplication, and fragmentation could affect implementation and outcomes. They propose options and discuss trade-offs of each.
Jun 24, 2022
Report
Guidance on When to Estimate a Future Price Factor: Development of Criteria and Thresholds
A future price forecast can help the Federal Emergency Management Agency and communities seeking its Public Assistance estimate construction costs. Researchers created a framework for determining when such a forecast could be useful.
Jun 20, 2022
Research Brief
Future Price Forecasting in the Wake of Large-Scale Disasters: The Case of Puerto Rico After Hurricane María
Large-scale disaster recovery projects in isolated areas likely require unique future price forecasting. This brief describes an occupational analysis and model to estimate the effects of recovery on the price of labor, materials, and equipment.
Jun 17, 2022
Report
Forecasting Public Recovery Expenditures' Effect on Construction Prices and the Demand for Construction Labor
Researchers developed cost-estimating tools and estimated future construction costs for Puerto Rico's recovery from Hurricane María. This report documents their approach, data, findings, and recommendations.
Jun 17, 2022
Multimedia
Climate Change and Implications for Disasters in the United States
Climate change is contributing to more frequent and more severe disasters. In this video, three RAND researchers discuss climate change and risks for disasters in the United States, drawing on examples from the Arctic, the Caribbean, the Northeast, and the Gulf states.
Jun 10, 2022
Report
Developing a Community-Led Certification Process for Facility Power Outage Resilience: Findings from a Massachusetts Pilot Study
A research team articulated power outage resilience metrics via stakeholder interviews and a literature review, piloted a certification program, and used focus groups to assess the Massachusetts Clean Energy and Resiliency program's effectiveness.
Jun 8, 2022
Journal Article
Remote Sensing for Natural Disaster Recovery: Lessons Learned from Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico
We present how remote sensing data was incorporated into the assessment and planning process, focusing on the applications for Puerto Rico's natural resources in the months following the hurricanes.
Mar 23, 2022
Report
The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Mitigation Grant Program: Incorporating Hazard Risk and Social Equity into Decisionmaking Processes
The federal Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program can help develop community resilience through mitigation activities that emphasize equity goals alongside reduction of risk to physical assets, as described in this report.
Mar 23, 2022
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

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RAND Topic:
Disaster Recovery Operations

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