Recovery after disaster : Achieving sustainable development, mitigation and equity

This papaer reviews key findings and raises issues that are not fully addressed by the predominant disaster recovery literature. Achievement of equity, mitigation and sustainable development, particularly through local participation in redevelopment planning and institutional cooperation, is the central issue of the review. Previous research and past assumptions about the process by which communities rebuild after a disaster are reviewed. A conceptual model for understanding local disaster recovery efforts is then presented. The conceptual and practical significance of this model is then demonstrated by presenting case studies of local recovery experiences. Finally, conclusions on the current understanding of disaster redevelopment planning, as well as implications for public policy and future research are offered (AU)

The social organization of search and rescue : Evidence from the Guadalajara gasoline explosion

This research uses information from the Guadalajara gasoline explosion of 22 April, 1992, to show the importance of social organization in search and rescue activities. Information is obtained from forty three victims that had been buried alive by the explosion throughout the impact area, and twenty two volunteers who had participated in the direct rescue phase. They reported on their own experience during SAR and the experience of victims and rescued by these volunteers. Volunteers social identies in peer groups, extended families, the neighborhood, and the Catholic Church structured their search and rescue activities. Chances of people surviving the blast were directly proportional to the presence among the searchers of a person or persons who cared for the victim and who knew the victim's likely location. The behavior of the victims was market by the continuation of preexisting motivational, normative, and value orientations. Victims acted cooperatively during entrapment. Most of the victims that were rescued alive were rescued during the first two hours inmediately after the explosion. The article concludes with the implication of the study for collective behavior and disaster research and planning (AU)