Automated flood inundation mapping over Ganga basin

The worldwide appearance of COVID-19 halted all activity and caused the longest statewide lockdown. These wreaked havoc on people's livelihoods. The July 2020 floods also caused severe challenges. It adds anguish to the lives of those seeking to regulate COVID-19. It reduces catastrophe risk in other industries. Real-time information from space-based sensors is needed for a quick response. Using a cloud-based platform like Google earth engine (GEE), SAR pictures are analyzed automatically. This research shows the possibilities of automated procedures and algorithms on cloud-based systems. The findings provide flood extent maps for the lower Ganga basin, in India. Severe floods affected a large population in Bihar and West Bengal. This research provides a rapid and exact estimate of flooded regions to aid in risk assessment, notably during COVID-19. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Menstrual hygiene management during times of complex humanitarian crisis: Listening to the voices of rural adolescent girls of Assam

Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is an integral component of the reproductive health and hygiene of adolescent girls. Despite being a vital issue that has a multifaceted effect on the well-being of girls, it is often overlooked in the household and community environment. In a disaster-prone zone, the situation further aggravates at the time of emergency situation. The first section of the chapter examines the knowledge, perception, and practices of MHM prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The second section explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and annual flood on menstrual hygiene practices. The first phase of extensive primary survey using mixed sampling method was done in Biswanath district of Assam in 2019. Furthermore, the second phase of the survey was conducted in 2020 to investigate the impact of a biological and climatic disaster. Poor menstrual hygiene practices are the outcome of knowledge gap, unfavorable cultural milieu, and inadequate resources. In general, menstrual hygiene needs of adolescent girls are neglected in rural settings. Respondents' ability to deal with their menses is severely altered during unprecedented crisis situation. Humanitarian agencies also overlook gender-specific needs of hygiene and sanitation facilities, thus amplifying existing vulnerabilities in the relief camps. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Policy entrepreneurs and individuals: Influence and behavior in pandemic response

Policy entrepreneurs have traditionally been recognized for their ability to influence policymakers by framing policy problems and pairing them with preferred solutions. Does their influence extend to the public? We examine this question in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. We analyze whether an individual's perception of a visible, national-level policy entrepreneur, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Dr. Anthony Fauci, influences their perceived risk of contracting the virus and their uptake of recommended COVID-19 risk mitigation behaviors. Findings indicate that approval of Dr. Fauci predicts individual risk perceptions and uptake of mask wearing practices, with his influence particularly strong among conservatives. However, Dr. Fauci's influence as a policy entrepreneur waned over time and was moderated by a host of factors such as an individual's worldview, perceptions of policy environment, and media consumption.

How is flood risk explained in the subject of geography in Spanish schools? An approach based on social science textbooks (primary education)

The main natural risk in the Mediterranean region is flooding. Therefore, in Spain, explaining this issue in Primary Education classrooms of Social Sciences should be a priority and is established as such in the current curriculum. The aims of this study are to carry out an analysis of the contents on flood risk included in the Social Science textbooks (3rd cycle;5th and 6th) of Primary Education of the leading publishers used in Spain (Anaya, Bromera, Santillana, SM and Vicens Vives), in terms of: (1) the meaning of this phenomenon;(2) the causes and consequences of floods;and (3) an analysis of the images (catastrophism and territory location) that are included in the textbooks to explain these events. The results indicate that there is no complete definition of flood risk provided in these textbooks;the information is mainly related to the physical factor (atmospheric event). There is no specific mention of how human beings affect risk (vulnerability and exposure factor). With respect to the causes of floods, the analysis finds confusion in the explanations from the different textbooks and publishers, and the images that are included are sensationalist, highlighting the catastrophism without indicating to which territory it refers. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Research in Geographical & Environmental Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Emergency plan selection for epidemic prevention and control based on cumulative prospect theory and hybrid-information MADM

PurposeDecision-making problems in emergency plan selection for epidemic prevention and control (EPAC) are generally characterized by risky and uncertainty due to multiple possible emergency states and vagueness of decision information. In the process of emergency plan selection for EPAC, it is necessary to consider several obvious features, i.e. different states of epidemics, dynamic evolvement process of epidemics and decision-makers' (DMs') psychological factors such as risk preference and loss aversion.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, a novel decision-making method based on cumulative prospect theory (CPT) is proposed to solve emergency plan selection of an epidemic problem, which is generally regarded as hybrid-information multi-attribute decision-making (HI-MADM) problems in major epidemics. Initially, considering the psychological factors of DMs, the expectations of DMs are chosen as reference points to normalize the expectation vectors and decision information with three different formats. Subsequently, the matrix of gains and losses is established according to the reference points. Furthermore, the prospect value of each alternative is obtained and the comprehensive prospect values of alternatives under different states are calculated. Accordingly, the ranking of alternatives can be obtained.FindingsThe validity and robustness of the proposed method are demonstrated by a case calculation of emergency plan selection. Meanwhile, sensitivity analysis and comparison analysis with fuzzy similarity to ideal solution (FTOPSIS) method and TODIM (an acronym in Portuguese for interactive and MADM) method illustrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.Originality/valueAn emergency plan selection method is proposed for EPAC based on CPT, taking into account the psychological factors of DMs.HighlightsThis paper proposes a new CPT-based EDM method for EPAC under a major epidemic considering the psychological factorsof DMs, such as risk preference, loss aversion and so on.The authors' work gives approaches of normalization, comparison and distance measurement for dealing with the integration of three hybrid formats of attributes.This article gives some guidance, which contributes to solve the problems of risk-based hybrid multi-attribute EDM.The authors illustrate the advantages of the proposed method by a sensitivity analysis and comparison analysis with existing FTOPSIS method and TODIM method.

The Distribution of Fecal Contamination in an Urbanized Tropical Lake and Incidence of Acute Diarrheal Disease

Aquatic ecosystems of tropical countries are vulnerable to fecal contamination that could cause spikes in the incidences of acute diarrheal disease (ADD) and challenge public health management systems. Vembanad lake, situated along the southwest coast of India, was monitored for one year (2018-2019). Escherichia coli, an indicator of fecal contamination, was prevalent in the lake throughout the year. Multiple antibiotic resistance among more than 50% of the E. coli isolates adds urgency to the need to control this contamination. The high abundance of E. coli and incidence of ADD were recorded during the early phase of the southwest monsoon (June-July), prior to the once-in-a-century floods that affected the region in the later phase (August). The extent of inundation in the low-lying areas peaked in August, but E. coli in the water peaked in July, suggesting that contamination occurred even prior to extreme flooding. During the COVID-19-related lockdown in March-May 2021, fecal contamination in the lake and incidence of ADD reached minimum values. These results indicate the need for improving sewage treatment facilities and city planning in flood-prone areas to avoid the mixing of septic sewage with natural waters during extreme climate events or even during the normal monsoon.

DESIGN OF A NET ZERO HOUSE AT 100-YEAR FLOOD ZONE IN A HISTORIC DISTRICT: A CASE OF SOLAR DECATHLON DESIGN CHALLENGE ENTRY

This paper discusses the design of a net-zero single-family house in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which was proposed for the 2022 Solar Decathlon Design Challenge entry. The site was in a 100-year flood zone and registered as a national and local historic district. The interdisciplinary team consisted of University of Tennessee Chattanooga (UTC) students from the interior architecture and engineering departments who embraced the challenges of the local climate and the restrictions of the historic district guidelines. This entry, Moc House, focused on the integration of passive design and active HVAC systems including photovoltaic systems in the process. In responding to recent housing market changes in Chattanooga due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a young professional couple in their 30s who have two children was identified as the target market which guided the space planning. Market analysis, including ROI, was conducted in addition to construction cost calculations. Building materials were selected to enhance the durability and resilience of the house structure. Finally, energy analysis was conducted to check the project's Home Energy Rating using Ekotrope and found it less than zero. © 2023, College Publishing. All rights reserved.

Flood 2022 in Pakistan: Managing medical flood relief camps in a developing country.

Floods are the most common natural disasters in the world. Currently Pakistan is in an acute emergency situation due to the recent flood that occurred as a result of the monsoon rains in July-August 2022. Unfortunately, the country was already under an economic crisis and was just recovering from the COVID pandemic when this devastating calamity struck. Almost one-third of the country's land was affected, with millions of houses damaged and property lost. As the victims are displaced and local health units are flooded, their medical needs are being met through medical flood relief camps arranged by public and private sector welfare organizations. Due to a lack of disaster preparedness and policies, most of the healthcare workers are untrained to manage medical flood relief camps and are hence learning from experience rather than following any standardized policy guidelines. We did not find any guidelines for organization and management of a flood relief camp in previous literature. As natural disasters continue to cause mass destruction every few years, there is a need to devise policies and procedures for disaster preparedness and hazard reduction. This paper is thus an effort to provide the best possible delivery of acute health services in a developing country during and after a flood in the transit phase, while the government and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) help communities rebuild their health system.

Social vulnerability and trust in government disaster response: The case of a potential flood event in a metropolitan area

Social vulnerabilities are the attributes that a population may have that contribute to creating susceptibility to negative disasters impacts. They are social constructs determined by factors relating to social capital;due to them, stated by Socio-Political Ecology Theory, some will have an easier time competing for limited public disaster response resources. However, individual perceptions regarding personal abilities to compete against those in other social groups is a previously little explored phenomenon. This research helps fill this gap, utilizing findings to expand upon a conceptual framework for understanding individual perceptions of personal abilities to compete for limited public disaster response resources. The framework was developed utilizing emergency management, public administration, and public policy literature. It was then tested using qualitative content analysis of forty individual interviews conducted with diverse Omaha area residents. Utilizing demographic data, participants were sorted into four Social Vulnerability Score groupings for data comparison, utilizing the unique Social Vulnerability Scoring Rubric. Key findings from this study include social vulnerability levels having direct impacts on trust in government disaster response and perceived access to resources. In sum, the less vulnerable groups were more trusting of government disaster response and more confident in their abilities to gain access. More vulnerable participants perceived their own abilities to gain access to public disaster response resources to be lesser. Finally, another phenomenon also emerged regarding the Covid-19 pandemic;participants were in direct conflict over two pandemic response resources: freedom and personal health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

-Editorial-SPECIAL ISSUE ON THE JULY 2020 HEAVY RAINFALL EVENT IN JAPAN

In July 2020, the Kyushu region experienced record-breaking heavy rains from July 4 to7, causing extreme floods in the Kuma and Chikugo Rivers. This was followed by atmospheric instability over a wide area from western Japan to the Tohoku region, resulting in heavy rainfall on July 13-14 in the Chugoku region, and on July 27-28 in the Tohoku region. There was also flooding of large rivers including the Go River and the Mogami River. In recent years, record-breaking torrential rainfall disasters have been occurring every year. The heavy precipitation scale has been increasing in space and time as well as in rainfall intensity, resulting in spatio-temporal expansion of the damage. Furthermore, in 2020, the disaster occurred amidst the restriction of social activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The compilation and dissemination of disaster survey data and lessons are essential for the sustainable development of society. Therefore, JSCE has planned a special issue on the July 2020 torrential rain disaster to share and disseminate disaster information and to contribute to the advancement of technology and science related to disaster prevention and mitigation. © 2022 Japan Society of Civil Engineers. All rights reserved.

Pakistan's healthcare preparedness after the NIH warned of a new diphtheria strain and Covid-19 variation.

Objective: In this paper, we examine the current crisis of regarding preparedness of healthcare industries in Pakistan, analyzing the causes, effects, and potential recommendations to this problem. Methods: Highlighting the efforts and issues surrounding this topic is necessary for developing and implementing research-based solutions that accurately reflect the current state of the healthcare industry. This short overview is prepared in accordance with accepted practices in published studies around the world. Our findings were based on a search of the literature databases PubMed, Google Scholar, Journals Online, and the Internet Library. Results: Searching for "Healthcare Preparedness in Pakistan" yielded the expected results. Particularly of interest to the researchers was the question of why, despite efforts to boost vaccination rates and emergency immunization response capacities in the event of epidemics, progress on SDG3 immunization indicators has been minimal. Immunization is critically important because vaccine-preventable diseases pose a significant risk to the general population. Pakistan's authorities and government should take deliberate action to increase immunization rates. Conclusion: Particularly disadvantaged countries and regions are hit the worst by climate change. Pakistan continues to be hit hard by diseases like acute watery diarrhea, dengue fever, malaria, and COVID-19 are on the rise as a result of the flooding, especially in shelters and areas where water and sanitation systems have been affected. After devastating floods in KP, Sindh, and Punjab, over 70 suspected cases of diphtheria were reported. Diphtheria epidemics illustrate the precarious position of flood victims. It would be catastrophic if the newly found diphtheria strain or the covid-19 variation reached the underserved flood victims. Immunization protects against life-threatening illnesses so its government responsibility to improve immunization rates in Pakistan.

Exploring the links between flood events and the COVID-19 infection cases in Romania in the new multi-hazard-prone era.

The occurrence of flood events amid the COVID-19 pandemic represents a prominent part of the emerging multi-hazard landscape, as floods are one of the most frequent and destructive natural hazards. This spatial and temporal overlap of hydrological and epidemiological hazards translates into compounded negative effects, causing a shift in the hazard management paradigm, in which hazard interaction takes centre stage. This paper calls into question whether the river flood events that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania and the way that they were managed had an impact on the infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus at county scale. To this end, hazard management data concerning the flood events that were severe enough to impose the evacuation of the population were corroborated with COVID-19 confirmed cases data. A definite link between the flood events and the dynamics of COVID-19 cases registered in the selected counties is difficult to identify, but the analysis shows that all flood events were followed by various size increases in the COVID-19 confirmed cases at the end of the incubation time range. The findings are critically interpreted by providing viral load and social-related contexts, allowing a proper understanding of the interactions between concurrent hazards.

Co-occurrence of antibiotic and metal resistance in long-term sewage sludge-amended soils: influence of application rates and pedo-climatic conditions.

Urban sewage sludge (USS) is increasingly being used as an alternative organic amendment in agriculture. Because USS originates mostly from human excreta, partially metabolized pharmaceuticals have also been considered in risk assessment studies after reuse. In this regard, we investigated the cumulative effect of five annual USS applications on the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and their subsequent resistance to toxic metals in two unvegetated soils. Eventually, USS contained bacterial strains resistant to all addressed antibiotics with indices of resistance varying between 0.25 for gentamicin to 38% for ampicillin and azithromycin. Sludge-amended soils showed also the emergence of resistome for all tested antibiotics compared to non-treated controls. In this regard, the increase of sludge dose generally correlated with ARB counts, while soil texture had no influence. On the other hand, the multi-antibiotic resistance (MAR) of 52 isolates selected from USS and different soil treatments was investigated for 10 most prescribed antibiotics. Nine isolates showed significant MAR index (≥ 0.3) and co-resistance to Cd, As and Be as well. However, events including an extreme flash flood and the termination of USS applications significantly disrupted ARB communities in all soil treatments. In any case, this study highlighted the risks of ARB spread in sludge-amended soils and a greater concern with the recent exacerbation of antibiotic overuse following COVID-19 outbreak.

Understanding the impacts of floods on learning quality, school facilities, and educational recovery in Indonesia.

This research is among the first pieces of work to use the comprehensive school safety (CSS) framework to assess the impacts of floods on quality learning and education infrastructure. The CSS framework is employed here to identify the level of disruption to education services following floods in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2013. The paper poses three key questions, concerning: (i) disruption to children's access to quality education during the flood emergency in 2013 and the early recovery phase; (ii) the impact of the floods on a school's physical infrastructure; and (iii) the effectiveness and level of success of the 2013 flood responses by relevant stakeholders. Combining quantitative and qualitative strategies, the paper examines the experiences of 100 schools in Jakarta. The findings suggest that the CSS framework offers a more nuanced approach to assessing post-disaster education needs. Moreover, it is also relevant for examining the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and relative losses in the education sector.

Survey on the dissemination of Web-based information on "evacuation and sheltering” in the context of COVID-19 by the Japanese Government

Purpose: This study examines the websites of central government ministries, prefectures and municipalities to obtain a comprehensive bird's-eye view of how they are preparing for natural disasters in the context of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Design/methodology/approach: This study examines the websites of central government ministries, prefectures and municipalities in Japan to survey the actual status of information dissemination on "evacuation and sheltering” in the context of COVID-19. Findings: This study found that the central government issued many notices, notifications and administrative communications to prefectures, cities with public health centers and special wards, which were mainly related to opening, securing and operating evacuation centers and improving the environment. It was found that most prefectures disseminated information on both survival and living evacuation and did so from June onward, when the flood season was approaching. Among the municipalities, there were differences in information dissemination tendencies by prefecture, and it became clear that smaller municipalities were especially incapable of fully disseminating information via the Web. Research limitations/implications: The data from the prefectures and municipalities surveyed in this study were collected from websites and do not necessarily represent the actual response to disaster-related evacuation in the context of COVID-19 in those areas. To clarify this evacuation, more detailed surveys are needed. Originality/value: This study is unique because no research has been conducted on the response of Japanese administrative agencies to disaster-related evacuation in the context of COVID-19;the actual situation was analyzed in this study by examining central government ministries, prefectures and municipalities as administrative agencies and comparing their responses. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Prevalence of COVID-19 in flood relief centre

Since the beginning of 2020, people all around the world have been struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Concurrently, major flooding and a pandemic have struck numerous regions of the world. As a result, relief centres for flood victims have been established in the affected regions. There is a risk of COVID-19 infection spreading among flood victims and workers at flood relief centres due to the enormous number of flood victims. This study focused on the Johor, Malaysia flood catastrophe. From the 1st to the 16th of January 2022, a cross-sectional study was conducted in johor flood relief centres using secondary data from E notification and COVID-19-line listing. 1,531 flood victims were examined for COVID-19 and Rapid antigen testing was performed. 711 victims were asymptomatic, whereas 820 victims were symptomatic. Six patients were identified as positive. During audits of multiple evacuation centres, few concerns were found. There was no sufficient ventilation, there was no distribution of face masks to victims, and there were no daily health checks. COVID-19 preventive measures in all evacuation centres need to be practiced and given attention by all occupants and agencies. © 2023, Intelektual Pustaka Media Utama. All rights reserved.

The Distribution of Fecal Contamination in an Urbanized Tropical Lake and Incidence of Acute Diarrheal Disease

Aquatic ecosystems of tropical countries are vulnerable to fecal contamination that could cause spikes in the incidences of acute diarrheal disease (ADD) and challenge public health management systems. Vembanad lake, situated along the southwest coast of India, was monitored for one year (2018-2019). Escherichia coli, an indicator of fecal contamination, was prevalent in the lake throughout the year. Multiple antibiotic resistance among more than 50% of the E. coli isolates adds urgency to the need to control this contamination. The high abundance of E. coli and incidence of ADD were recorded during the early phase of the southwest monsoon (June-July), prior to the once-in-a-century floods that affected the region in the later phase (August). The extent of inundation in the low-lying areas peaked in August, but E. coli in the water peaked in July, suggesting that contamination occurred even prior to extreme flooding. During the COVID-19-related lockdown in March-May 2021, fecal contamination in the lake and incidence of ADD reached minimum values. These results indicate the need for improving sewage treatment facilities and city planning in flood-prone areas to avoid the mixing of septic sewage with natural waters during extreme climate events or even during the normal monsoon. © 2023 American Chemical Society.

Prevalence of COVID-19 in flood relief centre

Since the beginning of 2020, people all around the world have been struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Concurrently, major flooding and a pandemic have struck numerous regions of the world. As a result, relief centres for flood victims have been established in the affected regions. There is a risk of COVID-19 infection spreading among flood victims and workers at flood relief centres due to the enormous number of flood victims. This study focused on the Johor, Malaysia flood catastrophe. From the 1st to the 16th of January 2022, a cross-sectional study was conducted in johor flood relief centres using secondary data from E notification and COVID-19-line listing. 1,531 flood victims were examined for COVID-19 and Rapid antigen testing was performed. 711 victims were asymptomatic, whereas 820 victims were symptomatic. Six patients were identified as positive. During audits of multiple evacuation centres, few concerns were found. There was no sufficient ventilation, there was no distribution of face masks to victims, and there were no daily health checks. COVID-19 preventive measures in all evacuation centres need to be practiced and given attention by all occupants and agencies. © 2023, Intelektual Pustaka Media Utama. All rights reserved.