ABSTRACT This paper presents findings from an online survey that explored public experiences of wildfire smoke, public health advisory information, risk perceptions, and protective actions in response to wildfire smoke in western Canada. Most respondents had wildfire smoke experiences lasting several days with decreased visibility, and many had difficulty breathing and changes to their health. While a majority of respondents were aware of the Air Quality Health Index and how to respond on a high risk day, some did not. Most respondents perceived the risk from wildfire smoke during their most recent experience to be extreme, severe, or moderate, with only 20% perceiving low risk from wildfire smoke. Wildfire smoke experiences affected risk perceptions, and female respondents perceived the risk from wildfire smoke to be higher in comparison to male respondents. Most respondents took protective actions during their most recent exposure to wildfire smoke, with the most popular measures including keeping windows and doors shut, and limiting time spent outdoors. Perceptions of wildfire smoke risks, experiencing health impacts from wildfire smoke, sex and highest level of education, and firefighting experience influenced protective actions. Recommendations to improve public health during wildfire smoke events and future research are included.

ABSTRACT Manufacturing firms in flood prone areas (FPAs) are a vital component of flood exposure, driving the non-stationarity of flood risks. This paper explores the spatiotemporal patterns of manufacturing firms in the FPAs of Yangtze Delta in China during 1998-2013. It is found that the number of firms in the FPAs increases remarkably by 44,385, with an annual growth rate of 10.2%. Established firms are located much closer to water bodies, mainly agglomerating along the coasts, the Yangtze River, and around the Taihu Lake. Several vulnerable sectors, including chemical feedstock and chemical manufacturing, computer and communication equipment, maintain a high growth and share in the FPAs. The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with less flood coping capabilities increase rapidly. The main drivers of firm expansion in the FPAs include policy promotion, agglomeration benefit and levee effect. Exposed firms show a high spatial co-locality with industrial parks and an upward trend similar to the length of levees, suggesting that government policies and flood defense strategies encourage flood exposure. The increase in exposed firms is positively correlated with the rise of flood losses in industrial sectors. Besides defense strategies, more attention should be paid to enhancing flood resilience at regional and firm levels.

ABSTRACT Despite the attention given to the devastating earthquake incident that occurred in Sabah in the year 2015, it is noteworthy to highlight that Peninsular Malaysia had experienced 40 minor earthquakes between 2007 and 2009. This scenario portrays the potential of this region being hit by a bigger magnitude of earthquake and it is unclear if the local community is prepared to face this disaster. Notably, readiness towards earthquake can be viewed from several perspectives. Having that said, this study determined the impact of demographic factors on community readiness towards earthquake disasters. Quantitative data retrieved via a questionnaire were gathered from 400 respondents elected using two-stage cluster sampling. The three areas involved were Bentong (Pahang), Manjung (Perak), and Kenyir (Terengganu). The outcomes revealed that the community in Peninsular Malaysia was moderately ready to face earthquake impacts, while further analyses exemplified that several demographic variables, including type of residence, level of education, number of household members, and period of residence in the areas, emerged as the determinant factors for community readiness towards earthquake disasters. Accordingly, several implications are highlighted to enable policy-makers understand the effect of readiness towards earthquake upon community dwelling across Peninsular Malaysia.

ABSTRACT Hurricanes affect millions of people in the U.S. every year and cause billion-dollar economic losses. Florida is one of the states in the U.S. which is vulnerable to hurricanes and major infrastructure damages were reported due to these extreme events such as Hurricane Hermine (2016). This study aims to assess the impacts of Hermine on the transportation network of Tallahassee, the capital of Florida, using a spatial-analytical approach and real-world hurricane data on roadway closures, power outages, power network configuration, and other storm-related variables. First, a geographic information systems (GIS)-based analysis was utilised to obtain the spatial patterns of hurricane-induced roadway closures along with power outages, power lines, downed trees, and the city’s flood hazard zones. Second, a statistical model was developed to understand the association between the aforementioned variables and roadway closures. The spatial model results revealed that the roadway closures and power outages almost have the same patterns, and the city centre experienced more disruptions than other areas. The statistical model findings indicated that the power outages and power lines have strong relationships with roadway closures. The obtained knowledge of this study can provide valuable information for city officials to prepare better emergency policies for future potential hurricanes.

ABSTRACT The Insurance Council of New Zealand’s Disaster List documents private sector insurance payouts caused by natural perils since April 1968. We normalise these and, where possible, payments made by the Earthquake Commission, a government natural disaster insurance scheme, as if historical events were to impact current societal conditions, defined here as the 12-month period from 1 July 2018. The methodology employs changes in the number, size and nominal cost of new residential dwellings as key normalising factors. Since 1968, earthquakes account for 79% of the normalised losses with the 2010–2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) at NZD20.1 billion the single most expensive event. The redlining of residential suburbs shown to be vulnerable to liquefaction and the introduction of more stringent building codes are estimated to reduce normalised losses for a repeat of the CES by about one-third. More frequent losses due to extreme weather, notably storms of tropical, sub-tropical and extra-tropical origin, when combined and after adjusting for changing societal factors, show no trend over the record length. We explore why an attempt to use the Fraction of Attributable Risk to cost the contribution of anthropogenic climate change to weather-related event losses delivers results inconsistent with most normalisation studies.

ABSTRACT The relationship between climate change and human mobility is generating increased public, academic and policy recognition. This linkage has captured the collective imagination, with forced mobility representing one of the most perceptible societal impacts of climate change and environmental hazards. Through in-depth interviews with subject-matter experts related to the Asia Pacific region, this paper explores the terminological uncertainty evident when conceptualising and addressing the issues associated with human mobility, climate change and the associated increased risk of environmental hazards. Shaped through the complexity of socio-ecological systems and often-intertwined causal drivers of migration, this uncertainty reveals a major policy gap in the nexus between human mobility and climate change on multiple scales. The findings from this study explore the ways in which these terms act to conceal global accountabilities and draw boundaries around ‘acceptable’ forms of mobility. By evoking value-based framings with particular emphasis on equality, justice and responsibility – this paper forwards alternative ideas and subjugated narratives to position how such values are posed as subjects of political and moral weight.

ABSTRACT The link between extreme weather and climate change is being highlighted in ever more countries. Increased public understanding of this issue is essential for policymaking, both in terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation. As social media are becoming central to the exchange of information in society, the purpose is to analyze what generates intensified attention to the connection between extreme weather and climate change in digital communication. This is done by examining periods of intensified co-occurrence of mentions of extreme weather and climate change on English-language Twitter (N = 948,993). Our quantitative analysis suggests that during the period 2008–2017 the years 2010, 2011 and 2017 exhibit a considerable increase in ‘causality discourse’, i.e. tweets that articulate the topic of climate change + extreme weather, in comparison with earlier years. These periods of significant growth are interpreted as involving dynamic relationships between three factors, namely mediated highlighting of previous or ongoing extreme-weather events (extreme-event factor); connection of extreme weather to climate change by traditional media or other intermediaries (media-driven science communication factor); and actions of individual users (digital-action factor). Through a qualitative discourse analysis, how these factors jointly generate increasing attention to ‘causality discourse’ is more closely explored for the case of 2017.

ABSTRACT The article contains the evaluation of indirect impact, and more precisely, effects related to traffic disruptions and the resultant changes in transport accessibility following the occurrence of a flood. The applied purpose of the analysis is to demonstrate the differentiation in spatial traffic distribution and changes regarding (time and potential) accessibility in three flooding scenarios for the Warta Water Region (the scenario 10% and 1% probability of a flood occurrence, and for the total destruction of stopbanks) in Greater Poland. The research showed that the occurrence of disruptions from untypical flooding impacts both the change in spatial distribution of traffic load within the road network and the speed at which its users can travel therein. This indicates the need to simulate various flooding scenarios in order to be better prepared for the occurrence of such a natural disaster.

ABSTRACT Conflict aggravates disaster risk and impact through increased vulnerability and weakened response capacities. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster governance are needed – but often deemed unfeasible – in conflict-affected areas. In Afghanistan, despite the high-intensity conflict (HIC), there is a growing body of practice on DRR. To provide insight on DRR in HIC contexts, this study used document analysis, stakeholder interviews, and participant observation to analyse the promotion, implementation, and challenges of DRR in Afghanistan. The findings show that DRR was promoted after international recognition of Afghanistan’s high disaster risk, which coincided with expanding opportunities for development. Early Afghan DRR projects were hazard-oriented and focused on mitigation infrastructure, but some have shifted towards an integrated approach. DRR is challenging in HIC contexts because of complex logistical and funding needs required to overcome access and security issues. The Afghan experience shows that DRR is possible in HIC countries, provided that different levels of conflict are acknowledged, sufficient time and funding are available, and disaster governance arrangements are in place. Expectations regarding the possibilities for DRR in HIC areas should be tempered by the realities of limitations in terms of geographical coverage, real impact, and capacities to reduce vulnerability in an integrated way.

ABSTRACT Wind storms belong to the most costly natural hazards in Poland. On 11–12 August 2017, a strong thunderstorm happened, which resulted in catastrophic damage in three provinces: Wielkopolskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Pomorskie. This disaster has resulted in the death of six people, injuries to several dozen people and enormous property losses. The objective of this paper is to describe, analyse and learn from such a dangerous extreme weather event. Examples of buildings, with improved stiffness, are presented as the solution for better resistance of wind forces. The final aim is to help humans prepare for and deal with the consequences of severe wind storms in the future.