Esri offers a free interactive map for tracking Isaac, a Tropical Storm rolling over the Gulf of Mexico on the verge of becoming a hurricane. The map was built using the ArcGIS API for JavaScript and is powered by ArcGIS Server. It offers constantly updated hurricane information on the projected paths, storm surge, weather warnings, and precipitation along with social media links that shows location-based feeds and community-derived content from Youtube, Twitter and Flickr.
The mission of the Building Research Organisation is to promote and sustain research and development and provide technical services for disaster risk reduction and a safer environment.
The Directorate exists to develop a functional national disaster risk reduction system that minimizes community vulnerability to hazards and effectively manages the impact of disasters within the context of sustainable development for Namibia by 2015. Its main objective is to apply innovative approaches and technologies to enhance community resilience to disaster risks through effective coordination and facilitation of all disaster risk reduction initiatives in Namibia.
Despite being a resource-rich country with a strong agricultural base, Myanmar is among the poorest nations in the world. Years of conflict and unresolved ethnic differences have contributed to the displacement of around 450,000 people and an influx of refugees in neighboring countries. OCHA established its presence in Myanmar in May 2008 at the onset of Cyclone Nargis to support the humanitarian response in the affected areas of the Ayerwaddy Delta.
This ministry was established in 1952. It was reconstituted under the name of the Ministry of Relief, Resettlement and National Unity in 1957. Then, it was a department under the Ministry of Social Welfare. The Ministry of Social Welfare was reconstituted again under the name Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement in 1992. Its major tasks are as follows:
1. To deliver relief to people, monks and nuns who face disasters such as fire, flood, strong wind, earthquake and armed insurgency to ease their sufferings.
In a humanitarian crisis, relief agencies need rapid answers to questions about 'where'. Where are the greatest needs? Where are the gaps that need to be filled? MapAction is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works in disaster zones providing frequently updated situation maps showing where relief help is most urgently needed. MapAction has run two missions in Haiti: in 2008 in response to a string of tropical storms that struck the north of the country; and in 2010 after the earthquake.
Guatemala’s territory, due to its geographical, geological and tectonic conditions, is classified as one of the countries with a highest potential for multiple natural hazards. And due to its social and economic situation as well as its environmental degradation and development, its vulnerability conditions are high. Therefore, a large percentage of the population, infrastructures and services are exposed to various risks of disasters caused by natural hazards.
The Ecuadorian Secretariat for Risk Management is the Governmental institution that is concerned with risk reduction and emergency and disaster management. Its mission is to ensure the protection of people and communities from the adverse effects of natural or man-made disasters, through the generation of policies, strategies and standards that promote the identification, analysis, prevention and mitigation of risks, emergency situations and disasters.
The Asia-Pacific region is one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world, with frequently occurring natural disasters including earthquakes, tsunamis, tropical storms, flooding, landslides and volcanic eruptions affecting millions of people every year. These events are becoming increasingly frequent and severe, worsened considerably by the effects of climate change and growing population density. Conflicts, political instability and pandemics in the region also have dire humanitarian consequences.
One of the major preventable causes for loss of lives during disasters is the failure of telecommunications infrastructure. Satellite communication networks are unaffected by natural disasters, but Broadband global area network (BGAN) satellite phones are too expensive for wide-scale deployment. By combining a portable base station with a satellite network back haul, emergency services could rapidly deploy a network to remote teams and headquarters to optimize the aid effort, and therefore safe tens, hundreds and even thousands of lives.
Twitter
