Summary
We discuss why disasters occur more frequently and are more serious than expected according to a normal distribution. Moreover, we investigate the interaction networks responsible for the cascade-like spreading of disasters. Such causality networks allow one to estimate the development of disasters with time, to give hints about when to take certain actions, to assess the suitability of alternative measures of emergency management, and to anticipate their side effects. Finally, we identify other fields where network theory could help to improve disaster response management.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
References
M. Falk: Laws of Small Numbers: Extreme and Rare Events (Birkhäuser, Basel, 1994)
J. Nott: Extreme Events: Reconstruction from Natural Records and Hazard Risk Assessment (Cambridge University, Cambridge, in press)
A. Bunde, J. Kropp, H.J. Schellnhuber (eds.): The Science of Disasters: Climate Disruptions, Heart Attacks and Market Crashes (Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2002)
A.K. Turner, R.L. Schuster (eds.): Landslides: Investigation and Mitigation (National Research Council, Transportation Research Board, Special Report 247, 1996)
R. Casale et al. (eds.): Flood and Land Slides: Integrated Risk Assessment (Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 1999)
S.J. Guastello: Chaos, Catastrophe, and Human Affairs: Applications of Nonlinear Dynamics to Work, Organizations, and Social Evolution (Erlbaum, Mahwah, 1995)
G. Woo: The Mathematics of Natural Catastrophes (World Scientific, Singapore, 1999)
Swiss Reinsurance Company (ed.): Sigma 1 (2004), pp. 38–39, see http://www.swissre.com/
I. Asimov: A Choice of Catastrophes: The Disasters That Threaten Our World (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1979)
IFRC: World Disasters Report (WDR) 2004 (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva, 2004), see http://www.ifrc.org/publicat/wdr2004/index.asp
V. Linneweber: Zukünftige Bedrohungen durch (anthropogene) Naturkatastrophen, (Deutsches Komitee für Katastrophenvorsorge, Bonn, 2002)
G. Tetzlaff, T. Trautmann, K.S. Radtke (eds.): Extreme Naturereignisse. Folgen — Vorsorge — Werkzeuge, 2. Forum Katastrophenvorsorge, Conference Proceedings (Deutsches Komitee für Katastrophenvorsorge, Bonn, 2002)
Munich Re (ed.): Jahresrückblick Naturkatastrophen 2003, TOPICSgeo 2 (2004)
Munich Re (ed.): Schadenspiegel 2 (2004)
Bericht der Unabhängigen Kommission der Sächsischen Staatsregierung Flutkatastrophe 2002, see http://www.sachsen.de/de/bf/hochwasser/programme/download/Kirchbach_Bericht.pdf
M. Paolini, G. Vacis: The Story of Vajont (Bordighera, Boca Raton, FL, 2000)
P.M. Maniscalco, H.T. Christen: Understanding Terrorism and Managing the Consequences (Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 2001)
P.V. Fellman, R. Wright: Modeling Terrorist Networks, Complex Systems at the Mid-Range. Paper presented at the Joint Complexity Conference (London School of Economics, 16th–18th September 2003)
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (ed.): The 9/11 Commission Report (9–11 Commission, Washington DC, 2004)
E. Hüls, H.-J. Oestern (eds.): Die ICE-Katastrophe von Eschede. Erfahrungen und Lehren. Eine interdisziplinäre Analyse (Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 1999)
D. Helbing, C. Kühnert: Physica A 328 (2003), pp. 584–606 (and references therein)
J.J. Gonzalez (ed.): From Modeling to Managing Security: A System Dynamics Approach (Norwegian Academic Press, Kristiansand, 2003), and references therein
D. Helbing: Phys. Lett. A 212 (1994), pp. 130–137 (1994)
W. Zelinsky, L.A. Kosinski: L.A. 1991. The Emergency Evacuation of Cities (Rowman & Littlefield, Savage, 1991)
H.T. Christen, P.M. Maniscalco: The EMS Incident Management System: Operations for Mass Casualty and High Impact Incidents (Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1998)
K.N. Myers: Contingency Planning for Disasters: Protecting Vital Facilities and Critical Operations (Wiley, New York, 1999)
W.L. Waugh: Living with Hazards, Dealing with Disasters: An Introduction to Emergency Management (M.E. Sharpe, New York, 2000)
D. Alexander: Principles of Emergency Planning and Management (Oxford University Press, New York, 2002)
P.A. Erickson: Emergency Response Planning: For Corporate and Municipal Managers (Academic, New York, 1999)
G. El Mahdy: Disaster Management in Telecommunications, Broadcasting and Computer Systems (Wiley, Chichester, UK, 2001)
R. Shaw, L. Walley: Disaster Management (Butterworth-Heinemann, Amsterdam, 2002)
G.D. Haddow, J.A. Bullock: Introduction to Emergency Management (Butterworth-Heinemann, Amsterdam, 2004)
D. Helbing: Modeling and Optimization of Production Processes: Lessons From Traffic Dynamics. In: Nonlinear Dynamics of Production Systems, ed. by G. Radons and R. Neugebauer (Wiley, New York, 2003), pp. 85–105
K. Tierney, J. Trainor: Networks and Resilience in the World Trade Center Disaster. In: Research Progress and Accomplishments 2003–2004 ed. by the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (University at Buffalo, New York, 2004), pp. 157–172
L.K. Comfort, K. Ko, A. Zagorecki: Modeling Fragility in Rapidly Evolving Disaster Response Systems (Institute of Governmental Studies, Paper No. 2003’2, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 2003)
L. Dueñas-Osorio, J.I. Craig, B.J. Goodno: Probabilistic Response of Interdependent Infrastructure Networks. In: 2004 ANCER Annual Meeting: Networking of Young Earthquake Engineering Researchers and Professionals, Proceedings (The Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, Honolulu, Hawaii, 28th–30th July 2004)
D. Braha, Y. Bar-Yam: Information flow structure in large-scale product development organizational networks. In: Smart Business Networks, ed. by P. Vervest et al. (Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2004)
J.E. Trainor: Searching for a System: Multi-organizational Coordination in the September 11th World Trade Center Search and Rescue Response (MA Thesis, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 2004)
L.K. Comfort, K. Ko, A. Zagorecki: Am. Behav. Sci. 48, No. 3 (2004), pp. 295–313
A.H.J. Oomes: Organization Awareness in Crisis Management. Dynamic Organigrams for More Effective Disaster Response. In: ISCRAM 2004 Proceedings (Brussels, 3rd–4th May 2004)
S. Duman, A.S. Petrescu: When What We Know Does Not Apply: Disaster Response, Complexity Theory and Preparing for Bioterrorist Threats. Paper presented at the 16th International Conference of the Public Administration Theory Network (Anchorage, AK, 19th–22nd June 2003)
G.A. Koehler (ed.): What Disaster Response Management Can Learn from Chaos Theory (California Research Bureau, Proc. Conf. 18th–19th May 1995)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Center for Frontier Sciences
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Helbing, D., Ammoser, H., Kühnert, C. (2006). Disasters as Extreme Events and the Importance of Network Interactions for Disaster Response Management. In: Albeverio, S., Jentsch, V., Kantz, H. (eds) Extreme Events in Nature and Society. The Frontiers Collection. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-28611-X_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-28611-X_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-28610-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-28611-0
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)