Ilse Nicole Heredia’s Case Study on the 2019 Polar Vortex

Ilse Nicole Heredia’s case study provides an overview of the 2019 U.S. polar vortex. Extreme cold temperatures led to infrastructural and supply chain damages, causing many deaths and injuries in cities across the Midwest. During the disaster, one significant gap in preparedness was a lack of shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness. To address this inadequacy, cities adapted hotels, churches, schools, and government buildings into temporary shelters.

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Kelsey Patterson’s Case Study on the 2023 Earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Due to their proximity to tectonic plate fault lines, Turkey and Syria are especially at risk of serious earthquakes. Patterson’s case study provides an overview of the total damage caused by casualties and destruction of industry from the February 6, 2023, magnitude 7.8 earthquake and its subsequent aftershocks in the two countries.

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Wanda Dikiy’s Key Definitions of Disasters

In this brief, Wanda Dikiy defines disasters in the following two categories: acute, or slow-onset. Dikiy then argues that disruption to essential services is the most important indicator of a disaster’s impact, since it exposes the community to risks normally addressed by the local medical system and produces additional negative effects that may lead to long-term complications.

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Kaira Lapurga’s Key Definitions of Disasters

Kaira Lapurga outlines categories of disasters and best indicators for disasters’ public health impacts in this brief. In particular, Lapurga describes how snowballing of a disaster’s negative effects could happen in the event of complex disasters. Finally, Lapurga highlights the important role of monitoring in disaster prevention and timely disaster response.

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Rushil Vipulkumar Patel’s Discussion on Trends in Disasters and Disaster Fatalities

In this brief, Rushil Vipulkumar Patel discusses current trends in disasters and their relationship to disaster fatalities. Patel presents that while the absolute number of natural disasters is increasing, the number of fatalities from natural disasters is decreasing. He then provides an analysis of the factors influencing these global disaster trends.

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Nancy Daneau’s Discussion on Trends in Disasters and Disaster Fatalities

Nancy Daneau discusses current trends in disasters and how they influence disaster fatalities, pointing out that while the absolute number of natural disasters is increasing, the number of fatalities from natural disasters is decreasing. Moreover, Daneau offers an analysis of the factors determining global disaster trends for both natural and man-made disasters.

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