Effects of Grain Size Distribution on Landslide Dam Breaching—Insights From Recent Cases in China

Landslide dams are common geological features in mountainous areas, which may have serious consequences due to sudden breaching of the dam. An effective emergency response requires rapid and accurate forecasts regarding the landslide dam breach process. However, most existing models use physical, mechanical, and erosion properties of the mean or characteristic grain sizes to represent the landslide deposits. The grain size distribution and variations in soil erodibility with the depth in the landslide dam are not considered, resulting in an incorrect estimation of the breach flow hydrograph. In this paper, a simplified landslide dam classification is presented based on the formation mechanism and grain size distribution of landslide dams. Additionally, the influences of grain size distribution on the residual dam height and breach process of landslide dams are analyzed. This paper proposes a numerical method to rapidly obtain the breach hydrographs and breach morphology evolution of landslide dams. The new method can quickly classify landslide dams according to geological survey data and predict the landslide dam breach process. Three types of representative landslide dams in China are simulated to validate the proposed method. The breach flow discharge is significantly affected by spillway excavation. This contribution can provide rapid prediction of the landslide dam breach process and can be used for the emergency response planning before dam breaching.

The preparedness of school community in facing tsunami disaster in Lhokseumawe City

A tsunami in Aceh in 2004 resulted in many casualties and damage to educational facilities. The disaster taught about the importance of preparedness in anticipating disasters to humans. It will help in shaping and planning what actions need to be taken in the event of a disaster. This study aimed to see the level of preparedness of the school community in Lhokseumawe City in dealing with the tsunami disaster. School community preparedness was measured using preparedness parameters, namely knowledge, and attitudes; policies and guidelines; emergency response planning; disaster warning system; and resource mobilization. This research is descriptive quantitative research employing a survey method using a closed questionnaire. Utilizing the descriptive percentage method, the research shows that the school community's preparedness in Lhokseumawe City is in the almost ready category with an index value of 57.02. The index value is obtained by adding up the index values for each parameter by taking into account its weight. The index value of the knowledge and attitude parameter of the school community; and the level of school community policies and guidelines are in the ready category with index scores of 68,24 and 65. School community emergency planning parameters; the level of the school community disaster warning system and the level of resource mobilization are in the unprepared category; not yet ready and almost ready with index values of 35.6; 40; and 54.15 respectively.

Analysis of Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Spill Volumes

For onshore pipelines transporting hydrocarbon products that remain in a liquid state after release, environmental damage and socioeconomic impact are the dominant concerns. It is reasonable to assume that the magnitude of impact from such a release event is, at least in part, a function of the volume of product released. Analytical models exist for estimating the release volume from pipelines as a function of the physical and operational parameters of the line, and the effective size of the opening at the point of line break. While the estimates of release volumes obtained from such models are an important component of risk assessments and serve to inform emergency response planning activities, it is also important to understand what historical data indicates in terms of actual release volumes and how they are affected by key pipeline attributes. This paper summarizes the findings of an analysis of product release events associated with the onshore United States (US) hazardous liquid pipeline network, as obtained from reportable incident data publicly available from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The findings of the study suggest that, for major releases resulting from large pipeline openings, release volumes are correlated with line diameter; whereas, releases as the result of a leak are largely independent of line diameter. Based on this, simple models have been developed from which both the average release volume and the range of likely release volumes can be estimated as a function of the pipeline diameter and mode of failure. These simple release volume estimation models are useful for benchmarking exercises where the goal is to estimate expected or most likely release volumes for calibrating and/or validating more complex release volume estimation models, and for estimating worst-case release volumes for emergency response planning purposes.

Global COVID-19 pandemic demands joint interventions for the suppression of future waves

Emerging evidence suggests a resurgence of COVID-19 in the coming years. It is thus critical to optimize emergency response planning from a broad, integrated perspective. We developed a mathematical model incorporating climate-driven variation in community transmissions and movement-modulated spatial diffusions of COVID-19 into various intervention scenarios. We find that an intensive 8-wk intervention targeting the reduction of local transmissibility and international travel is efficient and effective. Practically, we suggest a tiered implementation of this strategy where interventions are first implemented at locations in what we call the Global Intervention Hub, followed by timely interventions in secondary high-risk locations. We argue that thinking globally, categorizing locations in a hub-and-spoke intervention network, and acting locally, applying interventions at high-risk areas, is a functional strategy to avert the tremendous burden that would otherwise be placed on public health and society.

Spatial Analysis of the Neighborhood Risk Factors for Respiratory Health in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT): Implications for Emergency Planning

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) experienced the worst air quality in the world for several consecutive days following the 2019–2020 Australian bushfires. With a focus on asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), this retrospective study examined the neighborhood-level risk factors for these diseases from 2011 to 2013, including household distance to hospital emergency departments (ED) and general practices (GP) and area-level socioeconomic disadvantage and demographic characteristics at a high spatial resolution. Poisson and Geographically Weighted Poisson Regression (GWR) were compared to examine the need for spatially explicit models. GWR performed significantly better, with rates of both respiratory diseases positively associated with area-level socioeconomic disadvantage. Asthma rates were positively associated with increasing distance from a hospital. Increasing distance to GP was not associated with asthma or COPD rates. These results suggest that respiratory health improvements could be made by prioritizing areas of socioeconomic disadvantage. The ACT has a relatively high density of GP that is geographically well spaced. This distribution of GP could be leveraged to improve emergency response planning in the future.

Understanding the Talent Management Intricacies of Remote Cybersecurity Teams in Covid-19 Induced Telework Organizational Ecosystems

The unanticipated disruption triggered by Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has accelerated the shift to virtual workplace ecosystems for employees in the government, business, and the military. The accelerated move to whole organization telework has also created new complex challenges around managing cybersecurity risks. Complex business and governmental organizational ecosystems have several significant and critical job tasks around cybersecurity. These roles have the involved responsibility of functioning as effective teams to handle incident responses, intrusion evaluations, crisis management, crisis communications, forensic data examinations, malware analyzations, firewall assessments, penetration testing, disaster recovery, emergency response planning, risk management, human factor analyzation, training assessment, and active network monitoring. This qualitative research study explores the nuances of employee engagement, organizational development, and the management of virtual and remote cybersecurity teams in ways that enhance complex business and organizational ecosystems in the world of professional practice.