There is little in-depth understanding of the processes at play after a major disaster and there is no comprehensive text that compares so many different places that have experienced a major disaster to see what they have in common and to document their successes and failures.
Time is compressed after a disaster. There is an urgency to bring relief and to ‘get back to normal’ – to rebuild livelihoods, clear up the debris, repair the damage and, amongst the more far-sighted, to ‘build back better’. This means that decision making happens faster than normal. Gifted people come together for a limited time, usually less than two years, and are given extraordinary powers to get things done.
This book describes the work of these people and what happened in ten different disasters. The author visited all of these places and interviewed the main actors – politicians and local governors, engineers and scientists, people at the national, regional and local level, planners, business people and local residents.
From these case studies he draws lessons and describes tools to improve decision making, including how to provide the necessary information in a timely and cost effective way.