United Arab Emirates: disaster management with regard to rapid onset natural disasters
Abstract
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has more exposure to natural hazards than has been previously recognized. In the last 20 years the UAE has been subject to earthquakes, landslides, floods and tropical storms. This chapter examines the structure and procedures for management of natural disasters in the UAE, in particular issues of governance, accountability and communication within states that are part of a federal system. The study involved interviews with officials at both federal and emirate levels and case studies are presented of the impact of recent natural hazard events. Two emirates were selected for more detailed examination, Fujairah the most hazard prone and a rural emirate and Dubai which is a highly urbanized emirate which has undergone rapid development. There is now increasing awareness of natural hazards in the UAR and progress is being made at regional and federal levels. There needs to be a clear delineation between regional and federal roles and an understanding of the need for effective channels of information to relevant agencies.Citation
Dhanhani, Al Ghasyah H., Duncan, A.M. and Chester, D.K. (2010) 'United Arab Emirates: disaster management with regard to rapid onset natural disasters', in Asimakopoulou,E. and Bessis, N. (eds.) Advanced ICTs for disaster management and threat detection: collaborative and distributed frameworks. Philadelphia: ICG Global, pp.65-79.Publisher
IGI GlobalAdditional Links
http://www.igi-global.com/chapter/united-arab-emirates/44844Type
Book chapterLanguage
enISBN
9781615209873ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.4018/978-1-61520-987-3.ch005