Special Issue "Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of Weather-Related Disasters: The Role of Exposure and Awareness"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Hazards and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Katerina Papagiannaki
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Environmental Research & Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, Thissio 11810, Greece
Interests: My major research interests lie in the area of weather-related hazards and societal impacts of climate and weather-related phenomena. Currently, my work involves societal impact assessment and statistical modeling, the development and analysis of databases of high-impact weather events and associated societal impacts and human fatalities in Greece and the Mediterranean area, and the design and analysis of behavioral surveys, outreach activities for the website www.meteo.gr
Dr. Michalis Diakakis
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli Zografou, GR15784 Athens, Greece
Interests: floods and other climate-related hazards; flood hydrology; human interaction with disasters; flood mortality & impacts
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Weather-related natural hazards such as floods, storms, landslides, and wildfires can lead to disasters with significant human and economic losses depending on the hazard magnitude, as well as on social and human vulnerability, human behavior, and activities that increase exposure by disregarding local hazardous conditions. The recording, analysis, and assessment of the various impacts in relation to these factors allow for a deeper understanding of the preparedness and resilience processes, leading potentially to improvements in emergency response.

Building on the on-going research on the socio-economic impacts of natural disasters and the factors that affect their occurrence and magnitude, this Special Issue focuses on the role of exposure, namely, of behavioral, preparedness, and demographic factors, as well as on awareness-raising approaches, including early warning and social networking.

Therefore, we are interested in papers that address:

  • Qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches in assessing the direct socio-economic impacts of weather-related disasters, such as human fatalities, property damages, psycho-social effects, economic losses, and transportation;
  • The relationship between the impact magnitude and exposure factors (e.g., socio-demographics, urbanization, buildings and infrastructure sensitivity);
  • The role and effect of awareness strategies, early warning approaches, and social networking on communities’ preparedness and emergency response to weather-related hazards;
  • Perception of risk and risk mitigation initiatives associated with weather-related hazards.

This Special Issue is expected to contribute to the fields of methodological recording and assessment of socio-economic impacts of weather-related disasters, and to the study of the exposure and awareness effects. Within this aim, interdisciplinary original research articles highlighting new ideas, review articles, study approaches, and innovations are welcomed

Dr. Katerina Papagiannaki
Dr. Michalis Diakakis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • socio-economic impact
  • weather-related disasters
  • exposure
  • awareness
  • community response

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Characteristics of Indoor Flood Fatalities: Evidence from Greece
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8612; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158612 - 02 Aug 2021
Viewed by 352
Abstract
Despite the important advances in flood forecasting and protection, floods remain one of the most lethal types of natural hazards. Previous works have explored several factors influencing the risks of flooding to human life and health. However, there is limited research and understanding [...] Read more.
Despite the important advances in flood forecasting and protection, floods remain one of the most lethal types of natural hazards. Previous works have explored several factors influencing the risks of flooding to human life and health. However, there is limited research and understanding on indoor flood fatalities and the circumstances under which they occur. This study explores victim-, building-, and situation-related characteristics in order to provide a better understanding of the conditions that lead to flood-related indoor deaths, exploiting a fatality database developed for Greece (1960–2020). The correlation analysis showed that indoor victims, compared with outdoor ones, tend to be older individuals, with high percentages of disabilities. A significant statistical association of the building material, roof type, and distance from the river with the building collapse was also found. The profile of the buildings in which flood fatality occurred was further compared with that of neighboring non-fatal buildings that were inhabited during the flood events. The statistical results indicated that the buildings with a fatality occurrence are mostly single-storey structures, made from masonry as the main building material. The findings have practical implications in risk communication and mitigation in terms of identifying the specific populations, circumstances, settings, and mechanisms that lead to dangerous indoor situations during flooding events. Full article
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