Press Release: University of Memphis Awarded Federal Grant to Increase Disaster Resistance
The University of Memphis and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency have been awarded a $100,000 Disaster Resistant University (DRU) grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Memphis DRU project team received notification on September 9 of the award, which will be used to assess and prioritize risks and mitigation strategies for the University and surrounding community.
Dr. Arch Johnston, Director of the University’s Center for Earthquake Research and Information and primary coordinator of local DRU activities said, “this project will greatly increase our understanding of the vulnerability of the diverse University community to multiple hazards and will hopefully serve as a springboard for future federal funds to help pay for necessary structural improvements.” Dr. Johnston has been working to secure DRU status for the University since the inception of the federal program in 1998.
DRU is a matching grant program begun by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help universities improve life safety and continuity of operations in the event of a natural disaster. A second phase of the project provides funding on a competitive basis for the implementation of phase 1 recommendations. The first 6 DRU participants were awarded $100,000 in 2000 and include the University of California/Berkeley, Tulane University, University of Alaska/Fairbanks, University of Miami, University of North Carolina/Wilmington, and the University of Washington/Seattle. The University of Miami was awarded $2.7 million in April of 2004 to begin strengthening facilities and infrastructure identified as “risky” in the first phase of the program. “This important funding will help protect nearly $120 million in University assets from hurricane and storm damage,” said University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala.
The University of Memphis DRU project is a multi-disciplinary effort with faculty and staff members from the Departments of Earth Science, Civil Engineering, and Business and Economics, as well as the Vice-Provost of Research, Andrew Meyers, Vice President of Business and Finance, Charles Lee, and the University Crisis Management Team. Project oversight is provided by State and local emergency management officials, private sector contingency planners and the Central United State Earthquake Consortium, a multi-state planning agency for large-scale disasters.
Assessment of Social Vulnerability for the University of Memphis
By A. A. Hill
Vulnerability is a term that means many things to many people. For the purposes of this study we will first speak of vulnerability in its most generalized way—the potential for loss. Mileti (1999) provides a more complex definition of the term, which suggests that vulnerability is a measure of the ability to weather, resist, and recover from the impacts of a hazard. There are also multiple types of vulnerability: individual, social, and biophysical (Hill and Cutter, 2001). The consideration of specific buildings and infrastructure is an example of individual vulnerability; the structural integrity and the likelihood of damage in the event of a hazard. Social vulnerability considers the characteristics of a population, which makes it more or less susceptible to the impacts or consequences of a hazard occurrence. The vulnerability of a selected community based on demographic, economic, and other social characteristics is an example of social vulnerability. Finally, biophysical vulnerability is the initiating event that we speak of generally as the hazard occurrence. In reality each of these vulnerabilities operate together to impact locations and people who reside in these locations. The integration of biophysical, individual, and social vulnerabilities require understanding the nature of the threats, the communities and locations impacted by the threats, as well as structural mitigation and building maintenance protocol. This integration can happen in a number of ways; in this project we will employ the hazards of place model of vulnerability developed by Cutter and others (Cutter 1996, Cutter et al. 2003). The model suggests that place (for our purposes – the University of Memphis) is a natural integration mechanism. A schematic of the hazards of place model considered biophysical and social vulnerability. The U of M DRU Team will integrate individual vulnerability as well.