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Preparedness

The knowledge and capacities developed by governments, response and recovery organizations, communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to and recover from the impacts of likely, imminent or current disasters.

Preparedness action is carried out within the context of disaster risk management and aims to build the capacities needed to efficiently manage all types of emergencies.

This theme covers aspects related to preparedness, contingency planning, disaster response plans, prevention, anticipatory action.

What’s the difference between disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster risk management (DRM)?

Latest Preparedness additions in the Knowledge Base

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Update
Patterns in industrial accidents: lessons for emergency response

The central lesson from CSB investigations is that uncertainty during emergencies follow recognizable patterns: Incidents begin during routine work, then failures cascade. Escalation outpaces response and safeguards can be unreliable.

Domestic Preparedness
Panoramic aerial view of Campo Mourão, Brazil, storm clouds gathering
Update
Building South America's first regional severe weather forecasting programme

Five South American countries are joining forces under a new regional forecasting programme to improve severe weather warnings across the La Plata Basin.

World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Update
Guam, CNMI suffer impacts from second super typhoon in just 83 days

As Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) braced for impacts from a second super typhoon in less than three months, the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) joined regional preparedness coordination and relief efforts.

Pacific Disaster Center
rds enhancing nature-based solutions in flood risk management in Australia: A review of their barriers, enablers, and future perspectives thumbnail
Documents and publications
Towards enhancing nature-based solutions in flood risk management in Australia: A review of their barriers, enablers, and future perspectives

This paper aims to review and synthesise the current state of knowledge on NbS for FRM in Australia, with a particular focus on identifying key barriers, enablers, and future directions.

Journal of Flood Risk Management (Wiley)
gas in the air
Research briefs
Urgent cuts to global greenhouse gas emissions needed to avoid worst sea-level rise flooding in the UK, study shows

A pioneering study has revealed that by the turn of the next century at least half a million more people in the UK will be exposed to risk of coastal flooding – a 25% increase compared to now.

University of Bristol
Wildfire burning land, photograph taken from above
Update
Igniting change: 5 AI innovations to help extinguish wildfire risks

Artificial intelligence (AI) has had some bad press. However, AI is also showing its value as a transformative technology that could change the way we manage threats. One such threat is wildfire. Discover AI innovations in managing wildfire risk.

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
Update
Podcast – Prepared before the storm: Coordinating transportation resources across State lines

Transportation resilience depends as much on coordination as infrastructure. Josh Rodriguez of AASHTO explains why effective preparedness begins long before a disaster occurs and how formal mutual aid transforms emergency response into planned capability.

Domestic Preparedness
Mobile phone base station on a rooftop.
Blog
Emirhan Duman
Why disaster risk management needs an offline-first communication layer
This author's message to disaster risk management professionals is simple: treat communication as lifeline infrastructure and plan for redundancy, just as we do for water, power and shelter.
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