Farnaz Mahdavian

• Master of Engineering
• PhD Student at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Objectives: To explore and evaluate the impact of factors including public risk perceptions on COVID-19 protective behaviors across the UK and Germany. Methods: We used survey data collected from a representative sample for Germany and the UK (total N = 1,663) between April and May 2021. Using a Structural Equation Model, we evaluate the role of pe...

Participation is an often-demanded process in disaster risk reduction (DRR). However, it is often unclear who understands what under this term. International organizations such as the United Nations have promoted participation in their DRR strategies since the 1980s, but further research is needed on its opportunities and limitations. Here we highl...

This paper reports on people's preparedness, perception and behaviour of flood risk as well as their trust and attitude towards public authorities in the flood context. Two areas were studied: Catcliffe, situated near Sheffield in the United Kingdom, which was severely flooded in 2007, and Passau in Bavaria, Germany, which was hit by an extreme flo...

This paper examines recovery after major floods in the UK and Germany. It focuses on two areas that were badly hit by flooding: Catcliffe, near Sheffield in the UK, and Passau in Bavaria, Germany. It reports on surveys of residents and businesses in each place and on surveys of national flood experts in both countries. The two events were comparabl...

Although infrequent, power outages can cause major disruption and incur huge costs. The increasing demand for electricity, more extreme weather events and the possibility of cyber-attack are increasing the risk of blackouts. This paper reports using scenario planning and role-playing exercises with German and French university students to investiga...

Bangladesh suffers frequent natural disasters and is highly vulnerable to floods and tropical storms. The frequency and severity of floods is rising and there is an increasing the need for effective disaster management and mitigation measures. The riverine floods of 2004 had disastrous consequences for people, property and the economy of Bangladesh...

The floods of 2014 originated in the Kashmir valley in India and spread to the Eastern provinces of Pakistan as the River Jhelum burst its banks. Lack of flood prevention measures, early-warning systems and weak recovery planning processes were cited as chief reasons for the disaster impacts. Agriculture and tourism were the worst affected sectors...

This article describes the definition and characteristics of borderland resilience studies as an academic field, and precisely its core phenomenon, major themes or components and challenges. The phenomenon of borderland resilience is firstly defined. The results of empirical studies complete the conceptual description. Finally, the article proposes...

In 2013 the Philippines Typhoon Haiyan was the most severe natural catastrophe experienced by the Philippines in recorded history and it devastated the Eastern Visayas region of the central Philippines, including the provincial capital of Tacloban. There were 7,354 fatalities, 4.1 million people were displaced, over 16 million people were affected...

In November 2017 Vietnam was hit by Typhoon Damrey, a strong Category 2 tropical cyclone. Vietnam suffers three or four storms a year. What was unusual about Damrey was that it took a more southerly track and hit the Province of Khánh Hòa, killing 142 people in Vietnam. The main damage was to housing and agriculture. Over 118,000 homes were damaged...

The important role of (re)insurance in the speed of physical and economic recovery after a major disaster, especially when there is little to no coverage due to unavailability, insufficient capacity or lack of take up (predominantly because of economic reasons), has not really been studied in detail. The (re)insurance industry tends to focus on the...

The important role of (re)insurance in the speed of physical and economic recovery after a major disaster, especially when there is little to no coverage due to unavailability, insufficient capacity or lack of take up (predominantly because of economic reasons), has not really been studied in detail. The (re)insurance industry tends to focus on the...

Resilience to disasters depends on measures taken before, during and after the occurrence of adverse events. These measures require interactions between people belonging to different organizations (public, private, nonprofit) and citizens in normal and stressful situations. The efficiency of resilience measures results from the collective interacti...

After a disaster, tourism declines and tourist stakeholders suffer because tourists cancel their reservations and choose to go elsewhere. A key part of managing recovery of tourism destinations is restoring the destination image and reputation which can be affected by negative or inaccurate media coverage. This paper reports the results of surveys...

During disasters, every second can be decisive but most people are unable to think clearly, and their decision-making is often illogical and irrational, or at best sub-optimal. In Japan, after the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) and tsunami in 2011, survival was largely determined by timely evacuation. Evacuation procedures are highly developed...

Many factors have an influence on people's behavior in a disaster, either at the time or during recovery process: age and gender, marital status, children, education, social networks, native to area or not, disaster experience, awareness of hazard and preparedness. All these affect the level of risk, the probability of casualty and the capacity to...

Many factors have an influence on people’s behavior in a disaster: age and gender, marital status, children, education, social networks, native to area or not, disaster experience, awareness of hazard and preparedness. All these affect the level of risk, the probability of casualty and the capacity to recover. During disasters, every second can be...

This study develops a new model for crowd evacuation simulation during catastrophic events such as the massive tsunami due to the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. The numerical model is based on swarm intelligence and is able to predict human losses. The proposed model is applied to a case study of evacuation analysis in Yuriage area, Natori city, Miyagi Pr...