This book presents a model for effective disaster management decision-making and offers tools to help manage recovery. It draws lessons from ten different disasters throughout the world, detailing the successes as well as failures in each region.

Introduction.- Part I Tools.- Review of disaster recovery.- Disaster management decision making.- Long term planning.- Involving stakeholders and communities.- Tools for decision makers.- Part II Case studies.- Iran – 2003 Bam earthquake (planned trip Feb 2014).- Thailand – 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami (field trip Feb 2009).- Pakistan – 2005 Kashmir earthquake (field trip May 2008).- China – 2008 Sichuan earthquake (field trip Feb 2012).- Italy – L’Aquila earthquake (field trip Mar 2012).- Chile – 2010 Maule earthquake (field trip Sep 2011).- New Zealand – 2011 Christchurch earthquake (field trip Jan 2012 ).- Turkey – 2011 Van earthquake (field trip Sep 2012).- Japan –2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami (field trip Jun 2013).- USA – 2005 Hurricane Katrina (planned trip May 2014).- Part III Main lessons.- Recommendations for national governments.

There is little in-depth understanding of the processes at play after a major disaster and there is no comprehensive text that compares so many different places that have experienced a major disaster to see what they have in common and to document their successes and failures.Time is compressed after a disaster. There is an urgency to bring relief and to `get back to normal’ – to rebuild livelihoods, clear up the debris, repair the damage and, amongst the more far-sighted, to `build back better’. This means that decision making happens faster than normal. Gifted people come together for a limited time, usually less than two years, and are given extraordinary powers to get things done.This book describes the work of these people and what happened in ten different disasters. The author visited all of these places and interviewed the main actors – politicians and local governors, engineers and scientists, people at the national, regional and local level, planners, business people and local residents.From these case studies he draws lessons and describes tools to improve decision making, including how to provide the necessary information in a timely and cost effective way.

Draws lessons from wide variety of cases in many different countiesDescribes the successes and failures in each placePresents a model for effective disaster management decision-makingProvides tools to help manage recovery and plan reconstructionWill be of interest to both practitioners and academics