ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries Ju n e 199 7 / 403 Internet resources on disasters By Linda Musser and Lisa R ecupero Erupting now at a screen near you D isasters fascinate people. They inducefeelings of amazement and fear, and pro vide examples of courage, folly, and tragedy— in a sense, all the aspects of great drama. Di sasters are media events and frequently inspire Hollywood as most recently evidenced by the movies Twister, D a n te ’s P eak, and Volcano. Fo any or all of these reasons, disasters are also popular topics at the reference desk. Yet good, comprehensive, timely tools to answer “disas ter” questions are few to nonexistent. The In ternet has become one of the best reference tools available for questions relating to disas ters. We highlight here some of the premie Web sites on disasters that are useful in a refer ence setting. While there are many sites wit information about specific events (e.g., the Mt. St. Helens eruption), our focus is on those tha provide a broad view of disasters. First we de scribe “metasites” which cover multiple types of disasters, then we describe sources of disas ter information by the type of disaster. M etasites • E a rth w e e k . Subtitled “A Diary o f Planet,” this site uses maps and symbols to high light the location and type of natural and man made events on a weekly basis. In addition to disasters such as earthquakes, short entries de scribe other unusual events such as tempera ture e x tre m e s and wild anim al atta ck s. Earthweek is archived back to October 1995. Access: http://www.slip.net/~earthenv/. ­ ­ r ­ ­ ­ r ­ h t ­ ­ a ­ - ­ ­ • D isaster Relief. A joint Web site b e­ tween IBM, the American Red Cross, and CNN, this site brings together media coverage and additional data about world disasters. You can produce a custom list of news stories by type of disaster (building collapse, epidemic, tsu­ nami, etc.), by location and by date. Access: http://www.disasterrelief.org/. • HazardNet. A project of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, this site contains maps and information on recent events by type of disaster. A ccess: http://hoshi.cic. sfu.ca/~hazard/. • Severe W eather Data. The title of this site is deceptive, as it provides links to current watches, warnings, advisories, and bulletins for all types of natural disasters including torna­ does, wind, fog, flooding, sea ice, fire, earth­ quakes, avalanches, and more. Most postings are U.S. locations. A ccess: http://aspl.sbs.ohio state.edu/severetext.html. • In su ran ce In form ation Institute. This provides information on the worst worldwide disasters in terms of deaths and losses caused by earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and fires. There is also a “ten worst monetary losses in the U.S.” list under each category. Access: http://www.iii.org/media/CATAS.HTM. • ReliefWeb. ReliefWeb is a project of the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs. It provides information about ongoing emergencies and crises worldwide; some in­ formation about past crises is also available. Information includes situation reports detail­ ing the date, type, and extent of the disaster, maps, damage estimates, requests for assistance and donations, numbers of people affected, and more. Access: http://www.reliefweb.int/. Linda Musser is head o f the Earth and Mineral Sciences Library at Penn State University, e-mail: lrm4@psu.edu; Lisa Recupero is a librarian in the Earth and Mineral Sciences Library at Penn State, e-mail: lar14@psu.edu http://www.slip.net/~earthenv/ http://hoshi.cic http://aspl.sbs.ohio- http://www.iii.org/media/CATAS.HTM http://www.reliefweb.int/ mailto:lmi4@psu.edu mailto:larl4@psu.edu 4 0 4 / C&RL News • In te rn a tio n a l F ed eration o f Red C ross a n d Red C re sc e n t S ocieties. This site features reports o f activities, situation reports, and ap­ peals for assistance worldwide. It also includes the annual publication W orld D isasters Report, which analyzes humanitarian crises o f the past, present, and future in tables, text, and figures. Data include annual and historic disasters by date and country, number o f victims by coun­ try, and more. A ccess: http://www.ifrc.org. • V o lu n te e rs in T e c h n ic a l A ssista n ce (VITA). This site provides links to situation re­ ports o f natural and man-made disasters from countries that have requested support from VITA. It includes links to situation reports from other organizations as well. Access: http://www. vita.org/. • F e d e r a l E m e r g e n c y M a n a g e m e n t A gency. This site focuses on U.S. disasters. It provides extensive information about historic hurricanes and current disaster situations, fed­ erally declared disasters, news releases, radio spots, video clips, and fact sheets. A search­ able database, called the Global Emergency Management System, indexes disaster-related Web sites. A ccess: http://www.fema.gov/. • N atural H azards C en ter. This is th e best site for comprehensive information relating to natural disasters. Included are extensive quick response reports of both natural and man-made disasters, the full text o f many o f the center’s publications, lists o f organizations, and exten­ sive links to other Internet sites. Access: http:/ /www.Colorado.edu/hazards. • Y a h o o — D is a s te rs p a g e . Y a h o o ’s in­ dex to disaster links on the W eb is a useful compilation o f miscellaneous sources for di­ saster events. A ccess: http://www.yahoo.com/ Society_and_Culture/Environment_and_Nature/ Disasters/. M eteorological d isa ste rs M e ta sites • N a tio n a l S to rm P r e d ic tio n C e n te r. This site provides statistics on tornadoes and other severe storms including monthly totals and averages, and killer tornado statistics for the U.S. Its historical online archive contains data on tornadoes, hail, and convective winds. Statistics are given by state from the 1940s to 1995 for injuries, fatalities and costs, overall rankings, and more. Most files in the archive must be downloaded and unzipped. (For data after 1995 see the NCDC Web site, described below.) Access: http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/~spc/. • T o rn a d o a n d S to rm R e se a rc h O rgan ­ isation. TORRO, a private British research or­ g a n izatio n , has co m p iled lists o f all-tim e weather extremes for Britain for smog, precipi­ tation, wind, floods, and more, as well as an­ nual synopses o f severe weather events in Eu­ r o p e an d th e UK. A c c e s s : http:// www.torro.org.uk/. • USA T od ay W e a th e r Page. This site fea­ tures means, extremes, weather records, and recent weather highlights for locations around the world. It includes information and statistics on weather events such as hurricanes, torna­ does, water spouts, and severe storms. Excel­ lent explanations o f weather phenomena are also provided. A ccess: http://www.usatoday. com/weather/wfront.htm. Additional metasites for meteorological di­ sasters include the N ation al C lim atic D ata C e n te r for detailed reports o f extrem e U.S. w eath er ev en ts ( a c c e s s : http://w w w .ncdc. n o a a .g o v / ) and the S o c ie t a l A s p e c ts o f W e a th e r site which contains econom ic and casualty data for various weather phenomena ( access: http://www.dir.ucar.edu/esig/socasp/) . H u r r i c a n e s a n d t r o p ic a l st o rm s • H u rric a n e /T r o p ica l Data. The Purdue University Weather Processor provides storm track charts and text-based tables for storms in the Atlantic (from 1886) and the Eastern (from 1949) and Western (from 1945) Pacific. There is a composite chart for each season as well as for each individual storm. The site also pro­ vides extensive links to satellite and radar im­ agery. A cces s: http://wxp.atms.purdue.edu/ hurricane.html. • N ation al H u rrica n e C en ter. This site provides current and historic tropical cyclone, hurricane, and high seas data along with high wind/wave alerts and ocean weather for mari­ ners and aviators. A ccess: http://www.nhc. noaa.gov. • H u rrica n e s, T y p h o o n s, a n d T ro p ica l C yclo n es FAQ. This site provides lists o f the costliest, deadliest, longest, and most intense events as well as other records and data about tro p ica l storm s. A ccess: http://w w w .aom l. noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/tcfaqHED.html. D r o u g h t s a n d f l o o d s • N ational D rou gh t M itigation C en ter. This site contains links to current U.S. drought forecasts and advisories. Other data include moisture and vegetation indices, water supply http://www.ifrc.org http://www http://www.fema.gov/ http://www.yahoo.com/ http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/~spc/ http://www.torro.org.uk/ http://www.usatoday http://www.ncdc http://www.dir.ucar.edu/esig/socasp/ http://wxp.atms.purdue.edu/ http://www.nhc http://www.aoml Ju n e 1997 / 405 conditions, and global drought headlines. The “Drought Climatology” section has more than 100 years of U.S. drought data mapped and graphed. Access: http://enso.unl.edu/ndmc. • D artm outh Flood O bservatory. The “Flood Archive” has a worldwide index map, report summaries, and a table that displays the start and end date, number of deaths, damage estimates, and amount of land impacted for flood events from 1994 to the present. The site also provides numerous satellite images of flood ev en ts. A c c e s s : h ttp:/ / w w w .d artm outh . edu/artsci/geog/floods/. T orn a d o es a n d s e v e r e storm s • The T o rn a d o P r o je c t O nlin e. This commercial site links to descriptions of current (and some historic) tornado events in the U.S. Top ten lists of tornadoes by number of deaths, size, etc., are provided. It also contains an ex­ planation of the Fujita tornado intensity scale. Access: http://www.tornadoproject.com/. • The Storm C h a se r H om ep age. This site is usually one of the first to post eyewit­ ness accounts of severe weather events occur­ ring in the U.S. It is also a good source for images of tornadoes and severe storms. Access: http://taiga.geog.niu.edu/chaser/chaser.html. Lightning a n d wild fires • N ational Lightning Safety Institute (NLSI). NLSI is a nonprofit research organiza­ tion whose site contains lightning safety infor­ mation, statistics on losses and damage caused by lightning, and quick lightning facts. Access: http://www.lightningsafety.com/. • National Interagency Fire Center. This site features wildland fire information for the U .S. It in clu d es weekly incident re­ ports by region, sum­ maries o f previous fire season statistics including the largest fires of that season, plus ten-year aver­ ages for fires. Access: http://www.nifc.gov. G eo p hysical disasters E a rth q u a k es, tsunam is, a n d a ste ro id s • N a tio n a l E a rth q u a k e I n f o rm a tio n Center. This is the site for information and maps on the latest earthquakes to occur on the globe. It features lists of the largest, deadliest, and costliest earthquakes, an interactive database that produces customized reports, and much more. Access: http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/. • Asteroid and Com et Im pact Hazards. This site contains a list of upcom­ ing close encoun­ ters with aster­ oids. It also has an image gallery of impact craters and other infor­ mation relating to cometary and asteroid impacts. Access: http:// ccf.arc.nasa.gov/sst/. • The IRIS C onsortium . IRIS is a univer­ sity research consortium that collects and dis­ tributes seismic data. A clickable epicenter map supplies information on events that have oc­ curred in the last 30 days. Detailed event-spe cific data files and maps are available via the IRIS SPYDER database for events since Octo­ ber 1996. A ccess: http://widow.iris.washing ton.edu/HQ/HQ.htm. • R ecent Seismic Events Bulletins. This site is part of the UN Prototype International Data Centre for monitoring the Global Test Ban Treaty. Bulletins can be displayed in various formats and by various seismic detection meth­ ods. An interactive epicenter map can be cus­ tomized by location, time, projection, etc. A c cess: h ttp://www.cdidc.org:65120/web-bin/ recentevents. • Tsunam i. This site provides access to information on tsunami events as well as ac­ cess to near-real time events via a link to the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. Access: http://www.geophys.washington.edu/ tsunami/welcome.html. V o lca no es • M ichigan T e ch n o lo g ica l U niversity Volcanoes H om epage. This site offers excep­ tional information on current volcanic activity, remote sensing images of volcanoes, and links to other volcano-related Web sites. The cover­ age includes location/geological setting, topo­ graphic maps and air photos, meteorology, type of edifice, petrology, eruption history, bibliog­ raphy, and images for indexed volcanoes. A c cess: http://www.geo.mtu.edu/volcanoes/. • V olcan o W orld. Check out “What is erupting now” to see lists of current volcanic activity and information on the eruptions. You can also access images of volcanoes by region http://enso.unl.edu/ndmc http://www.dartmouth http://www.tornadoproject.com/ http://taiga.geog.niu.edu/chaser/chaser.html http://www.lightningsafety.com/ http://www.nifc.gov http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/ http://widow.iris.washing http://www.cdidc.org:65120/web-bin/ http://www.geophys.washington.edu/ 4 0 6 / C&RL News and on other planets. If you need help with a M a ss m ovem ents • C yberspace Snow and Avalanche Cen­ te r. This site provides current conditions and avalanche bulletins for mountainous regions all over the world as well as an incident report table for the current season that includes loca­ tion, fatalities, activity that sparked the event, and more. There are also numerous statistics and an archive of eye-witness accounts and re­ ports. Access: http://www.csac.org/. • W estwide A valanche N etwork. Main­ tained by the American Association of Ava­ lanche Professionals, this site contains exten­ sive information on current and past avalanche seasons, detailed accident reports, and a photo library o f avalanche events. A ccess: http:// www.avalanche.org/toc.htm. • N ational Landslide In fo rm atio n Cen­ te r. This site provides access to factsheets, re­ ports, and images o f specific U.S. landslide events. Access: http://geohazards.cr.usgs.gov/ html_files/nlicsun.html. Biological d isasters D i s e a s e s • N ation al C e n te r f o r In fectiou s Dis­ eases. Maintained by the U.S. Centers for Dis­ ease Control, this site provides information about existing and new or emerging infectious diseases. Lists of diseases and information about them are provided. Most useful is the section called “Traveler’s Health,” which contains information about disease outbreaks by occurrence and by geographic region. A ccess: http:// www.cdc.gov/ncidod/ncid.htm. rnet • O u tb reak s. Provided by the World Health Organization, this site summarizes disease outbreaks around b list of the world and includes disease fact blished sheets and health information for trav­ peared. elers. A ccess: http://www.who.ch/ .ala.org/ outbreak/outbreak_home.html. source. F a m in es • Global Inform ation and Early W arn ing System o n Food an d Ag­ 7 riculture. Maintained by the Food and 1997 Agriculture Organization o f the United 97 Nations, this site provides information 1996 on world food supplies, prices, food 1996 shortages, and crop damages, both 996 currently and in the recent past. A c­ r 1996 cess: http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/ st 1996 F A O IN F O / E C O N O M IC / g ie w s / english/giews.htm. stumper volcano reference question, visit the 101 Frequently Asked Questions in the “Ask a v o lc a n o lo g is t” s e c tio n . A c c e s s : http:// volcano.und.nodak.edu/vw.html. • T h e E le c tro n ic V o lca n o . Hosted by Dartmouth College, this site maintains an ex­ cellent bibliography of volcanological literature. An index page provides links to information by volcano name or by country. Access: http:// www.dartmouth.edu/~volcano/ • USGS V olcano O bservatories. The U.S. Geological Survey has a series of regional vol­ cano observatories in the Pacific Rim which are excellent for locating regional volcanic infor­ mation. They include the C ascades Volcano O b serv ato ry for volcanoes in the Cascade Range including extensive information on Mt. St. Helens and its eruptions ( a c cess: http:// vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/); the A lask a V o lca n o O bservatory for volcanoes along the Aleu­ tian arc ( a c c ess: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/); and the H awaiian V olcano O bservatory for H aw aiian arc v o lc a n o e s ( a c c e s s : http:// hvo.wr.usgs.gov/). There are numerous sites about volcanoes on the Web. A few others of note include the S m ith son ian ’s Global V olcanism P ro g ra m ( access: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/gvp/), Italy’s Volcanoes ( access: http://www.geomar.de/per sonal/bbehncke/STROMBOLI.html), and the Vol c a n i c H o m e p a g e ( a c c e s s : http://ww w . aist.go.jp/GSJ/~ jdehn/v-home.htm). C&RL N ew s—your link to Inte resources C&RL News publishes a monthly print and We Internet resources by topic. Here are articles pu during the past year and the issues in which they ap When the articles are posted to the Web (http://www acrl/resrces.html) hypertext links are made to each Topic Issue Grants and foundations May 1997 Classical studies April 1997 Environmental resources March 199 Journalism and communications February Ready reference January 19 Chemistry resources December Gay and lesbian studies November American and international studies October 1 1996 election resources Septembe Biology resources July/Augu Agriculture resources June 1996 http://www.dartmouth.edu/~volcano/ http://www.avo.alaska.edu/ http://www.nmnh.si.edu/gvp/ http://www.geomar.de/per- http://www http://www.ala.org/ http://www.csac.org/ http://www.avalanche.org/toc.htm http://geohazards.cr.usgs.gov/ http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/ncid.htm http://www.who.ch/ http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/ Ju n e 1997 / 407 • W orld Food P rogram m e (WFP). The WFP Em ergency Reports provides weekly up­ dates on WFP emergency operations. The site also includes historic food aid statistics, trans­ portation and logistics statistics, and vulnerabil­ ity assessment maps for crisis areas. Access: http://www.wfp.org/. • M igratory Pests. This site tracks infor­ mation about migratory pests such as the desert locust. It maintains situation reports and maps of infes­ ta tio n s . A c c e s s : http:// fa o w fs 0 a.fao.org / w w w . f a o . o r g / W A I C E N T / FA O IN FO /A G R IC U LT/ AG P / AGP P / L o c u s t s / Default.htm. Technological disasters A ccid en ts • N a ti o n a l T r a n s p o r t a t i o n S a fe ty Board. This offers data on accidents in the U.S., current and historic, by transportation mode— aviation, highway, marine, rail, pipeline— and hazardous materials. Access: http://www.ntsb. gov/. Other sites of note related to transportation disasters include Major Airline Disasters for information on worldwide events ( access: http: //www.infosites.net/dnet/dnetGOjg/Disasters. htm), and the Aviation Accident Site which contains radar images and cockpit voice record­ in gs ( a c c e s s : h ttp :/ / m em b ers.ao l.com / chrisk747/index.html). • E m e r g e n c y R e sp o n se N o tifica tio n System. This site, maintained by the U.S. En­ vironmental Protection Agency, features a da­ tabase of hazardous substance releases in the United States. It contains information and facts on types of spills, where spills occurred, the top ten spills, numbers of spills by location, and so on. Access: http://www.epa.gov/ERNS/ index.html. • U n ited States F ire A d m in istra tio n . This site maintains detailed statistics on urban fires in the U.S. from 1985 to the present. A c­ cess: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/who.htm. T e r r o r is m a n d w a r • The T errorism R esearch Center. This site contains terrorist profiles, a calendar of sig­ nificant dates for terrorist activities, and links to sites containing descriptions of terrorist inci­ dents and travel advisories. A ccess: http: //www.terrorism.com/terrorism/index.html. • Bom b Data Center. The FBI maintains a repository of bomb incident data which are summarized here with data on U.S. incidents since 1990. Access: http://www.fbi.gov/lab/ bomsum/eubdc.htm. . United Nations High C om m ission er fo r Refugees. This site offers various data on refugee populations from 1985 onward. Access: http://www.unhcr.ch. ■ C&RL N ew s 30th anniversary quiz Here is the next install­ 2. W hat is o n e often un ap preciated ro le o f ment of the C&RL News an academic librarian? 30th anniversary quiz. Test your recollection 3 . W hat is o n e d raw back o f co m p a ct shelv of events that have been reported in the News ing? since 1966. 4 . W hen did th e ERIC Clearinghouse on 1. How m an y books did th e earthquake Information Resources move to Syracuse which hit Guam on August 9, 1993 (mea University? suring 8.2 on the Richter scale) knock off 5. W hat w as th e title o f th e b ook w ith the the shelves at the University of Guam li­ earliest imprint to go into space? What brary? book was the first to orbit the earth? Answers: 1. 90,000 books (90% of the collection) (October 1993). 2. Student retention (December 1995). 3. Com pact shelving limits accessibility, especially in heavily used parts of the collection (January 1993). 4. January 1, 1977 (April 1977). 5. Aphorisms (March 1985) and The Deserted Village (July/August 1985). http://www.wfp.org/ http://www.ntsb http://www.infosites.net/dnet/dnetGOjg/Disasters http://members.aol.com/ http://www.epa.gov/ERNS/ http://www.usfa.fema.gov/who.htm http://www.fbi.gov/lab/ http://www.unhcr.ch