The Morning Briefing: Disaster relief, Japanese resilience, tourism

"The Morning Briefing" is SmartPlanet's daily roundup of must-reads from the web. This morning we're reading about disaster relief efforts and the after-effects.

1.) Japan and lessons in resilience. As a consequence of recent and serious natural disasters, the world has been paying more attention to the loss of life through these events. Over 100 million people experience floods each year, and roughly 370 million live in earthquake-prone cities. In Japan, many of its citizens are alive today because of early-warning systems, safety drills, and a strong emphasis on disaster-risk reduction in the school curriculum.

2.) AT&T business continuity study reveals local businesses preparing for unexpected disasters, investing in mobile security. South Florida, as an area constantly hit by strong storms, know well of the importance of communication during unexpected disasters or threats. In response to this, AT&T have conducted a full-scale disaster recovery simulation where Hurricane Katrina first made landfall -- and collected data on how mobile security measures are being taken.

3.) Should Japan's disasters prompt a radical rethink of its citizens' quality of life? What can we do to limit the kind of damage and destruction the Japanese earthquake and subsequent nuclear reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant caused from assaulting a region of a country again? Was 'blind faith' in economic growth at any cost a factor that contributed to the damage of Tohoku?

4.) Kerala identified for setting up World Bank cyclone shelter homes. Under a pilot scheme of the World Bank-supported National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Scheme, Kerala has been identified for establishing three new cyclone shelter homes.

5.) U.S. first responders, medical infrastructure not prepared for reactor crisis. One year after the Fukushima reactor crisis in Japan, according to a recent report from Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), no significant progress has been achieved in improving the ability of first responders and medical professionals to react to disasters on a similar scale in the United States.

Titled "Nuclear Power And Public Health: Lessons From Fukushima, Still Dangerously Unprepared," the report notes: "Existing U.S. emergency preparedness drills do not consider prolonged station blackout, severe regional natural disasters, or multi-reactor events."

Bonus: Volunteerism flourishes in disaster-hit areas of Japan.

Bonus: One Year After Japan's Disaster: Toyota’s Prius C Plant Symbolizes Recovery.

Image credit: Navy

Related:

• Mark yourself safe after natural disasters on Facebook
• The plastic legacy of Great East Japan tsunami debris
• Listen to Japan's 9.0 earthquake
• A year after Fukushima, how life in Japan has changed
• Fukushima’s Lesson: ‘Alternative’ nuclear, not ‘no’ nuclear
• Asian Super Grid: How Japan’s anti-nuclear plan could go nuclear

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com