Natural Hazards Research & Applications Information

The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, resulted in a disaster that was unusual in U.S. experience in a number of ways: the densely developed and populated disaster site (in New York City); the type of buildings and infrastructure that were damaged; the fact that the disaster was the result of an intentional act; and the sheer scope of the emergency response that was needed. These characteristics provided an unprecedented opportunity for the natural hazard research community to help better understand what happened through programs such as the University of Colorado at Boulder's Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center's Quick Response research program and the National Science Foundation's Small Grants for Exploratory Research. Both programs enabled scholars to enter the field quickly to collect perishable data in the days and weeks after September 11th.

This volume collects the findings, lessons, and recommendations of this post-September 11 disaster research. Consisting of 20 selections by researchers who received grants to investigate questions that arose in the wake of the disaster, each piece takes a distinct view on topics ranging from engineering to behavioral science. Also included are a summary of what this post-September 11th research tells us, an overview of "quick response" as a research method, and a report of the preliminary observations made by researchers and first responders at a workshop held only a few months after the disaster.