Recent disasters, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, bomb explosions in London, Hurricane Katrina, the Pakistan Earthquake, floods in Central America, and landslides in Indonesia, among many others, have resulted in an extensive loss of life, social disruption, significant economic impacts to local and national economies, and have made headline news in countries throughout the world. Thus the Handbook of Disaster Research is a timely and much needed contribution to the field of disasters. The editors of this Handbook have brought together a comprehensive and...