Tricia Wachtendorf has been at the scene of numerous catastrophes, including New York City after the 9/11 attacks and areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. Yet what struck the associate director of UD’s Disaster Research Center most about Japan’s Tohoku Tsunami was its “combined enormity and complexity.”

“The tsunami directly hit three prefectures, wiping out the built environment in many cities,” Wachtendorf said. “They were very difficult to reach. There was so much debris to deal with. There were so many people to relocate. Add to all of this the ongoing nuclear crisis at Fukushima. The nuclear meltdown in addition to the already devastating event had real consequences to the response, how people made sense of the event, and the recovery.”

Together with Kathleen Tierney of the University of Colorado, the UD team recently co-authored the emergency shelter and housing section of a new international report on the disaster, published by the Earthquake Emergency Research Institute (EERI). (Download a pdf of the report here.) Wachtendorf and doctoral student Rochelle Brittingham continue to work closely with colleagues in Japan. Their initial visit in June 2011 was funded by the National Science Foundation and was followed by two additional field research trips. Wachtendorf is returning to the affected areas this summer.

Although one might think the most unforgettable aspect of such an immense disaster would be negative, Wachtendorf said she will always remember making a towel into the shape of an elephant alongside women staying in a shelter.

“It was an effort by a group of volunteers from Kobe to give the women something meaningful to do to occupy their time — pay them for making the craft and raise money for disaster relief by selling the craft in other areas of Japan,” she explained. “It was a wonderful informal way to hear about their experiences in the shelter and thoughts on the early recovery. Plus, let’s just say that sewing is not my strong point! The women patiently helped me, I’m sure laughed many times at my lack of ability, and demonstrated a real human side to the issues we were studying.”

Among the most important lessons to be learned from Japan’s experience: communities were well versed in tsunami evacuation procedure, holding evacuation drills in much the same way fire drills are held in U.S. schools.

“Lives were surely saved as a result. I’m not sure how well some communities in the U.S. would do in similar circumstances,” she notes.

Planning for and assisting people with disabilities in a disaster remains a major need.

“It’s easy to think of people with disabilities as a homogenous group, but there are so many different considerations for different families,” she says. “Working with these potential victims and survivors is essential, both in understanding what the needs are and how best to address them.”