Hello and thanks for doing this AMA!

You mention the ritualization of disaster recovery, and I'm curious if this process evolved in different ways in different religious traditions in the US. Were the responses to hurricanes notably different in pre-dominantly Catholic parts of the US compared to Protestant ones for example?

Thanks for doing this AMA! Did the uncovering of historical disasters like the buried cities of Herculaneum & Pompeii impact how contemporary cultures thought of disasters?

Are there any patterns in the remembrance of disasters, such as large-scale fires that laid waste to cities and towns, in the 19th century? Did they shape the way Americans understand and remember local disasters today?

Hi! Thanks for coming here to answer our questions. While we normally associate disasters with natural disasters, would it be fair to say that man-made disasters gained increasing prominence in the 19th century?

Today we have a very advanced warning system for hurricanes, and can know with days, sometimes weeks advance notice when one is going to hit and roughly where, allowing preparation and evacuations.

In the 19th century and earlier, what methods or warning signs were people attuned to to try and predict such things coming, and how far in advance would it be that they could see what was coming?

Looks like the conversation has fizzled out. Thanks so much for joining me. Here's the book: https://www.amazon.com/Inventing-Disaster-Calamity-Jamestown-Johnstown/dp/146965251X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=kierner&qid=1589383959&sr=8-1

Stay safe and sane!

What was happening with exploding steamboats?

Are there any reliable accounts regarding Native American --specifically Great Plains -- responses to disasters like Tornados?

You say the we've evolved a ritualised process, so I am curious as to the existence of this phenomenon in a society that predates the Colombian exchange.

Hi prof. Thanks for doing this your book sounds very interesting to me and I will be getting it. Will you be writing more covering late nineteenth and and first half 20th century disaster events or could you provide some direction on where to go looking for this sort of information?

18th and especially 19th century Europeans (especially in England) loved rubbernecking on other people's accidents. Drowning, hot air balloon accidents, runaway trains...they were all the rage in newspapers. At least, reading about other people's accidents was all the rage. Scholars generally interpret this excitement or fascination as a coping mechanism.

Did you find any discussion/investigation of disasters following the same pattern, or spurred by it?

Hi Professor! A quick question for you, as an emergency manager, I’ve had to look at a lot of case studies of modern disasters and compare not only the government response, but the way individuals react to disaster. In that vein, was there difference in the response to a disaster between the ante-bellum north and south?

With the early European colonial settlements, how did their levels of preparedness, and methods of weathering natural disasters compare with the ways in which the indigenous populations has handled these things? Was there specific influence from the latter, with the Europeans copying their methods?

What makes disaster a specifically Western invention/phenomenon initially?

Thanks a lot for doing this AMA!

Almost every disaster response I can remember in my lifetime has been condemned by the press. It seems like this happens no matter who is governing and which country the disaster takes place in. Has there always been such negativity towards government responses, and is there any truth behind the idea that most disasters are mishandled?

Hello and thank you for joining us!

During your research, have you noticed any significant changes in the way we perceive disasters and calamities, that may have specifically stemmed from the human geography perceptions of risk and vulnerability?

Hi Professor, thank you for doing this AMA!

For the money raised for disaster recovery, did that all seem to come from the locally affected area or was there some money coming from totally unaffected areas?

What a fascinating topic. What are some important lessons we can learn from these people who went through calamities--either things to avoid, or, more importantly, helpful behaviors that we might copy today?

Is there a way to predict how long a disaster will remain in the public conscience? For example, people in current time assign a lot more emotional value to the September 11 attacks than Pearl Harbor, the Titanic, or the Hindenburg incidents due to how much time has passed. Are there certain types of disasters that stick with people more than others, such as the Chernobyl incident?

Apologies if these have been asked already (it seems I'm a bit late) but my questions are about Native Americans. What did they think about natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes? What are the practical ways they dealt with these occurrences? And how are these disasters portrayed in their mythologies, if at all?

Thanks for doing this!

Hello Professor, thank you for doing this AMA.

Prior to the 20th century, was there ever any public anger directed towards those responsible for disaster relief, or a perception that a disaster response could be mismanaged (eg. similar to Katrina)?

Is the rote response of "our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims" a recent phenomenon, or has it been a staple of disaster response for a long time?

I personally view it (and this is backed up by some cultural portrayals such as South Park and Bojack Horseman) as a way to "say something without saying something", that is to express a reaction that is non-committal but generally well-received. Is this cynical reaction relatively modern, or has it existed as long as the condolence itself?