Emergency Preparedness and

Response/ Disaster Management

Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health

Bulawayo Technical College

Section 1

Introduction
All communities are vulnerable to disasters, both natural and man-made. This course was
designed to increase knowledge of disaster management, with the aim of reducing this
vulnerability and improving disaster responsiveness. This course provides an understanding of
the concepts underpinning, and practical processes involved in, the management of disasters.

Disaster Management: Is more than just response and relief (i.e., it assumes a more proactive
approach). It is a systematic process (i.e., is based on the key management principles of
planning, organising, and leading which includes coordinating and controlling). It aims to
reduce the negative impact or consequences of adverse events (i.e. disasters cannot always be
prevented, but the adverse effects can be minimised).

Terminology
Hazard: “Is the potential for a natural or human-caused event to occur with negative
consequences”. A hazard can become an emergency; when the emergency moves beyond the
control of the population, it becomes a disaster.

Emergency: “Is a situation generated by the real or imminent occurrence of an event that
requires immediate attention”. Paying immediate attention to an event or situation as
described above is important as the event/situation can generate negative consequences and
escalate into an emergency. The purpose of planning is to minimize those consequences.
Vulnerability: “Is the extent to which a community’s structure, services or environment is likely
to be damaged or disrupted by the impact of a hazard”

Disaster: “Is a natural or human-caused event which causes intensive negative impacts on
people, goods, services and/or the environment, exceeding the affected community’s capability
to respond” . It is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community / society, causing major
human, material or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected society to
cope using only its own resources
Hazard + vulnerability = Disaster
Risk: “Is the probability that loss will occur as the result of an adverse event, given the hazard
and the vulnerability”. Risk (R) can be determined as a product of hazard (H) and vulnerability
(V). i.e. R = H x V
Disaster management cycle: A cycle with phases that reduce or prevent disasters
Mitigation: Reducing or minimizing an impact of a hazard or disaster.
Risk management: Consists of identifying threats (hazards likely to occur), determining their
probability of occurrence, estimating what the impact of the threat might be to the communities
at risk, determining measures that can reduce the risk, and taking action to reduce the threat.
Vulnerability: A condition wherein human settlements, buildings, agriculture, or human health
are exposed to a disaster by virtue of their construction or proximity to hazardous terrain.
Hazard identification: The process of identifying what hazards have threatened a community,
how often specified hazards have occurred in the past, and with what intensity (i.e., damage-
generating attributes measured by various scales) they have struck; the first level of hazard
analysis sophistication.
Hazardous materials: Any material that is dangerous to life, health, or property due to its
chemical nature or properties. This group of chemicals is used in industry, agriculture, medicine,
research, and consumer goods. Hazardous materials come in the form of explosives, flammable
and combustible substances, poisons, and radioactive materials. These substances are most
often released as a result of transportation accidents or because of accidents in chemical plants.
Hazardous waste:
A solid waste, or combination of solid wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration, or
Physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may:
i cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or an increase in serious
irreversible or incapacitating reversible serious illness, or
ii pose a substantial presence or potential hazard to human health or the environment when
improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed.
Sustainable development: Development that meets the need of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland
Commission 1987). Political commitment is essential for appropriate action and recognition of
linkages between the way people live (i.e. socio cultural and economic systems) and its impact
on the environment
Hazard– potentially damaging event, phenomenon, human activity that may cause loss of life,
injury, property damage, social and economic disruption and or environmental degradation
Vulnerability – The conditions determined by physical, social, economic, environmental factors
which increase susceptibility of a community to the impact of hazards
Disaster Risk - Function of the risk process, result of combination of hazard, vulnerability and
insufficient capacity to reduce the potential negative impacts (ISDR 2006)
Hazard x vulnerability = disaster risk
Capacity

Disaster prevention: Activities to provide outright avoidance of the adverse impact of hazards

Remove

OR
Relocate
Disaster mitigation: Structural and non structural measures undertaken to limit the potential
adverse impact of hazard

Disaster preparedness: Activities and measures taken in advance to ensure effective response
to the impact of disasters include public awareness, forecasting, early warning, alert
mechanisms and preparation of response plans
Early warning: includes a chain of events aimed at:
 understanding the hazard and the vulnerable
 monitoring and forecasting impending hazard events
 processing and dissemination of timely, accurate and understandable warnings to
populations at risk and political authorities
 Facilitating appropriate response measures
 ultimately seeking to minimize loss and damage

Early warning

HOKOYO

Rehabilitation and recovery: Taking necessary actions to help the affected community to return
to normal life or near normalcy. These are measures taken to assist communities recover and
regain their self reliance.

Types of Vulnerability Characteristics

Tangible/Material
People – lives, health, security, living conditions
Property – services, physical property loss, loss of use
Economy – loss of products and production, income
Environment – water, soil, air, vegetation, wildlife

Intangible/Abstract
Social structures – family and community relationships
Cultural practices – religious and agricultural
Cohesion – disruption of normal life
Motivation – will to recover; government response

Vulnerability Contributing Factors

Poverty People who are already in a depressed state are less able to recover.
Some people are even more vulnerable – pregnant women, children
and the disabled.

Population growth Population has grown dramatically over the past decade

Rapid urbanisation Growing concentration around the capital or large cities.

Transition in cultural Increase in sub-standard housing in more heavily populated urban

practices areas. Changes in traditional coping mechanisms – declines in self-
reliance, food conservation and preservation, warning systems etc.

Environmental As resources are consumed, vegetation cover removed, water polluted

degradation and air fouled, a country is more vulnerable to a disaster.

Lack of awareness and When people and government officials are unaware or lack
information information about disaster management, they fail to take appropriate
actions.

Civil Strife and unrest Resources are consumed, people are in a stressed situation, and
transportation is restricted.

Geographical isolation Island countries are disadvantaged by their relative remoteness,

particular their limited access to schools, health and cash.

Political Changing government policies, changing personnel in the national

uncertainties/instability focal point, economic weakness all can contribute to an ineffective
national disaster management programme.

Distinguishing between an emergency and a disaster situation

An emergency and a disaster are two different situations:
An emergency is a situation in which the community is capable of coping. It is a situation
generated by the real or imminent occurrence of an event that requires immediate attention
and that requires immediate attention of emergency resources.
A disaster is a situation in which the community is incapable of coping. It is a natural or human-
caused event which causes intense negative impacts on people, goods, services and/or the
environment, exceeding the affected community’s capability to respond; therefore the
community seeks the assistance of government and international agencies.

Classification of hazards
Disasters are often classified according to their:
I. causes – natural vs. human
II. speed of onset – sudden vs. slow
III. Origin

Hazard classification

Origin Phenomenon / Examples

Geological hazards ( arise from internal ` earthquakes, tsunamis
energy of natural earth processes or ` volcanoes
phenomenon in the biosphere) `mass movements e.g. landslides, rock
falls, submarine slides
` subsidence, surface collapse, geological
fault activity
Hydro meteorological hazards (arise from ` floods and mud floors
earths external energy processes or ` tropical cyclones, thunder/hailstorms,
phenomena of atmospheric, hydrological blizzards
or oceanographic nature) `drought, desertification, wild land fires,
heat waves, sand and dust storms
`permafrost and snow avalanches

Biological Hazards ( of organic origin or ` outbreak of epidemic disease, plant or

conveyed by biological vectors, incl. animal contagion and extensive
exposure to pathogens toxins, bioactive infestations
substances)
Technological or anthropogenic hazards
Originating from technological or industrial accidents, dangerous procedures,
infrastructure failure, or human activity that may cause loss of life, property
damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation e.g.
industrial pollution, nuclear and radioactivity, toxic wastes, dam failures, transport,
industrial or technological accidents like fires, explosions, spills
Environmental Degradation
Induced by human activity and at times combined with natural hazards and damage
the natural resource base, alter natural processes or ecosystems e.g. land
degradation, deforestation, desertification, ozone depletion, climate change, land
and air pollution

Hazard characterization
1. Identity: nature/manifestation and causal agent
2. Intensity: severity /capacity or potential magnitude of destructive forces, determines
possible impact/outcome on elements at risk
a. Simulations of different intensity can lead to better planning.
3. Scope: what will be damaged and how elements at risk have different characteristics
and will respond differently
4. Extent: How far? geographic distribution of impact of the hazard
a. nature and intensity will determine extent
b. preventive measures will decrease extent
5. Speed of onset: rapidity of manifestation/ arrival / evidence of impact can be sudden,
slow/creeping
6. Predictability: determined by its history,
a. Behaviour of a hazard can be predicted from knowledge of its nature and
identity.
7. Duration: how long will the impact last? varies according to other characteristics,
a. May be prolonged by lack of management skills, also influenced by pace of
onset, usually, the slower the onset, the longer the duration.
8. Frequency: How often will the hazard occur?
a. climate change has disrupted frequency of hydro meteorological hazards

9. Forewarning: time between identification of the hazard and its impact,

a. speed of onset determines forewarning period, affects manageability, the less
the forewarning, the greater the need for effective management .

CAUSES
1 Natural Disasters
These types of disaster naturally occur in proximity to, and pose a threat to, people, structures
or economic assets. They are caused by biological, geological, seismic, hydrologic, or
meteorological conditions or processes in the natural environment (e.g., cyclones, earthquakes,
tsunami, floods, landslides, and volcanic eruptions).

a Cyclones, Hurricanes or Typhoons

Cyclones develop when a warm ocean gives rise to hot air, which in turn creates convectional air
currents. Cyclones occur when these conventional air currents are being displaced. The term
hurricane/typhoon is a regionally specific name for a “tropical cyclone”. In Asia they are called
‘typhoons’; in the Indian and Pacific Oceans they are called ‘cyclones’; and over the North
Atlantic and Caribbean Basin, they are called ‘hurricanes’.
b Earthquakes
Earthquakes are one of the most destructive of natural hazards. They may occur at any time of
year, day or night, with sudden impact and little warning. They can destroy buildings in seconds,
killing or injuring the inhabitants. Earthquakes not only destroy entire cities but may destabilize
the government, economy and social structure of a country.

An earthquake is a trembling or shaking movement of the earth’s surface, resulting from plate
movements along a fault-plane or as a result of volcanic activity. Earthquakes can strike
suddenly, violently, and without warning at any time of the day or night. The following
terminologies are associated with earthquakes: epicentre, fault, magnitude and seismic waves.
For practical purposes, earthquakes are usually defined by their magnitude (or quantitative
energy released) which is measured using a logarithm scale of 1 – 10. This logarithm scale is
referred to as the Richter scale. The magnitude is determined by analysing seismic data obtained
from seismometers. The intensity of an earthquake is measured using the Modified Mercalli
Intensity (MMI) Scale, which is determined qualitatively by physical observations of the
earthquake’s impact.

c Tsunami
A tsunami is an ocean wave generated by a submarine earthquake, volcano or landslide. It is
also known as a seismic sea wave, and incorrectly as a tidal wave. Storm surges (or Galu Lolo)
are waves caused by strong winds. The largest earthquake event recorded in Samoa was on 26
June 1917, measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale. The event originated in Tonga (approximately
200km south of Apia) and it triggered a tsunami of four to eight (4-8) metre run-ups in
Satupaitea, Savaii. The tsunami arrived less than ten (10) minutes from its point of origin,
meaning it traveled at a speed of more than 1,000km/hr. Hence, when an earthquake occurs,
you must heed the tsunami warning, for example, people living in low-lying coastal areas must
relocate to higher and safer grounds immediately.

d Floods
This phenomenon occurs when water covers previously dry areas, i.e. when large amounts of
water flow from a source such as a river or a broken pipe onto a previously dry area, or when
water overflows banks or barriers. Floods can be environmentally important to local
ecosystems. For example, some river floods bring nutrients to soil such as in Egypt where the
annual flooding of the Nile River carries nutrients to otherwise dry land. Floods can also have an
economic and emotional impact on people, particularly if their property is directly affected.
Having a better understanding of what causes flooding can help people to be better prepared
and to perhaps minimize or prevent flood damage.

e Landslides
The term landslide refers to the downward movement of masses of rock and soil. Landslides are
caused by one or a combination of the following factors: change in slope gradient, increasing the
load the land must bear, shocks and vibrations, change in water content, ground water
movement, frost action, weathering of shocks, removal or, or changing the type of vegetation
covering slopes. Landslide hazard areas occur where the land has certain characteristics which
contribute to the risk of the downhill movement of material. These characteristics include:
I. A slope greater than 15 percent.
II. Landslide activity or movement occurred during the last 10,000 years.
 III. Stream or wave activity which has caused erosion undercut a bank or cut into a bank to
cause the surrounding land to be unstable.
IV. The presence or potential for snow avalanches.
V. The presence of an alluvial fan which indicates vulnerability to the flow of debris or
sediments.
VI. The presence of impermeable soils, such as silt or clay, which are mixed with granular
soils such as sand and gravel.

Landslides can also be triggered by other natural hazards such as rains, floods, earthquakes, as
well as human-made causes, such as grading, terrain cutting and filling, excessive development,
etc. Because the factors affecting landslides can be geophysical or human-made, they can occur
in developed areas, undeveloped areas, or any area where the terrain has been altered for
roads, houses, utilities, buildings, etc.

f. Drought

Drought is a weather-related natural disaster. It affects vast regions for months or years. It has
an impact on food production and it reduces life expectancy and the economic performance of
large regions or entire countries.

Drought is a recurrent feature of the climate. It occurs in virtually all climatic zones, and its
characteristics vary significantly among regions. Drought differs from aridity in that drought is
temporary; aridity is a permanent characteristic of regions with low rainfall. Drought is an
insidious hazard of nature. It is related to a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period
of time, usually for a season or more. This deficiency results in a water shortage for some
activity, group, or environmental sector. Drought is also related to the timing of precipitation.
Other climatic factors such as high temperature, high wind, and low relative humidity are often
associated with drought.

Drought is more than a physical phenomenon or natural event. Its impact results from the
relation between a natural event and demands on the water supply, and it is often exacerbated
by human activities. The experience from droughts has underscored the vulnerability of human
societies to this /.;lnatural hazard.

Drought definitions are of two types: (1) conceptual, and (2) operational. Conceptual definitions
help understand the meaning of drought and its effects. For example, drought is a protracted
period of deficient precipitation which causes extensive damage to crops, resulting in loss of
yield. Operational definitions help identify the drought's beginning, end, and degree of severity.
To determine the beginning of drought, operational definitions specify the degree of departure
from the precipitation average over some time period. This is usually accomplished by
comparing the current situation with the historical average. The threshold identified as the
beginning of a drought (e.g., 75% of average precipitation over a specified time period) is usually
established somewhat arbitrarily.

An operational definition for agriculture may compare daily precipitation to evapo-transpiration

to determine the rate of soil-moisture depletion, and express these relationships in terms of
drought effects on plant behavior. Operational definitions are used to analyze drought
frequency, severity, and duration for a given historical period. Such definitions, however, require
weather data on hourly, daily, monthly, or other time scales and, possibly, impact data (e.g.,
crop yield). The climatology of drought for a given region provides a greater understanding of its
characteristics and the probability of recurrence at various levels of severity. Information of this
type is beneficial in the formulation of mitigation strategies.

The various types of droughts are listed below.

 Meteorological drought

Meteorological drought is defined on the basis of the degree of dryness, in comparison

to a normal or average amount, and the duration of the dry period. Definitions of
meteorological drought must be region-specific, since the atmospheric conditions that
result in deficiencies of precipitation are highly region-specific.

The variety of meteorological definitions in different countries illustrates why it is not

possible to apply a definition of drought developed in one part of the world to another.
For instance, the following definitions of drought have been reported:

 United States (1942): Less than 2.5 mm of rainfall in 48 hours.

 Great Britain (1936): Fifteen consecutive days with daily precipitation less than
0.25 mm.
 Libya (1964): When annual rainfall is less than 180 mm.
 Bali (1964): A period of six days without rain.

Data sets required to assess meteorological drought are daily rainfall information,
temperature, humidity, wind velocity and pressure, and evaporation.

 Agricultural drought

Agricultural drought links various characteristics of meteorological drought to

agricultural impacts, focusing on precipitation shortages, differences between actual
and potential evapo-transpiration, soil-water deficits, reduced groundwater or reservoir
levels, and so on. Plant water demand depends on prevailing weather conditions,
biological characteristics of the specific plant, its stage of growth, and the physical and
biological properties of the soil. A good definition of agricultural drought should account
for the susceptibility of crops during different stages of crop development. Deficient
topsoil moisture at planting may hinder germination, leading to low plant populations
per hectare and a reduction of yield.

Data sets required to assess agricultural drought are soil texture, fertility and soil
moisture, crop type and area, crop water requirements, pests and climate.

 Hydrological drought

Hydrological drought refers to a persistently low discharge and/or volume of water in

streams and reservoirs, lasting months or years. Hydrological drought is a natural
 phenomenon, but it may be exacerbated by human activities. Hydrological droughts are
usually related to meteorological droughts, and their recurrence interval varies
accordingly. Changes in land use and land degradation can affect the magnitude and
frequency of hydrological droughts.

Data sets required to assess hydrological drought are surface-water area and volume,
surface runoff, stream flow measurements, infiltration, water-table fluctuations, and
aquifer parameters.

 Socioeconomic drought

Socioeconomic definitions of drought associate the supply and demand of some

economic good with elements of meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural drought.
It differs from the other types of drought in that its occurrence depends on the
processes of supply and demand. The supply of many economic goods, such as water,
forage, food grains, fish, and hydroelectric power, depends on the weather. Due to the
natural variability of climate, water supply is ample in some years, but insufficient to
meet human and environmental needs in other years.

Socioeconomic drought occurs when the demand for an economic good exceeds the
supply as a result of a weather-related shortfall in water supply. The drought may result
in significantly reduced hydroelectric power production because power plants were
dependent on stream flow rather than storage for power generation. Reducing
hydroelectric power production may require the government to convert to more
expensive petroleum alternatives, and to commit to stringent energy conservation
measures to meet its power needs.

The demand for economic goods is increasing as a result of population growth and
economic development. The supply may also increase because of improved production
efficiency, technology, or the construction of reservoirs. When both supply and demand
increase, the critical factor is their relative rate of change. Socioeconomic drought is
promoted when the demand for water for economic activities far exceeds the supply.

Data sets required to assess socioeconomic drought are human and animal population and
growth rate, water and fodder requirements, severity of crop failure, and industry type and
water requirements.

Group work (in groups discuss the following concerning drought in Zimbabwe)

1. Scope: what will be damaged and how elements at risk have different characteristics
and will respond differently
2. Extent: How far? geographic distribution of impact of the hazard
a. nature and intensity will determine extent
b. preventive measures will decrease extent
3. Speed of onset: rapidity of manifestation/ arrival / evidence of impact can be sudden,
slow/creeping
4. Predictability: determined by its history,
 a. Behaviour of a hazard can be predicted from knowledge of its nature and
identity.
5. Duration: how long will the impact last? varies according to other characteristics,
a. May be prolonged by lack of management skills, also influenced by pace of
onset, usually, the slower the onset, the longer the duration.
6. Frequency: How often will the hazard occur?
a. climate change has disrupted frequency of hydro meteorological hazards

7. Forewarning: time between identification of the hazard and its impact,

a. speed of onset determines forewarning period, affects manageability, the less
the forewarning, the greater the need for effective management

2 Human-Made Disasters
These are disasters or emergency situations of which the principal, direct causes are identifiable
human actions, deliberate or otherwise. Apart from “technological disasters” this mainly
involves situations in which civilian populations suffer casualties, losses of property, basic
services and means of livelihood as a result of war, civil strife or other conflicts, or policy
implementation. In many cases, people are forced to leave their homes, giving rise to
congregations of refugees or externally and/or internally displaced persons as a result of civil
strife, an airplane crash, a major fire, oil spill, epidemic, terrorism, etc.

B. SPEED OF ONSET
Disasters can also be classified based on their speed of onset as shown below:
 Sudden onset: little or no warning, minimal time to prepare. For example, an
earthquake, tsunami, cyclone, volcano, etc.
 Slow onset: adverse event slow to develop; first the situation develops; the second level
is an emergency; the third level is a disaster. For example, drought, civil strife, epidemic,
etc.

Disaster impacts
Negative impacts
 Tangible losses/ costs – quantifiable in monetary terms
 Intangible losses/ damage – cannot be meaningfully quantified in monetary terms,
however are a real and significant loss e.g. stress, loss of cultural sites, values, forced
migration
 Direct losses/ costs primary consequences of the disaster such as loss of life, injury,
damage to infrastructure
 Indirect losses/ costs relate to costs incurred to respond to the disaster, interruption of
livelihoods and services

Positive Impacts (contextual)

 Direct gains – benefits that accrue to survivors of a disaster, like aid, increased
opportunities for employment e.g. reconstruction programs
o Benefits may give rise to dependency syndrome?
  Indirect gains – long term benefits enjoyed such as rich flood plain soils, improvements
in mitigation post disaster

Section 2
Disaster management
Disaster management is an enormous task. Disasters are not confined to any particular location;
neither do they disappear as quickly as they appear. Therefore, it is imperative that there is
proper management to optimize efficiency of planning and response. Due to limited resources,
collaborative efforts at the governmental, private and community levels are necessary. This level
of collaboration requires a coordinated and organized effort to militate against, prepare for,
respond to, and recover from emergencies and their effects in the shortest possible time.
Disaster management can be defined as the organization and management of resources and
responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular
preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters.

Emergency management
Emergency management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within
which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency
management protects communities by coordinating and integrating all activities necessary to
build, sustain, and improve the capability to militate against, prepare for, respond to, and
recover from threatened or actual natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or other man-made
disasters.

Principles of emergency management

The principles of emergency management are:

1. Comprehensive – emergency managers consider and take into account all hazards, all phases,
all stakeholders and all impacts relevant to disasters.
Comprehensive emergency management can be defined as the preparation for and the carrying
out of all emergency functions necessary to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from
emergencies and disasters caused by all hazards, whether natural, technological, or human
caused. Comprehensive emergency management consists of four related components: all
hazards, all phases, all impacts, and all stakeholders.

All Hazards: All hazards within a jurisdiction must be considered as part of a thorough risk
assessment and prioritized on the basis of impact and likelihood of occurrence. Treating all
hazards the same in terms of planning resource allocation ultimately leads to failure. There are
similarities in how one reacts to all disasters. These event-specific actions form the basis for
most emergency plans. However, there are also distinct differences between disaster agents
that must be addressed in agent or hazard-specific plans and these can only be identified
through the risk assessment process.

All Phases: The Comprehensive Emergency Management Model1 on which modern emergency
management is based defines four phases of emergency management: mitigation,
preparedness, response, and recovery. Mitigation consists of those activities designed to
prevent or reduce losses from disaster. It is usually considered the initial phase of emergency
management, although it may be a component of other phases. Preparedness is focused on the
development of plans and capabilities for effective disaster response. Response is the immediate
reaction to a disaster. It may occur as the disaster is anticipated, as well as soon after it begins.
Recovery consists of those activities that continue beyond the emergency period to restore
critical community functions and manage re-construction. Detailed planning and execution is
required for each phase. Further, phases often overlap as there is often no clearly defined
boundary where one phase ends and another begins. Successful emergency management
coordinates activities in all four phases.

All Impacts: Emergencies and disasters cut across a broad spectrum in terms of impact on
infrastructure, human services, and the economy. Just as all hazards need to be considered in
developing plans and proto-cols, all impacts or predictable consequences relating to those
hazards must also be analyzed and addressed.

All Stakeholders: This component is closely related to the emergency management principles of
co-ordination and collaboration. Effective emergency management requires close working
relationships among all levels of government, the private sector, and the general public.

2. Progressive – emergency managers anticipate future disasters and take preventive and
preparatory measures to build disaster-resistant and disaster-resilient communities.
Research and data from natural and social scientists indicates that disasters are becoming more
frequent, intense, dynamic, and complex. The number of federally declared disasters has risen
dramatically over recent decades. Monetary losses are rising at exponential rates because more
property is being put at risk. The location of communities and the construction of buildings and
infrastructure have not considered potential hazards. Environmental mismanagement and a
failure to develop and enforce sound building codes are producing more disasters. There is an
increased risk of terrorist attacks using weapons of mass destruction
Emergency management must give greater attention to prevention and mitigation activities.
Tradition-ally, emergency managers have confined their activities to developing emergency
response plans and coordinating the initial response to disasters. Given the escalating risks
facing communities, however, emergency managers must become more progressive and
strategic in their thinking. The role of the emergency manager can no longer be that of a
technician but must evolve to that of a manager and senior policy advisor who oversees a
community-wide program to address all hazards and all phases of the emergency management
cycle.

Emergency managers must understand how to assess hazards and reduce vulnerability, seek the
support of public officials and support the passage of laws and the enforcement of ordinances
that reduce vulnerability. Collaborative efforts between experts and organizations in the public,
private and non-profit sectors are needed to promote disaster prevention and preparedness.
Efforts such as land-use planning, environmental management, building code enforcement,
planning, training, and exercises are required and must emphasize vulnerability reduction and
capacity building, not just compliance. Emergency management is progressive and not just
reactive in orientation.

3. Risk-driven – emergency managers use sound risk management principles (hazard

identification, risk analysis, and impact analysis) in assigning priorities and resources.
Emergency managers are responsible for using available resources effectively and efficiently to
man-age risk. That means that the setting of policy and programmatic priorities should be based
upon measured levels of risk to lives, property, and the environment. Effective risk management
is based upon (1) the identification of the natural and man-made hazards that may have
significant effect on the community or organization; (2) the analysis of those hazards based on
the vulnerability of the community to determine the nature of the risks they pose; and (3) an
impact analysis to determine the potential affect they may have on specific communities,
organizations, and other entities. Mitigation strategies, emergency operations plans, continuity
of operations plans, and pre- and post-disaster recovery plans should be based upon the specific
risks identified and resources should be allocated appropriately to address those risks.
Communities have very different risks. It is the responsibility of emergency managers to address
the risks specific to their communities. Budgets, human resource management decisions, plans,
public education programs, training and exercising, and other efforts necessarily should focus on
the hazards that pose the greatest risks first. An all-hazard focus ensures that plans are
adaptable to a variety of disaster types and that, by addressing the hazards that pose the
greatest risk, the community will be better prepared for lesser risks as well.

4. Integrated – emergency managers ensure unity of effort among all levels of government and
all elements of a community.
In the early 1980’s, emergency managers adopted the Integrated Emergency Management
System (IEMS), an all-hazards approach to the direction, control and coordination of disasters
regardless of their location, size and complexity. IEMS integrates partnerships that include all
stakeholders in the community’s decision-making processes. IEMS is intended to create an
organizational culture that is critical to achieving unity of effort between government, key
community partners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector.

Unity of effort is dependent on both vertical and horizontal integration. This means that at the
local level, emergency programs must be integrated with other activities of government. For
example, department emergency plans must be synchronized with and support the overall
emergency operations plan for the community. In addition, plans at all levels of local
government must ultimately be integrated with and support the community’s vision and be
consistent with its values.

Similarly, private sector continuity plans should take into account the community’s emergency
operations plan. Businesses are demanding greater interface with government to understand
how to react to events that threaten business survival. Additionally, businesses can provide
significant resources during disasters and thus may be a critical component of the community’s
emergency operations plan. In addition, given the high percentage of critical infrastructure
owned by the private sector, failure to include businesses in emergency programs could have
grave con-sequences for the community.

The local emergency management program must also be synchronized with higher-level
plans and programs. This is most noticeable in the dependence of local government on county,
state and federal re-sources during a disaster. If plans have not been synchronized and
integrated, resources may be delayed. Emergency management must be integrated into daily
decisions, not just during times of disasters. While protecting the population is a primary
responsibility of government, it cannot be accomplished with-out building partnerships among
disciplines and across all sectors, including the private sector and the media .
5. Collaborative – emergency managers create and sustain broad and sincere relationships
among individuals and organizations to encourage trust, advocate a team atmosphere, build
consensus, and facilitate communication.
There is a difference between the terms “collaboration” and “coordination” and current usage
often makes it difficult to distinguish between these words. Coordination refers to a process
designed to ensure that functions, roles and responsibilities are identified and tasks
accomplished; collaboration must be viewed as an attitude or an organizational culture that
characterizes the degree of unity and cooperation that exists within a community. In essence,
collaboration creates the environment in which coordination can function effectively.

In disaster situations, the one factor that is consistently credited with improving the
performance of a community is the degree to which there is an open and cooperative
relationship among those individuals and agencies involved. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina,
Governing magazine correspondent, Jonathan Walters wrote: “Most important to the strength
of the inter-governmental chain are solid relationships among those who might be called upon to
work together in times of high stress. ‘You don’t want to meet someone for the first time while
you’re standing around in the rubble,’ says Jarrod Bernstein, a spokesman for the New York
Office of Emergency Management.” It is this kind of culture and relationship that collaboration is
intended to establish.

A commitment to collaboration makes other essential roles and functions possible. Comfort and
Cahill acknowledge the essential nature of collaboration within the emergency management
function: “In environments of high uncertainty, this quality of inter-personal trust is essential for
collective action. Building that trust in a multi-organizational operating environment is a
complex process, perhaps the most difficult task involved in creating an integrated emergency
management system.” Thomas Drabeck6 suggests that collaboration involves three elements:

1. We must commit to ensuring that we have done everything possible to identify all potential
players in a disaster event and work to involve them in every aspect of planning and
preparedness for a disaster event.

2. Having achieved this broad involvement, we must constantly work to maintain and sustain
the real, human, contact necessary to make the system work in a disaster event.

3. Finally, our involvement of all of our “partners” must be based on a sincere desire to listen
to and incorporate their concerns and ideas into our planning and preparedness efforts. This
element
is probably the most critical because it is this sincere interest that engenders trust, cooperation
and understanding and allows us to truly have a “team” approach to protecting our
communities in times of disaster.
This principle can perhaps best be encapsulated by remembering: “If we shake hands before a
disaster, we won’t have to point fingers afterwards.”

6. Coordinated – emergency managers synchronize the activities of all relevant stakeholders to

achieve a common purpose.
Emergency managers are seldom in a position to direct the activities of the many agencies and
organizations involved in the emergency management pro-gram. In most cases, the people in
charge of these organizations are senior to the emergency manager, have direct line authority
from the senior official, or are autonomous. Each stakeholder brings to the planning process
their own authorities, legal mandates, culture and operating missions. The principle of
coordination requires that the emergency manager gain agreement among these disparate
agencies as to a common purpose and then ensure that their independent activities help to
achieve this common purpose.

In essence, the principle of coordination requires that the emergency manager think
strategically, that he or she see the “big picture” and how each stake-holder fits into that
mosaic. In developing the strategic plan, the emergency manager facilitates the identification of
agreed-upon goals and then persuades stakeholders to accept responsibility for specific
performance objectives. The strategic plan then becomes a mechanism for assessing pro-gram
progress and accomplishments.

This same process can be used on a smaller scale to develop a specific plan, such as a
community recovery plan; it is also an inherent component of tactical and operational response.
The principle of coordination is applicable to all four phases of the Comprehensive Emergency
Management cycle and is essential for successful planning and operational activities related to
the emergency management program. Application of the principle of coordination provides the
emergency manager with the management tools that produce the results necessary to achieve a
common purpose.

7. Flexible – emergency managers use creative and innovative approaches in solving disaster
challenges.
Due to their diverse and varied responsibilities, emergency managers constitute one of the most
flexible organizational elements of government. Laws, policies and operating procedures that
allow little flexibility in the performance of duties drive more traditional branches of
government. Emergency managers are instead encouraged to developed creative solutions to
solve problems and achieve goals.

A principal role of the emergency manager is the assessment of vulnerability and risk and the
development of corresponding strategies that could be used to reduce or eliminate risk.
However, there can be more than one potential mitigation strategy for any given risk. The
emergency manager must have the flexibility to choose not only the most efficient course of
action but the one that would have the most chance of being implemented.

In the preparedness phase, the emergency manager uses many resources to create and
maintain a well-organized community response structure. One such re-source is the
development of a risk-based community emergency operations plan. While most policies and
procedures in government are specific and designed to offer little room for interpretation, the
emergency operations plan is designed to be flexible and applicable to all community
emergency operations. It is based on the consequences of the event, not the promulgating
action.

The most dramatic phase of emergency management is response. In this phase the
emergency manager coordinates activities to ensure overall objectives are being met. The
emergency manager must be flexible enough to suggest variations in tactics or procedures and
adapt quickly to a rapidly changing and frequently unclear situation. The emphasis is on creative
problem solving based on the event and not on rigid adherence to pre-existing plans.
 As part of the community team that will determine recovery priorities the emergency
manager must be capable of dealing with the political, economic and social pressures in making
these decisions. It is natural to focus on short-term efforts in disaster recovery. However, the
emergency manager cannot lose sight of the long-term needs of the community and it is this
aspect of recovery that often must be driven by the emergency manager. Flexibility is a key trait
of emergency management and success in the emergency management field is de-pendent
upon it. Being able to provide alternate solutions to stakeholders and then having the flexibility
to implement these solutions is a formula for success in emergency management.

8. Professional – emergency managers value a science and knowledge-based approach based on

education, training, experience, ethical practice, public stewardship and continuous
improvement.
Professionalism in the context of the principles of emergency management pertains not to the
personal attributes of the emergency manager but to a commitment to emergency
management as a profession and adheres to some code of ethics and standards.

Disaster Management Cycle

Disaster management is a cyclical process; the end of one phase is the beginning of another (see
diagram below), although one phase of the cycle does not necessarily have to be completed in
order for the next to take place. Often several phases are taking place concurrently. Timely
decision making during each phase results in greater preparedness, better warnings, reduced
vulnerability and/or the prevention of future disasters. The complete disaster management
cycle includes the shaping of public policies and plans that either addresses the causes of
disasters or mitigates their effects on people, property, and infrastructure. The mitigation and
preparedness phases occur as improvements are made in anticipation of an event. By embracing
development, a community’s ability to militate against and prepare for a disaster is improved.
As the event unfolds, disaster managers become involved in the immediate response and long-
term recovery phases.
The diagram below shows the Disaster Management Cycle.
Figure 3: Disaster Management Cycle

Preparedness

Disaster

Mitigation Response

Recovery
Mitigation: Measures put in place to minimize the results from a disaster. Examples: building
codes and zoning; vulnerability analyses; public education.
Preparedness: Planning how to respond. Examples: preparedness plans; emergency
exercises/training; warning systems.
Response: Initial actions taken as the event takes place. It involves efforts to minimize the
hazards created by a disaster. Examples: evacuation; search and rescue; emergency relief.
Recovery: Returning the community to normal. Ideally, the affected area should be put in a
condition equal to or better than it was before the disaster took place. Examples: temporary
housing; grants; medical care.

Phase I: Mitigation
Mitigation refers to all actions taken before a disaster to reduce its impacts, including
preparedness and long-term risk reduction measures. The essential first step in any mitigation
strategy is to understand the nature of the hazards which may be faced. Understanding each
hazard requires comprehension of:
 its causes
 its geographical distribution, magnitude or severity and probable frequency of
occurrence
 the physical mechanisms of destruction
 the elements and activities most vulnerable to destruction
 the possible economic and social consequences of the disaster

Mitigation involves not only saving lives and injury and reducing property losses, but also
reducing the adverse consequences of natural hazards to economic activities and social
institutions. Where resources for mitigation are limited, they should be targeted where they will
be most effective – on the most vulnerable elements and in support of existing community level
activities. Vulnerability assessment is a crucial aspect of planning effective mitigation.
Vulnerability implies both susceptibility to physical and economic damage and lack of resources
for rapid recovery. To reduce physical vulnerability, weak elements may be protected or
strengthened. To reduce the vulnerability of social institutions and economic activities,
infrastructure may need to be modified or strengthened or institutional arrangements modified.
For most risks associated with natural hazards, there is little or no opportunity to reduce the
hazard. In these cases the focus of mitigation policies must be on reducing the vulnerability of
the elements and activities at risk. For technological and human-made hazards, reducing the
hazard is, however, likely to be the most effective mitigation strategy.

Actions by planning or development authorities to reduce vulnerability can broadly be classified

into two types – active and passive.
Active measures are those in which the authorities promote desired actions by offering
incentives – these are often associated with development programs in areas of low income.
Passive measures are those in which the authorities prevent undesired actions by using controls
and penalties – these actions are usually more appropriate for well-established local authorities
in areas with higher incomes.

The range of mitigation actions which might be considered can include:

Engineering and construction – Engineering measures range from large-scale engineering works
to strengthening individual buildings and small scale community based projects. Codes of
practice for disaster protection are unlikely to be effective unless they are accepted and
understood by the community. Training of local builders in techniques to incorporate better
protection into traditional structures – buildings, roads, embankments – is likely to be an
essential component of such measures.
Physical planning measures – Careful location of new facilities – particularly community
facilities such as schools, hospitals and infrastructure plays an important role in reducing
settlement vulnerability; in urban areas, deconcentration of elements especially at risk is an
important principle.
Economic measures – The linkages between different sectors of the economy may be more
vulnerable to disruption by a disaster than the physical infrastructure. Diversification of the
economy is an important way to reduce the risk. “A strong economy is the best defense against
disaster.” Within a strong economy, governments can use economic incentives to encourage
individuals or institutions to take disaster mitigation actions.
Management and institutional measures – Building disaster-protection takes time. It needs to
be supported by a program of education, training and institution-building to provide the
professional knowledge and competence required.
Societal measures – Mitigation planning should aim to develop a “safety culture” in which all
members of society are aware of the hazards they face, know how to protect themselves, and
will support the protection efforts of others and of the community as a whole.
Mitigation Activities at Home - Homes can be destroyed by high winds. Flying debris can
break windows and doors, allowing high winds and rain into your house. High winds can also
cause weaker places in your home to crumble. Strengthening vulnerable areas such as roofs,
exterior doors, windows, and garage doors; clearing debris from possibly affected areas; and
building a safe room in your home can all contribute to personal mitigation strategies. It is also
very important to encourage people to learn more about other protective measures that fall
within the purview of their local building code.
Additionally, in areas that are prone to strong winds, there is a need for a number of other
measures to be considered such as engineering structures to withstand wind forces; including
wind load requirements in building codes; planting windbreaks; planning forestry areas upwind
of towns; and the provision of wind-safety buildings, for example providing strong village halls
for community shelter in vulnerable settlements.

Mitigation strategies
Any successful mitigation strategy should include a range of measures from the menu of
possible actions. To obtain political acceptability, the ultimate deciding factor, a mitigation
strategy may need to contain a mixture of immediately visible improvements and of less visible
but long-term sustainable benefits. The selection of an appropriate strategy should be guided by
evaluating and considering the costs and benefits (in terms of future losses saved) of a range of
possible measures. In conducting a cost benefit analysis, either a minimum cost or a maximum
benefit/cost ratio criterion may be used. However, this method poses difficulty in assessing the
monetary value of human lives. Alternatively, an acceptable risk may be defined in relation to
other risks to individuals or society, the balanced risk criterion. This method is not dependent on
the cost element. The most sophisticated approach is to quantify the costs and different types of
benefits separately (economic, human) and also calculate the cost effectiveness of each strategy
in relation to different objectives of mitigation. This approach is more in keeping with the social
and economic realities of decision-making. Mitigation strategies are much easier to implement
in the immediate aftermath of a disaster or near-disaster. Awareness of the impact of similar
natural hazards elsewhere can also assist in obtaining public and political support for disaster
protection.
Empower the community by promoting planning and management of its own defenses and
obtaining outside assistance only where needed.

Hazard identification and vulnerability analysis

A hazard can cause the full range of natural disasters, major man-made incidents, and resource
crises that become the concern of the entire community, not just emergency management
personnel. The ideal is for communities to be prepared at all times for all types of hazards. In
practical terms however, this is not possible. Preparedness for one hazard or disaster may
increase your risk to another. For example, structures designed to withstand hurricane force
winds may incur or cause greater damage if there is an earthquake. The more logical solution
would be to adapt best practices as much as possible for the most likely scenario.
But what about the hazards associated with our 21st-century lifestyle such as chemical spills,
ecological disasters, explosions, major transportation accidents? Mitigation involves addressing
both natural and man-made hazards, different as they are in many respects. A crucial first step
in mitigation is deciding which hazards have the greatest potential to affect your jurisdiction.
The most critical part of implementing a mitigation strategy is a full understanding of the nature
of the threat as the hazards faced vary between locations and from hazard to hazard. Some
countries are prone to floods and drought; others have histories of tropical storm damage; and
others are at risk from earthquakes. Most countries are prone to at least some combination of
hazards and all face the possibility of technological disasters as industrial development
progresses. The effects these hazards are likely to have and their potential damage is dependent
on the risks, the people, their livelihoods and the existing infrastructure. For any particular
location, therefore, it is critical to know which hazards are the most likely.

Furthermore, targeting mitigation efforts relies heavily on correctly assessing vulnerability.

Vulnerability assessment can also be extended to social groups or economic sectors: People who
rent houses rely on a landlord to repair any damage and are more likely to be rendered
homeless in the event of a disaster. Correctly identifying the groups of tenants and establishing
rights of tenure and landlords’ obligations to repair may reduce the number of people rendered
homeless in the event of a disaster. Similarly, food growers sending their produce to market
through a single mountain pass will be unable to sell their produce if the pass is blocked.
Developing an alternative route to market will reduce disruption of the agricultural sector. Thus,
building or constructing a number of routes is very important because in a time of disaster it will
be easier for the affected group or community to employ alternatives.

Disaster and Development

Disasters and development are closely linked in that disasters can both destroy development
initiatives and create development opportunities and that development schemes can both
increase and decrease vulnerability. The prevailing attitude has been that disasters, especially
natural ones, were an act of nature and as such were beyond human control; accepting death
and damage to property was part of the costs. With such an attitude, most development plans
were designed without consideration for the effect disasters would have on community plans
and vice versa. When a disaster did occur, the response was directed at meeting emergency
needs and cleaning up. Now it is realized that much more can and need to be done to reduce
the severity of hazards and disasters. A growing body of knowledge on the relationships
between disasters and development indicates four basic themes as follows:
 Disasters set back development programming, destroying years of development
initiatives.
 Rebuilding after a disaster provides significant opportunities to initiate development
programmes.
 Development programmes can increase an area’s susceptibility to disasters.
 Development programmes can be designed to decrease the susceptibility to disasters
and their negative consequences.

Decision-makers who ignore these relationships between disasters and development do a

disservice to their people, who place their trust in them. Increasingly forward-thinking Ministries
of Planning and Finance, with support from the United Nations and other non-governmental
officials, are assessing development projects in the context of disaster mitigation. Projects are
thus being designed to include disaster recovery programmes and with long term development
needs in mind. Development requires institutional and structural transformations of societies to
speed up economic growth, reduce levels of inequality, and eradicate absolute poverty. Over
time, the effects of disasters can seriously degrade a country’s long-term potential for sustained
development and cause governments to substantially modify their economic development
priorities and programmes. At the same time, disasters often provide opportunities for
development. They can improve the atmosphere in favour of change and create a rationale to
establish development programmes such as job training, housing construction and land reform.
However, poor management of the relief and rehabilitation responses may have severe negative
implications for development for years to come, and may even increase vulnerability to future
hazards.

The impact of disasters on development programmes

Disasters can significantly impede the effectiveness of development resource allocation. The
damage is done in many ways and the impacts can be as complex as the economy itself. It is for
specific reasons that practitioners explore the issues of lost resources to determine what will no
longer be available to the country after a disaster such as assessing the effects of programme
interruptions and the switching of crucial resources to other, shorter-term needs as disasters
often change the political, economic and social conditions within a country. There will also be a
need to consider the negative impacts on investment climates (of the now declared disaster
zone) to determine what opportunities will be left to attract local and international investment
capital to the area or country that has been devastated by the disaster. And lastly, in what state
will the disruption of the non-formal sector leave the disaster area in terms of citizens
proceeding with their lives in ways closest to conditions before the disaster. This non-formal
sector may involve the way private citizens conduct business in their lives after the disaster.

Vulnerabilities caused by development

Lack of access to education and information often has wider implications and local people may
be simply unaware of the options open to them in reducing their vulnerability. Poor people, for
example, have fewer assets to invest in resources which may reduce their vulnerability; they
may also be unwilling to make any significant investment without clear and obvious benefits.
Poor people are also less likely to be in a position to organize collectively to reduce common
risks, partially because these groups are usually have a higher proportion of women, young
children, elderly people, the sick and disabled. Furthermore, after a disaster, the effects of
malnutrition and chronic illness put people at additional risk. Although in aggregate terms
development will usually contribute to a reduction in vulnerability to natural disasters, any
development activity may substantially increase particular types of vulnerability. Illustrations of
such development activities are as follows:
 Urban development often leads to an influx of low-income groups such as large-scale
settlements on marginal land or in high densities with poor quality housing. Buildings
may be situated on earthquake faults, in flash-flood zones, or on slopes prone to
landslides.
 Marine and coastal zone development leads to concentrations of populations exposed
to possible storm-surges, high winds, flash floods, and landslide risks. Tourist
development can increase potential vulnerability substantially when low-lying beach
areas are targets for infrastructure and capital investments. Tsunamis and tropical
storms can quickly destroy these improvements as well as placing tourists and workers
at substantial risk to death and injury.
 Construction of transportation lines and poorly managed forestry programmes will often
lead to deforestation and increased risks of landslides.
 Water resource management projects, including dams and irrigation schemes,
potentially increase risks to large populations, either by displacing natural habitats,
increasing risks of severe flooding, or by increasing the risk of dam failure.
 Investment in poorly controlled hazardous industries may lead to concentrations of
population around the plant; increases in air and water pollution; and exposure to
hazards from both chronic and catastrophic release of toxic materials.
 Livestock development projects can lead to severe loss of vegetation cover and
conditions of near-desertification around specific natural points such as wells.
 Agricultural projects promoting cash crops may reduce the production of staple foods.

Each of these examples illustrates the importance of including risk assessment as an integral
part of programme planning and evaluation, and highlights the critical importance of training
and education in these areas.

Development programmes can decrease vulnerability

The term mitigation is increasingly applied to measures which reduce economic losses, as well
as those which reduce death and injury. The distinction between the two types of mitigation is
as follows:

Structural mitigation includes measures to reduce the economic and social impact of hazardous
agents and involve construction programmes, especially dams, windbreaks, terracing and hazard
resistant buildings.
Non-structural mitigation is most commonly used to refer to policies and practices, including land-
use policies, zoning, crop diversification, building codes, and procedures for forecasting and
warning. In a broader context, non-structural mitigation can also include education, awareness,
environmental understanding, community organization, and empowerment strategies.

Mitigation is most effective as part of a medium- to long-term development programme which

incorporates hazard-reduction measures into regular investment projects. Under these
conditions risks can be assessed analytically and explicitly in the context of national planning and
investment programme reviews. The cost effectiveness of specific emergency preparedness
measures and hazard reduction activities can be assessed. There are opportunities to build links
between government and international organizations involved in relief and recovery and to
provide opportunities for investment institutions to help governments gain access to new
developments in hazard-reduction technologies. In regular investment project design and sector
loans, attention can be given to early warning systems and other elements of emergency
preparedness through financial or technical assistance.

Using development programmes to decrease vulnerability should increasingly be incorporated

into every level of programme and project preparation and review within UNDP country
programming as well as other financial and technical assistance projects. Structured review
procedures should require that the disaster implications of new projects be explicitly taken into
consideration.

There is a wide range of options for incorporating mitigation measures into regular development
programmes. Each of the following examples suggests ways of protecting populations and
critical economic assets against hazards and of reducing the overall impact of a disaster.

1 Strengthening urban utility systems and industrial support infrastructures is a common aim of
development projects. This is achieved through a variety of external inputs including loans,
technical assistance, and support for institutional development. “Lifeline systems” – such as
water, electric power, transportation links and communications – can be made more effective as
well as more selectively resistant to particular hazards.

2 Many other opportunities exist to incorporate hazard resistant building techniques in housing
and other construction programmes. These opportunities are usually specific to the type of
housing used in the region and the nature of local hazards. Such measures can substantially
reduce injuries and deaths from earthquakes and tropical storms. Additionally, these
programmes can protect high value economic resources, reducing the total costs of damage and
improving the chances of more rapid recovery. On a wider scale, the application of building
codes, associated training programmes, and more extensive use of zoning regulations in urban
development reduce the risk for the local population, and the likelihood of damage to industrial
facilities. Improved drainage systems and flood protection measures can further protect people
and facilities in hazardous areas.

3 Investments in improving administration and strengthening the resource-base of public

institutions will have a general positive impact on the effectiveness of preparedness arrangements,
emergency responses and the quality of longer-term recovery planning. Training programmes in
general, and especially those with a management or technical focus, can be expected to
improve the implementation of mitigation and response measures.

4 Agricultural and forestry programmes provide a range of opportunities for mitigation.

Reforestation programmes reduce risks of erosion, landslides and flash flooding. Changes in
cropping patterns can also ameliorate erosion problems and losses due to floods and drought.
The introduction of pest-resistant crops can reduce the economic and other impacts of
infestations. Programmes for soil conservation, water harvesting and improving on-farm storage
can mitigate the effects of drought.
Each of these examples represents an opportunity for mitigation. Each also requires investment
of scarce resources:
  The operation must be directed at restoring assets or productivity in a long-term
development perspective - not relief.
 The prospective economic returns should be high.
 The effects of the emergency should be significant.
 The event triggering the emergency should have a low probability of happening again
soon.
 The need for an urgent response should be evident.
 Emergency lending is limited to cases where effective action can be felt in two to three
years.
 There should be some prospect for future reduction in the hazard.

Phase II: Preparedness

The goal of emergency preparedness programmes is to achieve a satisfactory level of readiness
to respond to any emergency situation through programmes that strengthen the technical and
managerial capacity of governments, organizations, and communities. These measures can be
described as logistical readiness to deal with disasters and can be enhanced by having response
mechanisms and procedures, rehearsals, developing long-term and short-term strategies, public
education and building early warning systems. Preparedness can also take the form of ensuring
that strategic reserves of food, equipment, water, medicines and other essentials are
maintained in cases of national or local catastrophes. During the preparedness phase,
governments, organizations, and individuals develop plans to save lives, minimize disaster
‘damage, and enhance disaster response operations. Preparedness measures include:
 Preparedness plans
 Emergency exercises/training
 Warning systems
 Emergency communications systems
 Evacuations plans and training
 Resource inventories
 Emergency personnel/contact lists
 Mutual aid agreements
 Public information/education

As with mitigation efforts, preparedness actions depend on the incorporation of appropriate

measures in national and regional development plans.

Emergency preparedness:
Actions taken before the onset of a disaster so that a government can successfully discharge its
emergency management responsibilities, such as establishing authorities and responsibilities for
emergency actions and garnering the resources to support them.

Disaster Preparedness
Disaster preparedness is defined as a continuous and integrated process involving a wide range of
activities and resources from multi-sectoral sources. In order that disaster preparedness is
undertaken with rewarding outcomes, those involved in the process must approach it from a
mitigative, response, recovery and business continuity perspective. That is, when considering
disaster preparedness the phases of emergency management must be looked at carefully.
Disaster mitigation policies and measures will not stop a disaster especially a natural one from
occurring and persisting. What mitigation policies and measures seek to do is reduce
vulnerability to, or increase resilience to, the effects of the inevitable disasters to which a
country is prone.
Basically disaster mitigation and preparedness go hand in hand. Disaster preparedness for
example includes implementation of mitigation measures to ensure that existing infrastructure
can withstand the forces of disasters or that people can respond in their communities and at the
same time protect themselves. The collective capabilities of the country, people, and the
government to deal with extreme hazards or adversities when they occur are measures of their
cumulative preparedness. In local circumstances and because of historical proneness to
disasters, mitigation is important, but preparedness is doubly important. Disaster preparedness
involves the preparation of people and essential service providers in their communities for the
actions that they will take in case of disasters. If this is the case, consideration must be given to
the manner in which the formal responders (Police and Fire Services, Emergency Medical
Services personnel and the Military) prepare to respond to disasters. For example, the personnel
in these response agencies may have to learn the use of new equipment, treatment methods for
diseases or providing services to prevent the escalation of the effects of disasters that will
further destroy lives and devastate property. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies (IFRCRCS, 2005) states that disaster preparedness requires global, national,
community and individual inputs. Disaster preparedness incorporates all activities that will
enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and impact of disaster emergency response mechanisms in
the local community and throughout the country. The following are of particular importance:
 Develop and test warning systems regularly and plan measures to be taken during a
disaster alert period to minimize potential loss of life and physical damage.
 Educate and train officials and the population at risk to respond to the disaster.
 Train first-aid and emergency response teams.
 Establish emergency response policies, standards, organizational arrangements and
operational plans to be followed by emergency workers and other response entities
after a disaster.

Others feel that disaster preparedness should be one that is particularly “community-based”
through national or international efforts that will provide for strengthening community-based
disaster preparedness through educating, preparing and supporting local populations and
communities in their everyday efforts to reduce risks and prepare their own local response
mechanisms to address disaster emergency situations.

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)

Natural hazards need not be natural disasters. Preventive action is possible, especially when
advance knowledge of the nature and occurrence of such hazards are available to the general
public. Human vulnerability is the relative lack of capacity of a person or community to
anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impact of a hazard. Factors that increase
human vulnerability to disasters include rapid urbanization, population growth, and lack of
knowledge about how to effectively resist the effects of disasters and poverty. Of all the factors,
poverty is perhaps at the root of what makes most people vulnerable to the impact of most
hazards. An understanding of human vulnerability provides us with an understanding of the
significance of what physical measures should be naturally favoured in the various
circumstances. Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) forms the pillar of disaster preparedness, that is, it
forms the action plan to be implemented before, during and after disasters.

So, what is risk reduction? The IFRCRCS defines risk reduction as physical measures to reduce the
vulnerability and exposure of infrastructure to natural hazards as well and to provide coping and
adaptive infrastructure in case of a disaster event.
Some DRR recommendations for countries which do not have a robust disaster preparedness
plan are:
 Policy, planning and capacity building in disaster management
 Physical prevention; example, building sea-walls against storm surge or flood shelters
during flood events
 Capacity building at institutional and systemic level in disaster preparedness

The above policy and planning of physical measures designed to reduce risks will have far
reaching socio-economic and environmental benefits that will keep the country functioning at
all levels; for example the continued provision of food, potable water and health care and at the
same time there will be less damage to infrastructure. Examples of DRR measures that countries
can adopt into their planning and policy are listed below:
 Proper planning to mitigate flooding in flood prone areas and alternate infrastructure
for the provision of food and potable water.
 Provision of raised flood shelters.
 The improvement of water supply systems in rural areas to provide sufficient potable
water supply during floods or droughts.
 The construction and use of drainage pumps as an example of strengthening the
capacity to cope with floods.
 Enhance community-based disaster preparedness by focusing more on the roles of
women.
 Improve wireless communication that is robust and integrated with both electronic and
manual system.
 Train farmers to diversify food crops as a strategy to survive in the event of disaster.

Emergency response planning

Managing emergencies has many similarities to running developmental programmes. It is both
multidisciplinary and intersectoral in nature. Its impact stems from the process it activates
rather than from the final product. The planning process and the plan’s component are
practically identified whatever the emergency, be it crisis or conflict situation or a natural or
technological disaster.
As in the case of all sustainable development, thorough advance planning is the key to effective
and efficient emergency management

Emergency response planning principles

Planning for emergencies is often a complex task which needs to be clearly thought out and
engage all the relevant stakeholders and take into account various scenarios and eventualities.
Sound principles need to be adhered to as follows:
 • It must be community-based, representing the whole population and its needs. The
planning process and the plan should be inclusive and cover even marginalized groups
such as children
• It must include participation from all stakeholders in the community
• It uses a logical and analytical problem-solving process to help address the complexity
and uncertainty inherent in potential hazards and threats.
• It considers all hazards and threats.
• It should be flexible enough to address both traditional and catastrophic incidents.
• It should depict the anticipated environment for action
• Planning does not need to start from scratch. Instead it should build upon the existing
systems of disaster management and tap into local knowledge and management
systems
• It identifies tasks, allocates resources to accomplish those tasks, and establishes
accountability.
• It includes senior officials throughout the process to ensure both understanding and
approval
• Time, uncertainty, risk, and experience influence planning.
• Effective plans tell those with operational responsibilities what to do and why to do it,
and they instruct those outside the jurisdiction in how to provide support and what to
expect

Types of Plans
There are three tiers of planning: strategic planning, operational planning, and tactical
(incident scene) planning. Strategic planning sets the context and expectations for operational
planning, while operational planning provides the framework for tactical planning. All three tiers
of planning occur at all levels of government.

Strategic plans
Strategic plans describe how a jurisdiction wants to meet its emergency management or state
security responsibilities over the long-term. These plans are driven by policy from senior officials
and establish planning priorities. Strategic planning entails systematic, comprehensive
approaches to developing strategies. Strategic planning is made up of the situational analysis
and strategy formulation stages of strategic management.
Situational analysis: Situational analysis consists of investigating the external environment to
determine key external forces; analyzing the internal strengths and weaknesses of the
organization; and evaluating the organizations' mission, vision, values and objectives.
Strategy formulation: Based on the results of the situational analysis, organizational goals must
be established, strategic alternatives generated and evaluated, and a strategy determined. This
process is referred to us strategy formulation.

Management literature has for many years stressed the importance of strategic planning
(Drucker 2002). A greater awareness of the value of environmental scanning and the broader
impacts of international affairs on internal operations will be increasingly important to the
emergency management community. Recovery would be simple if all that were required was
restoring the built environment. Recovery is complex and difficult because it requires
establishing or re--establishing important relationships within the system and between the
system and its environment. Emergency and crisis management emphasize that effective
emergency response and recovery is based on good planning.

Natural disasters occurrence can highlight the efficiency of the governmental system because
they have to deal with situations in the context of limited time and resource constraints.
Because natural disasters reveal not only the structural strengths and limitations of the physical
environment of a community but also how local, state and national response organizations
function effectively and ineffectively, therefore the countries which have no structured
comprehensive and strategic plan would be confronting more problems than other countries. So
in spite of natural disaster's unpredictability, the governments can be prepared beforehand in
order to cope with disasters.

Intervention in the absence of comprehensive and fundamental planning will have

unpredictable, unexpected and subsequently unacceptable consequences. Services are found
disrupted right at the time they are most needed, so strategic planning has to include some
solutions in order to minimize these types of operation disruptions in times of crisis and natural
disasters. Strategic planning provides the appropriate infrastructure for integrated, coordinated
decision making following natural disasters such as earthquakes. Hence, applying strategic
planning to disaster management can reduce the impact of disasters on the community which
results in reducing the number of casualties and disabilities.

As emergency and crisis management imply, an effective emergency response and recovery
operation in natural disasters requires establishing vital collaborations and communications
within the system and between the system and its environment. A major contribution of the
strategic planning process to emergency and disaster management is the necessity of
monitoring the nature and changing character of external forces and their impacts on the
operations of an organization.
In disaster management the weakest point should be recognized, the problem can be
pinpointed by situational analysis in strategic planning and dealt with.

Operational plans provide a description of roles and responsibilities, tasks, integration, and
actions required of a jurisdiction or its departments and agencies during emergencies.
Jurisdictions use plans to provide the goals, roles, and responsibilities that a jurisdiction’s
departments and agencies are assigned, and to focus on coordinating and integrating the
activities of the many response and support organizations within a jurisdiction.
Operational plans should detail the following, among other issues:-
 Response Protocols; The Response Protocol will identify the relevant agencies and
individuals within those agencies who would respond to a specific incident and then, in
a collective process, a plan of action or a Contingency Plan must be developed for each
incident.
 Contingency Planning; Contingency Plans are alternatives to the normal. Having
determined who is likely to be threatened by what hazard and which Emergency
Services are likely to respond, it is of vital importance that the responders have a plan of
action that must be followed in order to address the particular circumstances at hand.
Contingency plans, therefore, need to identify the availability and accessibility of
resources (human, material, structural and financial).This will provide for the re-
prioritization of projects in order to make emergency relief or rehabilitation projects
possible using own resources. Contingency plans must also identify developmental
 projects and programs, aimed at risk reduction, which need to be aligned with the
integrated disaster plans in order to identify funding sources.
 Access to Resources for:
o Immediate relief;
o Equipment; and
o Recovery and rehabilitation.
 Guidelines for:
o Funding; and
o Declaration of a State of Disaster.

Tactical plans focus on managing personnel, equipment, and resources that play a direct role in
an incident response. Pre-incident tactical planning, based upon existing operational plans,
provides the opportunity to pre-identify personnel, equipment, exercise, and training
requirements.

Planning approaches
Planners use a number of approaches, either singly or in combination, to develop plans:
• Scenario-based planning. This approach starts with building a scenario for a hazard or threat.
Then, planners analyze the impact of the scenario to determine appropriate courses of action.
Planners typically use this planning concept to develop planning assumptions, primarily for
hazard- or threat – as specific annexes to a basic plan.
• Function-based planning (functional planning). This approach identifies the common functions
that a jurisdiction must perform during emergencies. Function-based planning defines the
function to be performed and some combination of government agencies and departments
responsible for its performance as a course of action.
• Capabilities-based planning. This approach focuses on a jurisdiction’s capacity to take a course
of action. Capabilities-based planning answers the question, “Do I have the right mix of training,
organizations, plans, people, leadership and management, equipment, and facilities to perform
a required emergency function?” Some planners view this approach as a combination of
scenario- and function-based planning because of its “scenario-to-task-to-capability” focus.

In reality, planners commonly use a combination of the three previous approaches to

operational planning. This hybrid planning approach provides the basis for the planning process
discussed later. Using the hybrid approach converts requirements generated by a scenario into
goals and objectives that drive the planning process. It leads to a basic plan that describes
overarching roles, relationships, and responsibilities with functional, hazard, and threat annexes
that reflect sequencing of actions. A hybrid planning approach helps identify the courses of
action that a jurisdiction must be able to take and the required functions it must perform based
upon a comprehensive risk analysis; thus, it helps identify the capabilities a jurisdiction must
have. FEMA strongly advocates the hybrid approach.

Plan elements
1. Management, organisation and coordination
Many agencies take part in emergency response operations: Civil Protection and emergency
structures, fire brigades, Red Crescent/ Red Cross Societies, international agencies and others. It
is possible that several agencies may be performing the same task. For example, Red
Crescent/Red Cross Societies, a local religious centre and an international NGO may all be
providing first aid delivery, shelter and food. In this case, clear coordination of activities is
required to ensure that the maximum number of people is assisted in the shortest possible time
and to avoid unnecessary duplication of services. A preparedness plan should list the name(s),
responsibilities during emergency, and contact numbers and addresses for the emergency
response focal point, the team members at each operational level and people in charge of:
 Activating the response services
 Communicating with headquarters
 Managing external relations and aid appeals from otheð k,5~cuq, including govern-
enUal, inpeblational and puâli% vwnds
 Communicating wit` Tl% eDDma
 Coordinatine iod liasing with other agencies and services
 Managing administrative work

W`eN$creating a preparedness `l!f each agency should also identify thm Agtivity (ies) it will be
responsible for and its antyc)xated leweè of involvement in tlg0owent of an emergency. An
agency shotlà also determine where, witjif!the agency, responsibility for each fwnkuion will
rasyfg.Hf two groups will perform similar functions, it ks(hmportant to clarify the distinct and
overlcpxhng roles of eac`.31Bor0i.{tance, fire brmgqfes and Army services arå!r£sponsible for
search and rescue operations, while Red Crescent/Red CrOsó0Societies play an auxiliary role.
Your outline of zeStonsibilities may include the0f/dlowing entities:
• Civil Prïte!tion and emergency structures
• Fire brigades
• Health sector
• Militia
• Red Crescent/ Red Brëss Societies
• Publyc`igenciEs… Local populatiol
3 Assessment of probable needsAn-ther aspe#t Nf preparedness planning is planning for
probable needs during an emergency. BaseD ï~ previous disasters, planners shoõldbcompile a
list of likelY îueds and available resources. If plinNars anticipate a gap between needs and
2esNurces, they should identify, in advance, ways to$rufucu )|.

3 Activating population emergency notification aod¤disastEr besponse systems

The plan`shNuld define ways to provide the population with emergency warnings as well as
the"pmnple who are responsible for t(is function. Agencies should identify ao ëfficer (other than
the public relations officer ÷xo is hn¤cHaòwe of sharing information with the mgda`. The
offic%r Rhould b% eYperienced ald(iave government, business and social contacts. The
information officer should clarify which people are allowed do`kommunicate necessary
emergency data to the ietka. OtHeò0response tgae!members should refer all communicqt)gn
cnl!public relations issues to phyq particular officer. In addmtymn to providing the purl)i hth
notificauIëî0of the impending disaster, there must also be a system for initiating a disaster
response in case of an emergency. Who and how is early warning being monitored and
communicated? The plan should also ensure ways of involving volunteers and allowing staff to
work extra hours. If your agency is the lead agency, the plan should stipulate which structures to
notify, how and who is responsible for communication.

4 Emergency needs assessment

Effective response operations are practically impossible without a precise emergency or disaster
situation assessment and a thorough evaluation of required humanitarian and other relief. To be
effective, assessment work should be well planned and organised before it is carried out. In
most cases, a comprehensive needs assessment should be conducted immediately after an
emergency and updated thereafter. Normally people assessing emergency needs and damages
should receive training and should agree on the standards being used. When planning for an
emergency needs assessment, identify: Who and when (e.g. immediately, after 3 days, 2 weeks,
etc.) is responsible for the assessment. Normally, multi-functional and multi-sectoral teams
should conduct assessments
 What information is required at each stage of the emergency
 How and where research teams will be formed and trained
 What standards are being used to indicate the severity of the emergency

The minimum humanitarian standards in disaster response developed by the Sphere Project can
assist organisations in prioritising information collection needs and planning an appropriate level
of response. The Sphere Project includes information on the following sectors:
•Water supply and sanitation
• Nutrition
• Food aid
• Shelter and site planning
• Health services

5 Resource mobilisation and allocation

Responding to an emergency and implementing the preparedness plan will require resources.
The preparedness plan, therefore, should consider:
• What resources are already available and in what quantities?
• Which staff and volunteers can be shifted over from other programs during times of
emergency?
• What resources will be needed that we don't have?
• Plans for procuring the resources that are not currently available.

6 Communication between agencies

Sharing and exchanging information among representatives of various agencies is crucial during
emergencies. To ensure clear and effective communication in an emergency the plan should
specify how communication will take place and via what mediums (e.g. email, radio, telephone,
in person, etc.) If radio communication will be used, it is important to designate the radio
frequency in the preparedness plan. This way, responding agencies will use the correct radio
frequencies in the event of an emergency. The plan should also specify who will have (and
maintain) the equipment and who will have access to a radio.

.7 Sector components
7.1 Rescue and medical assistance for the affected
Major emergencies and disasters often result in deaths and injuries. The disaster preparedness
plan should outline:
• Who will be responsible for organising search and rescue operations?
• How to dispose of dead bodies
• Who will deliver first aid?
• What distribution and registration systems will be used?
• Who will be responsible for medical evacuations and hospitalisation?
7.2 Water and sanitation
Often in an emergency, there is a lack of safe drinking water, which may cause serious health
problems. Since people can live without food longer than water, a supply of clean drinking water
is a priority in an emergency. Sanitation includes provision of safe water; disposal of human
excreta, wastewater and garbage; insect and rodent control; safe food handling; and site
drainage. The plan should include provisions for water and sanitation during an emergency.

For water, specify:

• The policy regarding use of water resources. What infrastructure and technical capacities
exist? Who is responsible for the water system?
• Whether a supply/distribution system is in place
• Measures to take in winter, in summer drought or in case of water source contamination
• Equipment that is required and whether there is a need for water tinKw (if local water sources
are not avai,abMe)

For sanitatio., Rpecify:

• Who is responsiâleb(public divisions /r Qryv!|m Sactor)
• Whether training programs on sanitation should be aofausved
• The level of planning for wa~kôat+on activities

7.3 Food and nutrition

Food provision is aimed at meeting the needs of an affected population(dUving an emergency.
The preparedoe÷s plan should define, calculate and {tItulate how food will ba `povided in
emergencies of differinc yltensities and impacts. During the prepa2edOess stage, the following
yuEwtions should be answered:
• Who is responsible for assessment of food supply needs and coordination of this part of the
response operation?
• What food is available locally, in the region, in the counôry} Whct(`re the0c!xagidkms kâ and
prices`in local markdt÷?
• What foodstuffs traditionally used?a#keptable to thg xnpulation are likely to be affected?•
f what should the food basket consist?
• What are the caloric requirements for various climates (for example, in cold high mountain
climates)?
• What basic needs should be met for small children?
What food distribution systems have been used in the area, region, and country? How could
they be used in an emergency?
• Will the unaffected population close to the emergency site also be provided with food?
(This issue arises when the unaffected population is also exposed and vulnerable, even in
normal conditions.)
• Who is responsible for communications with the government and international food donors
(for example, the World Food Programme), NGOs and other agencies?
• What are the food storage requirements? What storage capacities are available?

7.4 Logistics and transport

Emergency response operations require transport of humanitarian aid, personnel and
equipment to the disaster site. Therefore, logistics and transport issues are crucial to a
successful response. The following aspects of logistics and transport should be considered in
planning:
• Define normal aid delivery routes to anticipated disaster areas and affected populations
• Define seaports and airports to be used
• Determine available storage sites
• Specify transportation modes (road, railway, air) and issues such as availability and cost
• Define availability of fuel and garages. Clarify limitations
• Define and establish cooperation with the government office or ministry responsible for
customs clearance on road, sea and airports; reach agreement with appropriate governmental
structures to ensure privileged conditions for import of humanitarian aid
• Identify the spare parts that may be needed for vehicles; make all preliminary arrangements
• Define the probable impact of weather on logistics work
• Define and conduct training for personnel or divisions responsible for logistics in an emergency

7.5 Other domestic needs

The plan should include details on how basic needs related to shelter; water and food should be
met. Other essential items that should be included in the plan include soap for hygiene purposes
and disease prevention, blankets, utensils, water tanks, and matches. Since situations may vary,
the list of essentials should be compiled based on the anticipated needs of the population likely
to be affected. The plan should reflect the following issues:
• The items that will be needed and available
• Storage requirements—what are the local storage capacities?
• Available reserves of blankets, water tanks, fuel for food preparation, stoves, utensils and
clothing
• Whether a distribution system is in place
• Who is responsible for management of these supplies and needs assessment
7.6 Health and nutrition
Access to safe water, good sanitary condition of dwellings and proper nutrition help avoid
diseases. These issues should be addressed before launching medical programs. The following
health and nutrition issues should be considered in planning:
• Who is responsible for health and nutrition needs? What is the local health care structure and
how does it function during emergencies?
• Where can vaccinations for infectious diseases (e.g. measles) be conducted?
• What are the main supplementary feeding requirements (children, pregnant and lactating
women) or special feeding programmes that may be necessary?
• Which governmental or non-governmental agencies are responsible for health care, disease
prevention and public health campaigns? What role does your agency play?
• Is health protection/nutrition different in winter? In what way? What special measures should
be considered during a winter emergency?
• How can the problem of overcrowding be solved? How will the problem reflect on health care
before and after an emergency?
• What measures should be taken for different population groups (children, pregnant women,
etc.)?
• What medication and medical equipment is available? What might be needed? Is an additional
supply of these items needed?
• Are storage capacities available? If not, what should be done?

7.7 Shelter
In some cases urgent shelter provision is needed for those whose houses have been destroyed
or are unsafe. Urgent repair work; provision of tents and tarpaulins for temporary shelter; or
sheltering homeless people in public buildings, like schools, may be required.
The following shelter issues should be considered in planning:
• Who is responsible for management and needs assessment related to shelter?
• What is the state policy with regard to sheltering an affected population? Which governmental
structure is in charge of coordinating this work?
• Have sites been identified for possible large-scale emergency shelter needs?
• How will sites be identified? What difficulties are there related to land ownership? What
potential problems may occur with the local community?
• What difficulties may arise in winter/summer time?
• What types of assistance will those who are hosted by relatives or friends need?
• How will the terrain affect shelter requirements?
• Are construction materials available locally?
• Are supplies of tents, construction materials, and plastic sheets needed?

7.8 Search and reunification of families

One of the priority social welfare tasks in many relief operations is to quickly initiate a search for
missing people and reunite lost family members. The family is the basic social unit in most
societies and plays a key role in meeting needs and solving community problems. Agencies
responsible for search and reunification of families should consider the following issues in their
work:
• Who is responsible for managing search and reunification activities?
• What methods or approaches will be used to carry out these activities?
• What communication methods will be used to reunite family members?
• What other agencies and governmental structures are responsible for these operations?
What level of coordination with these structures is required?
• At which stage of response should search operations be started (normally after 24-48 hours,
since many people find each other during this period)?

How will the affected population learn about this service?

• Who will work in the search service?
• What methods and forms are required to make this service more effective (e.g. information/
registration cards, inquiries, etc.)?

7.9 Protection and security

Preparedness plans should identify who is responsible for protection and security. In addition,
the plan should identify the actions to take to ensure the protection of the affected population
and their belongings as well as the safety of the emergency responders. Normally, this will be
the responsibility of the local security personnel e.g. police and army.

Mainstreaming Child Protection and Gender in Emergency Planning

It is high time that women take an active role when designing mitigating plans and activities so
that appropriate gender issues are mainstreamed. Women are not always well-represented in
decision-making. Experts agree that involving women broadens the range of ideas proposed for
and incorporated into disaster planning initiatives and results in plans that are more disaster-
resilient. Gender mainstreaming in disaster preparedness, relief and construction include
mapping of existing forms and sources of gender discrimination in each context while making
disaster preparedness plans. It is also necessary to involve community based women’s
organizations of marginalized groups in preparedness, relief and reconstruction planning and
pressing for accountability in implementation. Besides, by offering children the opportunity to
participate more fully in disaster situations, we cease to be interpreters of their needs and
thoughts, and instead begin to accompany them in the design of actions and adequate
strategies that strengthen their capacity to reflect, contribute, and lead their own development
processes. This in turn increases the possibilities of sustainable educational processes on
disasters and their prevention. It also contributes to the democratization process through the
formation of young leaders with a vision and knowledge of development.

Phases III and IV: Response and Recovery

Disaster response is the sum total of actions taken by people and institutions in the face of
disaster. These actions commence with the warning of an oncoming threatening event or with
the event itself if it occurs without warning. The focus in the response and recovery phases of
the disaster management cycle is on meeting the basic needs of the people until more
permanent and sustainable solutions can be found. Developmental considerations contribute to
all aspects of the disaster management cycle. One of the main goals of disaster management,
and one of its strongest links with development, is the promotion of sustainable livelihoods and
their protection and recovery during disasters and emergencies. Where this goal is achieved,
people have a greater capacity to deal with disasters and their recovery is more rapid and long
lasting. In a development oriented disaster management approach, the objectives are to reduce
hazards, prevent disasters, and prepare for emergencies.

Disaster Response
The aim of emergency response is to provide immediate assistance to maintain life, improve
health, and to support the morale of the affected population. Such assistance may range from
providing specific but limited aid, such as assisting refugees with transportation, temporary
shelter, and food, to establishing semi-permanent settlement in camps and other locations. It
also may involve initial repairs to damaged infrastructure. The focus in the response phase is on
meeting the basic needs of the people until more permanent and sustainable solutions can be
found. Humanitarian organizations are often strongly present in this phase of the disaster
management cycle.
During a disaster, humanitarian agencies are often called upon to deal with immediate response
and recovery. To be able to respond effectively, these agencies must have experienced leaders,
trained personnel, adequate transportation and logistic support, appropriate communications,
and guidelines for working in emergencies. If the necessary preparations have not been made,
the humanitarian agencies will not be able to meet the immediate needs of the people.
This section identifies the principal activities of disaster response. Each activity is (formally or
informally) governed by a set of policies and procedures, typically under the auspices of a lead
agency. In the end, disaster response activities are implemented by multiple government
organizations, international and national agencies, local entities and individuals, each with their
roles and responsibilities.

Aims of disaster response

The overall aims of disaster response are:
 To ensure the survival of the maximum possible number of victims, keeping them in the
best possible health in the circumstances.
 To re-establish self-sufficiency and essential services as quickly as possible for all
population groups, with special attention to those whose needs are greatest: the most
vulnerable and underprivileged.
 To repair or replace damaged infrastructure and regenerate viable economic activities.
To do this in a manner that contributes to long term development goals and reduces
vulnerability to any future recurrence of potentially damaging hazards.
 In situations of civil or international conflict, the aim is to protect and assist the civilian
population, in close collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) and in compliance with international conventions.
 In cases involving population displacements (due to any type of disaster) the aim is to
find durable solutions as quickly as possible, while ensuring protection and assistance as
necessary in the meantime.

Disaster Response Activities

The following are typical activities of emergency response:
1 Warning
Warning refers to information concerning the nature of the danger and imminent disaster
threats. Warnings must be rapidly disseminated to government officials, institutions and the
population at large in the areas at immediate risk so that appropriate actions may be taken,
namely, either to evacuate or secure property and prevent further damage. The warning could
be disseminated via radio, television, the written press, telephone system and cell phone.

2 Evacuation and migration

Evacuation involves the relocation of a population from zones at risk of an imminent disaster to
a safer location. The primary concern is the protection of life of the community and immediate
treatment of those who may be injured. Evacuation is most commonly associated with tropical
storms but is also a frequent requirement with technological or industrial hazards. For
evacuation to work there must be:
􀂃 A timely and accurate warning system,
􀂃 Clear identification of escape routes,
􀂃 An established policy that requires everyone to evacuate when an order is given,
􀂃 A public education programme to make the community aware of the plan.

In the case of a slow onset of a disaster, for example severe drought, the movement of people
from the zone where they are at risk to a safer site is not, in fact, evacuation, but crisis-induced
migration. This movement is usually not organized and coordinated by authorities but is a
spontaneous response to the perception by the migrants that food and/or security can be
obtained elsewhere.

3 Search and rescue (SAR)

Search and rescue (SAR) is the process of identifying the location of disaster victims that may be
trapped or isolated and bringing them to safety and medical attention. In the aftermath of
tropical storms and floods, SAR usually includes locating stranded flood victims, who may be
threatened by rising water, and either bringing them to safety or providing them with food and
first aid until they can be evacuated or returned to their homes. In the aftermath of
earthquakes, SAR normally focuses on locating people who are trapped and/ or injured in
collapsed buildings.

4 Post-disaster assessment
The primary objective of assessment is to provide a clear, concise picture of the post-disaster
situation, to identify relief needs and to develop strategies for recovery. It determines options
for humanitarian assistance, how best to utilize existing resources, or to develop requests for
further assistance.

5 Response and relief

When a disaster has occurred response and relief have to take place immediately; there can be
no delays. It is therefore important to have contingency plans in place. Relief is the provision on
a humanitarian basis of material aid and emergency medical care necessary to save and
preserve human lives. It also enables families to meet their basic needs for medical and health
care, shelter, clothing, water, and food (including the means to prepare food). Relief supplies or
services are typically provided, free of charge, in the days and weeks immediately following a
sudden disaster. In the case of deteriorating slow-onset emergency situations and population
displacements (refugees, internally and externally displaced people), emergency relief may be
needed for extended periods.

6 Logistics and supply

The delivery of emergency relief will require logistical facilities and capacity. A well-organized
supply service is crucial for handling the procurement or receipt, storage, and dispatch of relief
supplies for distribution to disaster victims.

7 Communication and information management

All of the above activities are dependent on communication. There are two aspects to
communications in disasters. One is the equipment that is essential for information flow, such as
radios, telephones and their supporting systems of repeaters, satellites, and transmission lines.
The other is information management: the protocol of knowing who communicates what
information to whom, what priority is given to it, and how it is disseminated and interpreted.

8 Survivor response and coping

In the rush to plan and execute a relief operation it is easy to overlook the real needs and
resources of the survivors. The assessment must take into account existing social coping
mechanisms that negate the need to bring in outside assistance. On the other hand, disaster
survivors may have new and special needs for social services to help adjust to the trauma and
disruption caused by the disaster. Participation in the disaster response process by individuals to
community organizations is critical to healthy recovery. Through these appropriate coping
mechanisms will be most successfully developed.

9 Security
Security is not always a priority issue after a sudden onset of disasters. It is typically handled by
civil defence or police departments. However, the protection of the human rights and safety of
displaced populations and refugees can be of paramount importance requiring international
monitoring.
10 Emergency operations management
None of the above activities can be implemented without some degree of emergency operations
management. Policies and procedures for management requirements need to be established
well in advance of the disaster.

11 Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation consists of actions taken in the aftermath of a disaster to enable basic services to
resume functioning, assist victims’ self-help efforts to repair dwellings and community facilities,
and to facilitate the revival of economic activities (including agriculture). Rehabilitation focuses
on enabling the affected populations (families and local communities) to resume more-or-less
normal (pre-disaster) patterns of life. It may be considered as a transitional phase between (i)
immediate relief and (ii) more major, long-term reconstruction and the pursuit of ongoing
development.

12 Reconstruction
Reconstruction is the permanent construction or replacement of severely damaged physical
structures, the full restoration of all services and local infrastructure, and the revitalization of
the economy (including agriculture). Reconstruction must be fully integrated into ongoing long
term development plans, taking account of future disaster risks. It must also consider the
possibilities of reducing those risks by the incorporation of appropriate mitigation measures.
Damaged structures and services may not necessarily be restored in their previous form or
locations. It may include the replacement of any temporary arrangements established as a part
of the emergency response or rehabilitation. Under conditions of conflict, however,
rehabilitation and reconstruction may not be feasible. For obvious reasons of safety and
security, activities in rehabilitation and reconstruction may need to wait until peace allows
them.

Disaster Recovery
As the emergency is brought under control, the affected population is capable of undertaking a
growing number of activities aimed at restoring their lives and the infrastructure that supports
them. There is no distinct point at which immediate relief changes into recovery and then into
long term sustainable development. There will be many opportunities during the recovery
period to enhance prevention and increase preparedness, thus reducing vulnerability. Ideally,
there should be a smooth transition from recovery to on-going development. Recovery activities
continue until all systems return to normal or better. Recovery measures, both short and long
term, include returning vital life support systems to minimum operating standards; temporary
housing; public information; health and safety education; reconstruction; counseling
programmes; and economic impact studies. Information resources and services include data
collection related to rebuilding, and documentation of lessons learned. Additionally, there may
be a need to provide food and shelter for those displaced by the disaster.

Recovery activities are classified as short-term and long-term.

During response, emergency action was taken to restore vital functions while carrying out
protective measures against further damage or injury.
a Short-term recovery is immediate and tends to overlap with response. The authorities restore
interrupted utility services, clear roads, and either fix or demolish severely damaged buildings.
Additionally, there may be a need to provide food and shelter for those displaced by the
disaster. Although called short-term, some of these activities may last for weeks
b Long-term recovery may involve some of the same activities, but it may continue for a number
of months, sometimes years, depending on the severity and extent of the damage sustained. For
example, it may include the complete redevelopment of damaged areas. The goal is for the
community to return to a state that is even better than before the emergency.
This is an ideal time to implement new mitigation measures so that the community is better
prepared to deal with future threats and does not leave itself vulnerable to the same setbacks
as before. Helping the community to take new mitigation steps is one of the most important
roles during the recovery phase.

The Recovery Plan

The recovery process should be understood clearly and it is important to have a general plan for
recovery which should be appended to emergency operation plans. The primary purpose of the
plan is to spell out the major steps for managing successful recovery. For each step you will also
designate key partners and their roles and steps to mobilize them. The plan should have at least
the following seven steps:
1 Gathering basic information
2 Organizing recovery
3 Mobilizing resources for recovery
4 Administering recovery
5 Regulating recovery
6 Coordinating recovery activities
7 Evaluating recovery
For the majority of disasters, local communities are able to provide the assistance needed for
recovery. However, for a major disaster, it may be necessary to obtain assistance from the
government and other sources. Therefore, preparations must be made to request outside aid if
a major disaster occurs. This will mean informing and convincing decision makers, especially
those outside the affected area. Documenting the effects of the disaster is the best way to carry
this out.

Documentation involves providing evidence of what happened. Photographs of the damage

provide irrefutable evidence. Take pictures of the damage, the repair work, and completed
restorations. You cannot take too many pictures. There can be a good documentation if the
following five simple steps are followed:
1 Take pictures of damages and repairs. More is better than too little. Private citizens may have
excellent shots to supplement your own.
2 Take notes on damages and repairs. Again, more is better than too little. If there is too much
to write at one time, dictate your notes into a tape recorder for later transcription.
3 Clip and file newspaper reports and stories. If you can get video footage from the television
stations, do that also.
4 Record all expenditures carefully and keep all receipts and invoices.
5 Make sure anyone acting on behalf of the jurisdiction does the same.

Education and Public Awareness – Community-based Initiatives

Every country is at the risk of exposure to some type of disaster, whether natural or man-made.
In order for each country to prepare for any kind of disaster, it must inform its citizens about the
different types of disasters. The local residents must also be aware of how they can effectively
participate in preparing for a disaster, mitigating potential impacts of a disaster and the recovery
process after a disaster. One of the most effective mechanisms for a country to prepare for a
disaster is by conducting education and public awareness programmes at the local community
level. Public awareness in disaster management is a process of educating and empowering the
population through sharing knowledge and information about the various types of disasters and
their potential risks as widely as possible so that people act appropriately when a disaster
happens.

Rationale for a Community-Based Approach

All governments are responsible for protecting their citizens and endorsing the 2005 Hyogo
Declaration which states that: “strengthening community level capacities to reduce disaster risk
at the local level is especially needed, considering that appropriate disaster reduction measures
at that level enable the communities and individuals to reduce significantly their vulnerability to
hazards.” Members of a community are the immediate victims of adverse effects of a disaster.
They have the best knowledge about their local surrounding in terms of the most disaster-prone
areas, the demography of their community and their social and traditional organisation. It is
important that they have the capacity to cope with the impacts of a disaster and are involved in
the development of disaster management activities right from the initial planning stages
Community participation can also make them more confident in their capabilities to act in the
event of a disaster leading to a self-reliant community (Newport & Jawahar, 2003).
Every community has members who can be ignorant of events around them especially when
these events do not affect them directly or more frequently. This type of attitude can also be
gradually changed by involving members of the local community in decision-making processes
such as planning national disaster management plans or even designing awareness
programmes. This bottom-up, participatory approach can make community members more
receptive of new knowledge and information presented to them. Local residents who speak or
understand their native language only may be hesitant to accept non-native people conducting
education and awareness programmes for them.

Stakeholders’ Roles and Responsibilities

An effective and successful community-based approach in reducing disaster risks is often
attributed to the spontaneous participation and involvement of the following stakeholders:
􀂃 Government (through various ministries and departments)
􀂃 Non-governments (NGOs)
􀂃 Regional and International Organisations/Donor Agencies
􀂃 District council (Local government)
􀂃 National/Local Organisations (women committees, youth groups, schools, etc)
􀂃 Community workers
􀂃 Trainers
􀂃 Disaster Managers (Local and National)
􀂃 Policy Makers
􀂃 Grass-roots people
􀂃 Religious Denominations
There is a need for coordination in the Community-Based Approach among all the stakeholders.
The parameters for participation by each of the stakeholders need to be clearly outlined at the
national level to avoid overlap and confusion. The focus for all of the stakeholders should be the
local people, who are at risk of being potential victims and who should also assume
responsibility in managing that risk. The stakeholders must:
􀂃 develop a strong governance framework through legislation and policies;
􀂃 mainstream disaster risk management and capacity building into decision making, the budget
process, and sector, provincial and community development plans;
􀂃 strengthen, empower and support local and national structures; and
􀂃 understand and recognize that disaster management and disaster risk reduction are
environmental, humanitarian and developmental issues, so there is a need to coordinate the
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the approach.

Categories of stakeholders

Government
To have an effective and sustainable impact on the community-based disaster programmes,
policy makers should consider incorporating community- based disaster programmes into their
drafting of appropriate acts and regulations in order to implement them effectively. The
governments have a prime responsibility for managing disasters and for taking into
consideration the roles taken by different people in the community in terms of developing and
providing approaches and strategic actions which can be used to manage the consequences of
disaster within the community. Community-based disaster initiatives produce results so long as
there is also government support.

Non Government Organisations (NGOs)

NGOs are the appropriate organisations to conduct community-based disaster activities at the
different communities and with different stakeholders. They consist of professionals, activists
and grass-roots people who have wide networks which facilitate their capacity in programme
development.

Regional and International Organisations / Donor Agencies

Selected donor agencies, regional and international organisations assist the communities in
terms of initiating the community-based disaster programmes and providing financial assistance
and sometimes resource people for the programmes.

District Councils / Local Government

The most common elements of the community-based disaster involvement are partnership,
participation, empowerment and ownership by the local people. Thus, it is the responsibility of
the local government and/or council to ensure there is an effective partnership in place, plus
participation, empowerment and ownership by local people in their communities towards
disaster reducing initiatives and programmes.

Community Workers
Community workers are the most reliable arms of the local government/ council in the
implementation stage of the disaster policy and reduction initiatives. They have experience in
handling disasters, hazards, emotional problems and coping mechanism and uncertainties. They
assist the local government/ council in establishing a strong cooperation and understanding
among diverse stakeholders including the local government, local NGOs, government, regional
and international organisations. If this cooperation is effective, every person involved in all
community-based disaster programmes is benefited, but the actual ownership still remains with
the concerned community. This will be considered as a successful model for sustainable
community-based disaster recovery, especially when the regional and international agencies
leave. The community workers should also know that the timing of any activity is important.
Therefore their responsibility is to make sure the timeframe of any community-based disaster
reduction activity is followed otherwise the involvement of the people in the community will be
reduced.

National/Local Organisations
National and local organisations such as women’s committees, youth groups, schools, religious
groups, etc. should consider adapting the community-based disaster initiatives provided by the
government, regional and international organisations as part of their overall disaster risks
management. They are the main bodies in the community that can assist in the implementation
of the community-based disaster programmes effectively.

National and Local Disaster Managers

Disaster Managers are the disaster professionals and technical people in the national
government, who are responsible for the implementation of the disaster management initiatives
of the country. Since the communities are important parts of the national government, these
disaster professionals and managers should be aware that the key aspect of community-based
disaster initiatives is its sustainability. Therefore, it is the trainers, local managers and/or
national managers’ roles and responsibilities to train people in the community to understand
the basic community-based disaster mitigation practices. While people in the community should
own the problems, consequences, challenges of disaster mitigations and preparedness
initiatives, it is still necessary for the trainers, local disaster managers and /or national disaster
managers to take people’s involvement further by training them to be aware of disaster policy
and strategy. One of the roles and responsibilities is to empower all concerned stakeholders
through awareness training to involve them in decision making. They work together with local
government on the development of schemes to ensure the sustainability of disaster initiatives is
always in place at the individual, community and island levels. They are responsible for the
implementation of local disaster management initiatives. These include island, city, province,
department officers and practitioners.

Policy Makers
The policy makers are the ministers, permanent secretaries of the ministries and heads of the
national disaster management units. There are also policy makers at the local government level,
including island council presidents, city mayors and local politicians who prepare the island
and/or city policies.

Grass-roots people
People at the grass-roots should understand their own disaster risks and be well versed in taking
actions against such risks.
Methods of Dissemination
The methods of dissemination that can be utilized in the Community- Based Approach are varied
and depend entirely on the needs of the community and the resources available on hand. As
you go through this section, you may think of other methods more relevant or applicable for use
in your community. This section focuses on the most common methods that can be utilized in
almost any community. The use of audiovisuals is one method of creating awareness and
education at the community-based level. Audiovisuals typically used in developing countries are
print based because of the unavailability of more highly advanced technically based mediums of
delivery (e.g. television or the internet). Discussed here are the used of hazard maps and
posters. The use of community theatre or drama is another method of communicating messages
to the community on disaster preparedness and response.

The Simple Hazard Map

A common visual aid utilized in the Community Based Approach is the Simple Hazard Map. It is
basically a map of the local community which points out safe escape routes and safe refuges as
a guide to where people can run and where they can gather if there is a hazard event. Simple
hazard maps generally map out areas of risk and lead to action to reduce risk in those areas. It
enables people to take the correct escape routes and gather at safe places when disaster strikes.
It helps save many lives, homes and belongings which would otherwise be lost in a disaster.
You must also be aware that there is another kind of a hazard map which is more detailed than
the simple hazard map. This is the complex hazard map. The complex hazard map is not
discussed here because it is used at a level higher than the community level by trained planners
and disaster managers.

Posters and Videos

Posters and leaflets on natural, technical and manmade disasters and their impacts can be
produced and distributed or put up on community notice boards. The production and viewing of
videos on past disasters can also be shown to communities to highlight important issues in
preparation for or in response to disaster.

Community Theatre (Drama)

A different but exciting method used in the dissemination of information that you may have
heard of is community theatre. The delight of theatre groups to dramatize disaster management
awareness message is a medium that is very powerful. During the awareness meetings a mobile
traveling theatre group or a local group can highlight the event with classical important
messages. This is also a highly effective means of creating awareness in developing countries as
the majority of people often have no access to newspapers and television. Local theatre groups
therefore provide entertainment for the local community to which they belong and
simultaneously present issues that directly affect the people as themes for their drama.
Community theatre groups from a disaster prone area can produce drama relevant to the kind
of disaster their community is prone to. People watching the drama are not only entertained but
also gain a great deal of information and are made more aware of preparedness for and
prevention of disaster in their community.

Informal Training
The Community Based Approach to Education and Awareness in Disaster Management also uses
informal training as an efficient tool to prepare communities in the event that disaster strikes.
This training takes place not only outside of the formal curriculum but often even outside the
setting of
a formal learning or training institution. Informal training is sponsored by the government, NGOs
or other donor funding agencies. It targets community leaders and covers important information
for people in disaster prone communities.
The existing government and the local structures should form the basis for the facilitation and
implementing of the awareness training programme, progress and process. It is imperative that
whole process of awareness is mainstreamed across sectors. The integration and involvement of
disaster management is everybody’s business but the crucial focus should be within the
communities. There should be a gradual shift from disaster response to disaster management.
The awareness training based in the communities is geared towards supporting them to
understand and manage their hazard to reduce and mitigate their risks. The responsibilities
should not only rest on the communities as such but that the public and private sectors should
cooperate and be partners to discourage risk contributing activities and factors.

Workshops
Workshops are excellent examples of informal training provided to the community. A week long
workshop facilitated by experts in disaster management for community leaders covers enough
information, examples, activities and discussion to adequately prepare them in the event that
disaster strikes. In this situation, the Education Officers, teachers and schools will be involved
within their own structure. The Government Officers which includes education staff, in the
divisions form teams to organize the workshops to the communities. You see then that the
dissemination of knowledge and awareness to community leaders is in turn transferred to other
members of the community. This is done by gathering all the members of the community at a
communal meeting place (e.g. a community hall, church or other traditional meeting place) and
imparting this information to the rest of the community. In so doing, the community at large is
then aware and better prepared to cope in the event that disaster strikes in their community.

Mass Campaigns
The mass campaign is a huge undertaking whereby the entire districts, countries and
international donor agencies will be participating. The governments, the donor funding
agencies, the non-government organizations (NGOs), the communities and other possible
stakeholders need to cooperate fully by pooling resources. The outcomes must meet the
objectives of the process so the planning of the entire operation is crucial.
􀂃 Church groups, meetings and gathering are also effective avenues to inform and advice their
congregation to further the impact disaster have on and the importance of awareness messages
of preparedness, response and recovery
􀂃 Women’s groups: It is imperative that women’s group should also play a leading role in the
dissemination of information amongst their structures either within church women’s
organization or Ministry and Department responsible for Woman’s Affairs and other sub
women’s groups.
􀂃 Youth Groups. Youth holds the future of disaster management in their hands. They are
resourceful people who need guidance to display leadership skills to be spearheading the
implementation stage.

Mock Exercises
Another kind of informal training given at the community level is the use of mock exercises in
reducing disaster risks. Community leaders from high risk communities are encouraged to
organize occasional mock exercises so as to familiarize their communities with escape routes,
safe areas to gather, etc.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Community-Based

Approach
As with any other approach, the community-based approach has its pros and cons:
Advantages
The following are advantages of using the Community-Based Approach:
i Ownership and Sustainability
The Community Based-Approach involves people and gives them a sense of ownership of the
materials created or methods incorporated in education and public awareness. Through
ownership comes sustainability. The projects used as tools at this level become ongoing projects
that can then be modified whenever the need arises.
ii Addresses the Immediate Needs of Communities
The Community-Based Approach is targeted specifically at particular communities and it
addresses their immediate needs. This is because at the community based level, immediate
needs are better identified.
iii User Friendly
Information is presented in such a way that people can easily understand or relate to, for
example, the use of the language that people in a community are most familiar with.
iv Provides Knowledge and Skills
Finally the Community Based Approach empowers or equips people with the necessary
knowledge and skills to help themselves in the first seventy two (72) hours of a disaster. This is
the most crucial time at the onset of a disaster when outside help is still on its way.

Disadvantages
These are some of its disadvantages:
i Fear
Communities are sometimes reluctant to expose the vulnerabilities of their localities to
outsiders. This is because they fear that they will lose potential investors in their communities,
e.g. tourists.
ii Lack of Resources
At the community based level, the lack or unavailability of resources required to effectively carry
out awareness is also a disadvantage. Without the necessary resources, people have to
improvise with what limited resources they have and this not only makes it very difficult for
them but also impacts on the quality of work they have produced.
iii Misleading Information
When public awareness and education is not carried out properly at the community level,
misleading information is disseminated to the rest of the community. This can lead to a chaotic
situation and ultimately loss of lives at the onset of a disaster.
iv Lack of Proper Training
A further problem with this approach is also the fact that those utilizing the tools of the
communicative approach may not have had proper training in what they are doing. This can also
lead to distortion of information, thus misleading the rest of the community.
v Gender Bias
Last but not the least, there is a tendency in many developing countries not to involve women
and young people in the creation of the tools of the Community Based Approach due to religious
and cultural influences. Observation shows that too often those involved in public awareness
and education at the community based level are males (middle aged and older). There are
certain needs of communities that are overlooked by males (middle aged and older) but easily
identified by women or youth.

Education and Public Awareness

Disaster management is everybody’s business. The impact on the lives and livelihood of peoples
as well as damage to infrastructure are huge. The communities must be more proactive
towards preparedness and reduction of risks during disasters whether it is natural or man-made.
We will depend a lot on the resources and the traditional knowledge we have to prepare in
terms of subsistence, like planting the root crops three months before the cyclone seasons. The
cutting down of branches of wood, pulling down flimsy constructions, constructing buildings
that can withstand cyclones and following simple instructions are measures that if we take
seriously will greatly reduce unfortunate tolls and damages. The design of risk reduction
strategies is imperative. Therefore, personnel training and volunteer assistance, school-based
programmes and hazardous materials on disaster management are main issues discussed in this
unit.
Personnel training and volunteer assistance prepare people to improve and strengthen their
capacity towards managing and reducing the impact of disasters. The preparation should begin
with the assessing and identifying of the capacity needs of the communities. The hazards and
vulnerability of the communities at risk should be assessed on how they will be affected
technically, economically and socially.
Linking school activities and plans to the work of country coalition and local community
networks reinforces the goal of creating of an environment and local norms of supportive
attitudes towards disaster risks. In planning school-based programmes on disaster management,
schools must reach out and link with the community and include work with the local coalition in
the community in the work plan. Also schools must identify all the partners in disaster
prevention, within as well as beyond the school system, and define their roles and
responsibilities in the programmes. For example, parents play a very important role in providing
social and environmental support for the school programmes on disaster management.
Public awareness of hazardous materials is also vital for disaster prevention. A hazardous
material is a substance that on release or contact has the potential of causing harm to people
(physical or health effects), property or the environment. Harmful physical effects include fire,
sudden release of pressure, explosion, and other violent reactions. Harmful health effects
include acute conditions and chronic conditions. Acute conditions develop soon after over-
exposure to hazardous materials and include burns, rashes, respiratory distress, convulsions,
and possibly even death.

Duties of Response Personnel

Each duty involves a series of tasks and steps that must be considered and resolved by decisions
and actions. These duties when supported by the response communities are the framework of
an appropriate, survival oriented response to hazardous materials incidents. Reasoned decisions
based on this approach will minimize the harm resulting from a hazardous material incident and
reduce the risk to responders.

Community Mitigation Goals

Hazardous materials are usually transported on the roads and railroad networks throughout
countries. Some of these hazardous materials are stored and consumed by the community, in
particular, gasoline for vehicles, propane for heating, and anhydrous ammonia for fertilizers.
During disasters, the potential is high for release or spill of hazardous material into residential
areas or areas frequented by communities. It is important therefore to raise and promote
awareness of communities in the safeguard, handling, use and disposal of hazardous materials.

Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan

To increase the public’s awareness of the full range of man-made or technological hazards, it is
recommended that education and outreach programmes are developed and implemented.
Actions to take include:
1 Educating the public about the hazardous materials to which they are most frequently
exposed.
2 Help homeowners identify Hazardous Materials from which they are at risk.
3 Identify, publish and disseminate a procedures manual on the disposal of hazardous materials.

Indigenous knowledge systems

We can also discuss the importance of indigenous knowledge systems in preparation for or in
response to a disaster. Societies have over time developed their own ways of preparing for and
responding to disasters. Indigenous knowledge may also be integrated into an awareness
programme to ensure that the locals are considered in training tools. The preservation and
handing down of these knowledge systems can also be stressed and encouraged during
education and public awareness. The encouragement of Oral Traditions can also be stressed in
relation to indigenous knowledge systems. In many developing countries, writing is an
introduced concept used for documenting information. In the past, oral traditions ensured that
indigenous knowledge was passed on from one generation to the next and this ensured its
preservation for years on end.

Indigenous preventive knowledge of disasters

Communities have been exposed to disasters time and time again. Through this exposure, many
have developed traditional strategies or preventive measures to prepare and deal with
disasters.
For example, people mn0qome mountainous areas of Papua New Guinee tm not completely
clear"a`y fallen trees and logs before gardening. This is because their culture has adapted`thHs
ótr#tegy"tg!prevent erosion and land slides.

Ildafenous knowledge of edible fruits, n5ts

plants and water soupcmr
Indigenous knowledge of Edérle plants and the location of f`r¤away waôerbsources can also
prove very helpful in the time of a disartár. People must be0e.kouraged to be aware of th'se
traditional knowledge systems in education and public awareness.
Ôra&itional Healing and Herbal Medicine
Traditional healmnw"methods and herfa|"medicine are very useful forms of indigenous
knowledge. Such traditional practicEs qre worth holding on to ajd0vheir prac4icD mtóð e
encouraged during educatikn0cnd public awareoe÷s. For example, the locals know better about
common traditional ieåling imdJkds in their society, they can combine their traditional methods
with modern medikiNel knowledge to construcp ql effective training programme In cases when!
dísaster strikes and outside le|r )s Eeláye&, the use of traditional healing methods and hur"il
medicine can help save livev.™ﾤKnowlefgm!of the presgnkd of indigenous sites and their
protection
Finally, the knowledge of the presence of indigenous sites and their protection is also worth
mentioning in education and public awareness. There are óom' sites within communities 4haU
are sacred and need to be protectet.`Kommunities must fe0oade aware of this and take
appropriate actions to protect their cultural heritage.

Hazard mapping
This sec|iOj will focus on disaster prmvEjtion, in particular, what a háza0d map is, the
procedures for creating hazard maps and some of the #onRiderations for their develo`m%ft. The
appli#atHon of hazard maps for disaStåb prevention, using some actual examples wil, bD
explored.

A disaster occurs at the point of Coîdact between socian(iBpivities and a natural phenomenon of
unusual scale. Natural disasteRs ccurring in larger scale may have a serious impact on society
and the economy, resulting in a significant national loss. Disaster prevention should be one of
the most important policies of the Government of a country.
"One who can rule rivers can rule a country, too" - An old theme of statesmanship.

Although, difficult to avoid natural phenomena such as rain and volcanoes, it is essential to
understand their behavior and how we can live with them by reducing their impacts and to
strengthen our ability to deal with their effects.
Disaster prevention is necessary to protect human lives, properties and social infrastructure
against disaster phenomena. One of the basic solutions to reduce the loss of life and damages is
to remove the disaster phenomenon or the point of contact with the social activities. But it is
often very difficult. However, it is possible to moderate a phenomenon by taking measures:
- Reducing the likelihood of a phenomenon, that is, removal of causes. For example,
construction of levees and dams.
- Even if it does occur, it should not affect social activities. For example, elevate the foundation
of houses.

Five types of information necessary for disaster prevention

What: What occurs, what kind of phenomenon occurs? For example, heavy rain causes floods,
landslides or debris flow. A volcanic eruption ejects a pyroclastic flow.
Where: Where does such a phenomenon appear? How extensive is the range of damage?
How: How large is the scale of phenomenon? How intense is it? For example, there is heavy rain
of 500mm in one day, or lava flow of 300,000 m3. How does the phenomenon develop or
spread? How does it come up?
For example, there is a scenario of volcanic eruption such as an Earthquake → Ash → Pyroclastic
flow → Lava flow.
When: When does a phenomenon occur or when is it likely to occur? What is the frequency or
probability of occurrence? For example, there is heavy rain that occurs once in 30 years, or a
great volcanic eruption that occurs once in 200 years.
Who: Who suffers from a disaster? How high is the grade of disaster? How many deaths,
building damage or collapse? How much is the total loss?

Hazard map
Functions of hazard map
The functions of a hazard map are to know the phenomenon and to make it known to residents.
(Su Wu, a famous Chinese strategist, says “If you know your enemy and yourself, you will not be
in danger even in 100 combats.”). Hazard maps cannot stop a disastrous phenomenon, but the
effective use of hazard maps can decrease the magnitude of disasters.

Objective of hazard map

The objective of hazard maps is to provide residents with the information on the range of
possible damage and the disaster prevention activities. It is an important point to provide
residents with understandable, clear information.

Types of hazard map

There are two types of hazard maps:
(1) Resident-educating type: This type of map has the main objective to inform the residents
living within the damage forecast area of the risk of danger. Information on areas of danger or
places of safety and basic knowledge on disaster prevention are given to residents. Therefore, it
is important that such information is represented in an understandable form.
(2) Administrative information type: This type of map is used as the basic materials that the
administrative agencies utilize to provide disaster prevention services. These hazard maps can
be used to establish a warning and evacuation system, as well as evidence for land use
regulations. They may also be used in preventive works.

Impacts of hazard map

All hazard maps are not unconditionally acceptable to residents. Landowners and land
developers may fear the fall of land prices and oppose the public release of the maps. In
addition, river administrators (within the Government) may oppose to the public release of the
maps, fearing the criticism of residents that the administrators are neglecting preventive works
even though they have a good understanding of the likelihood and consequences of potential
disasters.

Typical information on hazard maps

Flood hazards: altitude of places, areas of potential flooding, flooded area by water depth.
In a flood the method of forecasting the range of disaster entails the following:
• A flood is caused by heavy rain. So rainfall is forecast. The rainfall pattern is defined based on
past records of heavy rains and statistical calculations.
• It is calculated how high the discharge is in case of such heavy rain. This is called runoff
analysis.
• The cross-sections of a river are collected to depict its cross-sectional views and calculate the
limit flow that a river can have. This is called flow capacity.
• If the runoff quantity of a river is higher than its flow capacity, the river is flooded. Then, the
flooded location and the discharge can be defined.
• The water movement of a flood flow is calculated in digital computation using an elevation
model of a floodplain. This is called flood simulation, and the calculated results are water depth
and flow velocity.
• The calculated results are represented in a map.

Earthquake hazards: Earthquake ground shaking varies from place to place and hazard maps are
designed to show this. The mapped hazard refers to an estimate of the probability of exceeding
a certain amount of ground shaking, or ground motion, in 50 years. The hazard depends on the
magnitudes and locations of likely earthquakes, how often they occur, and the properties of the
rocks and sediments that earthquake waves travel through. Thus earthquake hazard maps show
the distribution of earthquake shaking levels that have a certain probability of occurring in the
mapped area. These maps were created to provide the most accurate and detailed information
possible to assist engineers in designing buildings, bridges, highways, and utilities that will
withstand shaking from earthquakes. These maps are also used to create and update city
buildéngbcodes to help establish construction requirements necessary to preserve public safety.

Hazard map creating procedure (1)

First of all, iô i1 necessary to kno Tle past history of disasters before creating a hazard map.
Also, measured dati Sqch as rainfall should be arranged co`is to ensure sound statistical
analywic, Topographic and geologic studies to trace the evidence of disasters should be0m!le in
the field where necessary. The results of these activities are rePresented in the form of a map.
This map ió c!ldDd q dys!{ter record map.
Landfnré maps are also an important information sïur!e/ Âlood pdaIjs, alluvial fans, mountains
and valleys are fo:mEA throug`!Pást floods, earthquakEs qnd vnìça,ic activities. If one cannot
produce a quantitative hazard map, landform maps can be useful inste`d¤of a hazard map.

Hazard map creating procedure (2)

The procedure of cråat+ng a hazard map can "e Eivided into three pòoc'sse{:51 81i(Forecasting
a range of dióas6er* ﾵg(dEbine the subject phenomenon and its scale and forecast the range of
disaster using the digital simulation technology.
(2) Collecting disaster-related information to be inserted in the hazard map and representing the
information in the hazard map.
(3) Publishing the maps by distributing directly to people or through Internet or by any other
means. Then, the disaster prevention activity will start using the hazard map.
Considerations in creating a hazard map
The following considerations are important in producing a hazard map.
• As a hazard map is created, the topographic map of the subject area is required. Topographic
models and photographic maps that can be acquired from a satellite may be used.
• It is necessary that the data for which any potential phenomenon can be forecast is made
based on sound scientific methods.
• As the objective of a hazard map is to inform a variety of stakeholders including residents of a
potential disaster, the map should be created with the representations and contents that are
understandable to non-professional people.
• Digital analysis should be supported by complete data so there is a considerable cost in
carrying out the calculations. No matter how high the data accuracy is, the digital computation is
a forecast. This is something that cannot be represented by computations. In addition, if any
phenomenon and its scale are different from the forecast ones, the range of disaster will also be
different. Such cases will occur and there is no case in which a disaster occurs as shown in a
hazard map. Thus, it is necessary to recognize the limitation of these hazard maps.
• Digital analysis is not the only method. A disaster history and a disaster geo-morphological
land classification map are also important information for disaster prevention. Therefore, it is
necessary to combine these for use in forecasting a disaster pattern. However, the geo-
morphological land classification map has a disadvantage that the scale of a phenomenon is not
clear.

Contents of a hazard map

The contents which can be inserted in a hazard map are the following, though it is unnecessary
to include all items, they can be selected depending on the purpose:
• A base map is required. As the base map, a topographic map or a photographic map (ortho-
photos) can be used. The topographic map is simpler to understand the information for a hazard
map than ortho-photos. A photographic map contains too much information to interpret.
• Disaster prevention information is the most important information that should be provided to
residents. Mainly, the forecast area of disaster should be included and the past disaster records
may be included as needed. Or, the map can be divided into both types.
• The second information to be disseminated to residents is evacuation-related information. The
location of refuges and evacuation routes to be used in case of a disaster are shown in the map.
Residents can see their evacuation route and places of refuge from the hazard map. In addition,
the system and instructions to accurately warn of an impending disaster and appropriate
evacuation procedures to residents are also described in the map, such as for example, a
forecasting siren or a warning siren.
• The behavior of disaster phenomena and the basic knowledge on natural phenomena are also
described.

Hazard maps and GIS

Hazard maps are very compatible with GIS. First, the GIS is very useful in arranging a high
volume of data necessary to produce a hazard map. Then, it can be used for analysis of places of
refuge. Three-dimensional representations are available. Digital cartography is also available. So,
it is possible to test a method of creating an easy to read hazard map. Recently, there have been
cases where maps are publicly released using the Internet GIS technology.

Hazard maps and preventive measures

(1) General
The use of hazard maps is one of the means for disaster prevention. Producing a hazard map is
not the final goal. Then, what should be done when a hazard map is completed? It is mainly
used to disseminate information about the hazardous areas for residents and to help them act
on warning and evacuating measures.
(2) Publication, dissemination and education in the use of hazard maps. A hazard map is
significant only when it is publicly released to residents. They can be used residents in
evacuation and when their lives are in danger. Administrations should make efforts to
repeatedly disseminate disaster prevention information to residents by means of hazard maps.
It is necessary to furnish residents with school education and disaster prevention training
periodically and repeatedly disseminate the disaster prevention information through various
methods. It is better to plan events which will increase the resident’s participation.
(3) Hazard maps and preventive works
Hazard maps are not directly related to preventive works, but using hazard maps, it is possible
to estimate the cost of damages due to a disaster. Further, hazard maps can be used for the
economic evaluation of a preventive work and for Benefit Cost (B/C) analysis. As a result, the
priority order of preventive works can be determined.
(4) Importance of monitoring and data collection
As described in the hazard map creating procedures, it is necessary to collect basic data for
creating a hazard map. It is necessary not only to know the past disaster history, but also to
collect the data that is statistically significant to estimate the scale of a phenomenon and to
determine the criteria for forecasting and warning. Flood forecast requires rainfall and flow
measurements. A seismograph is also required to predict an earthquake.

Disaster Associated Health Issues: Emergency Health Services and

Communicable Diseases.
This section briefly considers what is involved in Emergency Health. It identifies and describes
risk factors for communicable diseases. When a disaster occurs, the general population expects
the government and international agencies to rapidly mobilize the needed services with
urgency. Preservation of life and health are of paramount importance to casualties.
Immediately, medical professionals, First Aid and Emergency health services must be made
available. As a consequence of disasters, it is also important to identify risk factors for
communicable diseases and determine ways of minimizing these risks.

Emergency Health Services in Disasters

During the first few days following a disaster, the priority is usually to treat casualties and the
sick or injured. Disasters like earthquakes often involve the management of mass casualties
which normally requires the following activities: Search, rescue and first aid; Transport to health
facilities and treatment; Triage; Tagging; and redistribution of patients between hospitals when
necessary. Usually within 30 minutes of a disaster, up to 75% of the healthy survivors are
actually engaged in urgent rescue activities.
The demand for curative care is highest during the acute emergency stage, when the affected
population is most vulnerable to their new environment and before basic public health
measures (e.g., water, sanitation and shelter) have been implemented. Thereafter, the priority
should shift toward preventive measures, which can dramatically improve the overall health of
the affected population. Otherwise, any prolonged interruption in routine immunisations and
other disease-control measures may result in serious outbreaks of measles, cholera etc.
Disasters call for a coordinated response between curative and preventive health services,
including food supply, water and sanitation, etc. In order to minimise mortality and morbidity it
is also necessary to organize the relief response according to three levels of preventive health
measures; namely primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.

Infrastructure and procedures in accessing emergency situations

i Managing a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI)
A mass casualty incident (MCI) is any event producing a large number of victims such that the
normal capacity of local health services is disrupted. Common causes of an MCI include floods,
fires, explosions, industrial accidents, or conflict situations. The response may be delayed after a
MCI due to poor communication. Valuable resources at the disaster site are used up in attempts
to save the most gravely injured victims who cannot survive, while those who are more likely to
survive receive little attention. Inadequate transportation may decrease the survival of victims in
critical condition. The following patients will frequently reach the health facility first:
􀂃 those nearest to the arriving ambulances;
􀂃 those who are first to be rescued; and
􀂃 those who are the most gravely injured.

If there is only one first referral health facility, it may quickly become overwhelmed. Limited
resources are used to care for victims arpi~hng first, even though most of tHeímái hawe¤minor
injuries. As a result, they tie up |hE$personnel, examining rooms, supplies, etc. increasing the
risk of death fop ksitically ill victims who3e Rurvival ddpánds on receiving prompt medical
attention.

Understanding Triaçe
riage is defined simply as sorting and prioritising patients for medical attention accoòdi,g to the
degree of injury or illness and expectations for survival. Triage is carried out to reduce the
burden on health facilities and it is normally done by the most exp%riDnced health worker
assisted by competent staff on the triage team. Triage is a continuous process that begins when
pati%ntR arrive at the medicaì p-st and continues as their condithoê evolvus`}ntid Tley are
evacuated to the hospital. By providanG$care to victims with minoò o0 localised injuries, health
facilities are freed to attend to more critical tasks. Triage is necessary wherd ìeAlôz
n`cilitims54gannot meet the needs of all victims"ielediately, Paòdicularly following an MCI.
The goal of managing a mass casualty incident is to minimise the loss of life or disability of
disaster victims by first meeting the needs of those most likely to benefit from services. This goal
can be achieved by setting the following priorities for triage:
 Priority for transportation to the hospital is based upon referrals of priority needs of
patients.
 Priorities for care in the field are often identified by visible colour-coded tags that
categorise patient needs. However it is important to note that different jurisdictions use
varying systems and the use of colour-coded tags may cause some confusion.

Management of MCI begins with being prepared to mobilise resources and follow standard
procedures in the field and at the hospital. Hospitals with a limited number of emergency
workers may find it difficult to hold regular training sessions on MCI management. Countries
with limited resources should focus on the following:
􀂃 improving routine emergency services for sudden-impact, small-scale incidents (e.g., car
accidents or accidents in the home). To avoid confusion, the same procedures that are
necessary to save lives during an MCI should be performed as routine emergency services;
􀂃 co-ordinating activities that involve more than an emergency medical unit (police, fire
fighters, ambulances, hospitals, etc.); and
􀂃 ensuring a quick transition from routine emergency services to mass casualty management
establishing standard procedures for managing all incidents (small or large scale) — search and
rescue, first aid, triage, transfer to hospital and hospital care.

In addition to the basic supplies provided through emergency kits, an MCI situation requires the
immediate arrival of appropriate personnel which will comprise of the following: the command
post team, the evacuation team, the incident commander, the search and rescue team, the
security team the Triage officer and the triage team. Basic MCI management is composed of a
series of steps that collectively meet the immediate health needs of disaster victims. It begins
with search and rescue from the disaster site and ends with referral to the health facility or
release for home care.

Procedures for transportation

Casualties should be treated near their own homes whenever possible to avoid social dislocation
and the added drain on resources of transporting them to central facilities. If there are
significant medical reasons for such evacuation, the relief authority should make provision to
return the patient to his or her home. Providing proper treatment to casualties requires that the
health service resources be redirected to this new priority. Bed capacity and surgical services
must be expanded by selectively discharging routine inpatients, rescheduling non priority
admissions and surgery, and using available space and personnel fully. A centre, manned 24
hours a day to respond to inquiries from patients’ relatives and friends, should be established
and could be staffed by able lay people.

Transportation of Casualties
Evacuations of casualties may be organized when they are gathered at a First Aid post, a
dispensary or any facility of the casualty-care chain, in which case they would have already been
triaged and a priority category for evacuation has been assigned to each.
i Evacuation is contemplated when means are available and reliable, routes and time-frames are
known and security has been ensured. Prior to the moving of casualties it is imperative that
personnel at destinations have been informed and are ready to receive the casualty(ies).
ii Evacuation vehicles assigned for medical purposes must be used exclusively for the latter.
Their availability and hygiene should be respected. Other vehicles should preferably be used to
transport the dead bodies if at all possible. In all cases priority should be given to the living
casualties.
iii Proper lifting techniques are used to ensure comfort of the casualty and personnel
responsible for lifting should be in good physical condition.
iv All departures of evacuation vehicles should be reported to supervisors in charge of managing
evacuations providing the following information: departure time, number and condition of
casualties, destination, estimated travel time and route, number of first aiders aboard.
v The means of transport should ideally be such that emergency and stabilization measures can
continue and should be as safe as possible as it is important that the trip is not traumatic for the
casualties.
vi It should also be such that casualty can be accommodated in different lying or sitting positions
depending on their condition. Furthermore it should be able to accommodate for a provider of
care or a first-aider to accompany the casualty
vii The means of transport should provide adequate protection against the elements (extreme
temperatures, sun, rain, wind, etc.).
viii Driving needs to be smooth and safe. Once a casualty has been stabilized it is unnecessary to
drive at high speed and risk a road traffic accident. Extra care should be taken especially if the
roads are bumpy or have potholes as hitting into them causes more pain to the casualty, may
increase bleeding and displace traumatized limbs hence causing more complications.
ix Casualties found on the roadside should be taken on board only if there is adequate space and
no other alternative. If possible inform your team leader or the dispatch or command centre of
the casualty care chain and ask for instructions. Occasionally “opportunistic casualties” i.e.
people who, according to their triage priority, do not need to be evacuated at a given time, may
be allowed on board an evacuation vehicle because space happens to be available.
x On arrival at the hospital, every injured person should be reassessed, stabilised, and given
definitive care. The colour-coded tags are strictly for field triage and field use. They should not
be used for documenting health care in the hospital.
xi Hospitals should also regularly advise the Incident Commander about their health care
capability and capacity so that the transfer of MCI victims is well organised. If the hospital’s
capacity or capability is low, patients and victims may have to wait a long time for treatment in
surgical or intensive care units.

Communicable diseases common in disaster situations

The main communicable diseases are:
1 Diseases transmitted by contact – Acute respiratory infections (ARI) which are common among
people after a disaster especially among the children. These are spread through personal
contact or being around people who are infected already. These include the common cold,
influenza, bronchitis, diphtheria and pneumonia.
2 Vector transmitted diseases are caused by mosquitoes and these include, malaria, yellow
fever, dengue, leptospirosis and chikungunya (common in the Seychelles). These infections
become prominent when the balance of nature is disturbed as is the case in a disaster.
3 Disease can also be transmitted through faecal matter ingested orally as a result of drinking
contaminated water or eating food and fruits that are contaminated. These diseases include
cholera, typhoid fever, diarrhoea diseases, and leptospirosis. They can also be transmitted
through poor personal hygiene or from a contaminated environment.
4 Diseases transmitted through breathing contaminated air or from germs that are airborne can
be problematic after a disaster. These diseases include tuberculosis, measles, meningococcal
meningitis and whooping cough.
5 Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in peaceful times let alone being in disaster
mode. These diseases are transmitted through sexual contact with people who are
contaminated with the different germs that are responsible such as HIV/AIDS, gonorrhoea,
syphilis, Chlamydia and trichomonas.

Risk factors contributing to the spread of communicable diseases and outbreaks

Research has found that amongst developing countries there are patterns of communicable
disease outbreaks that are similar. By studying these patterns we can begin to isolate and
identify the risk factors that can lead to outbreaks of disease. Understanding the risk factors
associated is essential in helping us to predict and prepare ourselves for combating
communicable disease outbreaks. Risk factors interact with each other in a variety of ways
depending on the case and situation. Before appropriate intervention can be determined, the
risk factors must be identified. Five key factors are discussed however, it should be understood
that there are many other risk factors.

Pathogenic Agents (bacteria, parasites, fungi)

Everyone everywhere has pathogenic agents and usually our bodies and environment learn to
balance these out: however, under disaster situations, natural or man made (for example
tsunamis and war), populations often need to migrate and find a new place to settle. When this
happens, a health disaster is imminent as pathogenic agents too, find themselves in new
environments and different populations. The primary victims of such incidents are often the
displaced people given that they may have no immunity to new pathogenic agents they may
confront. The local population may also be affected given that their susceptibility could be
higher to new pathogenic agents.

Susceptibility of the Population

Populations can be understood by looking at 2 areas: the individual population and, the
community population. When disaster strikes, as in a war, the make-up or profile of community
populations will change, for example post war populations always show a baby boom. When this
happens, infectious agents who thrive better on the young and the very old, are likely to
increase and can lead to an outbreak of disease.
Community populations are very much ‘context sensitive’ for example endemic populations
where there is malaria, the at risk age level are infants less than two years. For non-endemic
populations, everyone is susceptible to all forms of malaria. For individual populations it is not
feasible to determine each person’s level of immunity however, it is possible to look at groups of
individuals at risk i.e. those who are naturally most vulnerable to specific pathogenic agents. For
example, in developing countries most children from 2-3 years of age will have been vaccinated
or have had measles and therefore their immunity would be high. The children at risk or
susceptible to measles would be the 4-5 years olds.
It is very useful to look at groups at risk or those specific populations who are naturally
vulnerable to certain pathogenic agents for when these agents are identified then intervention
can be planned and processed.

Increased transmission
Pathogenic agents are easily transmitted particularly in situations where there is overcrowding
and hygiene conditions are poor. These conditions easily occur when there is lack of water,
unsatisfactory waste disposal and all factors resulting in an absence of sanitation measures.

Deterioration of the Health Service

All levels are affected when there is an obvious lack of health services. For example, no
vaccinations are given and little or no care is provided for the sick.

Climatic Events
The increased frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events is recognized as a key
vulnerability issue associated with climate change.
This climate change may pose threats such as:
􀂃 Flooding which can lead to increases in mosquito populations that transmit human diseases
such as dengue fever.
􀂃 Extreme rainfall events resulting in overflow of sewerage systems leading to further spread of
pathogenic agents.

The factors discussed in this section, contribute in varying degrees to communicable disease
outbreaks. The importance of identifying the risk factors is therefore critical if effective
intervention is to prevail. Practical and effective disease control measures need to be developed
collaboratively between relief agencies and local health authorities. These measures should be
based on the national diseases control policies.

Preventing and reducing outbreaks of communicable disease in emergency/ disaster

settings
􀂃 Preventing communicable diseases outbreaks
􀂃 Intervention at the source to prevent the development of infectious agents that can attack
susceptible individuals.
􀂃 Intervention to modify immune status (vaccination, general health status)
􀂃 Intervention at the biological stage (minimize opportunities to exposure)
􀂃 Intervention at the aftermath of a disease (managing communicable diseases outbreak).

1 Levels of intervention
a Primary Prevention – can be defined as the biological and clinical manifestations of an
infection. For example immunization and sanitation as well as awareness education on basic
hygiene and sanitation methods.

b Secondary Prevention – means preventing a harmless form of a disease from developing into a
more serious form liable to cause death or complications. The use of oral rehydration salts (ORS)
at the beginning of a diarrhoeal attack, for example, prevents the development of dehydration.
There are also indigenous medicines that can be given to the infected people to treat these
conditions, in the absence of pharmaceutical provisions.

c Tertiary Prevention – covers rehabilitation following the illness (social re-integration,

nutritional rehabilitation after measles, etc.)

2 Curative Actions
The following is a list of measures for communicable-disease control:
􀂃 The use of interviews for rapid assessment of communicable diseases in emergencies
􀂃 Immunization
􀂃 Tests carried out in the field
􀂃 Chemoprophylaxis
􀂃 Therapeutic
􀂃 Health education

The classic model of the natural cycle of communicable diseases involves:

􀂃 risk/exposure factors
􀂃 population’s susceptibility to the disease
􀂃 biological manifestations of the disease
􀂃 clinical manifestations of the disease
􀂃 progression of the disease
􀂃 return to a non-disease state

Communicable Diseases Control

Before, during and after disasters, the government disaster management teams and the
communities must work hand in hand to prevent the transmission of communicable diseases. In
the event that the diseases has started there must be efforts put in place to control. Control
measures will not be discussed further in this module as they are covered in other core module
of the course.

Monitoring and Evaluation of Communicable Diseases Control Programmes

Emergencies are unstable and dynamic situations. Simply carrying out disease control measures
after an initial assessment does not mean that communicable diseases will not cause problems
among an affected population. Disease surveillance is useful for monitoring the incidence of
communicable diseases as well as the effectiveness of disease control measures. This will
determine whether selected control measures are appropriate and resources are adequate for
preventing disease and preserving the health of the affected population. Evaluation of the
disease control program is vital because it measures effectiveness, identifies lessons for future
programs, and promotes accountability. Communicable disease control programs can be
evaluated in two ways:
a Internal Program Evaluation — This is normally carried out by program staff who regularly
analyse and review monitoring information. They must also evaluate the effectiveness of all
control measures or compare these measures across different situations.
b External Program Evaluation — This may be part of a wider evaluation exercise by agencies and
donors. It may be planned, for example, after the acute phase of the emergency.

The Sphere Project proposes minimum standards and key indicators that can be used to
evaluate a communicable diseases control programme in emergencies.
The following minimum standards and key indicators of the Sphere Project may be used to
evaluate a communicable diseases control program in emergencies. Minimum standards and
key indicators of the Sphere Project for the following components may be used to evaluate the
following control programme:
i Measles Control
ii Monitoring of communicable diseases
iii Investigation and control of communicable diseases
iv Human Resource capacity and training

i Measles Control
The following indicators are used to evaluate if a systematic response is mounted for each
outbreak of measles within the disaster-affected population and the host population, and
whether all children who contract measles receive adequate care:
􀂃 A single case (suspected or confirmed) warrants immediate on-site investigation which
includes looking at the age and vaccination status of the suspected or confirmed case.
􀂃 Control measures include the vaccination of all children 6 months to 12 years of age (or higher
if older ages are affected) and the provision of an appropriate dose of vitamin A.
􀂃 A community-wide system for active case detection using the standard case definition and
referral of suspected or confirmed measles case is operational.
􀂃 Each measles case receives vitamin A and appropriate treatment for complications such as:
􀂊 pneumonia, diarrhoea, and severe malnutrition, which cause the most mortality.
􀂃 The nutritional status of children with measles is monitored, and if necessary, children are
enrolled in a supplementary feeding program.

ii Monitoring Communicable Diseases

The following indicators are used to evaluate the monitoring of communicable diseases:
􀂃 The responsible surveillance and disease control unit or agency is clearly identified and all
participants in the emergency know where to send reports of suspected or confirmed
communicable diseases.
􀂃 Staff experienced in epidemiology and disease control are part of the surveillance and disease
control unit or agency.
􀂃 Surveillance is maintained at all times to rapidly detect communicable diseases and to trigger
outbreak response.

iii Investigation and Control of Communicable Diseases

The following indicators are used to evaluate whether diseases of epidemic potential are
investigated and controlled according to internationally accepted norms and standards:
􀂃 Diseases of epidemic potential are identified by the initial assessment; standard protocols for
prevention, diagnosis, and treatment are in place and appropriately shared with health facilities
and community health workers/home visitors.
􀂃 Case reports and rumours of disease occurrence are investigated by qualified staff.
􀂃 There is confirmation of the diagnosis.
􀂃 Outbreak control measures are instituted, which include attacking the source, protecting
susceptible groups, and interrupting transmission of the disease.
􀂃 Qualified outreach personnel participate in the control measures at the community level by
providing both prevention messages and proper case management according to agreed
guidelines.
􀂃 Public information and health promotion messages on disease prevention are part of control
activities.
􀂃 Community leaders and outreach personnel facilitate access to population groups and
disseminate key prevention messages.
􀂃 Only drugs from WHO’s Essential Drugs List (1998) are used.

iv Human Resource Capacity and Training

The following indicators can help evaluate whether the staff are suitably experienced and
trained and that they are adequately managed and supported by their agency:
􀂃 Staff and volunteers involved in surveillance (as part of assessment, monitoring, or review
process) are thoroughly briefed and regularly supervised.
􀂃 Staff responsible for communicable disease control have previous experience or training and
are regularly supervised in the use of recommended treatment protocols, guidelines, and
procedures.
􀂃 Carers are informed about priority prevention activities such as the need for vaccination, use
of soap, bed nets, latrines and good health seeking behaviours.

The techniques and resources used for monitoring or evaluating must be consistent with the
scale and nature of the disease control program. At the end of the evaluation, a report must be
written which describes the methodology used and how conclusions were reached. This report
should be shared with all concerned, e.g., the affected population, host authorities, donors, and
other humanitarian agencies.

Rapid Assessment
This is an assessment undertaken after a major change, such as an earthquake or sudden
refugee displacement. It provides information about the needs, possible intervention types and
resource requirements. A rapid assessment normally takes one week or less. It is then followed
by detailed assessments.

The use of interview as a rapid assessment method

Very often those involved in relief in emergencies may not always have access to sources of
information which can allow them to determine the main communicable disease that are
affecting the population. It is not uncommon that at the outset of a disaster, the only available
source of information is the population itself. Opportunities for direct investigation with a
population are limited, and it is usually difficult to start off by running biological tests in order to
diagnose the main communicable diseases. Initially relief workers will have to content
themselves with the information they can collect through interviews with community members.
Such interview may prove adequate to indicate which measures need to be taken, depending on
the data sought. For example, a relatively simple questionnaire permits a rapid assessment of
the main causes of death among the children of the affected population. The procedure to
follow can be summarized as follows:
􀂃 Draw up a list of syndromes which appear to be the main causes of death. In the case of
communicable diseases, these would consist primarily of measles, diarrhoeal diseases, malaria,
and meningitis.
􀂃 Describe the symptoms used to identify the communicable disease/s in question; the medical
personnel and the individuals questioned may have markedly different interpretations of the
same clinical manifestation. A minimal knowledge of local terminology is essential.
􀂃 Verify the information, this is difficult in the case of mortality, since the data receive cannot
be confirmed except by information from other sources e.g. the cause of death for hospitalized
children.

Health Education
Health education is not limited to the problem of communicable diseases. However,
communicable diseases are a useful starting point for initiating health education in a disaster
situation. The risks involved in communicable diseases must be well understood by the affected
community, and the need for their participation in controlling them. Health education should
take into consideration other components that influences behaviour. For example, the place
where people live, the people around them, the work they do; hence telling people what they
can do to be healthy is insufficient. In emergency situations, relief workers rarely have much
influence over the causes of the crisis. Unfortunately, they must settle for modifying or adapting
the victims’ behaviour to conform to their new living conditions- which will be temporary, at
best – without exercising any real impact on the social environment.
The problems that confront an affected population may not be new to them, but present
themselves in a different form. Moreover, the urgency of certain situations necessitates
immediate action, before the population has a chance to understand its purpose. A population
confronted with an emergency in itself is obliged to change its behaviour quickly. Such changes,
however, cannot be dictated by outsiders; they must be formulated by the people concerned,
and disseminated by them as well, in their own words and should reflect the local cultural
context.

Developing a Health Education Programme

On the basis of this principle, the following sequence might be proposed to begin the process of
health education:
i Identification of health problems by the community.
ii Study of behaviours adopted to cope with these problems: should they be modified?
iii Determination of the objectives of health education programme.
iv Identification of practical measures acceptable to the community, to modify these behaviours.
v Implementation of the measures.
vi Evaluation of results.
Disaster Associated Health Issues
This section discusses vector-related diseases and their control, and the safe handling of
pesticides as well as discussions of challenges and constraints faced by disaster management
personnel dealing with environmental health awareness during and after a disaster. The unit
finishes with an outline of a sanitation programme to ensure the promotion of health and
hygiene. The maintenance and monitoring of water quality and quantity as well as vector
control measures and environmental health programmes in emergency situations.

Potential vector-related species

In general the most potential vector-related species is the mosquito. There are different species
of mosquitoes causing various diseases such as elephantitis, malaria, yellow fever, dengue,
leptospirosis, and chikungunya (common in the Seychelles). Mosquitoes use a variety of
different hosts such as small mammals as in rodents, human beings, monkeys and pigs.
There are also a number of different types of flies, such as, household flies (dysentery), sand
flies (skin infections), black flies (river blindness) and tsetse flies (sleeping sickness). Rodents can
also be vectors for disease themselves – leptospirosis is spread in the urine of small mammals.

Appropriate strategies for controlling vector-related diseases

Strategies to control the infestations by rodents and insects are of paramount importance. The
following are some of the possible control strategies:
􀂃 To identify and distinguish between potential vector-related species
􀂃 To develop and implement an appropriate plan for controlling vector species.
􀂃 To promote awareness on the safe use of pesticides.
􀂃 To recognise the challenges & constraints of environmental health management in
emergencies.
􀂃 To promote health & hygiene through implementing a sanitation programme.
􀂃 To explain the importance of water sources and the minimum standards for water quality and
quantity.
􀂃 To monitor and evaluate vector control measures and environmental health programs in
emergencies.

Promoting the safe use of pesticides

Vector control measures should address two principle concerns: efficacy and safety. They should
be carried out according to internationally agreed methods and ensure that staff and the
affected population are adequately protected.
There are three points about pesticide safety that should be emphasized in disaster settings,
especially where evacuees are housed.

1 Safe Use and Storage of Pesticides: Extra precautions should be taken in choosing insecticides
and deciding when, how, and for how long to apply them. Strict procedures must be followed
when handling insecticides and other related equipment. Pesticides and the spray machines
should never be transported in vehicles that are also used for carrying food. They must be
stored in locked and ventilated buildings. There is an increased danger of pesticide poisoning
among displaced populations. Poisoning may be unintentional, but the danger exists because of
the lack of toys for children to play with, the novelty of the situation, and the traumatic
experience of being displaced.

2 Safe Storage and Disposal of Used Insecticide Containers: Strict guidelines have been developed
for this and they should be implemented to ensure that the displaced community cannot obtain
used pesticide containers.
3 Safe Use of Sprayers: Prior training in the safe use of pesticides is essential, and operators must
have access to protective clothing (uniforms, gloves, masks, etc). They must never smoke, drink,
or eat during the job, and they should have access to good washing facilities after the job is
done. There has also been the recommended discontinuance of the use of certain pesticides. It
is suggested that each country follows the WHO guidelines provided for the Safe Use of
Pesticides in Disasters.

Environmental health: challenges and main constraints

Environmental Health has its origins in the last century, when bad housing, poor water supplies,
inadequate drainage and contaminated food caused disease and death. To recognize the
challenges and addressing the main constraints of environmental health in relation to disaster
management can present several challenges and constraints.

These challenges and constraints are as follows:

􀂃 Recognizing and responding to uncertainties, especially prioritizing treatment of different
conditions.
􀂃 The different tasks involved that are performed by various personnel during a disaster and
identifying those responsible for carrying out these tasks successfully and efficiently.
􀂃 Establishing baseline relationships between the various players, so each one knows their
sphere of responsibility.
􀂃 Seeking evidence for early health effects and detection.
􀂃 The level of development of a country can either be a challenge or a constraint. Wealthy
countries face disasters with a wealth of human and material resources, a well developed
medical and health infrastructure, highly structured emergency planning, efficient
transportation and communication systems. The presence of these factors facilitates responses
to disaster, whereas by contrast poor countries lack these resources and constrained disaster
response.
􀂃 Cultural variations within the countries are important and can present challenges and
constraints to disaster management. This is due to each community evolving traditional ways of
understanding and responding to disaster and these processes must be managed properly to
facilitate high survival rates.
􀂃 Different cultural groups may respond in unexpected ways to medical and health professional
personnel in times of disasters and these professional people should be empowered to handle
these different situations.

Promoting health and hygiene through implementing a sanitation

programme
The quantity and quality of the water that we drink is directly linked to health. If the water is
contaminated with germs or chemicals, health will be affected. Outbreaks of diseases
transmitted by water have a major impact on human health. This is a major concern after a
disaster. When people defecate in the open, flies will feed on the excreta and can carry small
amounts of the excreta away on their bodies and feet. When they touch food, the excreta and
the germs in the excreta are passed onto the food, which may later be eaten by another person.
During the rainy season, excreta may be washed away by rain-water and can run into wells and
streams. The disposal of excreta alone is, however, not enough to control the spread of cholera
and other diarrhoea1 diseases. Personal hygiene is very important, particularly washing hands
after defecation and before eating and cooking.
Here are some rules for basic sanitations in public places:
􀂃 There should be sufficient toilet facilities for the maximum number of people using the area
during the day. This normally means one toilet compartment for every 25 users. The toilet
facilities should be arranged in separate blocks for men and women.
􀂃 Toilet facilities should not be connected directly to kitchens. This is in order to reduce the
number of flies entering the kitchen and to reduce odours reaching the kitchen.
􀂃 There must be a hand washing basin with clean water and soap close to the toilet facilities.
There should be separate, similar facilities near to kitchens or where food is handled.
􀂃 There must be a clean and reliable water supply for hand washing, personal hygiene and
flushing of toilet facilities.
􀂃 Refuse must be disposed of properly and not allowed to build up, as it will attract flies and
vermin.

It is important to make sure that information about health is available in public places. Such
information should be displayed in an eye-catching, simple and accurate way. Where
appropriate, large posters with bright colours and well chosen messages, put up in obvious
places, are effective. Health and hygiene messages may be passed on to the public using such
posters in public places. These messages should include the promotion of:
􀂃 Hand washing
􀂃 Use of refuse bins
􀂃 Care of toilet facilities
􀂃 Protection of water supplies

Importance of water sources and the minimum standards for water quality and
quantity
Sources of Water
Water sources fall into three general categories:
1 Rainwater: In general, rainwater, though pure, is not reliable or a sufficient source to provide
for a large affected population and is rarely considered during emergencies.
2 Surface water: Surface water from lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers have the advantage of
being accessible (water easily collected) and are predictably reliable and plentiful. They have the
disadvantage of generally being microbiologically unsafe, and therefore, requiring treatment.
3 Groundwater: Groundwater from wells, springs, etc. tends to be of higher microbiological
quality (having undergone natural soil filtration underground). However, it is relatively difficult
to extract.
More technology and energy is needed (compared with other water sources) to bring water
from within the earth up to the surface. The following factors are important when selecting the
type of water sources for a displaced population:
􀂃 The reliability of available water sources.
􀂃 The water needs in relation to population size.
􀂃 The intended length of time that the source will be required.
􀂃 The locally available skills and resources.
􀂃 The capacity of the implementing agency.

Water Quantity
The minimum standards of the Sphere Project states that at least 15 to 20 litres per person per
day (l/p/d) is needed to maintain human health. While the availability of water is influenced by
the situation, more water can almost always be obtained with more resources (more wells,
trucks, or pipes). Because obtaining water in arid areas is expensive and the relationship
between water quantity and health is not well understood, there is a tendency not to invest
enough in water infrastructure when other demands seem more serious. This makes monitoring
the availability of water during emergency situations an essential component of a public health
program. During the acute emergency phase, water consumption should be estimated weekly.
Often, the utility company or relief organization providing water to the affected population is
aware of these estimates. It is important to realise that water consumption means what people
receive not what the water team produces.
Disagreements may arise between “production” and “consumption” estimates because:
1. Water can be lost or wasted during pumping and transport.
2. Lack of water containers can prevent people from collecting enough water.
3. Surveys or household interviews that document the amount of water collected at
watering points or people’s actual use of water are preferable to simply dividing the
amount of water produced at a well or a plant by the number of people served. Cholera
outbreak investigations have repeatedly shown that not owning a bucket puts families
at increased risk of illness or death. Thus, not only should the average water
consumption be 15 l/p/d or more, but there should not be anyone in the population
with very low water consumption (<7 l/p/d). In addition, all families should be provided
with suitable water containers for daily collection and storage of water. Special
drainage pits should be constructed to manage runoff water at distribution points.

Water Quality
Water quality is usually measured by the presence of specific groups of micro-organisms. This
indicates the possible presence of faeces. Because human faeces typically contain tens of
millions of bacteria per gram, even the smallest trace of faeces in water is often detectable by
bacterial monitoring. Faecal coliforms are a category of bacteria that match the characteristics
of bacteria found in the stool of warm-blooded mammals. Other indicator bacteria, such as E.
coli, faecal streptococci, or total coliforms, are maintained by the same premise — absence
implies safe water.
While water sources may differ in water quality, it is how water is handled and stored by
consumers that will finally determine whether the water is safe for drinking. Studies have shown
that dipping hands into household storage buckets causes considerable contamination and that
water quality declines over time after the water is initially collected. The best way to keep water
safe in the household is to add a chlorine residual to the water. This means that in unsanitary
settings, or during times of outbreaks, it may be necessary to chlorinate otherwise safe
groundwater.

Monitoring and evaluation of vector control measures and environmental health

programmes in emergencies
To determine the effectiveness, efficiency and the extent of achievement of any
implementation, a mechanism for monitoring and evaluation is essential. In general, an
evaluation measures the performance/progress of an intervention program as well as serving as
a steering device for the intervention itself. There are two levels of evaluation:
i Monitoring and Impact Evaluation
ii Monitoring Vector Control Measures
Suitable monitoring tools are developed and made available. A monitoring form will include the
type of control measure for a particular vector-related species, the timeframe for monitoring
and someone pinpointed to perform the monitoring. Immediate analysis of the data obtained
will indicate if the controls provided were actually reaching and utilized by the target community
as scheduled.
Humanitarian agencies would ensure that assistance they finance/provide does indeed get to
the victims who need them. By virtue of its specific mandate, an agency will set three conditions
before undertaking any relief action:
1. 􀂃 Access to the persons requiring assistance, to observe their situation and to evaluate
their needs;
2. 􀂃 That it be present when the assistance is brought in; and
3. 􀂃 That it be allowed to exercise administrative supervision in order to prepare reports
on distributions made.

If authorities do not yield advance consent to the conditions set out above, humanitarian
agencies may withhold assistance. The crucial point here is how urgent the victims’ needs are. If
the situation is critical, postponing humanitarian assistance is ethically questionable. In the time
taken to negotiate with the authorities, the victims’ conditions may deteriorate dramatically, the
humanitarian agency is compounded by the accusation that it did not act early enough to
prevent the crisis.

Impact Evaluation
Evaluation is a means of verifying whether the services provided correspond to what had been
anticipated quantitatively and qualitatively. Accordingly, the quantity and quality of the services
must be assessed. This involves making a value judgment concerning the quality of medical
and other needed service activities. For health-care professionals, the issue becomes one of
medical ethics. Impact evaluation is essential when evaluating the impact of an intervention. A
humanitarian agency will seek authorisation to return to the scene in order to assess the impact
of its work on the condition of the population in relation to the targets set. Humanitarian
agencies have a responsibility to carry out evaluations on a systematic basis. Objections may
arise on the grounds that:
1. 􀂃 It is too difficult (The institution of a surveillance system is certainly not easy, but it is
not impossible)
2. 􀂃 It is not a priority (first priority is feeding, treatment, etc., – any time left over, then
evaluate). The priority of analyzing the impact of an intervention is not to satisfy the
intellectual curiosity of the program managers. It is an essential tool for orienting the
operation.
3. 􀂃 It is better not to know the impact of the intervention (Fear of value judgment).

All these arguments can be refuted.

Physical and Socio-economic Impacts of Disasters
Disasters are no respecter of persons and the trail of destruction that they leave behind is a
common occurrence. Their effect or impact, is usually felt across all sectors in society, at the
community or individual level, which has led to push a for the more multi-sectoral approach to
prepare and respond to disasters! The impact of a disaster may either be a direct or indirect
one, its effect trickling into most homes and families in the community. The more obvious
physical impact leads to the socioeconomic and emotional impact felt by the community. The
intensity of the impact of any disaster is dependant on the preparedness level of the community
or nation. Factors that increase the intensity of the effect of a disaster are poverty,
environmental degradation, population growth, and lack of information and awareness about
the hazards that exist in the area, and the potential risk they pose to the community at large. In
this unit we will look at the physical and social impact of disasters on society. One emerging
issue that we will also touch on is that of animals in the time of disaster.

Types of impacts
Disasters impact heavily on the basic needs of people, and their livelihood, thus governments
need to be prepared so that they can deal with the disaster promptly and effectively. Usually,
immediately after a disaster has occurred, a team made up of government and non –
government agencies is sent into the disaster site to carry out what is known as a Rapid
Assessment exercise. The information collected from this quick initial assessment on the
damage done from the hazard, is used by the leaders of the community or nation to determine
whether any external assistance is needed. It is also used to determine the “what and how much
relief” needs to be brought in immediately, and also what specific segments of society have
been affected heavily by the hazard. The impact intensity felt by a community from a disaster is
dependent upon the vulnerability of the community before the hazard struck (e.g. proximity to
hazard, any education and awareness done etc) and thus their preparedness level. In any
community the most obvious impact is the physical impact. The physical impacts in turn lead to
the social impacts felt by the community. These are described in further detail below.

Physical Impacts
The physical impacts of a disaster are the deaths and injuries, and the damage to property and
the built environment. The built environment can be classified as infrastructure and service
sectors such as electricity, water etc. The amount of deaths can lead to a reduction in the
population, and thus the workforce, which will in turn have an impact on the socio economic
sector of the community. It should be noted here that the amount of physical damage caused by
a hazard can affect the speed at which the response to the area can occur. If roads are cut off,
this means alternative means need to be looked at to bring relief in to the disaster zone.

1 Infrastructure
Infrastructure includes the basic facilities, services and installations required for the functioning
of a community or a society. Since these facilities, services and installations are spread
throughout the community and country, they are normally impacted to some degree when
disasters strike. Of the many components of a country’s infrastructure, a select few are vital to
both disaster response and to overall safety and security of the affected population. These
components are referred to as “critical infrastructure,” While all infrastructures damaged or
destroyed in the disaster will eventually require rebuilding or repair, critical infrastructure
problems must be addressed in the short term, while the disaster response is ongoing. The
repair and reconstruction of critical infrastructure requires not only specialized expertise but
also equipment and parts that may not be easily obtained during the emergency period.
However, without the benefit of certain infrastructure components, performing other response
functions may be impossible. Examples of critical infrastructure components include:
i Transport system (land, sea and air)
This system is important because at the time of disasters there needs to be an evacuation route
available so as to get people out of the danger zone and or bring relief in. Transport is also
important when a team needs to be sent in to the disaster zone to do a Rapid Assessment
exercise. Transport mediums also need to be available, so that if one transport system is cut off,
another mode of transport can still be used.
ii Gas and oil storage and transportation
Connected to transportation above, there needs to be a store of the above to enable
transportation of people out of the danger zone. Evacuation may take a couple of days to a
week, and so extra fuel and oil is needed for the cars, boats, or helicopters etc that will be
transporting people out.
iii Communication
This is a critical because before a disaster and in the event of a disaster communication is
needed. It is needed to get information out so that the outside “world” know what is needed
and can respond appropriately.
iv Electricity, Water supply system, and Public health
Damage to critical infrastructure which provide the above basic services needed by the
community can affect the lives of people in the short term. In great need immediately after any
disaster are water and sanitation, as well as the health of the disaster victims. Again, this is
assessed in the Rapid Assessment exercise so that it is dealt with immediately.
v Security
The management of past disasters was done on an ad hoc basis. As a result one of the many
components overlooked was that of security, partly due to the fact that most of the resources
were used for the immediate evacuation of people and saving lives! Today however security has
become and important factor that has been mainstreamed into the action plans of many
disaster planning offices. Security is the condition of being safe from harm, danger or loss.
Security can be either emotional or physical security.
vi Physical Security
Physical security is any and all necessary requirements that once implemented are designed to
prevent, deter, inhibit or mitigate threats that face the safety and security of persons and/or
property. Safety and Security in disasters differ by the fact that safety provides for the reduction
of the risk of occurrence of injury, loss or death from accidental or natural causes. Security on
the other hand provides for the reduction of the risk of occurrence of injury, loss or death from
the deliberate or intentional actions of man and natural causes.

Usually when disasters or an emergency situation arises, the following security issues arise:
a Looting of retail outlets and business houses
Disasters or emergency situations provide an ideal opportunity for people to go on a looting
spree. Looting arises especially when it has not been factored into the disaster emergency
response plan or action plan. If no preparedness in this area has been done, when the hazard
strikes to cause a disaster, most of the resources are being used to evacuate people. This leaves
business houses and retail shops left unattended and vulnerable to looting by those looking for
an opportunity for “free stuff”. Looting may also take place after the immediate hazard has
struck. This will usually happen when people have been waiting for some kind of response or
assistance (recovery), and authorities have not been forthcoming with the needed aid. It is here
that people say “Well we do not have any more jobs because everything was destroyed in the
disaster, and so we do not have any money so how can we buy food?” As a result, looting takes
place because of the fear that authorities will not take care of their needs, and so people find
ways to take care of themselves and their families!
b Security of women and children
Again if there is no preparedness, women and children are vulnerable to attacks of violence or
rape by others, or even to the exposure to the primary hazard (fleeing to a danger zone) or
secondary hazards; maybe because the lack of knowledge or panic. Violence or rape is more
likely to arise if in the evacuation process, families have been separated from each other, and
thus women and or children isolated from that security of their families. It is also more likely to
arise in care centres where it is usually overcrowded.
c Security of aid workers
There is now also the concern of the humanitarian workers who are flown into the disaster site
to assist in the response of the disaster. Many humanitarian workers are foreigners to the site
and so need to be aware of the hazards (human or natural) in the area and take necessary
precaution.
For women, there is also the security against violence or rape, especially in a war situation!
vii Emotional security
People have different emotional needs that when faced with disaster, will act differently
depending on how serious the disaster is. When the physical needs of security, whether it is
food security, physical security etc are not met, coupled with the fear of uncertainties, this can
lead to stress and trauma, thus lack of emotional security.

Social Impacts
i Welfare
Welfare falls into the socioeconomic and socio-political category. On the socioeconomic front
this is represented by significant losses to Gross Domestic Product of the affected country or
region. The local and national economy can experience low productivity, price slump, high
unemployment and inflation. Small states are more vulnerable compared to the larger
developed nations when confronted with disasters of a large magnitude.

Disaster Type Country Damage (US$’000)

Hurricane (Ivan) 2004 Cayman Islands 3,340,080

Tsunami 2004 Indonesia 4,451,600

Flood 1998 Bangladesh 7,000,000

Figure: Estimated monetary loss due to three disasters

The above figure indicates monetary loss estimated at US$’000 which translates into income
loss that impacts directly on welfare delivery in the post disaster period. There are overall
financial impacts on the household and individuals that adversely impact on people’s welfare for
example dwellings, homes, property, and other assets can be damaged, sentimental value of
assets can be lost forever which imply investment loss and reduction in the quality of life for the
communities affected. For example people whose livelihoods depend on crops and livestock will
face income loss that may impact on their welfare and overall wellbeing. For the business
community (retailing, services, industries, wholesaling), their loss of income is represented by
‘operational vulnerability’ that is, the estimated time any business can operate without
infrastructure support. For instance a factory cannot operate without electric power (which is 0
hours), but it can operate for a maximum of 4 hours without phones. For time periods exceeding
the above, the business ought to suspend operations indefinitely.

Directly related to the immediate welfare needs of the victims/survivors are their food
requirements. In this respect food assembling and distribution points have to be coordinated in
such a way that is effective and efficient given the prevailing circumstances. Perhaps the welfare
impacts of disasters can best be summed up by differentiating between the direct effects on
property, the indirect effects brought about by the decline in factors of production, and
secondary effects in the post disaster period such as economic decline manifested in balance of
payments problems.

ii Economic Impacts
Economic costs of disasters vary across space and time. Evidence suggests a strong correlation
between a country’s level of development and disaster risk. On average, 22.5 people die per
disaster in highly developed countries, 145 people die per disaster in countries with medium
human development and 1,052 people die per disaster in countries with low levels of
development (UNEP ). Sometimes the economic impacts can be difficult to calculate. The
Western Indian Ocean islands experience more than ten cyclones a year between November
and May: huge costs are incurred due to the destruction of income-generating activities
including tourism revenues.
In Bangladesh, floods during the Monsoon season destroyed crops and disrupted the non-farm
economy of the country even after the flood waters receded. For instance, the average monthly
working days fell in the period of the floods for farm workers. Day labourers for example were
severely affected, their employment fell sharply from 19 days per month to 11 days per month,
and as such, wage earnings also fell by almost 46%. Another example is the great Hanshin
earthquake in Japan in 1995 that caused $US 100 billion dollars damage which was equivalent to
2.1% of Japan’s GDP. Extensive damage to buildings, transportation facilities and utilities (gas,
sewage, power) makes up 80% of this cost. Recovery and reconstruction activities may start
immediately after the event beginning with the most damaged sectors, whilst services sectors
such as manufacturing may take up to twelve months or more for full recovery.
It is understood by everyone that a community is referred to as the people who live in it. Out of
the varieties of impacts, economic impacts are one of the major areas that need attention from
the moment of any disaster. Just like food and shelter, education also needs to be included in
the list of areas that contribute to the economic impacts. Due to the loss of household
belongings and perhaps the parents, there will be a loss of the family income. In these situations
most people tend to ignore the importance of education for all ages. This also happens as a
result of evacuating from the home land to different regions. However, to get education, either
the students need to be admitted to other schools, or should be provided with housing to come
back. Whatever the conditions, education should not be interrupted as it is central to creating a
new level of public awareness and preparedness. Attending school also keeps children away
from parental issues back at home. Similarly, they will get opportunities to share their own
situation with friends and elders at school which brings more liveliness for them. In addition to
this, parents will find that their children are safe, and they too will have time to attend other
activities. Hence, this is possible only if the community gets prepared to use the resources
available in the community beforehand.

Evacuation planning by using the available resources is a critical component of safety, including
for people with disabilities. This is applicable for all buildings, including those that are new and
fully accessible. Evacuation planning should include a need of assessment to determine who
may need what in responding to an emergency and evacuating a facility. Also, this will inculcate
the understanding of best use of the resources in the situation. In most places, during natural
disasters and terrorism, in the development of preparedness plans school buildings will be the
target of evacuation. In evacuation drills like fire in school buildings, the nearby parks and sports
fields are allocated. In preparedness it is also very important for every member of the
community to be familiar with the contact numbers during an emergency. This may include the
numbers of Fire Station, Police Station etc. In this way the community will be aware of the use of
the available resources rather than depending on the special resources provided during an
emergency.

Just like losing the household, death of children and adults also means the loss of future labour
force, thus loss of future productivity. Hence, the regional economy and labour force is required
to be maintained. This means for the recovery a labour force is needed to rebuild the
infrastructure to replace places like houses, schools, utilities, etc. Whereas in severe disasters;
there will be a higher unemployment rate than employment as the schools, factories offices are
completely destroyed. This results in people having to attend to more than one job.

Emotional Impacts of Disasters

Whether it is a natural or a man-made disaster, the impact disasters have on the affected
community, either collectively or individually, varies. All too often it is much easier to see the
physical consequences of a disaster – injuries, death, and displacement. The immediate
response to alleviate the pain and suffering is easily measured in terms of shelter, food,
medicine, water and other things alike. Many victims of disasters have the ability to adapt to the
sudden changes in their environment and daily routine more than others, and thus, are more
resilient. The more prepared communities are before a disaster occurs, the more resilient they
are.
Today across the small states, we are seeing the need to consider more the psychosocial effects
that the disaster has on the affected communities; something that is less obvious. As research
has shown disasters are expected to increase in the future. As a result, more people are
expected to be emotionally and mentally affected, testing their resilience. There is a need for
trauma counseling services in high risk areas, as well as the need to consider or put in place
welfare services for those severely impacted by disasters! Programs to put in place trained
counselors at the community or village level have already been established in some areas.

Trauma
What is Trauma?
Anyone who goes through a disaster experiences some kind of trauma. For the less resilient
communities or individuals, trauma can destroy them in that they cannot cope with the sudden
event of a disaster and so they may suffer from a developing disease, lead to substance abuse,
mental disorders and eventually destroy relationships, and the very fabric of society which are
families themselves. Trauma is an exceptional experience in which powerful and dangerous
events overwhelm a person’s capacity to cope. When an adult or child is traumatized, they are
experiencing reactions to the trauma that affect their ability to function. You must remember
that when we talk about trauma, it is not only the survivors of a disaster that can be traumatized
– there are also the relatives and friends of survivors, or emergency workers, and even seeing
and hearing about disasters through the media (especially children!).

Emotional Stages of Disaster Recovery

Before we go on, it is important to note as well that there are several stages that a community
will go through during and immediately after the disaster, in the recovery stage. These may in
one way or the other, contribute to the effect on a person after the disaster is over.

These stages are described briefly below:

1 Pre-disaster
This is the stage just before the hazard strikes. Education and awareness is carried out in this
stage. If it is a slow onset disaster then enough warning and awareness is given to the
community on the risks posed by the hazard, thus giving the community enough time to
prepare.
2 Heroic Stage
This is the stage usually at the onset or impact of disaster and immediately after the disaster. At
this stage many people in the community are strong and focused, and use most of their energy
in saving themselves as well as others. There is a strong sense of sharing, people helping one
another, and treating even a stranger as “family”. People are so busy responding and helping
out when and where they can, and so the activity level is high and people usually really do not
have time to stop and ponder over what has just happened.
3 Honeymoon
The honeymoon stage follows immediately after the heroic stage and may take several weeks. It
is during this stage that there is cohesion in the community, in the care centres, where the
immediate needs of food and water are being attended to. People meet together and are
relieved that they are safe, and alive, and that they have a place to stay until they can return
back home. Some begin the clean up process in anticipation of moving on and returning to their
homes, and also with the encouragement from government and relief agencies that they will be
supported, when trying to rebuild their lives and return to normal. Sometimes expectations of
those in care centres become too high of government and relief agencies. When this happens
the victims of disaster begin to get frustrated from the congested living in care centres, anger,
restlessness, survival guilt, and anxiety begins to set in.
4 Disillusionment
This stage is also termed the “second disaster” stage in that people have now been in care
centres for more than a month. They find that their request for assistance to get their lives back
to normal seems to be taking forever by the authorities! It is also at this stage that many of the
relief agencies have left the scene. People realize that they cannot wait on the government
forever and some take it into their own hands to start to rebuild a normal life to get out of the
stress they are going through while living at the care centre. This stage lasts a month or two to a
year or two.
5 Reconstruction
This stage lasts for several years following the disaster. In this stage people have already
assumed the responsibility of recovery and work together to develop reconstruction plans and
programs. Reconstruction and rebuilding may be going on around them but the community has
already returned to its normal routine; with some adaptation.

The above stages will assist you as a disaster officer to understand what people in disasters go
through. Why? As a disaster officer, you will be able to make better informed decisions, to be
able to meet the emotional needs that may arise during and after a disaster.

Factors of vulnerability to trauma

There are many factors which contribute towards one person experiencing trauma and not the
other person. Many times it may not be just one particular factor that may be the sole cause or
contributor, but more than one factor. In most cases people do get over the experience of
surviving a disaster and move on with their lives. For others, it is easier said than done! Also,
factors which contribute towards a child experiencing trauma may differ from that of an adult.
Generally, factors that may contribute towards trauma are:
a Exposure or proximity to disaster site – Those who are closer to the disaster site are also going
to feel more intense impacts and suffer more, than those who live further away from the
disaster site.
b Repeated images of terror on TV - this is especially true for children.
c Relationships – Those whose relatives have been lost or injured in the disaster are at higher
risk compared to those who have not lost anyone.
d Age; older people are often less adaptable than younger community members.
e History of previous traumatic events – If a person has gone through previous stressful events,
whether it is violence, child abuse, etc, they are more likely to suffer trauma after a disaster has
taken place as opposed to someone who has not.
f Socio economic factors – generally, people who struggled to make a living before the disaster
occurred, are more likely to be at more risk to trauma now that they may have lost everything,
compared to someone who is more financially stable.

Some Common Responses to trauma

Common reactions to trauma may be any of the following:
 Shock
 Anxiety
 Fear
 Increased anxiety
 Guilt at surviving
 Sadness
 Confusion and
 Regret.
A trauma patient may also experience nightmares, lack of sleep, and flashbacks of the event.
Physical reactions to trauma may be nausea, sweating, tiredness, loss of concentration,
breathlessness, and aches and pains.
In further response to all of the above symptoms, people may start to drink or smoke, substance
abuse, throw themselves into work and or become anti social, avoid talking about what
happened, as well as avoid any situation that may remind them of the disaster!

Recovery from trauma

The length of time it will take for someone to recover from a traumatic experience varies. It will
depend on the nature of the event and the situation and circumstances surrounding the
individual. Another important factor is the degree of loss the individual has suffered and the
ease of accessibility of support systems available to the individual or family to get through the
trauma. For those especially stuck in a state of depression it may take longer. One of the
strategies used to deal with trauma is counseling, referred to as trauma counseling. This can
happen at different levels as described below.

Vulnerable Groups in Disasters

In the event of a disaster we expect that the needs of everyone are catered for in the response
and recovery stage. Sometimes this is not so. It usually happens that if a certain group of people
were marginalized during normal times, it is most likely that they will not be catered for during
disaster times. Vulnerable groups also refers to those who do not feel safe enough during
response and recovery stage, and those who cannot safely and comfortably access and use the
resources provided in the preparedness, response and recovery stages of a disaster.

IDP: Internally Displaced Person (IDP) may have been forced to flee their home for the same
reasons as a refugee, but has not crossed an internationally recognised border.
Refugee: A person who has fled from and/or cannot return to their country due to a well-
founded fear of persecution, including war or civil conflict
Asylum seeker: Includes persons who had fled war or other violence in their home country. A
person who is seeking to be recognized as a refugee is an asylum seeker.

People with Disabilities

Physically challenged people are those who have difficulty moving, hearing, seeing,
communicating, and or learning. Physically challenged people are also referred to as People with
Disabilities (PWDs). Physically challenged people have the same needs as everyone else in the
community, however, they have more of a task because of their disability. In normal times,
PWDs are marginalized, and so are worse off during disaster times. In any disaster it is important
that we address the needs of PWDs. Because of their disabilities, they have additional needs to
the usual needs which everyone else has. For example someone with visual and hearing
impairment would not be able to hear the warning siren in the event of a tsunami and so would
also need assistance in getting to the safe areas. From a rights based approach, it is important to
include PWDs in all phases of disaster management as their needs have to be considered before,
during and after a disaster.

When considering all the sectors in the planning of different phases of disaster management, it
is equally important to also consider the needs of PWDs. A pre-disaster activity that is carried
out is the risk mapping exercise. This exercise can identify barriers or obstacles that PWDs can
face when trying to evacuate people out of the danger zone at the time the hazard has struck. It
is wise that in the pre-disaster phase, a database is developed that identifies PWDs in the
community, the disability they face, and what their needs will be during and after the disaster.
This may be extremely helpful because in the event of a disaster, special equipment might be
needed to transport PWDs out. In the immediate response to a disaster it is equally important
that a person trained in assisting PWDs is included in every search and rescue team. Personnel
and staff at camps or care centres should also have had some prior training in working with
PWDs so that it is easy for them to identify the needs of PWDs in their care centre. Shelters or
care centres will have to be made PWD friendly. For example there will be ramps for easy
access, and latrines may have to be fitted with wider doors to allow easier access for wheel
chairs.

Elderly People
Reuters posted photos of elderly men and women who survived the Boxing Day Tsunami, and
the Bangladesh floods. A picture is worth more than a thousand words, and is sufficient to
describe the hopelessness and desperation faced by the elderly population during and after
disaster strikes.
The literature differs in terms of defining the ‘elderly’ groups. The disparities arise because
elderly can be defined as those over 55-60 years, and studies have excluded those in long term
nursing care but in the event of a disaster every person regardless of age is affected. Increased
vulnerability of the elderly is derived from their impaired physical mobility, poor sensory
awareness and pre-existing medical conditions.
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami left thousands of elderly people homeless and displaced,
according to IPS news the elderly were very much sidelined in the initial relief efforts. Many
were crowded into camps where they had to stand in long queues for food and in most cases
had to compete with younger survivors for food, water and medical assistance. To make matters
worse, the lack of data availability on disaster-related deaths by age, gender and disability
implies the specific vulnerability of the needs of the elderly remain unknown. This could be a
problem for relief workers when it comes to relief delivery work to the worst affected areas.
Evidence suggests that the elderly receive less proportionate aid in the post-disaster period than
do their younger counterparts. The explanations for this disparity point to the elderly not
registering for disaster assistance because of the difficulty in going through the processes of
filling in application forms and other related procedures to prove that they qualify for
assistance. Younger age groups are better able to recover financially from a disaster compared
to the elderly, reinforcing the vulnerability of the latter population age group to future disasters.
A study of those affected by tornadoes in Texas showed 32.2% of the elderly reported a drop in
their standard of living as compared to 12.5% of the non-elderly.
The dilemma facing the elderly is further compounded by the negative images of ageing. For
example, there is a prevailing misconception amongst the developed world that older people
are difficult to train, they are not open to new ideas, and considered a burden to welfare issues
of society. The lack of public awareness and information about the needs of the elderly and their
contribution to social growth has marginalised this group when allocating resources in the
aftermath of disasters. In addition, the elderly are at an increased risk of emotional distress
especially those who live alone. Ehrenreich (2001) noted that the special needs of the elderly
may take on a lower priority due to their age which aggravates mental stress and disorientation.
Internally Displaced People and Refugees
The events which result in internally displaced people are common throughout the world. For
the internally displaced people, there is little hope for any kind of future. Groups of internally
displaced people band together and form camps in an effort to share resources and support
themselves, to create a sense of community, and to provide themselves with some semblance
of security. It is common among many African cultures, and other parts of the world, for the
people in a community or a village to share resources.
What one person has is shared with the rest of the villagers so that all may have their needs
met. There is no reason for one person to hoard supplies because what one has is shared by all.
This sense of continuity is disrupted by the destruction of communities by rebel groups. When
people band together in an internally displaced persons camp, it is difficult to continue any kind
of schooling for there are no buildings, no materials, and often no people to teach. Even among
the elders there is a sense of futility and depression about their situation. In some camps there
are few adults left to raise the children, so the children run wild and are not taught the ways of
the community. This problem is of great concern to many adult, not just those in the camps.

When people flee destruction yet stay within their own country, they become internally
displaced people. If they had crossed a border to another country, they would automatically
become refugees. As refugees, they would have become eligible for aid from international
organizations. As long as they stay within their country of origin, they do not qualify for aid from
international organizations unless the government of the country requests it. Internally
displaced people are at the mercy of the forms of aid available to them from their own country.
In many countries in Africa, the governments are too poor to have a system in place to deal with
such dire social needs. It isn’t that the governments do not care; they simply lack the resources
to help those in need.

Non-government organizations (NGOs) are non-profit groups with a goal to provide help to
people in developing countries. Depending on the area of focus, an NGO might contribute to the
social, religious, educational, agricultural, or cultural needs of a particular group of people or an
entire country. Since government has so few resources, countries rely heavily on the financial
contributions and personnel of NGOs to help build the country. An Internally Displaced Person
(IDP) may have been forced to flee their home for the same reasons as a refugee, but has not
crossed an internationally recognised border. Many IDPs are in refugee-like situations and face
the same problems as refugees. There are more IDPs in the world than refugees. Globally, there
are an estimated 20-25 million so called internally displaced persons (IDPs). The involuntary
displacement of people is a long-standing phenomenon. Throughout history, forces and factors
have driven people from their normal and secure environments in search of more favourable
locations that would support their survival. Although this is still a dynamic instigation,
involuntary population displacement currently involves a wider range of concerns.

Today, people are forced to uproot from their physical, economic, social, cultural, and
psychological homes as a consequence of social disorder, political instability, and economic
impoverishment. While traditionally, displacement of people in Africa has resulted from life
threatening circumstances, the process has evolved to reflect the challenges of the 21 st century,
becoming more of a concern than ever before. The general concept of displacement has come
to encompass all forms of disruptions, usually caused by natural disasters, development
projects, conservation and preservation activities, planned resettlement programs, violence and
conflict. As a consequence of displacement, a person is forced to leave his or her native place, a
phenomenon known as forced migration. This is opposed to voluntary migration, a movement in
which individuals and groups willingly decide to migrate in the complete absence of economic,
political, cultural, and environmentally based `push’ factors. It is important for young people to
understand the repercussions of events on local, regional, and global scales. Much of this
knowledge is centred on political figures and the actions of those in power. The voices of people
without power are rarely heard or understood. Internally displaced people and refugees are two
groups of people who do not have a voice or much power, and yet the human condition
demands that society understands their needs and what can be done to meet them. Most IDPs
and refugees are poor people caught in circumstances beyond their control. Civil unrest and
natural disasters know no boundaries, either economic or cultural, and the destruction of a
community through these means could happen to anyone.

Who is a refugee?
International law uses the following definition:
 a person who has fled from and/or cannot return to their country due to a well-founded
fear of persecution, including war or civil conflict;
 “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion,
nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the
country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail
himself of the protection of that country…”; and
 is forced to leave their country due to natural disasters or war and conflict. (According to
the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees).

The concept of a refugee was expanded by the Conventions’ 1967 Protocol and by regional
conventions in Africa and Latin America to include persons who had fled war or other violence in
their home country. A person who is seeking to be recognized as a refugee is an asylum seeker.

The most important parts of the refugee definition are:

i Refugees have to be outside their country of origin;
ii The reason for their flight has to be a fear of persecution;
iii The fear of persecution has to be well-founded i.e. they have to have experienced persecution
or be likely to experience it if they return;
iv The persecution has to result from one or more of the 5 grounds listed in the definition;
v They have to be unwilling or unable to seek the protection of their country.

How is the term ‘refugee’ misused?

The term has slipped into common usage to cover a range of people, including those displaced
by natural disaster or environmental change. Refugees are often confused with other migrants.

What makes a refugee different?

Refugees are forced to leave their countries because they have been persecuted or have a well-
founded fear of persecution. Refugees run away. They often do not know where they will end
up. Refugees rarely have the chance to make plans for their departure such as packing their
personal belongings or saying farewell to loved ones. Many refugees have experienced sever
trauma or have been tortured.

Women and Children

Most research done on disasters has come up with the conclusion that those who are most
vulnerable are the women and children. As it is human nature, living conditions and
responsibilities of women subject many to risk before, during, and after disasters. Women also
exercise formal and informal leadership roles and are central actors in family preparation for,
and recovery from, disaster. According to Wood (2005), experience show that without the
deliberate involvement of women in the planning and implementation of preparedness,
response and recovery programs the overall national performance will suffer. In spite of this, it
has to be taken into account that due to rape and abuse of young girls and women, their
vulnerability increases. This leads to the spread of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases.
The following are some of the major areas that need to be considered in the preparation of
disasters.
1 Prioritise protection of human rights irrespective of nationality, sex, age, with/without
disabilities.
2 Include measures to prevent violence against women (domestic and sexual violence) in
disaster management planning.
3 Make sure that women are included in the management of shelter and temporary housing.
4 Provide special support to new born babies and their mothers and prevent child abuse by
counseling, support and frequent medical check-ups for both mothers and children.
5 Ensure that both men and women get the opportunity to take “disaster leave” to care for
children and elders.
6 Provide adequate support (financial, information), for marginalized women.

Children
Children who lose their caregivers during disasters get psychologically affected as they get more
exposed to violence, especially gender based violence. Mostly this leads older children to wind
up their education and get into the labour force to support the younger. Children are also
vulnerable to:
 inhaled chemicals as they breath more times than adults;
 agents that act on or through the skin because their skin is thinner and they have a
larger surface-to-mass ratio than adults;
 they do not have the cognitive ability to understand how to flee from danger or to
follow directions from others; and
 the effects of agents that produce vomiting or diarrhoea because they have less fluid
reserve than adults, increasing the risk of rapid dehydration.

Therefore, in the aftermath of disasters, children’s rights must be protected and promoted.
Support children who are exposed to violence and prevent the recruitment of children into the
armed forces and, equally, to help those who already have direct experience of fighting.
Prioritize children to be the first to get assistance in healthcare, protection and shelter.

Policies, legal frameworks for disaster management 78

In the international arena a number of frameworks and policy documents guide global practice
in disaster management. In the last two decades the field of disaster management has rapidly
evolved from an obscure practice to a fully fledged professional discipline. This move has in part
being necessitated by the increasingly high devastating impact of disaster and the globalization
of trade and commerce. Events in one locality can no longer be said to be confined to that area
only.
Key international and national instruments regulating disasters include the following:

1. Yokohama strategy
2. Hyogo framework for Action
3. Plan of implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development
4. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
5. Convention 174 on prevention of major industrial accidents
6. Civil Protection Act Chapter 10.06
The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR)?
The International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR ) declared by the United
Nations for the decade 1990-1999 provoked the recognition that disaster reduction was a social
and economic imperative that would take long time to fulfill. As the successor to IDNDR in 2000,
the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) was designed to foster this need by
proceeding from the previous emphasis of protection against hazards to a process involving
awareness, assessment and management of risk. This development highlights the integration of
disaster risk reduction into the broader context of sustainable development and related
environmental considerations. By means of this Global Review of Disaster Reduction Initiatives,
ISDR seeks to further multidisciplinary advocacy for wider professional understanding of disaster
risk reduction practices which can be achieved by working through political, professional,
institutional and public collaboration.

ISDR in a nutshell
The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) is a global framework established within
the United Nations for the promotion of action to reduce social vulnerability and risks of natural
hazards and related technological and environmental disasters. Its main purpose is to facilitate,
in an inter-agency effort Governments and communities in disaster-prone areas in integrating
the management of risk into their development policies, programmes and projects. The long-
term goal is to enable communities to become resilient to disasters saving lives as well as social,
economic, and environmental assets. By working through a network of international
organisations, scientific and expert institutions, civil society, private sector interests and
government officials, the ISDR aims to increase public awareness about disaster reduction, to
motivate commitment from public authorities, and to stimulate inter-disciplinary and inter-
sectoral partnerships that can improve the scientific knowledge on natural hazards and the
causes of disasters.
Governments are requested to establish or strengthen national platforms or focal points for
disaster reduction with a multisectoral and inter-disciplinary approach, with the support of two
international mechanisms:
 an Inter-Agency Secretariat, in Geneva, Switzerland (staff in Geneva, with one outpost
office for Latin America and the Caribbean in San Jose, Costa Rica, and as of September
2002, one outpost office in Nairobi, Kenya, for Africa), and
 an Inter-Agency Task Force on Disaster Reduction, that represents 25 agencies and
organizations from the UN, regional bodies and civil society.

What is the ISDR?

The United Nations General Assembly established the International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (ISDR) in 2000 as a successor to the International Decade of Natural Disaster
Reduction. The ISDR is a global strategy for all actors to work together to reduce disaster risk
and to build a culture of prevention in society.

The ISDR is a system of committed UN and other international, regional, national and local
stakeholders active in the scientific, humanitarian, environmental and development fields.
These are all essential areas of disaster risk reduction. ISDR aims at ensuring that international
action brings added value to help nations and communities implement disaster risk reduction
strategies.
Hyogo Framework for Action
In January 2005, Governments and other stakeholders met in Kobe, Japan, at the World
Conference on Disaster Reduction and adopted the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015:
Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters. The Hyogo Framework is a 10-
year action plan to reduce disaster risk at global, regional, national and local levels. Its five
priorities for action include the following goals:
 Make disaster risk reduction a priority.
 Know the risks and take action.
 Build understanding and awareness.
 Reduce risk.
 Be prepared and ready to act.

The Hyogo Framework for Action was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in
December 2005, and now serves as the core policy instrument that guides the work of the entire
ISDR system.

For more information about the Hyogo Framework please visit: http://www.unisdr.org/hfa

Role of the ISDR system

States have the primary responsibility to protect their people from disasters, and to develop
national programmes to implement the Hyogo Framework. Members of the ISDR system
support countries and national programmes to implement activities in the five priority areas for
action of the Hyogo Framework, in particular through the UN Country Teams, World Bank and
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The ISDR system promotes regional platforms for disaster
risk reduction to enhance cooperation, information sharing, good practices and reporting on
progress in implementing the Hyogo Framework.

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief
Coordinator leads the ISDR system.

Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction

The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction provides an annual forum to bring together
governments, international organizations and financial institutions, scientists, civil society
groups to coordinate action, exchange experiences and report on progress. It raises the profile
of the subject, promotes dialogue and fosters partnerships between practitioners, scientific and
technical experts in disaster risk reduction, addressing gaps in knowledge and its application and
identifying priorities for the system in the short and medium term.

Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery

The Global Facility is a World Bank initiative in partnership with ISDR, which aims to assist
countries at risk of natural disasters to mainstream prevention and mitigation efforts within
poverty reduction strategies. The Facility dedicates $5 million annually in funding from the
Bank's Development Grant. At the global and regional level, the Facility seeks to leverage
country resources investments in prevention, mitigation, and preparedness activities. At the
country level, it supports countries in developing investment frameworks for disaster risk
prevention and mitigation. The Global Facility provides technical assistance to support low and
middle-income nations as they integrate disaster reduction into their strategic planning,
particularly within the Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs) and various sectoral development
policies.

Civil Protection Act

This act was promulgated to pave way for the establishment of a civil protection organization
and provide for the operation of civil protection services in times of disaster; to provide for the
establishment of a fund to finance civil protection; and to provide for matters connected with or
incidental to the foregoing. This act is administered by the Minister of Local Government, Rural
and Urban Development, being administered at district and provincial levels by the offices of the
district and provincial administrators respectively.

The act makes provision for:

1. A director of Civil protection and outlines his duties chief of which is the administration
of the provisions of the statute.
2. Formation of national civil protection committee, which shall be multi sectoral in nature,
drawing membership from all critical service arms such as Health, Police, Fire Brigade.
This committee gives leadership and guidance in the implementation

Recent Global Emergencies/ disasters – 2012

Below is a list of some of the most devastating disasters in 2012.

Earthquake: Iran
More than 300 people died and thousands more left homeless or injured after two earthquakes
hit Iran within 11 minutes of each other in August 2012. To make matters worse, dozens of
villages in the East Azerbaijan province faced an estimated 50 aftershocks. Situated on fault
lines, this year’s temblor was nothing compared to the 2003 quake that left 40,000 dead in the
Iranian city of Bam.

Fire: Colorado
More than 35,000 people fled as fire destroyed 350 homes and killed two people near Colorado
Springs. The Waldo Canyon fire came weeks after another blaze razed more than 250 homes
north of Denver. Reports estimated six fatalities and 200,000 acres burned with an estimated
economic impact of more than $200 million.

Tornado: Kentucky

An estimated 23 people died in six Kentucky counties alone when tornadoes ripped through the
Ohio Valley and the Southern US this March. The National Weather Service said it was ideal
conditions for prolonged twisters, with one tornado remaining on the ground for 95 miles while
another cut a nearly 50-mile swath of destruction.

Typhoons/Flood: Philippines
More than 300 died, largely from floods, as Typhoon Bopha hit the Philippines. This was the
16th deadly typhoon to hit the Philippines in 2012. In December 2011 1,200 people died from
flooding in the Philippines.

Hurricane: New York/New Jersey

With a death toll near 200 in the US and Caribbean, Sandy wasn’t technically a hurricane to
some, but for those who lost their homes, that’s all just semantics. Hurricane Sandy damaged
72,000 homes in the state.

Famine: Sahel crisis

In Africa, drought combined with rising food prices and geopolitical instability threatened 16
million people from Senegal in the west to Chad in the east.

Avalanche: Pakistan
About 125 soldiers patrolling the “world’s highest battlefield” and 11 civilians died in April when
an avalanche swept down the Siachen Glacier near the Pakistani-Indian border. Rescuers
needed to uncover bodies buried beneath 120 feet of snow high in the Kashmir Mountains.

Disease: Saudi Arabia/Jordan

Five people died from a mysterious outbreak of the novel coronavirus which happened in the
Middle East. Nine total cases of the virus that’s genetically linked to SARS appeared in Qatar,
Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Case studies
1. Chemical Hazard: Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident
On April 26, 1986, an accident occurred at Unit 4 of the nuclear power station at Chernobyl,
Ukraine, in the former USSR. The accident, caused by a sudden surge of power, destroyed the
reactor and released massive amounts of radioactive material into the environment. To stop the
fire and prevent a criticality accident as well as any further substantial release of fission
products, boron and sand were poured on the reactor from the air. In addition, the damaged
unit was entombed in a temporary concrete "sarcophagus," to limit further release of
radioactive material. Control measures to reduce radioactive contamination at and near the
plant site included cutting down and burying a pine forest surrounding the plant. The three
other units of the four-unit Chernobyl nuclear power station were subsequently restarted. The
Soviet nuclear power authorities presented an initial report on the accident at an International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting in Vienna, Austria, in August 1986.
After the accident, access to the area in a 30-kilometer radius around the plant was closed,
except for persons requiring official access to the plant and to the immediate area for evaluating
and dealing with the consequences of the accident and operation of the undamaged units. The
population evacuated from the most heavily contaminated areas numbered approximately
115,000 in 1986 and another 220,000 people in subsequent years (Source: UNSCEAR 2008, pg.
53). Pripyat, the town near Chernobyl where most of the workers at the plant lived before the
1986 accident, was evacuated several days after the accident, because of radiological
contamination. It was included in the 30-km Exclusion Zone around the plant and is closed to all
but those with authorized access.

Health Effects from the Accident

The Chernobyl accident caused many severe radiation effects almost immediately. Among the
approximately 600 workers present on the site at the time of the accident, 2 died within hours
of the reactor explosion from non-radiological causes and 134 received high radiation doses and
suffered from acute radiation sickness. Of these, 28 workers died in the first four months after
the accident. Another 200,000 recovery workers involved in the initial cleanup work of 1986-
1987 received doses of between 1 and 100 roentgen equivalent man [rem] (0.01 and 1.00 Gray
Gy). The number of workers involved in cleanup activities at Chernobyl rose to 600,000,
although only a small fraction of these workers were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation.
Both groups of cleanup and recovery workers may become ill because of their radiation
exposure, so their health is being monitored.(UNSCEAR 2008, pg. 47, 58, 107, and 119)

The Chernobyl accident also resulted in widespread contamination in areas of Belarus, the
Russian Federation, and Ukraine inhabited by millions of residents. Radiation exposure to
residents evacuated from areas heavily contaminated by radioactive material from the
Chernobyl accident also has been a concern. Average thyroid doses to Ukrainian and Belarusian
evacuees were 33 and 108 rem (333 and 1077 mGy) , respectively. However, the majority of the
five million residents living in contaminated areas received very small radiation doses that are
comparable to natural background levels (0.1 rem per year). (UNSCEAR 2008, pg. 124-25)
The health of these residents also has been monitored since 1986, and to date there is no strong
evidence for radiation-induced increases of leukemia or solid cancer (other than thyroid cancer).
An exception is a large number of children and adolescents who in 1986 received substantial
radiation doses in the thyroid after drinking milk contaminated with radioactive iodine. To date,
about 6,000 thyroid cancer cases have been detected among these children. Although 99% of
these children were successfully treated, 15 children and adolescents in the three countries died
from thyroid cancer by 2005. Fortunately, no evidence of any effect on the number of adverse
pregnancy outcomes, delivery complications, stillbirths or overall health of children has been
observed among the families living in the most contaminated areas.(UNSCEAR 2008, pg. 65)
Apart from the increase in thyroid cancer after childhood exposure, no increase in overall cancer
or non-cancer diseases have been observed that can be attributed to the Chernobyl accident
and exposure to radiation. However, it is expected that some cancer deaths may eventually be
attributed to the Chernobyl accident over the lifetime of the emergency workers, evacuees, and
residents living in the most contaminated areas. These reported negative health effects are far
lower than initial speculations that radiation exposure would claim tens of thousands of lives,
but it is not greatly different from estimates made in 1986 by Soviet scientists.

US Reactors and NRC’s Response

U.S. reactors have different plant designs, broader shutdown margins, robust containment
structures, and operational controls to protect them against the combination of lapses that led
to the accident at Chernobyl. Although the NRC has always acknowledged the possibility of
major accidents, its regulatory requirements provide adequate protection, subject to continuing
vigilance, including review of new information that may suggest weaknesses.
Assessments in the light of Chernobyl have indicated that the causes of the accident have been
adequately dealt within the design of U.S. commercial reactors. However, the Chernobyl
accident emphasized the importance of safe design in both concept and implementation, of
operational controls, of competence and motivation of plant management and operating staff to
operate in strict compliance with controls, and of backup features of defense-in-depth against
potential accidents.
Although a large nuclear power plant accident somewhere in the United States is unlikely
because of design and operational features, the assessment of Chernobyl raised questions as to
whether changes were needed to NRC regulations or guidance regarding reactivity accidents,
accidents at low or zero power, operator training, and emergency planning.
The NRC's response to the Chernobyl accident was divided into three major phases: (1)
determining the facts of the accident, (2) assessing the implications of the accident for safety
regulation of commercial nuclear power plants in the United States, and (3) conducting
additional specific studies suggested by the assessment.
The first phase, fact finding, was a coordinated effort between several U.S. government agencies
and some private groups, with the NRC acting as the coordinating agency. The work was
completed in January 1987 and reported in NUREG-1250, "Report on the Accident at the
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station."
The second phase, the implications study, was reported in NUREG-1251, "Implications of the
Accident at Chernobyl for Safety Regulation of Commercial Nuclear Power Plants in the United
States," issued in April 1989. The report concluded that no immediate changes were needed in
the NRC's regulations regarding the design or operation of U.S. commercial nuclear reactors as a
result of lessons learned from Chernobyl.
For the third phase, Chernobyl follow-up studies for U.S. reactors were reported in June 1992 in
NUREG-1422, "Summary of Chernobyl Follow-up Research Activities." That report closed out the
Chernobyl follow-up research program, though certain issues will continue to receive attention
in the normal course of NRC work. For example, the NRC will follow long-term lessons with
regard to contamination control -- decontamination, ingestion pathway, relocation of people.
The NRC recognizes that the Chernobyl experience should remain a valuable part of the
information to be taken into account when dealing with reactor safety issues in the future.
Discussion
The Chernobyl reactors are of the RBMK type. These are high-power, pressure-tube reactors,
moderated with graphite and cooled with water. At the time of the Chernobyl accident there
were 17 RBMKs in operation in the Soviet Union and two in Lithuania. Since the accident, five
RBMKs have been shut down. All four units at Chernobyl and one of the Lithuanian RBMKs were
shut down.
At Chernobyl:
– Unit 4 reactor was destroyed in the 1986 accident;
– Unit 2 was shut down five years later; after a serious turbine building fire;
– Unit 1 was closed in November 1996, and
– Unit 3 was closed December 15, 1999, as promised by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.

The countries of the G-7, the European Commission and Ukraine helped in closing these
reactors. This effort included support for such things as Chernobyl Unit 3 plant-specific short-
term safety upgrades, decommissioning of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, development of
an action plan for addressing the social impacts on workers and their families resulting from
Chernobyl closure, and identification of power supply investments needed to meet Ukraine’s
future electrical power needs.
On April 26, 1996, the 10th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, Ukrainian President Kuchma
formally established the Chernobyl Center for Nuclear Safety, Radioactive Waste and Radio-
ecology in the town of Slavutych. The center would provide the Ukraine with an indigenous,
institutional capability to provide technical support to its nuclear power industry, the academic
community, and nuclear regulators.

Sarcophagus
Construction of the sarcophagus covering the destroyed Chernobyl Unit 4 was started in May
1986 and completed by the Soviet authorities in an extremely challenging environment six
months later in November. It was quickly built as a temporary fix to channel remaining radiation
from the reactor through air filters before being released to the environment. After several
years, uncertainties about the actual condition of the sarcophagus, primarily due to the high
radiation environment, began to emerge.
In 1997, the countries of the G-7, the European Commission and Ukraine agreed that a
multilateral funding mechanism be established to help Ukraine transform the existing
sarcophagus into a stable and environmentally safe system through the Chernobyl Shelter
Implementation Plan. The Chernobyl Shelter Fund was established to finance the Plan. The
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was entrusted with managing the Fund.
The Plan is intended to protect the personnel, population and environment from the threat of
the very large inventory of radioactive material contained within the existing sarcophagus for
many decades. First, the existing sarcophagus will be stabilized and then eventually it will be
replaced with a new safe shelter (confinement). New shelter construction is expected to start in
late 2006 with a design to include an arch-shaped steel structure, which will slide across the
existing sarcophagus via rails. This new structure is designed to remain functional for 100 years.
2. Chemical: Exxon Valdez oil spill
The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when
the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's
Bligh Reef and spilled 260,000 to 750,000 barrels (41,000 to 119,000 m3) of crude oil. It is
considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters. The
Valdez spill was the largest ever in U.S. waters until the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in
terms of volume released. However, Prince William Sound's remote location, accessible only by
helicopter, plane, and boat, made government and industry response efforts difficult and
severely taxed existing plans for response. The region is a habitat for salmon, sea otters, seals
and seabirds. The oil, originally extracted at the Prudhoe Bay oil field, eventually covered 2,100
km of coastline, and 28,000 km2 of ocean. Then Exxon CEO, Lawrence G. Rawl, shaped the
company's response.
According to official reports, the ship was carrying approximately 210,000 m3 of oil, of which
about 42,000 to 120,000 m3 were spilled into the Prince William Sound. A figure of 42,000 m3
was a commonly accepted estimate of the spill's volume and has been used by the State of
Alaska's Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club. Some
groups, such as Defenders of Wildlife, dispute the official estimates, maintaining that the
volume of the spill, which was calculated by subtracting the volume of material removed from
the vessel's tanks after the spill from the volume of the original cargo, has been under reported.
Alternative calculations, based on the assumption that the official reports underestimated how
much seawater had been forced into the damaged tanks, placed the total at 95,000 to 120,000
m3. During the first few days of the spill, heavy sheens of oil covered large areas of the surface
of Prince William Sound.

Identified causes
Multiple factors have been identified as contributing to the incident:
Beginning three days after the vessel grounded, a storm pushed large quantities of fresh oil on
to the rocky shores of many of the beaches in the Knight Island chain.
 Exxon Shipping Company failed to supervise the master and provide a rested and
sufficient crew for Exxon Valdez. The NTSB found this was widespread throughout the
industry, prompting a safety recommendation to Exxon and to the industry.
 The third mate failed to properly maneuver the vessel, possibly due to fatigue or
excessive workload.
 Exxon Shipping Company failed to properly maintain the Raytheon Collision Avoidance
System (RAYCAS) radar, which, if functional, would have indicated to the third mate an
impending collision with the Bligh Reef by detecting the "radar reflector", placed on the
next rock inland from Bligh Reef for the purpose of keeping boats on course via radar.
The captain was confirmed to be asleep when the ship crashed in Prince William Sound's reef. In
light of the other findings, investigative reporter Greg Palast stated in 2008 "Forget the drunken
skipper fable. As to Captain Joe Hazelwood, he was below decks, sleeping off his bender. At the
helm, the third mate never would have collided with Bligh Reef had he looked at his RAYCAS
radar. But the radar was not turned on. In fact, the tanker's radar was left broken and disabled
for more than a year before the disaster, and Exxon management knew it. It was [in Exxon's
view] just too expensive to fix and operate." Exxon blamed Captain Hazelwood for the
grounding of the tanker.
Other factors, according to an MIT course entitled "Software System Safety" by Professor Nancy
G. Leveson, included:
1. Tanker crews were not told that the previous practice of the Coast Guard tracking ships out to
Bligh reef had ceased.
2. The oil industry promised, but never installed, state-of-the-art iceberg monitoring equipment.
3. Exxon Valdez was sailing outside the normal sea lane to avoid small icebergs thought to be in
the area.
4. The 1989 tanker crew was half the size of the 1977 crew, worked 12–14 hour shifts, plus
overtime. The crew was rushing to leave Valdez with a load of oil.
5. Coast Guard tanker inspections in Valdez were not done, and the number of staff was
reduced.
6. Lack of available equipment and personnel hampered the spill cleanup.
7. This disaster resulted in International Maritime Organization introducing comprehensive
Marine pollution prevention rules (MARPOL AND IOPP) through various conventions. The rules
were ratified by MEMBER countries and after International Ship Management rules the Ships are
being operated with a common objective of "safer ships and cleaner oceans".

Clean-up measures and environmental impact

There was use of a dispersant, a surfactant and solvent mixture. A private company applied
dispersant on March 24 with a helicopter and dispersant bucket. Because there was not enough
wave action to mix the dispersant with the oil in the water, the use of the dispersant was
discontinued. One trial explosion was also conducted during the early stages of the spill to burn
the oil, in a region of the spill isolated from the rest by another explosion. The test was relatively
successful, reducing 113,400 liters of oil to 1,134 liters of removable residue, but because of
unfavorable weather no additional burning was attempted. The dispersant Corexit 9580 was
tried as part of the cleanup. Corexit has been found to be toxic to cleanup workers and wildlife
while breaking down oil.
Mechanical cleanup was started shortly afterwards using booms and skimmers, but the
skimmers were not readily available during the first 24 hours following the spill, and thick oil and
kelp tended to clog the equipment.
Exxon was widely criticized for its slow response to cleaning up the disaster and John Devens,
the mayor of Valdez, has said his community felt betrayed by Exxon's inadequate response to
the crisis. More than 11,000 Alaska residents, along with some Exxon employees, worked
throughout the region to try to restore the environment.

Clean-up efforts after the Exxon Valdez oil spill

Because Prince William Sound contained many rocky coves where the oil collected, the decision
was made to displace it with high-pressure hot water. However, this also displaced and
destroyed the microbial populations on the shoreline; many of these organisms (e.g. plankton)
are the basis of the coastal marine food chain, and others (e.g. certain bacteria and fungi) are
capable of facilitating the biodegradation of oil. At the time, both scientific advice and public
pressure was to clean everything, but since then, a much greater understanding of natural and
facilitated remediation processes has developed, due somewhat in part to the opportunity
presented for study by the Exxon Valdez spill. Despite the extensive cleanup attempts, less than
ten percent of the oil was recovered and a study conducted by NOAA determined that as of
early 2007 more than 98 m3 of oil remained in the sandy soil of the contaminated shoreline,
declining at a rate of less than 4% per year.
Wildlife was severely affected by the oil spill.
Both the long-term and short-term effects of the oil spill have been studied. Immediate effects
included the deaths of, at the best estimates, 100,000 to as many as 250,000 seabirds, at least
2,800 sea otters, approximately 12 river otters, 300 harbor seals, 247 Bald Eagles, and 22 orcas,
as well as the destruction of billions of salmon and herring eggs. The effects of the spill
continued to be felt for many years afterwards. Overall reductions in population were seen in
various ocean animals, including stunted growth in pink salmon populations. The effect on
salmon and other prey populations in turn adversely affected killer whales in Prince William
Sound and Alaska's Kenai Fjords region. Eleven members (about half) of one resident pod
disappeared in the following year. By 2009, scientists estimated the AT1 transient population
(considered part of a larger population of 346 transients), numbered only 7 individuals and had
not reproduced since the spill, this population is expected to die out. Sea otters and ducks also
showed higher death rates in following years, partially because they ingested prey from
contaminated soil and from ingestion of oil residues on hair due to grooming.
Some twenty years after the spill, a team from the University of North Carolina found that the
effects were lasting far longer than expected. The team estimates some shoreline Arctic habitats
may take up to thirty years to recover. The spill occurred on March 24, 1989. Exxon Mobil denies
any concerns over this, stating that they anticipated a remaining fraction that they assert will
not cause any long-term ecological impacts, according to the conclusions of 350 peer-reviewed
studies. However, a NOAA study concluded that this contamination can produce chronic low-
level exposure, discourage subsistence where the contamination is heavy, and decrease the
"wilderness character" of the area.

3. Climatological: The 1997-1998 El Niño phenomenon

The 1997-1998 climate phenomenon of "El Niño" severely affected several countries, with
considerable impact in Asia and Central/South America since April 1997. Floods inflicted 41
countries, while 22 others were hit by drought and two countries by major forest fires. El Niño
had far reaching effects on crop production, national food situations, livestock and fish
production, and forests and natural vegetation in several parts of the world, according to Mr.
Abdur Rashid, Chief of FAO's Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS). In addition
to livestock losses due to heavy rainfall and floods attributed to El Niño in eastern Africa, ideal
conditions developed to create an outbreak of animal and human diseases. For example, Rift
Valley Fever (notably in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia) resulted in extensive deaths and illness,
putting large parts of neighbouring countries at serious risk of the epidemic. Regarding its
impact on fisheries, El Niño caused severe damage to the area off western South America, which
is considered one of the richest fishing regions in the world, producing 12 to 20 percent of the
world's total fish landings. One of the greatest El Niño-related threats to forests and natural
vegetation was the increased risk of wildfires due to drought conditions.
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 31 Jul 1998.

4. Geologic: Earthquake in Turkey

In the second half of 1999, two massive earthquakes in less than three months struck north-
western Turkey, the country's most densely populated region and industrial heartland. The first,
on 17 August 1999 at 03h02 local time, measured between 7.4 and 7.8 on the Richter scale and
lasted 45 seconds. Izmit, an industrial city of one million in western Turkey, was the nearest to
the epicentre. The official death toll stands at over 17,100, with some 44,000 people injured,
nearly 300,000 homes either damaged or collapsed, and more than 40,000 business premises
similarly affected. On the day of the catastrophe, the Turkish government declared a state of
emergency and requested international assistance. The disaster was followed by more than
1,300 after-shocks, culminating in the second quake at 18h57 on 12 November 1999 which rated
7.2 on the Richter scale and shook Düzce and Kaynasli counties in the north-western province of
Bolu, some 100 kms to the east of Izmit. The jolt was felt both in Istanbul (some 260 kms to the
west) and Ankara, the nation's capital, 300 kms to the east. According to the latest casualty
figures, there is a confirmed death toll of 845, with nearly 5,000 people injured.
Source: IFRC, Turkey: Earthquakes Situation Report no. 37, 14 Feb 2000.

5. Geologic: Haiti Earth quake

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 M earthquake, with
an epicenter near the town of Léogâne, approximately 25 km (16 miles) west of Port-au-
Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12
January 2010.
By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded. An
estimated three million people were affected by the quake; the Haitian government reported
that an estimated 316,000 people had died, 300,000 had been injured and 1,000,000 made
homeless. The government of Haiti also estimated that 250,000 residences and
30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged.
The earthquake caused major damage in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other settlements in the
region. Many notable landmark buildings were significantly damaged or destroyed, including
the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and
the main jail. Among those killed were Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Joseph Serge Miot, and
opposition leader Micha Gaillard. The headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization
Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), located in the capital, collapsed, killing many, including the
Mission's Chief, Hédi Annabi.
Many countries responded to appeals for humanitarian aid, pledging funds and dispatching
rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel. Communication systems, air, land,
and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks had been damaged by the
earthquake, which hampered rescue and aid efforts; confusion over who was in charge, air
traffic congestion, and problems with prioritisation of flights further complicated early relief
work. Port-au-Prince's morgues were overwhelmed with tens of thousands of bodies. These had
to be buried in mass graves. As rescues tailed off, supplies, medical care and sanitation became
priorities. Delays in aid distribution led to angry appeals from aid workers and survivors, and
looting and sporadic violence were observed. On 22 January the United Nations noted that the
emergency phase of the relief operation was drawing to a close, and on the following day the
Haitian government officially called off the search for survivors.
Background
The island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is seismically active
and has a history of destructive earthquakes. During Haiti's time as a French colony,
earthquakes were recorded by French historian Moreau de Saint-Méry (1750–1819). He
described damage done by an earthquake in 1751, writing that "only one masonry building had
not collapsed" in Port-au-Prince; he also wrote that the "whole city collapsed" in the 1770 Port-
au-Prince earthquake. Cap-Haïtien, other towns in the north of Haiti and the Dominican
Republic, and the Sans-Souci Palace were destroyed during an earthquake on 7 May
1842. A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck the Dominican Republic and shook Haiti on 4
August 1946, producing a tsunami that killed 1,790 people and injured many others.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and is ranked 149th of 182 countries
on the Human Development Index. The Australian government's travel advisory site had
previously expressed concerns that Haitian emergency services would be unable to cope in the
event of a major disaster, and the country is considered "economically vulnerable" by the Food
and Agriculture Organization. Haiti is no stranger to natural disasters. In addition to
earthquakes, it has been struck frequently by tropical cyclones, which have caused flooding and
widespread damage. The most recent cyclones to hit the island before the earthquake
were Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike, all in the summer of 2008,
causing nearly 800 deaths.

Geology
The magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake occurred inland, on 12 January 2010 at 16:53 (UTC-05:00),
approximately 25 km (16 miles) WSW from Port-au-Prince at a depth of 13 km (8.1 miles)
on blind thrust faults associated with the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system. There is
no evidence of surface rupture and based on seismological, geological and ground deformation
data it is thought that the earthquake did not involve significant lateral slip on the main
Enriquillo fault. Strong shaking associated with intensity IX on the Modified Mercalli
scale(MM) was recorded in Port-au-Prince and its suburbs. It was also felt in several
surrounding countries and regions, including Cuba (MM III in Guantánamo), Jamaica (MM II
in Kingston), Venezuela (MM II in Caracas), Puerto Rico (MM II–III in San Juan), and the
bordering Dominican Republic (MM III in Santo Domingo). According to estimates from
the United States Geological Survey, approximately 3.5 million people lived in the area that
experienced shaking intensity of MM VII to X, a range that can cause moderate to very heavy
damage even to earthquake-resistant structures. Shaking damage was more severe than for
other quakes of similar magnitude due to the shallow depth of the quake.
The quake occurred in the vicinity of the northern boundary where the Caribbean tectonic
plate shifts eastwards by about 20 mm (0.79 inches) per year in relation to the North
American plate. The strike-slip fault system in the region has two branches in Haiti,
the Septentrional-Oriente fault in the north and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault in the
south; both its location and focal mechanism suggested that the January 2010 quake was
caused by a rupture of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault, which had been locked for
250 years, gathering stress. However, a study published in May 2010 suggested that the rupture
process may have involved slip on multiple blind thrust faults with only minor, deep, lateral slip
along or near the main Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault zone, suggesting that the event only
partially relieved centuries of accumulated left-lateral strain on a small part of the plate-
boundary system. The rupture was roughly 65 km long with mean slip of 1.8 m. Preliminary
analysis of the slip distribution found amplitudes of up to about 4 m using ground motion
records from all over the world.
A 2007 earthquake hazard study by C. DeMets and M. Wiggins-Grandison noted that the
Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone could be at the end of its seismic cycle and concluded that
a worst-case forecast would involve a 7.2 Mw earthquake, similar in size to the 1692 Jamaica
earthquake. Paul Mann and a group including the 2006 study team presented a hazard
assessment of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system to the 18th Caribbean Geologic
Conference in March 2008, noting the large strain; the team recommended "high priority"
historical geologic rupture studies, as the fault was fully locked and had recorded few
earthquakes in the preceding 40 years. An article published in Haiti's Le Matin newspaper in
September 2008 cited comments by geologist Patrick Charles to the effect that there was a high
risk of major seismic activity in Port-au-Prince.

6. Climatologic: North American heat wave

The 1936 North American heat wave was the most severe heat wave in the modern history of
North America at the time. It took place in the middle of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl of
the 1930s, and caused catastrophic human suffering and an enormous economic toll. The death
toll exceeded 5,000, and huge numbers of crops were destroyed by the heat and lack of
moisture. Many state and city record high temperatures set during the 1936 heat wave stood
until the Summer 2012 North American heat wave. The 1936 heat wave followed one of the
coldest winters on record.

Events
The heat wave started in late June, when temperatures across the US exceeded 38 °C. The
Midwest experienced some of the highest June temperatures on record. Drought conditions
worsened. In the Northeast, temperatures climbed to around 35 °C. The South and West started
to heat up also, and also experienced drought. The heat wave began to extend into Canada.
Moderate to extreme drought covered the entire continent. The dry and exposed soil
contributed directly to the heat as happens normally in desert areas as the extreme heat
entered the air by radiation and direct contact. Reports at the time and explored in the
definitive works on the Dust Bowl told of soil temperatures reaching in excess of 93 °C at the 10
cm level in regions of the Dust Bowl; such soil temperatures were sufficient to sterilize the soil
by killing nitrogen-fixing bacteria and other microbes, delivering the final blow in the declining
fertility of that soil which had not already blown away.
July was the peak month, in which temperatures reached all-time record levels—many of which
still stood as of 2012. In Steele, North Dakota, temperatures reached 121 °F (49 °C), which
remains North Dakota's record. In Ohio, temperatures reached 110 °F (43 °C), which nearly tied
the previous record set in 1934. The states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Minnesota,
Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Nebraska, Wisconsin, West
Virginia, and New Jersey also experienced record high temperatures. The provinces of Ontario
and Manitoba set still-standing record highs above 110 °F (43 °C). Chicago Midway airport
recorded 100 °F (38 °C) or higher temperatures on 12 consecutive days from July 6–17, 1936.
Later that summer in downstate Illinois, at Mount Vernon the temperature surpassed 100 °F (38
°C) for 18 days running from August 12–29, 1936.

Some stations in the American Midwest reported minimum temperatures at or above 90 °F (32
°C) such as 91 °F (33 °C) at Lincoln, Nebraska on July 25, 1936; the next and most recent time
this is known to have happened is a handful of 90 °F (32 °C) minimums during a similar heat
wave in late June 1988 but far less intense than that of 1936. The highest nightly low
temperature outside of the desert south-west was 94 °F (34 °C) at Atchison, Kansas during the
heat wave of July, 1934.
August was the warmest month on record for five states. Many experienced long stretches of
daily maximum temperatures 100 °F (38 °C) or warmer. Drought conditions worsened in some
locations. Some states were only slightly above average.
The heat wave and drought largely ended in September, though many states were still drier and
warmer than average. Many farmers' summer harvests were destroyed. Grounds and lawns
remained parched. Annual temperatures returned to normal in the fall.

Effect on the environment

As many as 5,000 heat related deaths were reported in the United States, and 780 direct and
400 indirect deaths in Canada. Many people suffered from heat stroke and heat exhaustion,
particularly the elderly. Unlike today, air conditioning was in the early stages of development
and was therefore absent from houses and commercial buildings. Many of the deaths occurred
in high population density areas of Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Toronto
and other urban areas. Farmers across the continent saw crop failure, causing corn and wheat
prices to rise quickly. Droughts and heat waves were common in the 1930s. The 1930s are
remembered as the driest and warmest decade for the US (the Dust Bowl years) and the
summer of 1936 was the most widespread and destructive heat wave to occur in the Americas
in centuries.

7. Geologic: China mudslide

The 2010 Gansu mudslide was a deadly mudslide in Zhugqu County in Gannan
TAP in China that occurred at 12 midnight on 8 August 2010. It was caused by heavy rainfall and
flooding in Gansu Province. It was the most deadly individual disaster among the 2010 China
floods as of 19 August 2010. The mudslides killed more than 1,471 people as of 21 August 2010,
while 1,243 others have been rescued and 294 remain missing. The missing were presumed
dead as officials have ordered locals to stop searching for survivors or bodies to prevent the
spread of disease.[ Over 1,700 people evacuated were living in schools.

Cause
The worst hit location was Zhugqu County, where mud submerged houses and tore multi-story
blocks of flats to pieces. The seat of Zhouqu County was densely populated, with 50,000 people
(42,000 of them are permanent population) and an area of 2 km2. After the heavy rain, there
was a buildup of water behind a dam of debris blocking a small river to the north of the city of
Zhugqu; when the dam broke, around 1.8 million cubic metres of mud and rocks swept through
the town, in a surge reported as up to five storeys high, covering more than 300 low-rise homes
and burying at least one village entirely. The mudslide left an area 5 km long, 300 meters wide in
average leveled by mud with average thickness of 5 meters.

According to Gyurme Dorje's Tibet Handbook, the forest region of Zhugqu has, since the 1950s,
"shrunk by 30% and the reserve of timber reduced by 25% due to over felling. The sand in the
river water has increased by 60%, and the water volume has reduced by 8%, resulting in
increased flooding and drought." Furthermore, in this county there were between 47 to 53
hydroelectric construction projects in recent years, with 41 completed and 12 approaching
deadline, according to government data. These together have caused 749,000 tons of water and
soil erosion and over 3,000,000 cubic meters of bulldozed material. A local newspaper argued
that the mudslide was due to a “perfect storm” of natural events, including “soft” “weathered”
rock, heavy rainfall and drought and the Sichuan earthquake two years ago. Authorities
dismissed claims that the mudslides were "man-made".

Relief
Gansu province received 120 million Chinese yuan (US$17.7 million) in one week.

Reaction
On August 15, a day of mourning was observed, with flags lowered to half-mast at government
buildings within China and at embassies in foreign countries. Additionally, all public and online
entertainment was suspended, and major newspapers and internet sites were in black and
white. At the Expo 2010 in Shanghai, all activities were canceled. Such events are rare in China;
only after an earthquake earlier in 2010 and the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in recent years
have such periods of mourning been observed.

8. Climatologic: Pakistan Fire

Garment factories in the Pakistani cities of Karachi and Lahore caught fire on 11 September
2012. The fires occurred in a textile factory in the western part of Karachi and in a shoemaking
factory in Lahore. The fires are considered to be the most deadly and worst industrial factory
fires in Pakistan's history, killing 315 people and seriously injuring more than 250.

Background
Pakistan has one of the largest labour and manpower resources in the world, due to its large
population. According to data produced by the CIA World Factbook, the total number of
Pakistan's labour force is 58.4 million, making it the 10th largest country in terms of available
human workforce. About 20.1% of labour force is involved in industry. The conditions under
which Pakistan's blue-collar labour works have often been raised by trade unions and workers'
rights organisations. There is also a controversial, yet wide use of child labour in Pakistan.
The garment factory "Ali Enterprises", which is located in Plot 67, Hub Road, Baldia Town,
Karachi, used to export its garments to Europe and the United States, and had employed
between 1,200 and 1,500 workers. Ali Enterprises manufactured denim, knitted garments, and
hosiery, and had capital of between $10 million and $50 million. Workers at Ali Enterprises said
they earned between 5,000 and 10,000 rupees ($52 to $104) a month for their labour. The
factory manufactured jeans for textile discounter KiK. KiK claimed to control enforcement of
labour laws and security standards of its suppliers. However, a security check in 2007 revealed
deficiencies in fire protection of the Karachi plant, which KiK claimed were fixed by 2011.
According to the Pakistani Textile Workers Union (NTUF), a high working pressure and overtime
with unpaid additional work were frequent at the factory. A few weeks prior to the fire, the
factory passed an internationally recognised safety test. The factory is also suspected of using
child labour and locked workplaces analogous to prison cells. The owner of the factory, Abdul
Aziz, had reportedly prevented inspections of the factory.

Ali Enterprises' factory caught fire when a boiler exploded and the flames ignited chemicals that
were stored in the factory. Between 300 and 400 workers were inside the factory when the
blaze erupted. Officials said that all the exit doors in the factory were locked and many of the
windows of the factory were covered with iron bars, which made it difficult for workers to
escape at the time of the fire and consequently many of the deaths were caused by suffocation.

The shoemaking factory is located on Band Road in Gulshan-i-Ravi in Lahore. It caught fire when
sparks from a faulty electricity generator flew into chemicals. The generator was installed in the
garage of the factory compound, which was also the only entry and exit point of the factory.
Investigation
One of the factory owners in Karachi, Arshad Bhaila, claimed that the fire first broke out in the
warehouse and he himself called the fire brigade, which arrived about an hour and a half late.
New York times reported 75 minutes delay in arrival of fire department. A judicial inquiry into
the incidence headed by Justice Zahid Qurban Alvi released its report to public citing short
circuit as the cause of the fire. The report cited several factors that exacerbated the situation
leading to the loss of precious lives as the late arrival of fire tenders, the lack of water hydrants
and traffic congestion. The sources said that the tribunal was highly critical of the factory owners
and government institutions, which failed to ensure the implementation of laws. It also criticized
the police’s forensic department for failing to conduct a scientific assessment of the incident.

9. Climatologic: Drought: East Africa

From mid-July 2011, a severe drought affected the entire East Africa region. Said to be "the
worst in 60 years", the drought caused a severe food
crisis across Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya that threatened the livelihood of 9.5
million people. Many refugees from southern Somalia fled to neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia,
where crowded, unsanitary conditions together with severe malnutrition led to a large number
of deaths. Other countries in East Africa, including Sudan, South Sudan and parts of Uganda,
were also affected by a food crisis.
According to FAO-Somalia, the food crisis in Somalia primarily affected farmers in the south
rather than the northern pastoralists. On 20 July, the United Nations officially
declared famine in two regions in the southern part of the country (IPC Phase 5), the first time a
famine had been declared by the UN in nearly thirty years. Tens of thousands of people are
believed to have died in southern Somalia before famine was declared.
Although fighting disrupted aid delivery in some areas, a scaling up of relief operations in mid-
November had unexpectedly significantly reduced malnutrition and mortality rates in southern
Somalia, prompting the UN to downgrade the humanitarian situation in the Bay, Bakool and
Lower Shabele regions from famine to emergency levels. According to the Lutheran World
Federation, military activities in the country's southern conflict zones had also by early
December 2011 greatly reduced the movement of migrants. By February 2012, several thousand
people had also begun returning to their homes and farms. In addition, humanitarian access to
rebel-controlled areas had improved and rainfall had surpassed expectations, improving the
prospects of a good harvest in early 2012.

By January 2012, the food crisis in southern Somalia was no longer at emergency levels
according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Although security
restrictions precluded the collection of updated information in December/ January for a few
regions in southern Somalia, the UN indicated in February 2012 that indirect data from health
and relief centers pointed to improved general conditions from August 2011. The UN also
announced that the famine in southern Somalia was over. However, FEWS NET indicated that
Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of food insecurity would persist through March in the southern
riverine parts of the Juba and Gedo regions, the south-central agro pastoral zones of Hiran and
Middle Shebele, the southeast pastoral sections of Shebele and Juba, and the north-central
Coastal Deeh on account of crop flooding and ongoing military operations in these areas that
have restricted humanitarian access, trade and movement. The UN also warned that, in a worst-
case scenario of poor rains and price instability, conditions would remain at crisis level for about
31% of the population in limited-access areas until the August harvest season. In the most-likely
scenario, the FSNAU and FEWS NET expect the April–June rains to be average. Ameliorated food
security outcomes are also expected on account of the start of the Deyr harvest, which reached
200% of the post-war mean and is predicted to be significantly higher than usual. With the
exception of some coastal areas, the abundant rainfall in most parts of central and northern
Somalia has replenished pastureland and also further boosted the purchasing power of local
herders. With the benefit of the current harvest likely to ebb in May, the UN stressed that
continued multi-sectoral response is necessary to secure the recent gains made, and that
general humanitarian needs requiring international assistance would persist until at least
September 2012.

Aid agencies shifted their emphasis to recovery efforts, including digging irrigation canals and
distributing plant seeds. Long-term strategies by national governments in conjunction with
development agencies are believed to offer the most sustainable results.

Weather conditions over the Pacific, including an unusually strong La Niña, interrupted
seasonal rains for two consecutive seasons. The rains failed in 2011 in Kenya and Ethiopia, and
for the previous two years in Somalia. In many areas, the precipitation rate during the main
rainy season from April to June, the primary season, was less than 30% of the average of 1995–
2010. The lack of rain led to crop failure and widespread loss of livestock, as high as 40%–60% in
some areas, which decreased milk production as well as exacerbating a poor harvest. As a result,
cereal prices rose to record levels while livestock prices and wages fell, reducing purchasing
power across the region. Rains were also not expected to return until September of the year.
The crisis was compounded by rebel activity around southern Somalia from the Al-
Shabaab group.
The head of the United States Agency for International Development, Rajiv Shah, stated
that climate change contributed to the severity of the crisis. "There's no question that hotter
and drier growing conditions in sub-Saharan Africa have reduced the resiliency of these
communities." On the other hand, two experts with the International Livestock Research
Institute suggested that it was premature to blame climate change for the drought. While there
was consensus that a particularly strong La Niña contributed to the intensity of the drought, the
relationship between La Niña and climate change is not well-established.
The failure of the international community to heed the early warning system was criticized for
leading to a worsening of the crisis. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, financed by
U.S.A.I.D., anticipated the crisis as early as August 2010, and by January 2011, the American
ambassador to Kenya declared a disaster and called for urgent assistance. On 7 June 2011, FEWS
NET declared that the crisis was "the most severe food security emergency in the world today,
and the current humanitarian response is inadequate to prevent further deterioration". The UN
later announced on 28 June that 12 million people in the East Africa region were affected by the
drought and that some areas were on the brink of famine, with many displaced in search of
water and food. Oxfam's humanitarian director Jane Cocking stated that “This is a preventable
disaster and solutions are possible.”[ Suzanne Dvorak, the chief executive of Save the
Children, wrote that "politicians and policymakers in rich countries are often skeptical about
taking preventative action because they think aid agencies are inflating the problem. Developing
country governments are embarrassed about being seen as unable to feed their people. [...]
these children are wasting away in a disaster that we could—and should—have
prevented." Soon after a famine was declared in parts of southern Somalia. Oxfam also charged
several European governments of "willful neglect" over the crisis. It issued a statement saying
that "The warning signs have been seen for months, and the world has been slow to act. Much
greater long-term investment is needed in food production and basic development to help
people cope with poor rains and ensure that this is the last famine in the region."

Humanitarian situation
On 20 July 2011, the UN declared a famine in the Lower Shabelle and Bakool, two regions of
southern Somalia. On 3 August, famine was further declared in the Balcad and Cadale districts
in Middle Shabelle as well as the IDP settlements in Mogadishu and Afgooye in response to
data from the UN's food security and nutrition analysis unit. According to the UN, famine would
spread to all eight regions of southern Somalia in four to six weeks due to inadequate
humanitarian response caused both by ongoing access restrictions and funding gaps. The
Economist also reported that widespread famine would soon occur across the entire Horn of
Africa, "a situation...not seen for 25 years".

According to Luca Alivoni, the head of FAO-Somalia, the food crisis in Somalia primarily
affected farmers in the south rather than the northern pastoralists since farmers often stay
behind on their land plots to "protect their crops", while herders move with their livestock to
pastureland.
In July 2011, staple prices were at 68% over the five-year average, including increases of up to
240% in southern Somalia, 117% in south-eastern Ethiopia, and 58% in northern Kenya. In early
July, the UN World Food Programme said that it expected 10 million people across the Horn of
Africa region to need food aid, revising upward an earlier estimate of 6 million. Later in the
month, the UN further updated the figure to 12 million, with 2.8 million in southern Somalia
alone, which was the most affected area. On 3 August, the UN declared famine in three other
regions of southern Somalia, citing worsening conditions and inadequate humanitarian
response. Famine was expected to spread across all regions of the south in the following four to
six weeks. On 5 Sep, the UN added the entire Bay region in Somalia to the list of famine-
stricken areas. The UN has conducted several airlifts of supplies in addition to on-the-ground
assistance, but humanitarian response to the crisis has been hindered by a severe lack of
funding for international aid coupled with security issues in the region. As of September 2011,
63 per cent of the UN’s appeal for $2.5 billion (US) in humanitarian assistance has been
financed.
The crisis was expected to worsen in the following months, peaking in August and September,
with large-scale assistance needed until at least December 2011. Torrential rains also
exacerbated the situation in Mogadishu by destroying makeshift homes. Tens of thousands of
southern Somalia's internally displaced people were consequently left out in the cold.

In addition, the Kenyan Red Cross warned of a looming humanitarian crisis in the
northwestern Turkana region of Kenya, which borders South Sudan. According to officials
with the aid agency, over three-fourths of the area's population is now in dire need of food
supplies. Malnutrition levels are also at their highest.[45] As a consequence, schools in the
region have shut down "because there is no food for the children".[46] About 385,000 children
in these neglected parts of Kenya are already malnourished, along with 90,000 pregnant and
breast feeding women. A further 3.5 million people in Kenya are estimated to be at risk of
malnutrition.[47]
In August 2012, an estimated 87,000 people in the Taita-Taveta District of Kenya were
reportedly affected by famine, a situation attributed to a combination of wildlife invasions and
drought. Large herds of elephants and monkeys overran farms in the district's lowland and
highland areas, respectively, ruining thousands of acres of crops.[48] Local residents, about
67,000 of whom were receiving food aid, also accused the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) of
intentionally moving the monkeys to the district. However, this was denied by the KWS. [48]
Food shortages have also been reported in northern and eastern Uganda. The Karamoja region
and the Bulambuli district, in particular, are among the worst hit areas, with an estimated 1.2
million Ugandans affected. The Ugandan government has also indicated that as of September
2011, acute deficits in foodstuffs are expected in 35 of the country's districts. [3]
Although fighting disrupted aid delivery in some areas, a scaling up of relief operations in mid-
November had unexpectedly significantly reduced malnutrition and mortality rates in southern
Somalia, prompting the UN to downgrade the humanitarian situation in the Bay, Bakool and
Lower Shabele regions from famine to emergency levels. Humanitarian access to rebel-
controlled areas had also improved and rainfall had surpassed expectations, improving the
prospects of a good harvest in early 2012.[16] Despite the re-imposition of blocks by the
militants on the delivery of relief supplies in some areas under their control, the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported in January 2012 that the food crisis in southern
Somalia was by then no longer at emergency levels.[19] Although security restrictions precluded
the collection of updated information in December/January for a few regions in southern
Somalia, the UN indicated in February 2012 that indirect data from health and relief centers
pointed to improved general conditions from August 2011. The UN also announced that the
famine in southern Somalia was over.[20] However, FEWS NET indicated that Emergency (IPC
Phase 4) levels of food insecurity would persist through March in the southern riverine parts of
the Juba and Gedo regions, the south-central agro pastoral zones of Hiran and Middle Shebele,
the southeast pastoral sections of Shebele and Juba, and the north-central Coastal Deeh on
account of crop flooding and ongoing military operations in these areas that have restricted
humanitarian access, trade and movement.[21]

The UN also warned that, in a worst-case scenario of poor rains and price instability, conditions
would remain at crisis level for about 31% of the population in limited-access areas until the
August harvest season. In the most-likely scenario, the FSNAU and FEWS NET expect the April–
June rains to be average. Ameliorated food security outcomes are also expected on account of
the start of the Deyrharvest, which reached 200% of the post-war mean and is predicted to be
significantly higher than usual. Except for the Juba region, where damage from flooding and
limitations on trade have kept cereal prices high, the above average harvest has led to a
substantial drop in overall cereal prices in the south's vulnerable regions. This has resulted in
more agricultural wage labour opportunities for underprivileged agro pastoral households and
increased the purchasing power of pastoralists. With the exception of some coastal areas,
where a little under 95,000 pastoralists have yet to recover their herd sizes from the drought
and consequently still require emergency livelihood assistance (IPC Phase 4), the abundant
rainfall in most parts of central and northern Somalia has replenished pastureland and also
further boosted the purchasing power of local herders. With the benefit of the current harvest
likely to ebb in May, the UN stressed that continued multi-sectoral response is necessary to
secure the recent gains made,[22][20] and that general humanitarian needs requiring
international assistance would persist until at least September 2012.[23]
According to the Sudan Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CSFAM) for January 2012,
due to supbar cereal production and increased cereal prices caused by intense conflict that has
limited trade, humanitarian and population movements, an estimated 4.2 million people
in Sudan are predicted to be in the Stressed (IPC Phase 3), Crisis and Emergency levels during
the first three or four months of 2012. The number was previously estimated at 3.3 million
people in December 2011, and is expected to especially affect the South Kordofan, North
Darfur and Blue Nile states. Below average cereal production and a trade blockade imposed by
Sudan have also extended food insecurity in South Sudan, with the northern and northeastern
sections of the nation expected to be at Stressed and Crisis levels through March. [21]
Aid agencies have now shifted their emphasis to recovery efforts, including digging irrigation
canals and distributing plant seeds.[20] Long-term strategies by national governments in
conjunction with development agencies are believed to offer the most sustainable results. [24]

Refugee crisis
By 15 September, more than 920,000 refugees from Somalia had reportedly fled to neighboring
countries, particularly Kenya and Ethiopia.[49] At the height of the crisis in June 2011,
the UNHCR base in Dadaab, Kenya hosted at least 440,000 people in three refugee camps,
though the maximum capacity was 90,000.[50] More than 1,500 refugees continued to arrive
every day from southern Somalia, 80 per cent of whom were women and children. [51][52] UN
High Commissioner for Refugees spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said that many people had died
en route.[53] Within the camps, infant mortality had risen threefold in the few months leading
up to July 2011. The overall mortality was 7.4 out of 10,000 per day, which was more than seven
times as high as the "emergency" rate of 1 out of 10,000 per day.[9][54] There was an upsurge
in sexual violence against women and girls, with the number of cases reported increasing by
over 4 times. Incidents of sexual violence occurred primarily during travel to the refugee camps,
with some cases reported in the camps themselves or as new refugees went in search for
firewood.[52] This put them at high risk of acquiring HIV/AIDS.[37] According to UN
representative Radhika Coomaraswamy, the food crisis had forced many women to leave their
homes in search of assistance, where they were often without the protection of their family and
clan.[55]
In July 2011, Dolo Odo, Ethiopia also hosted at least 110,000 refugees from Somalia, most of
whom had arrived recently. The three camps at Bokolomanyo, Melkadida, and Kobe all
exceeded their maximum capacity; one more camp was reportedly being built while another
was planned in the future. Water shortage reportedly affected all the facilities. [37]
According to the Lutheran World Federation, military activities in the conflict zones of
southern Somalia and a scaling up of relief operations had by early December 2011 greatly
reduced the movement of migrants.[17] By February 2012, several thousand people had also
begun returning to their homes and farms.[18]

Health and disease

In July 2011, measles cases broke out in the Dadaab camps, with 462 cases confirmed including
11 deaths.[11] Ethiopia and Kenya were also facing a severe measles epidemic, attributed in
part to the refugee crisis, with over 17,500 cases reported in the first 6 months. [56][57] WHO
statistics put the number of children that were then most at the risk of measles at 2 million.
[57] The epidemic in Ethiopia may have led to an measles outbreak in the United States and
other parts of the developed world.[57] The World Health Organization stated that
"8.8 million people are at risk of malaria and 5 million of cholera" in Ethiopia, due to crowded,
unsanitary conditions. Malnutrition rates among children in July also reached 30 percent in parts
of Kenya and Ethiopia and over 50% in southern Somalia,[26][28][58] although the latter figure
dropped to 36% by mid-September according to the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit.
[59] Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) was also treating more than 10,000
severely malnourished children in its feeding centers and clinics.[60] In July 2011, the UN's food
security and nutrition analysis unit announced that the situation in southern Somalia then met
all three characteristics of widespread famine: a) more than 30 percent of children were
suffering from acute malnutrition; b) more than two adults or four children were dying of
hunger each day for every group of 10,000 people; and c) the population had access to less than
2,100 kilocalories of food and four liters of water per day.[36] In August, cholera was
suspected in 181 deaths in Mogadishu, along with confirmed reports of several other outbreaks
elsewhere in Somalia, thus raising fears of tragedy for a severely weakened population.[61] In
mid-November, the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also announced
that 60 cholera cases, with 10 lab-confirmed and one fatality, had hit the Dadaab refugee camp
in northern Kenya.[62]
By early December 2011, the UN's OCHA bureau announced that a scaling up of relief operations
had resulted in an improvement in global and severe acute malnutrition rates as well as a
decrease in mortality rates in southern Somalia's conflict zones relative to the start of the
drought crisis in July/August. Although acute malnutrition rates remained much higher than
median global acute malnutrition (GAM) and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) rates for the
October–December season, global acute malnutrition rates had fallen from 30-58 percent to 20-
34 percent and severe acute malnutrition rates in turn dropped from 9-29 percent in July to 6-
11 percent. The mortality rate likewise declined from 1.1-6.1 per 10,000 people per day in
July/August to 0.6-2.8 per 10,000 people per day.[5] Despite some gaps in aid delivery in certain
areas due imposed Islamist bans, the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) also
reported that its Nutrition Cluster had by December reached 357,107 of the estimated 450,000
children that had been acutely malnourished at the start of the crisis in July. [23]

Security
In July 2011, the head of United States Agency for International Development, Rajiv Shah,
stated that the drought may worsen the security situation in the region. "This is happening
precisely in a part of the world that our Defense Secretary Leon Panetta just said is a critical
part of our fight against terrorism and our overall international security. It just underscores the
deep link between food security and national security."[28] Armed herders are violently
competing for dwindling resources. In Kenya alone more than 100 herders have been killed. [32]

Fears of the Al-Shabaab insurgents, who control most of southern Somalia, continue to hinder
humanitarian operations in the region. "We need significantly better access than we have at the
moment to address an emergency of this scale."[14] UN agencies are “in a dialogue” with al-
Shabaab about securing airstrips in areas under the insurgent group’s control to deliver aid.
[63] The United Nations World is considering a return to southern Somalia, from which it
withdrew in 2010 after threats from the rebel group Al-Shabaab. It estimates that there are 1
million people in areas it cannot currently access.[41] In early July 2011, Al-Shabaab announced
that it had withdrawn its restrictions on international humanitarian workers, and that all aid
organizations will be allowed in.[64]
However, on 22 July, the group stated that the ban on certain organizations remains in place.
[65] In a statement, Al-Shabaab's spokesman Sheikh Ali Dhere indicated that his organization
had no issue with allowing "Muslims and non-Muslims to help the drought affected people", but
that they will "only be permitted to work if they do not have other interests". He stated that
banned agencies belong to two categories: some that are acting as spies, while others, including
the UN, that have "a political agenda, doing nothing like what they were claiming". He also
criticized aid agencies that are providing assistance in neighboring countries, stating that "They
are luring needy people with food in order to teach them their Christianity." Hassan Liban, a
director of the British charity Islamic Relief which has managed to gain access through
negotiations, said that Al-Shabaab were not keen on emergency relief that was not tied to
longer-term programmes to help people recover their livelihoods. He stated that "To any
organisation that just wants to send food, they say: 'Give us the food and go away'. But if it's
sustainable and planned they will allow you to work."[66]
Al-Shabaab members have allegedly intimidated, kidnapped and killed some aid workers,
leading to a partial suspension of humanitarian operations in southern Somalia.[67]Ethiopia and
the UN also accuse the Eritrean government of backing the insurgents.[68] On 28 July, African
Union peacekeepers launched a major offensive against Al-Shabaab militants in
northern Mogadishu, Somalia, in an effort to protect famine relief efforts from attacks. Six were
killed during the conflict, and key territory was seized from the insurgents. [69][70] Al-Shabaab
has sent 300 reinforcement fighters to Mogadishu in the preceding days, according to Lt. Col.
Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the AU peacekeeping force in Somalia. He stated that "This
action will further increase security ... and ensure that aid agencies can continue to operate to
get vital supplies to internally displaced."[69]As of 1 August, the beginning of the Ramadan, the
African Union offensive in ongoing. However, AU intelligence sources said that the insurgents
are planning a counteroffensive during the month of fasting.[71]

On 6 August 2011, Reuters reported that the Transitional Federal Government's troops and
their AMISOM allies managed to capture all of Mogadishu from the Al-Shabaab militants.
Witnesses reported Al-Shabaab vehicles abandoning their bases in the capital for the south-
central city of Baidoa. The group's spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage described the exodus
as a tactical retreat, and vowed to continue the insurgency against the national government.
Observers have also suggested that the pullout may at least in part have been caused by internal
ideological rifts in the rebel organization.[72]
On 4 July 2011, the Prime Minister of Somalia Abdiweli Mohamed Ali appointed a national
committee to tackle the severe drought affecting the southern part of the country. The
committee consists of several federal-level members of government, including the Ministers of
Defense, Health, Interior, Finance, Public Works, Women's Affairs and Information. It is tasked
with assessing and addressing the needs of the drought-impacted segments of the population.
[73]
On 13 August, Prime Minister Ali also announced the creation of a new 300-man security force
in response to discussions with UN officials about the situation in Mogadishu. The UN stated
earlier in the week that aid was only reaching around 20% of the drought-affected peoples, with
most of the famine-stricken areas still controlled by Al-Shabaab rebels. Assisted by African
peacekeepers, the new military unit will have as its primary goal to protect convoys and food
aid, as well as to secure the IDP camps themselves when the relief supplies are being
distributed. Besides helping to stabilize the city, the new protection force is also tasked with
combating looting and banditry in addition to other vices.[74]

On 16 August, Neela Ghoshal, an official with Human Rights Watch, told Reuters that her
group had received complaints of government soldiers robbing civilians. [75] However, Voice of
America reported earlier in the month that, according to witnesses at a camp in Mogadishu,
men dressed as government troops began stealing food rations, after which point government
soldiers that were guarding the supplies opened fire on the looters. In response to the incident,
the Somalian government forces Commander General Abdikarim Dhengobadan denied that his
men were responsible for the looting.[76] The Information Minister of Somalia Abdirahman
Omar Osman and the AMISOM commander Paddy Akunda have also previously accused Al-
Shabaab militants of disguising themselves as Somalian government soldiers before attacking
government and AMISOM positions.[77] Despite this, according to the UN, the security situation
in the capital has generally improved since the withdrawal of Al-Shabaab militants, thus
facilitating the scaling up of relief efforts in the region.[74]
On 13 October 2011, two women from Spain employed as aid workers with Doctors Without
Borders at the Dadaab refugee camp were kidnapped by gunmen. The U.N. temporarily
suspended all non-lifesaving aid operations at Dadaab.[78] The Spanish branch of Medecins
Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) announced that all 49 expatriate staff working for the
charity would be evacuated to Nairobi, leaving 343 local staff members in Dadaab. Certain
activities such as registering new arrivals and journeying outside camp to meet refugees walking
the final miles would be suspended.[79] In December 2011, three Somali aid workers were also
shot and killed in the central Somalian town of Mataban. Two of the workers were UN World
Food Programme employees and the third worked for a partner organization. The gunman
turned himself in to the local authorities.[80]
In October 2011, a coordinated operation between the Somalian military and the Kenyan
military began against the Al-Shabaab militants, who are alleged to have kidnapped several
foreign aid workers and tourists inside Kenya.[81][82][83] According to the Ethiopian Foreign
Minister, the mission represents one of the final stages of the Islamist insurgency.[84]

10. Climatologic: Floods: Mozambique

The 2000 Mozambique flood was a natural disaster that occurred in February and March 2000.
The catastrophic flooding was caused by heavy rainfall that lasted for five weeks and made
many homeless. Approximately 800 people were killed. 1,400 km² of arable land was affected
and 20,000 head of cattle were lost. It was the worst flood in Mozambique in 50 years. [1]
Flooding
The floods began on 8 February with a lot of rain across South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland.
Mozambique received the most rainfall, the capital Maputo was flooded. Torrential rain
continued to the 11th of February, in Mozambique's Limpopo Valley, the banks of the Limpopo
River burst, causing severe flood damage and a dysentery outbreak in the local population. On
22 February, tropical Cyclone Leon–Eline hit the Mozambican coast near Beira. On February
27, flash floods overwhelmed low farmlands around Chokwe and Xai-Xai
Over 50,000 people were rescued from rooftops, trees and other isolated and flooded areas.
This effort was at first carried out by only a few Mozambican naval vessels. The governments of
South Africa, Malawi, and Mozambique provided a few helicopters to the rescue team. One of
the devastating images of the flooding was Sofia Pedro giving birth in a tree while surrounded by
flood water. She was then rescued by the South African Air Force who flew both her and her
new daughter Rositha Pedro to Chibuto.
During the disaster, relief action by the government and international aid organizations was
slow. Significant rescue equipment arrived from Europe and North America three weeks after
the onset of the flood.
The flood had a tremendous effect on the agriculture of Mozambique. Children died from
starvation, after being isolated with families on islands. 90% of the country's functioning
irrigation infrastructure was damaged, causing the worst of the agriculture losses. 1,400 square
kilometres of cultivated and grazing land was lost, leaving 113,000 small farming households
with nothing. 20,000 heads of missing cattle were reported, many were feared to have drowned
or contracted disease. Every major valley south of Beira was affected by the overflowing of
rivers.
630 schools were closed, leaving 214,000 students and teachers without classrooms. 42 health
units were destroyed, including Beira Central Hospital, the second largest in the country.
Animals were found dead on the floor which were swept away by the amazing force of the
water.
The Mozambican government requested $450 million in international aid at a donor conference
held in Rome in early May, 2000. The navy and army played a major role.

11. Disease: Cholera in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwean cholera outbreak was an ongoing cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe that
began in August 2008, swept across the country[6] and spread
to Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.[7][8] By 10 January 2010 there had
been 98,741 reported cases and 4,293 deaths making it the deadliest African cholera outbreak
in the last 15 years. The Zimbabwean government declared the outbreak a national
emergency and requested international aid.[11]

Causes
By 2008 drains such as this were carrying sewage from burst sewage pipes and feces washed
out of the neighbouring areas as the urban sanitation system collapsed. This contributed to the
rapid spread of the cholera outbreak.
The principal cause of the outbreak is lack of access to safe water in urban areas and
communities. A unique feature of Zimbabwe is that its two main cities are located on watershed
divides, which means that the water draining out of the city flows into the drinking water
sources, all of which are physically located downstream of these return flows.[12] This is
exacerbated by the collapse of the urban water supply,[13] sanitation[14] and garbage
collection systems,[15] along with the onset of the rainy season leading to faeces with cholera
bacteria being washed into water sources, in particular public drains,[16] as well as providing
readily available but contaminated water.[17] Due to a shortage of purification chemicals, such
as chlorine, the capital city of Harare stopped receiving piped water on 1 December 2008.
[18] By that date, many suburbs had not had any water supply for much longer.[19] On 4
December 2008, the Zimbabwe deputy minister for water and infrastructural development
stated that there were only sufficient treatment chemicals in stock nationally for twelve weeks
supply.[20] The collapse of these systems has frequently been blamed on the current economic
crisis.[21][22] Attempts have also been made to attribute the blame to colonial rule, although
Zimbabwe had become a fully independent nation 28 years earlier, in 1980. [23] Many
households cannot even afford sufficient fuel to boil all of their water.[24] According
to Médecins Sans Frontières, the spread of cholera from urban to rural areas from December
2008 onwards was due to infected city-dwellers visiting their families' rural homes
for Christmas and the burial of infected city-dwellers in rural areas.[25] In an investigation in
mid-December 2008, human rights organization Physicians For Human Rights assessed the
complicated circumstances surrounding the collapse of Zimbabwe's public health system, which
had once been a model for southern Africa.[26]
The cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe has had an unusually high fatality rate. According to Oxfam,
"this is due to the fact Zimbabweans are seriously weakened by hunger, HIV and AIDS". [24]
A major contributing factor to the severity of the outbreak is the collapse of Zimbabwe's public
health system, declared a national emergency on 4 December 2008.[27] By the end of
November 2008, three of Zimbabwe's four major hospitals had shut down, along with the
Zimbabwe Medical School, and the fourth major hospital had two wards and no operating
theatres working.[28][29] Zimbabwean hospitals still open by December 2008 lacked medicines
and staff. Due to hyperinflation, hospitals were not able to buy basic drugs and medicines, and
the resources of even internationally-funded emergency clinics are stretched. [17] The ongoing
political and economic crisis also contributed to the emigration of the doctors and people with
medical knowledge.[30] Some victims were traveling to Botswana and other neighbouring
countries for treatment.[21]

Impact

The spread of cholera in Zimbabwe:

The outbreak began in Chitungwiza on 27 August 2008, with the first case in Harare reported
four days later. The next district to report cholera was Kariba on 21 September 2008,
with Makonde following on 3 October 2008.[1]Thereafter, the disease spread to reach all
of Zimbabwe's ten provinces.[1][15] The attack rate was highest in Beitbridge, Chegutu,
Mudzi and Zvimba Districts (above 1,000 cases per 100,000 people or 1.0%).[5]
The number of infected cases reported by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs escalated from 30 on 1 September 2008[36] to 15,572 by 10 December.
[33] It was argued by some agencies that the reported number of cases probably
underestimated the extent of the outbreak, since many people were unlikely to have reached
the clinics or treatment where the numbers were recorded. According to the Red Cross, around
46% of reported deaths occur en route to clinics and hospitals.[37] The head of the
British Department for International Development in Harare said that "there are probably
twice as many people with cholera as turn up for treatment."[38]
The case fatality rate for the outbreak was higher than expected for such outbreaks, although it
began declining by January 2009.[5] Official estimates of fatalities have run from 484 to 800,
since the outbreak in August 2008,[39]with an upper estimate of 3,000 from an anonymous
senior official in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare.[19]Fatality rates varied from 2.5% in
Harare to 18% in Chitungwiza.[40] In Harare, the crisis reached the extent that the city council
offered free graves to cholera victims.[16] On 4 December, Oxfam estimated that by the end of
March 2009, some 60,000 would be infected.[22] By 7 December, Oxfam had revised their
estimate to 60,000 cases by the end of January 2009 and a 10% fatality rate, with UNICEF giving
a similar estimate.[41] On 4 December 2008, the Zimbabwe government declared the
outbreak to be a national emergency.[27]

12. Climatologic: Dust storms

The Hanukkah Eve Wind Storm of 2006 was a powerful Pacific storm that slammed into
the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and southern British Columbia, Canada
between December 14, 2006 and December 15, 2006. The storm produced storm to
hurricane-force wind gusts and heavy rainfall, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in
damage and leaving over 1.8 million residences and businesses without power. 18 people were
killed, most of whom died of carbon monoxide poisoning in the days following the storm
because of improper use of barbecue cookers and generators indoors. The name of the storm
was chosen in a contest run by the National Weather Service office in Seattle from about
8,000 entries.[2]

Impact
The storm left heavy damage across Washington, especially tree damage. The fallen trees
knocked down many power lines and closed many roads as well. Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport partially lost power, canceling most flights. Flooding was also reported in
low-lying areas from the heavy rain.[3]
The electricity grid was hit very hard, as about 1.2 million customers lost power in the state,
and Puget Sound Energy reported that more than 75 percent of its circuits were damaged.
Municipal utilities also suffered severe damage.[4] In the Seattle area, several days after the
storm hundreds of thousands of families still remained without power and many had to leave
their homes and move into hotels or emergency shelters coping with the inclement weather. [5]
[6] Major employers in the area were affected; the power outage forced Microsoft to shut down
large portions of its campus in Redmond on December 15.[7]
The Seattle School District and many districts surrounding closed, marking the first time Seattle
schools were closed for a weather-related reason other than snow.
It was described as the worst storm to hit the region since the Inauguration Day storm of
January 20, 1993.[4]

Deaths
Fourteen people were killed in Western Washington. One of them was 41-year-old voice
actress Kate Fleming (aka Anna Fields) who was trapped in a flooded basement
in Seattle's Madison Valley. In Grays Harbor County Markus Stickles was killed by a tree that
fell into his home in McCleary. In Gig Harbor, Washington, Pritchard Miller and his dog were
electrocuted after stepping on a downed power line. In Pierce County, two motorists were hit
by falling trees. Eatonville resident Harold Fox, 47, was killed while trying to avoid a fallen tree
south of Spanaway. Near McKenna, 37-year-old Roy resident Bonnie Bacus died as the result
of a tree falling onto the cab of a truck, in which she was a passenger; her husband, who was
driving the truck, died 3 months later (,[8][9] ). Steven Thielen died in Spanaway as a result of a
house fire caused by the use of candles for light.
Eight deaths occurred as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. Five of those were members
of a single Burien family. Adam Butcher, his wife Jackie Harris, and two sons, Jason Shane
Butcher, 14 and Raymond Zachary Butcher, 21, died of asphyxiation because of a generator
running in a closed garage attached to their home. Another son, Rick Taylor Butcher, 24, died in
a hospital on January 20, 2007 as a result of his injuries.[10] Alejandro Nava-Solis of Kirkland,
Juan Figueroa-Gomez of Renton, and Shah Fazli of Kenmore were also among the carbon
monoxide deaths.[11]

Newspapers
For the first time in 70 years, on December 15 the Seattle Post Intelligencer was not able to
publish copies of its newspaper. As a result of a power outage at a printing plant in Bothell,
the Seattle Times was only able to publish 13,000 copies of its Friday edition. The following
day, both newspapers had to be printed by The News Tribune of Tacoma by virtue of an
agreement to use each others' printing presses during emergencies.[12] For its December 20
edition, the Seattle Times put carbon monoxide warnings on its front page in English, Spanish,
Chinese, Vietnamese, Somali, and Russian to get the word out to the immigrant community
about the dangers of carbon monoxide in light of recent deaths.[13]

State of emergency and recovery

On December 18, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire declared a state of emergency
in Western Washington as a result of the damages. On January 11, the Governor requested
a federal disaster declaration and on February 14, the declaration was approved by President.

Air quality
In the wake of the storm, the quality of air deteriorated due to the increased use of wood stoves
and fireplaces while the air was stagnant.[14]
Contributing factors
Just previous to the windstorm, Seattle set a new record for rainfall in a single month with
nearly 16 inches (410 mm) of rain falling in November 2006, much of it from a series of
Pineapple rain storms in the first week of the month. Combined with several days of snow and
ice later in the month, and continuing rain throughout the first half of December 2006, the
ground in the Puget Sound region was extremely waterlogged and loose.
Additionally, large portions of the planted trees in the Seattle metropolitan area were at the end
of their lifespan, being some 60 to 70 years of age or more. To compound this, many tree
species had shallow root systems that did not extend past the waterlogged soil.
The result of these factors was that many thousands of large, old trees easily uprooted and
tipped over, frequently with tons of mud captured in their roots, and crashed into homes and
power lines.

The high winds also left damage in Oregon. Extensive tree damage was reported, some of which
fell on houses or on power lines. More than 350,000 customers lost power at the peak of the
storm. Shelters were opened in the coastal regions as a result of the storm damage.
[15] Governor Ted Kulongoski requested a federal disaster declaration on January 31, 2007.
[16]
Two people were killed due to a house fire in Seaside during a power outage.[17] The severe
weather also hampered the rescue efforts of three missing climbers on Mount Hood; one
climber was later found dead and the other two are missing and presumed dead. On the Oregon
Coast, three sailors hired to sail a catamaran from South Africa to Seattle are missing. The
50 ft (15 m) boat was found overturned on a beach near Lincoln City the morning of December
15. The crew was last seen leaving San Francisco on December 8.[18]The search for the three
sailors was called off on the afternoon of December 16.[19]

For British Columbia, the storm followed several others that occurred in the preceding weeks.
The most high-profile damage caused by the storm was the breaking and uprooting of around
1000 trees in Stanley Park in downtown Vancouver. In addition to Stanley Park, extensive
damage was reported to trees around the Lower Mainland, which also took power lines down
with them as well as a number of houses, notably on exposed areas of West Vancouver facing
west over Howe Sound. BC Ferries service was disrupted along the coast, along with other
transit disruption, closed roads, and closed schools. At its peak, BC Hydro reported that over
250,000 customers were without power.[20]
An elderly couple died of asphyxiation as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning in Burnaby.
[21]

Total damage
Washington and Oregon suffered a total of $220 million in insured damage according to the
Northwest Insurance Council. Washington suffered $170 million in damage and Oregon
$50 million.[22] $47 million in damage to public property resulted from the windstorm
in Washington State with "several million dollars in damage" to public property in Oregon.
[23]
In British Columbia, insured damage is expected to reach $80 million and
at Vancouver's Stanley Park repairs are expected to cost $9 million because of numerous
fallen trees and damage to the seawall.[24][25]

Post-storm controversy
Soon after the windstorm, controversy began in Seattle over the drowning death of Kate
Fleming as well as the issue of possible problems with storm water drainage which some
believe may have led to her death and the flood damage of several homes on the evening of
December 14. Seattle received 0.86 inches (22 mm) of rain between 4pm and 5pm, leading to
major urban flooding.[26] A city report released on February 27, 2007 stated that sweeping
changes were necessary in emergency response services to better mitigate the effects of a
natural disaster on the city, such as the establishment of a 311 hot line for non-emergency calls,
the installment of emergency generators in every fire station in the city and reconsideration of
relying on builders to ensure that storm drains aren't clogged by sediment filters.

Home of the late Kate Fleming.

The flooding which lead to the death of Fleming was investigated by Denver-based engineering
firm CH2M Hill on behalf of the City of Seattle. In its report, released in April 2007, investigators
identified several factors, including an unprecedented and unanticipated amount of rainfall, the
failure of a nearby retaining wall, and the inadequate design of the drainage system around
Fleming's home.[27]

Peak wind gusts

Wind gusts were as high as 70 to 100 mph or more in some locations along
the Washington and Oregon coasts, as well as the mountains. Interior locations of Puget
Sound and Willamette Valley had gusts in the 50-80 mph+ range.
In addition to the wind, record-breaking rainfall fell in Seattle with nearly an inch in a one hour
period the afternoon of December 14. Such a rainfall event is only expected in Seattle an
average of once every 99 years.[30]

Case study discussion points

Discussion points for case studies (students to go through each of the given case studies and
answer the following questions:
1. Describe the hazard(s), its classifications
2. Discuss the major causes of this hazard
3. Identify any early warning or disaster preparedness measures that were in place prior to
the disaster.
4. Describe the public health impacts of the hazards
5. Describe other impacts of the hazards
6. Discuss any mitigation and response measures in place
7. lessons learnt from the disaster world wide and for application in Zimbabwe
8. What would you have done differently as an EPR specialist?