12.9.4 Geography of the Crisis Management
When the risk hazards of Tables 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, and 12.5 are examined, it is
observed that the possible risks are not constrained to one or only certain places. For
some common or obvious risks, mitigation measures (health centres, fire stations)
may have been taken for the whole of the country, but for other risks, it is important
to identify all the areas that require disaster plans, etc., to address risk hazards and
vulnerability.
12.10 After the Disaster
After the disaster, it is necessary to evaluate the impacts/damage, help the affected
people and rehabilitate any damage, as soon as is practically possible. Countries
regularly visited by cyclones are or should be familiar with these steps, at least for a
cyclone.
12.10.1 Assessing the Impacts
The preparation of a plan for the future may benefit from the experience obtained
after a disaster. The difficulties in carrying out the assessment and the benefits
obtained in doing so cannot be overemphasized.
Evaluating the impacts of a disaster may be difficult because there are so many
people, who – rightly or wrongly – are convinced that somebody is to blame (rarely
themselves!). The 30
th March 2013 flooding in Port Louis, Mauritius provides a
good example.
Collecting data, after the disaster, may be problematic, because people see, but do
not carefully observe: different people will relate different stories about the different
highest flood water levels, sometimes at the same location, which they have
observed. The best approach is to gather all data available, sift through them and
retrieve all compatible data for further processing.
After the disaster impacts – what, where, who, why, how and when – have been
evaluated, this evaluation provides the benefits of the assessment: the lessons learnt
can be disseminated and applied to other locations which present similar risk
hazards.
The lessons are learnt, disseminated, on the wall for everyone to see. Application
of these lessons, however, becomes yet another story:
• lack of funds is a common and plausible excuse,
• political unwillingness (not my party’s constituency) is not usually spelt out
as such
• risk perception is different after the disaster, etc.
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12 Disaster Recovery and Management
When the risk hazards of Tables 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, and 12.5 are examined, it is
observed that the possible risks are not constrained to one or only certain places. For
some common or obvious risks, mitigation measures (health centres, fire stations)
may have been taken for the whole of the country, but for other risks, it is important
to identify all the areas that require disaster plans, etc., to address risk hazards and
vulnerability.
12.10 After the Disaster
After the disaster, it is necessary to evaluate the impacts/damage, help the affected
people and rehabilitate any damage, as soon as is practically possible. Countries
regularly visited by cyclones are or should be familiar with these steps, at least for a
cyclone.
12.10.1 Assessing the Impacts
The preparation of a plan for the future may benefit from the experience obtained
after a disaster. The difficulties in carrying out the assessment and the benefits
obtained in doing so cannot be overemphasized.
Evaluating the impacts of a disaster may be difficult because there are so many
people, who – rightly or wrongly – are convinced that somebody is to blame (rarely
themselves!). The 30
th March 2013 flooding in Port Louis, Mauritius provides a
good example.
Collecting data, after the disaster, may be problematic, because people see, but do
not carefully observe: different people will relate different stories about the different
highest flood water levels, sometimes at the same location, which they have
observed. The best approach is to gather all data available, sift through them and
retrieve all compatible data for further processing.
After the disaster impacts – what, where, who, why, how and when – have been
evaluated, this evaluation provides the benefits of the assessment: the lessons learnt
can be disseminated and applied to other locations which present similar risk
hazards.
The lessons are learnt, disseminated, on the wall for everyone to see. Application
of these lessons, however, becomes yet another story:
• lack of funds is a common and plausible excuse,
• political unwillingness (not my party’s constituency) is not usually spelt out
as such
• risk perception is different after the disaster, etc.
350
12 Disaster Recovery and Management