DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

A KEY ELEMENT OF BECOMING DISASTER RESILIENT

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of

North Carolina, USA

A FOCUS ON

SOLVING COMPLEX PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED

DURING EVACUATION

A PART OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

PURPOSE: To show that extraordinary

innovation will be needed to solve challenging problems associated

with moving people and assets out of harm’s way of the potential

disaster agents of eminent natural hazards

CHALLENGING EVACUATION PROBLEMS

• TIMING AND LOGISTICS• THE SAFE HAVEN• THE ELDERLY• THE VERY YOUNG• THE HANDICAPPED• THE POOREST OF THE POOR• PETS and LIVESTOCK

CHALLENGING EVACUATION PROBLEMS

• MASS CARE

• LAW AND ORDER IN A DESERTED CITY

• TOURISTS

• PILGRIMS

• MILITARY ASSETS

• ENERGY ASSETS

NATURAL HAZARDS FOR WHICH NATURAL HAZARDS FOR WHICH EVACUATION IS TYPICALEVACUATION IS TYPICAL

NATURAL HAZARDS FOR WHICH NATURAL HAZARDS FOR WHICH EVACUATION IS TYPICALEVACUATION IS TYPICAL

FLOODS

HURRICANES

TYPHOONS

TSUNAMIS

VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

WILDFIRES

HIGH BENEFIT/COST FOR SAVING LIVES, BUT LOW BENEFIT/COST FOR PROTECTING PROPERTY

HIGH BENEFIT/COST FOR SAVING LIVES, BUT LOW BENEFIT/COST FOR PROTECTING PROPERTY

GOAL: MOVE PEOPLE OUT GOAL: MOVE PEOPLE OUT OF HARM’S WAYOF HARM’S WAY

GOAL: MOVE PEOPLE OUT GOAL: MOVE PEOPLE OUT OF HARM’S WAYOF HARM’S WAY

DISASTERS OCCUR WHEN---

A COMMUNITY’S PUBLIC POLICIES ALLOW IT TO BE …

UN—PREPARED

COMMUNITYCOMMUNITYCOMMUNITYCOMMUNITYDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATIONDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATION

HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS

•NATURAL HAZARDS•INVENTORY•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION

RISK ASSESSMENTRISK ASSESSMENT

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

GOAL: DISASTER GOAL: DISASTER RESILIENCERESILIENCE

•PREPAREDNESS•PROTECTION•EMERGENCY RESPONSE•RECOVERY IENCE

FOUR PILLARS OF FOUR PILLARS OF RESILIENCERESILIENCE

GLOBAL GOAL:FROM UN—PREPARED

TO A STATE OF

PREPAREDNESS FOR ALL CITIES AND ALL

NATURAL HAZARDS

GLOBAL GOAL:FROM UN—PREPARED

TO A STATE OF

PREPAREDNESS FOR ALL CITIES AND ALL

NATURAL HAZARDS

EXAMPLES OF THE COMPLEX CHALLENGES FACED IN EVACUATION

MOVING PEOPLE AND ASSETS OUT OF HARM’S WAY ON FOOT, BY LAND,

BY WATER, OR BY AIR

EVACUATION ASSOCIATED WITH FLOODS

EVACUATIONS TO ESCAPE FLOODING THREAT

SINUIJU, NORTH KOREA: INUNDATION BY ANNOK (YALU ) RIVER: 2010

The Dandong flooding in 2010 was China’s worst flood

season in over a decade.

Flooding forced the evacuation of 94,000 people in the north

China port city of Dandong, an area near the boundary with

North Korea, after heavy rains caused China’s Yalu River to

breach its banks.

RIVERS BURST BANKS AND BREACHED DAMS IN

CENTRAL EUROPE AFTER WEEKS OF RAIN

POLAND, HUNGARY, GERMANY, CZECH REPUBLIC, …

MAY – JUNE, 2010

EVACUATING CHILDREN

MASS EVACUATION

SAVING A HORSE

SAVING CATTLE: MAY 17

FLOODING: COCKERMOUTH, UK; NOV. 2009

EACUATION: CUMBRIA AREA

EVACUATION ASSOCIATIED WITH

HURRICANES AND TYPHOONS

EACUATING NEW ORLEANS: AUG, 2005

• HURRICANE KATRINA SHOWED THAT

• EVACUATION IS A COMPLEX ENDEAVOR THAT HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR CAUSING A DISASTER ALL BY ITSELF.

HURRICANE RITA: EVACUATING HOUSTON

LESSON LEARNED FROM EVACUATION IN NEW ORLEANS

• Hurricane Katrina, August 29-30, 2005

• Instead of being a safe haven, as envisioned, New Orleans’ Super Dome became a setting for disaster.

EVACUATION: PEMEX OIL AND GAS PLATFORM IN GULF OF MEXICO: AUG 2007

HURRICANE IRENE, AUG. 24, 2011: EVACUATIONS START IN OUTER BANKS

EVACUATION ASSOCIATED WITH

TSUNAMIS

TIMELY RAPID VERTICAL EVAC-UATION IS THE KEY!

TSUNAMI (JAPAN): ADVANCE WARNING OF 10-15 MINUTES TOO SHORT FOR AN

EFFECTIVE EVACUATION: MARCH 2011

TSUNAMI (JAPAN): ADVANCE WARNING OF 10-15 MINUTES TOO SHORT FOR AN

EFFECTIVE EVACUATION: MARCH 2011

NO WARNING SYSTEM; NO EVACUATION: DECEMBER 26, 2004

• Over 200,000 deaths after the December 26, 2004 tsunami.

EVACUATION ASSOCIATED WITH

VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

MOUNT PINATUBO, THE PHILIPPINES: 1991

TOUSANDS EVACUATED AND MILITARY PLANES RELOCATED OUT OF HARM’S WAY

TOUSANDS EVACUATED AND MILITARY PLANES RELOCATED OUT OF HARM’S WAY

EVACUATION ASSOCIATED WITH

WILDFIRES

WILDFIRE: BIG SUR, CA; JULY 4TH, 2008

t

WILDFIRE: GOLETA, CA AREA

By Friday evening, July 4th, residents of 5,000 homes were ordered to evacuate.

WILDFIRE IN MOUNT HYMETTE (NEAR ATHENS): JULY 16, 2007

WILDFIRE IN GREECE CAUSES MASS EVACUATIONS

WILDFIRE IN GREECE CAUSES MASS EVACUATIONS

FROM POLICY TO BEST PRACTICES IN EVACUATION

A city’s policies for evacuation become best practices when people and assets have been moved out of harm’s ways successfully, no matter how complex the problem.

EVACUATION WILL ALWAYS BE A CHALLNGE

EVACUATION WILL ALWAYS BE A CHALLNGE

• BE READY FOR COMPLEX PROBLEMS

• BE CREATIVE AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SOLVE THEM

• BE READY FOR COMPLEX PROBLEMS

• BE CREATIVE AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SOLVE THEM