DISASTER RESILIENCE: THE ONGOING CHALLENGE OF

COMMUNITIES DURING THE 21ST CENTURY

Dr. Walter Hays,

Global Alliance For Disaster Reduction

THE CHALLENGE OF THE 21ST CENTURY

• Ensuring the resiliency of COMMUNITIES to today’s increasingly complex disasters.

Recent history has shown that a community’s survival

depends more than ever upon its capability to bounce back after a

complex event causes a disaster

A SNAPHOT OF OUR WORLD

• 6.6 billion people, and growing while…

• Living and competing in an interconnected global economy,

• Producing $60 trillion of products each year, and

• Facing many kinds of complex disasters that can adversely impact their 3 S’s, 5E’s, and 1H.

THEIR 3 S’s

• SAFETY (from an increasing number of complex events that are causing disasters)

• SECURITY

• SUSTAINABILITY

THE FIVE E’s

• ECONOMY

• ENERGY

• ENVIRONMENT

• ECOLOGY

• EDUCATION

THEIR H

• HEALTH

A DISASTER is ---

--- the set of failures that overwhelm the capability of a community to respond without external help  when three continuums: 1)  people, 2) community (i.e., a set of habitats, livelihoods, and social constructs), and 3) complex events (e.g., floods, earthquakes, ...,) intersect at a point in space and time.

THE THREE CONTINUUMS OF EVERY DISASTER

• PEOPLE

• COMMUNITY

• COMPLEX EVENTS

A DISASTER IMPACTS ALL SOCIETAL ELEMENTS

COMPLEX EVENTS THAT CAN CAUSE A DISASTER

• Single- or multiple-event natural hazards that, (for various reasons), cause extreme levels of morbidity, mortality, homelessness, joblessness, economic losses, and environmental impacts.

JAPAN’S MARCH 11, 2011 QUAKE AND TSUNAMI: A DISASTER

HAITI: DEATH TOLL REACHED AN ESTIMATED 230,OOO+

BEICHUAN: QUAKE TRIGGERED LANDSLIDES

DEATHS, INJURED, AND MISSING IN SICHUAN QUAKE

• The official death toll stood at 69,197 as of Wednesday , July 9th, according to China’s State Council Information Office .• The number of injured and missing stood at 374,176 and 18,379 respectively

ONE-FIFTH OF PAKISTAN AFFECTED BY FLOODING

ASH CLOUD FROM APRIL 14 VOLCANIC ERUPTION

TSUNAMI RUN UP IN MENTAWAI ISLAND: INDONESIA

TSUNAMI RUN UP IN MENTAWAI ISLAND: INDONESIA

COMPLEX EVENTS THAT CAN CAUSE A DISASTER

• Loss of function of a critical part of the critical infrastructure in a city (especially true for a megacity)

COMPLEX EVENTS THAT CAN CAUSE A DISASTER

• Large-scale migration of people who have suddenly become refugees

COMPLEX EVENTS THAT CAN CAUSE A DISASTER

• Conflict and terrorism

COMPLEX EVENTS THAT CAN CAUSE A DISASTER

• Unanticipated threats related to “what if” scenarios or projections of global warming and global climate change.

COMPLEX EVENTS THAT CAN CAUSE A DISASTER

• Environmental degradation and pollution of air, water, and soil, instantaneously and over time.

JAPAN’S FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR FACILITY: MARCH 11, 2011

Radiation leaks and threats of partial melt down developed in four of the six reactors as a result of the quake/tsunami.

DEEP WATER HORIZON: APRIL 22, 2010

CHARACTERISTICS OF A SOLUTION SET

• To anticipate and plan for the full spectrum of what can happen

• To build capacity at the community level for preparedness, protection, response, and recovery

• To build equity in all sectors of the community

• To inform, educate, and train

BUILDING CAPACITY FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

• Clarify the nature and extent of the problem on local, regional, and global scales if a complex event occurs.

• Identify the gaps in capacity in the four critical elements of the solution.

• Concentrate resources on filling the gaps in the four critical elements of the solution and start creating turning points.

YOUR YOUR COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

YOUR YOUR COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

DATA 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

•HAZARD MAPS•INVENTORY•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION

RISK ASSESSMENTRISK ASSESSMENT

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

ANTICIPATORY ANTICIPATORY DECISIONS DECISIONS

BEST POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR:•PREPAREDNESS•PROTECTION•RESPONSE & RECOVERY

DISASTER RESILIENCEDISASTER RESILIENCE

CRITICAL E;EMENTS FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

CRITICAL E;EMENTS FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

• PREPAREDNESS (READY FOR ANY COMPLEX EVENT)

• PROTECTION (BUILD ESSENTIAL AND CRITICAL FACILITIES TO WITHSTAND)

• PREPAREDNESS (READY FOR ANY COMPLEX EVENT)

• PROTECTION (BUILD ESSENTIAL AND CRITICAL FACILITIES TO WITHSTAND)

STEP ONE: FINDING AND ENGAGING PARTNERS

Finding and engaging community stakeholders who are willing to commit to the goal of becoming a disaster-resilient community.

EXAMPLES: politicians, business leaders, scientists,

engineers, health-care specialists, social scientists,

teachers, the print and electronic media, etc.

STEP TWO: EDUCATING AND EQUIPING FOR ACTION

The best chance of reaching the goal is when the community at risk is well informed about the likelihood of complex events (e.g., floods) that can cause a disaster and is developing the capacity to prepare, protect, respond, and recover in case one impacts their community.

CRITICAL ELEMENT ONE

• 1) PREPAREDNESS— Anticipatory, cost-effective actions that increase the community’s readiness for the complex events most likely to occur in terms of the com-munity’s location and history.

TORNADOES WERE FUELED BY UNSEASONLY WARM AIR IN THE SOUTH

RUSSIA: 600 WILDFIRES BURNING IN 7 REGIONS

CRITICAL ELEMENT TWO

• 2) PROTECTION— Anticipatory actions that protect the community’s people, buildings, and the critical and essential facilities from failing if and when a disaster occurs.

TOMAS: IMPACTS SAINT LUCIA

SOLDIERS REPAIR CRACKS IN ZIPINGPU DAM:DUJIANGYAN

COMMON AGENDA FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

COMMON AGENDA FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

• RESPONSE (SAVING LIVES, AND ENSURING CONTINUITY)

• RECOVERY (BOUNCING BACK QUICKLY AND RESUMING LIFE AVAIN)

• RESPONSE (SAVING LIVES, AND ENSURING CONTINUITY)

• RECOVERY (BOUNCING BACK QUICKLY AND RESUMING LIFE AVAIN)

JAPAN: EVACUATION OF CHILDREN, MARCH 2011

JAPAN: MARCH 12, 2011 MASS CARE: WAITING TO RECEIVE FOOD / WATER

EVACUATIONS TO ESCAPE FLOODING THREAT

SEARCH AND RESCUE

NEW YORK SNOW FALL: DEC 26, 2010

HAITIAN’S POOREST OF THE POOR WITH NO PLACE TO GO

CRITICAL ELEMENT THREE

• 3) RESPONSE— Actions that focus community resources on saving lives, preserving community assets, and ensuring continuity before, during, and after a complex event causes a disaster.

SEARCH AND RESCUE

CRITICAL ELEMENT FOUR

• 4) RECOVERY— Actions that quickly enable the community to bounce back after a complex event causes a disaster, and resuming life again.

SICHUAN, CHINA EARTHQUAKE CLEANUP AND RECONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY: JULY 9, 2008

BEICHUAN COUNTY, CHINA

As a part of the recovery process, soldiers are helping by disinfecting and cleaning up Beichuan, one of the areas that was razed to the ground after suffering heavy damage and casualties on May 12th.