New Soldiers in the War on Disasters

Abstract

Humanity is “winning the war on war”; so says Joshua S. Goldstein (2011) in his recent book about the decline of armed conflict worldwide. The assertion may seem shocking based on the constant stream of negative coverage of international conflicts. Instead, Mr. Goldstein argues, decades of effort and sacrifice by people working through international organizations, humanitarian aid agencies, and popular movements around the world are making a measurable difference in reducing violence. There is reason to be optimistic about a peaceful future. One might also surmise, based on recent media coverage, that natural disasters are claiming more lives than ever before. However, of the more than 60 million deaths resulting from natural disasters over the past 100 years, approximately 85% occurred before 1950 (Bandyk 2010). The world is apparently getting safer, despite incidences of natural disasters increasing approximately 5% annually since the 1960s. Again, the efforts of international organizations, humanitarian aid agencies, scientists, and engineers appear to be paying off. The very nature of this special edition is proof of such efforts. Unfortunately, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, which claimed more than 220,000 lives (Rettner 2010), illustrates the inequality between wealthy and poor nations when it comes to disaster preparedness. Matthew Kahn, professor at the University of California, Los Angeles Institute of the Environment, observed that 65% of deaths from disasters between 1985 and 1999 occurred in countries in which annual incomes were less than $760 per capita. Countries with a higher gross domestic product have fewer deaths from natural disasters, likely a result of the ability to afford better building materials and an organized emergency response. However, greater wealth means that there is more wealth to destroy. Disasters’ cost to insurers has doubled in the past decade, so insurance companies are increasingly engaging engineers to assess losses and promoting more resilient building standards. My company projects our property loss division to grow faster than any other component of the business in the coming years. The practice serves insurance companies and their representative attorneys and adjusters in evaluating the scope and nature of a loss. Besides being profitable, the work also provides a unique opportunity for engineers, particularly younger engineers, to experience building failures firsthand. Responding to this type of work can be a challenge for traditional design firms. Immediately following a loss event, a large number of staff must be mobilized and sent to the site. Often, assignments can last weeks or months and require tedious canvassing of the project site. Younger engineers are frequently tapped for the work because of fewer local commitments and a willingness to take on physically challenging work. Such exposure to disaster sites is beneficial to the careers of younger engineers. The opportunity to travel to different parts of the country and the world expands the worldview of the investigators. Observing failed designs helps inform future design decisions. Coordinating with local officials, emergency responders, insurance companies, and other experts expands engineers’ perceived role in the community. It’s reasonable to hope that these engineers will hone their skills and become vocal proponents of improved disaster response at home and abroad. In recent years, engineers from Thornton Tomasetti have been mobilized to provide property loss consulting for damages from Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 Chilean earthquake, the 2011 Joplin, Missouri, tornado, and the 2011 New Zealand earthquakes. These engineers will take from these experiences lessons to inform their future careers as professionals. To date, I have not been called on to travel to such large disaster sites, but I have learned many lessons from similar projects. Last year, I worked with a group of students from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago who planned to travel to Talca, Chile, to assist in the earthquake recovery. This city experienced more damage than the capital because of the more traditional building techniques used. With the help of local engineers, the team came to L E A D E R S H I P O N T H E E N T R Y L E V E L