Disaster Management Strategies Research Articles

A wave of destruction and the waves of relief: issues, challenges and strategies

PurposeTo highlight the failure of the tsunami early warning system and the challenges of successfully responding to, and managing a transnational catastrophe of this nature. The paper also highlights unique challenges in the management of this catastrophe and suggests potential strategies for good disaster response and management in this response and beyond.Design/methodology/approachPrimary data collection was by telephone interviews with experts in the South and South‐East Asian region, supplemented by a comprehensive literature review of scholarly journals, reports from relief agencies and United Nations situation reports and bulletins amongst others. The scope of the paper is limited to the issue of a warning not been passed onto appropriate authorities in the region, the unique challenges of the relief response and the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected communities.FindingsFrom the study, there is a need for further investigation into the catastrophic warning failure; as reasons proffered by the early warning officials for their inability to pass on a warning to authorities in the affected area appear weak at this stage. The study also found unique geographical, political, economic and social challenges facing the international relief and reconstruction effort. Specifically some of the challenges include the management of the media and information, logistics and coordination, needs and damage assessment, donations and safety and security issues amongst others. In summary, the author found that there is also a need for foreign assistance agencies to be seen to be fair, to build trust and ownership of relief and reconstruction efforts amongst the local populace, as well as use local people as much as possible.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was conducted only 21 days (three weeks) after the tsunami catastrophe of 26 December 2004, hence it is a snapshot of events in the days immediately after the catastrophe. The relief action is an on‐going event and there may be changes as new information emerges from the field.Practical implicationsA world wide network of integrated submarine earthquake and tsunami monitoring and early warning system should be set up. Critical warning information in any potential disaster should be shared as inclusively as possible. Relief workers must be seen to be politically and religiously neutral, especially in the civil conflicts of Banda Aceh Indonesia. Finally relief and aid should be given on the basis of sound humanitarian principles such as need, not just on wider economic criteria.Originality/valueThe study highlights specific potential challenges which relief organisations must deal with in responding effectively to the disaster, and in assisting to reconstruct the region. The paper proffers specific strategies for effective management of the international assistance effort. Finally, the study adds to the literature on developing countries and is valuable for governments, emergency and relief workers, policy makers in both developed and developing countries.

Disaster management strategy for avoiding landslide induced losses to the villages in the vicinity of the Himalayan township of Mussoorie in Uttaranchal (India)

PurposeMany villages in the vicinity of the hill township of Mussorie in the Indian Himalayas are witnessing signs of an impending disaster. These villages are witnessing active wastage that might take an heavy toll of human interest during the monsoon season and therefore the paper proposes examining this subject.Design/methodology/approachA detailed study was undertaken in the area of Mussorie.FindingsIt is suggested that a series of prevention and mitigation measures (both structural and non‐structural) with the involvement of the local community are required for ruling out the possibility of any mishap in the area.Originality/valueThis paper highlights the importance of having a disaster management strategies for the region and involving the community with these.

Implications of ignoring the old disaster management plans

PurposeThe paper aims to discuss the causes of the landslide event at Amparav in Kumaun Himalaya (Nainital district of Uttaranchal in India) and attempts to bring forth the importance of mass awareness regarding the past disaster events in their surroundings.Design/methodology/approachOn the aftermath of the landslide tragedy of 23 September, 2004 field investigations were carried out to probe the causes and lapses that resulted in tragedy at a place where a detailed mitigation plan had been implemented.FindingsThe investigations reveal that a detailed landslide management strategy was prepared and implemented to protect this zone almost a century ago, with a thorough understanding of the mass wastage processes. Implementation of this plan safeguarded this zone for a long time, but the lack of awareness among the masses led to the violation of the very spirit of this plan. This culminated in the Amparav tragedy that took three human lives, besides the loss of a huge public and private infrastructure.Research limitations/implicationsThe old study that led to the landslide management strategy could not be assessed and the article is based on information provided by the village elders.Practical implicationsThe paper is an attempt to bring forth the finer details of the landslide management plan enacted in the region almost a century ago. It suggests the need for detailed surveys and planning in enacting any disaster management plan.Originality/valueThis paper would bring forth the importance of documenting the disaster management strategies of the region and sharing the significance of these with the masses so that they are deterred from even unintentionally violating the spirit of these plans.

Improving the methodology for assessing natural hazard impacts

The impacts of natural hazards such as cyclones have been conventionally measured through changes in human, social and economic capital, typically represented by stock variables such as population, built property and public infrastructure, livestock, agricultural land, etc. This paper develops an alternative approach that seeks to detect and quantify impacts as changes in flow variables. In particular, we explore whether changes in annual agricultural output, when measured at an appropriate spatial level, could be used to measure impacts associated with tropical cyclones in coastal regions of India. We believe that such an approach may have a number of benefits from a policy perspective, particularly with regard to the debate between relief versus recovery as disaster management strategies. A focus on flow variables is also likely to be more relevant and useful in developing countries; the maintenance of economic activity directly affects livelihood and is perhaps of greater importance than loss of built property or other physical capital.

Incentives for mitigation investment and more effective risk management: the need for public–private partnerships

A key question facing both well-developed industrial countries and emerging economies is how to reduce future disaster losses while still providing financial protection to victims from these events. This paper proposes a strategy for the use of cost-effective risk mitigation measures coupled with insurance and/or new capital market instruments to achieve these objectives. The mix of these measures will depend on the governance structure and the institutional arrangements in the particular country. There will always be a need for a combination of policy tools and the interaction among key interested parties from both the private and public sectors in developing a disaster management strategy. Two examples, one from US and the other from Honduras, illustrate differences between strategies that countries can adopt.

The Role of Uncertainty on Alternative Disaster Management Strategies

The work presented in this paper is an outgrowth of a multi—year study at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania on Managing Catastrophic Risks. We focus on the role of homeowners and insurance companies in managing the hazard from earthquake risk. Specifically, we consider alternative earthquake disaster management strategies for a typical homeowner and a small insurance company in the Oakland, California region. These strategies involve the adoption of mitigation measures and the purchase of earthquake insurance by the homeowner and the purchase of an indemnity contract (e.g., excess—of—loss reinsurance) by the insurer. We focus on how uncertainty impacts these disaster management strategies. Specifically, we illustrate the impact of structural mitigation and risk—transfer mechanisms on the insurer's performance when there is uncertainty in the company's risk profile. This risk profile is captured through a loss exceedance probability (EP) curve, representing the probability that a certain level of monetary loss will be exceeded on an annual basis. Parameters considered in the sensitivity analysis that will shift the loss EP curve include: earthquake recurrence, ground motion attenuation, soil mapping schemes, and the exposure and vulnerability of the residential structures. The paper demonstrates how uncertainty in these parameters impacts the cost effectiveness of mitigation and reinsurance on the insurer's profitability and chances of insolvency, as well as the number of policies the insurer is willing to issue.

Towards a framework for tourism disaster management

Tourism destinations in every corner of the globe face the virtual certainty of experiencing a disaster of one form or another at some point in their history. Despite this, few destinations have properly developed disaster management plans in place to help them cope with such eventualities. Among the reasons for this is the limited amount of systematic research that has been carried out in the field. This paper addresses this problem by drawing on insights from the broader disaster management literature to produce a generic model for analysing and developing tourism disaster management strategies. A set of prerequisites and principles of effective tourism disaster management planning is also provided.

Cyclones and disaster management

Disaster management needs to be a long-term, multi-sector responsibility which interacts with, and contributes significantly to, national development. It should be intimately concerned with the root causes of community vulnerability to hazards, and these root causes are inevitably the targets of development programmes. Expert knowledge gained through studies of cyclones is not only relevant to disaster management, but is an important component and crucial to its success. This article outlines some of the disaster management strategies that all of us should be trying to implement so that cyclones have less potential for harm. The article also shows the importance of cyclone related studies, in the proper context, to each of these strategies.