How We Think Now: Lessons in Disaster Preparedness and Recovery
This could mean the temporary or permanent shutdown of businesses, reduced employee capacity and employment opportunities; the closure of schools; lack of childcare service; limited healthcare; lack of transportation and communications infrastructure; and the loss of homes and other buildings. Essentially, large scale disaster removes the factors needed to support the flow of funds and the healthy functioning of society.
Even in the most developed economies, losses can take years to recover. And in the least developed economies, achievements made over the course of decades can be effectively undone in just minutes.
Given the increasing interdependence of APEC economies, disaster does not only impact the economy in which it occurs. It affects the economic health of the region as a whole. But this is not necessarily a weakness. In fact, the investment of each economy in the stability of its neighbor has served as an impetus to the sharing of both resources and expertise.
This year on May 12, the Sichuan province of China experienced an earthquake lasting two minutes, finally stretching over the space of 300 kilometers and reaching 20 kilometers into the epicenter. At last count, in early September, the death toll had reached 69,226 with an additional 374,643 wounded, and 17,923 missing.
It took no time for Chinese Taipei to extend its hand, sending expert teams to assist in the recovery process. To paraphrase the rationale: it seemed the right thing to do. Nine years earlier, on September 21, 1999, Chinese Taipei had experienced its own earthquake. While it was comparably smaller - only a third of the size of that experienced in Sichuan and resulting in a much lower mortality rate and fewer casualties - it was an experience that left an indelible mark. Rescue and shelter operations lasted four months and recovery of the damage took no less than six years.
In fact, it led the two APEC economies to collaborate in conducting the "Workshop on Large-Scale Disaster Recovery in APEC" which took place on 22 - 28 September 2008. The workshop marks the anniversary of the Chi-Chi (Chinese Taipei) earthquake and is symbolic since it demonstrates an empathy that can be gained only through shared experience. The event is important for one very practical reason - experts from across the APEC community are able to exchange the lessons learned through experience in their own economies, to discuss the challenges they continue to face and to identify their most successful practices.
The unique context and circumstances of each economy means that there is no single approach that will accommodate all others. At the same time, several best practices revealed themselves as veritable trends.
Community Mobilization
Communities and individuals are becoming more self-reliant. In some cases, this is a result of their own volition. In others, it is in response to decreased institutional support.
Douglas Bausch, Senior Physical Scientist with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency at the Denver Federal Center offers as an example, decreased insurance in the United States: "Forty percent had earthquake insurance in 1994 but only 13 percent have it today.
"After the Northridge Quake (in California), insurance companies incurred significant losses and so, while insurance is still available, it is more costly, there are more limitations and the deductible is greater, so it just isn't as attractive," he offered.
While the transfer of responsibility from formal institutions to informal communities takes on different forms; it is common throughout the region. People are gaining confidence and developing coping mechanisms to accommodate their own particular needs.
"In Chi-Chi affected areas, communities are being trained to become familiar with the area in which they live, to pay attention to environmental change and to understand the vulnerabilities of that location," explains Sophia Lee of the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction in Chinese Taipei.
"They have developed their own, inexpensive emergency response tools to monitor water levels, measure risk and indicate when protective shelter must be sought."
Communities and community-based groups operate from the advantage of understanding particular needs. They understand how a particular community will function within the context of disaster.
According to experts, there are different national characters.
"Not everyone responds the same way to trauma. In some communities, it is healthy to remember the event", states Mr. Jong-Tsun Huang who is President of China Medical University. "In others, the collective memory is tormented."
In Japan, he says, there is only one memorial site for survivors of the earthquake in Kobe In 1995. But in Chinese Taipei, people requested more. "They are a people who need to remember." The national 921 Earthquake Museum features an earthquake simulation room where people can go to feel the ground shake beneath them and virtually "re-live" their earthquake experience.
Private Public Partnerships and Non-Governmental Organizations
John C. Pine, Director of Disaster Science and Management at Louisiana State University notes the ability of non-profit organizations to "do things that are not appropriate for government to do", such as the management of funds and the collection and distribution of donations. In addition, non-profits can transcend much of the red-tape that impedes quick and effective reaction of regulated institutions..
As an example, he points to the American Red Cross which plays a particularly unique role. While it is tax exempt and strictly non-profit, the organization was, in fact, chartered by the US Congress in 1905 with the specific mandate to provide assistance in the case of disaster. While carrying out government directives, the organization operates at the community level and in this respect bridges the gap between the public sector and citizens.
In describing the quick response of Chinese Taipei to the earthquake in China, Kuang-Hua Hsiung, Commissioner of the Taipei City Fire Department explained,
"If we don't have a diplomatic relationship, we contact headquarters of the Red Cross to see if we can send a team to the affected area. The Red Cross Headquarters then contacts the Red Cross in China. In this case, the Chinese mayor decided that we should work with the Red Cross and everything, including our visas, was organized this way."
Similarly, the partnerships between private and public entities have also come to be seen as a smart way to elicit funding, benefiting both parties. Mark Ferdig, Managing Director of Development Operations and Administration at Mercy Corps, cites Nike and other major partners.
"We have developed such a trust that they have actually pre-approved funding for us to use in emergency situations," said Mr. Ferdig.
There is an obvious synergy between large corporations, which benefit from their commitment to social responsibility and their implementing partners whose reputation is correlated to the ability to swiftly carry out their mandate.
Governments
The emphasis on decentralized responsibility does not suggest that governments are exempt from taking action. Instead, efforts are redirected. One of the most important functions of government in the mitigation of and response to disaster is the development and application of appropriate technology.
Since the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, Thailand has established a tsunami and disaster mitigation research centre. A tsunami warning centre was set up in the Andaman Sea; siren towers erected throughout the country; and hazard maps, signs to indicate high-risk areas and notices of possible escape routes are strategically placed. In the case of disaster, messages will be sent via television, radio and even by text message to cellular telephones.
Other ways that governments can be instrumental is through appropriate policy and legislation. Until now, the effects of disaster are exponentially more detrimental to poor populations whose homes are of lower quality standards; schools are among the most susceptible buildings due to their typical structure. Strengthening building standards can reduce post-disaster mortality rates and can preclude the need for retrofitting, one of the most challenging and time consuming recovery activities.
To the same extent that disaster has come to characterize the modern landscape, so too, has the growth of human capacity. Across the Asia-Pacific, governments and communities have stepped up to the challenge.