Theme: Disasters

Key learning: During this session, we first looked at what disasters are and how they are classified. A disaster is only considered so when human society is impacted. This includes social disruption, material damage and loss of life. It is also considered a disaster when  it costs more than $1 million or 100 deaths (Burton et al,1978).

According to IFRC, ‘a disaster is a sudden, calamitous event that seriously disrupts the functioning of a community or society and causes human, material, and economic or environmental losses that exceed the community’s or society’s ability to cope using its own resources.’ Natural disasters can destroy infrastructure, cause public hygiene problems which leads to an epidemic of disease, and take the lives of many.

We also looked at the various types of natural disasters; such as earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, disease epidemics and hurricanes. The question of ‘are these all natural disasters?’ is however raised as humans may be to some extent responsible for these natural occurrences through their actions. We have altered our environment to such an extent that, through climate change, our natural systems are no longer able to protect us from disturbances. Through deforestation, construction, road cutting and global warming, we are not only harming our environment; we are removing barriers that were once there to protect us from some natural disasters. As a very clear example, by trees being cut down, they are no longer there to decrease or stop a landslide.

Disasters are also inherently political. Although a natural disaster in itself can do a great deal of damage, factors such as political will and funding priorities come into play in how difficult it will be for a community to recover. During our workshop, we looked at case studies which highlighted this to us. The Haiti earthquake of 12th January 2010 caused the majority of damage to an area of over 3.5 million inhabitants, where the UN approximated 230,000 lives lost. Public health implications came in place as decomposing corpses lay among the rubble, 1 million people were left homeless, and some hospitals and medical facilities were badly affected. These are just some of the damages caused by the earthquake. There was a poor response from the government, where humanitarian principles were not always prioritised. By the 22nd of January the Haitian government had called of its own search for survivors.

In comparison, we looked at the Japan earthquake of the 11th of March 2011. There were 2,000 people confirmed dead, and another 10,000 people expected to be dead. Many buildings remained standing due to Japan’s preparedness for the earthquake, and immediate warnings were sent out through Prime Minister Naoto Kan; who said that the government would do its utmost to minimize damage from the quake.In response 91 countries provided aid; offering blankets, food, search dogs and military transport.

The role of the government is to prepare communities and urban areas by carrying out hazard assessments and ensuring physical structures to support are in place, and respond quickly by search and rescuing, providing sanitation, food and healthcare. It is however clear that priorities can vary, which has a massive impact on suffering communities.

We also discussed organisations that provide support for areas affected by disasters. The role of international organisations is to work with governments within and between nations, support government actions, and prioritise humanitarian needs involved in disasters and conflicts. These include United Nations, World Food Programe, and World Health Organisation. Reflecting on this, I find it concerning that part of international organisations role is to support government actions, when it may be the case that the correct priorities are not in place.

Non-governmental organisations have a rather different role. They use an unbiased approach, meaning politically neutral, and work alongside governments although not directly with them. Humanitarian needs are prioritised, and they work to prepare communities through education and communication. Some examples include Red Cross, Oxfam and Save The Children. Although NGO’s to me seem like the ideal in terms of handling a crisis, it is unfortunate that what they can and cannot do is dependent on the funding they receive. It results in NGO’s being less powerful and able to respond to emergencies.

Impact on my views/lifestyle/practice: Having lived in a country for my full life where natural disasters are not something I’ve ever had to worry about, learning about them has made me think a lot more about the tragedies that are happening in other areas of the world. Exploring this topic has also highlighted to me that whilst teaching in a class, it is of great importance to ensure that information given to children is not too graphic or upsetting. I will ensure to consider the videos and information that I choose to share.

Areas of interest to further explore/develop: Although I had previously looked at government and NGO responses to emergencies in modern studies during secondary school, I found the case studies very interesting to compare in terms of priorities and communities success in recovery. I plan on seeking information to understand how these decisions are made.

I also wish to further develop my knowledge of how humans are having an impact on natural disasters. It is something that if children are educated about in the correct way, could be really effective for our next generation to think about in their future actions.
During research I came across a book called Unnatural Disasters by Janet Abramovitz, that I am interested in reading and think it will help me better understand the role of humans in disasters.

A quote from this individual that I found very effective in summing this up: “By degrading forests, engineering rivers, filling in wetlands, and destabilizing the climate, we are unraveling the strands of a complex ecological safety net. We have altered so many natural systems so dramatically, their ability to protect us from disturbances is greatly diminished.”