Natural Disasters and Emergency Management in the 21st Century

Introduction

From Hurricane Katrina to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, natural disasters are becoming more frequent, abrupt, and growing severely across the globe, thus affecting many individuals than ever before. In many instances, these natural hazards happen due to natural occurrences beyond human control, such as the movement of the earth, causing earthquakes and tsunamis. However, some can be attributed to human activities like shifting habitation patterns and overall population growth. According to Coleman (2006), the average number of disasters documented each year since 2003 has increased by more than 60 percent compared with the reports in the 1990s. These natural phenomena wreak havoc in many vulnerable and poor communities and cost governments and private organizations billions of dollars in recovery and aid funding. As a result, managing natural disasters more effectively by identifying processes, best practices, and developing the relevant tools are increasingly becoming an urgent global priority.

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Brief History

According to recent research studies, the number of natural disasters occurring each year since 2003 is noticeably skyrocketing (Crespo Cuaresma, Hlouskova, & Obersteiner, 2008). This has been coupled by an increase in the concentration of toxic greenhouse gases such as methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere which are known to absorb and emit radiant energy within the thermal infrared range causing the greenhouse effect. During the late 1970s, the average of natural hazards documented and reported was below 100 annually, however, after 2004, this number was increased to more than 300 occurrences every year (Guha-Sapir, Hargitt, & Hoyois, 2004). Consequently, due to this rise, more than 200 million people get displaced from their homes every year, and some die in the process. In the last ten decades alone, the frequency of natural disasters in terms of intense storms, floods, heat waves, and drought has increased significantly. During this period, the number of meteorological and hydrological events globally have also been reported to have increased even though the causal relationship between natural disasters and climatic change is not known. Additionally, the number of people affected either directly or indirectly by natural phenomena are also skyrocketing. According to Felbermayr and Groschl (2014), since the dawn of the 21st century, nearly 2 million people worldwide have perished due to natural hazards. This can be attributed particularly to hydrological disasters with storms such as Hurricane Irene, Hurricane Katrina, and typhoon Yolanda happening more often than ever before.

Some research studies also indicate that human-induced climatic change has also increased in the last two decades (Nations, 2010). For instance, anthropogenic emissions contributing to the observed intensification of precipitation events have increased with the increase in manufacturing industries. This often increases the frequency and magnitude of flood events. A case study on a catchment region in Japan indicates that the number of precipitation events recorded to be more than 80 millimeters per hour has increased since 2003 (Guha-Sapir, Vos, Below, & Ponserre, 2012). Similarly, the global temperatures have increasingly been on the rise due to human activities since early 2000 hitting a record high in 2014. This has further lead to the variability in climatic changes and as a result, increase in the number of natural disasters.

Problem Involved

Natural phenomena such as earthquakes happen everywhere around the world, and when people are involved, it develops natural disasters. Indeed, it is the exposure of ecosystems, people, resources, ecosystems, and infrastructure as well as social, economic, and cultural assets that could be greatly affected by the occurrences of these hazards. They strike fast with little or no warning. On the other hand, according to the Bible, God gave warnings to the wicked before using natural forces against them. The Bible states in God's conversation with Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, because you are the one I have found to be righteous before me among this generation" (Genesis 7:1). Oftentimes it is unlikely that natural phenomena occurring in less populated regions or where there is little presence of economic activities would create a disaster. As a matter of fact, the increasing disruptions and economic damage from natural hazards in recent years are sometimes due to the increasing wealth and economic activities in areas prone to these menaces. According to Huppert and Sparks (2006), societal changes, especially in terms of wealth and population growth, are often used to explain the frequent disaster losses. To some extent, humans usually contribute to natural disasters as the Bible explains in Proverbs 19:3, "It is a man's own foolishness that distorts his way." When there is a constant increase in population and capital in the hazards' prone areas, the losses accrued from phenomena significantly increase. For example, many people residing and conducting business near the cyclone tracks and basins are likely to be affected more by such disasters. Also, those individuals who have settled in valleys and floodplains are more susceptible to monsoon flooding and seasonal rains.

It is evident that exposure is a significant factor when it comes to the intensity of the losses accrued from natural disasters. Nowadays, people tend to form communities and build industries in disaster-prone areas because such areas provide unique economic opportunities and services lacking in other areas (Price & Vojinovic, 2008). These include cheap labor, ports, harbors, transportation system, and livelihood. Overall, these areas offer a comparative advantage to many people, especially in terms of infrastructure and access to markets which has currently become critical as economies become more global. Sadly, natural phenomena are income-blind and many poor people in poverty-stricken nations often risk their lives to survive and are more vulnerable since a higher share of the population reside in hazards prone areas, For example, people living in coastal areas experiencing storm surge can greatly be affected since sometimes the storms can cause widespread coastal flooding and rising sea levels which can be fatal.

Examples of Real World Events

Intense climate-related disasters continue to rise worldwide, and the better part of the last two decades will particularly be remembered for the devastating climate-related disasters. These natural disasters kill and maim indiscriminately in contrast to God's acts of judgments recorded in the Bible. It states, "So when God destroyed the cities of the district, God kept Abraham in mind by sending Lot out from the cities He overthrew" (Genesis 19:29). According to Shelton, Poorthuis, Graham, and Zook (2014), the Hurricane Sandy in 2012 was one of the most devastating disasters of the year, resulting into both the destruction of properties and human lives. Indeed, the event caused major flooding in southern New Jersey and left the majority of Americans living in total darkness without power or homes. Even more, the financial damage was estimated to be over $70 billion. Similarly, the earthquake and Tsunami, which occurred in 2011 in Japan, led to the death of over twenty thousand individuals (Mori, Takahashi, Yasuda, & Yanagisawa, 2011). The economic losses were also accrued, especially with the meltdown of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The 2005 Hurricane Katrina though not one of the most powerful to have happened in the United States, is still considered to be, by far, the most damaging of all. Katrina, unlike other disasters, occurred exactly in the city of New Orleans, which is considered to be one of the densely populated and most vulnerable sections of the Gulf Coast. It leads to loss of lives and caused economic damages totaling to more than $150 billion (Brunkard, Namulanda, & Ratard, 2008). Additionally, in the year 2008, Myanmar faced one of the deadliest disasters called Cyclone Nargis (Fritz, Blount, Thwin, Thu, & Chan, 2009). This category 4 cyclone was powerful and led to a number of deaths and economic damages, especially since the country was not well prepared to handle the situation.

Best Practices

Everywhere around the world, incidents involving natural disasters occur every day, yet, until now, emergency management personnel continue to struggle to implement a response strategy that can fully anticipate these hazards and also the challenges posed by unanticipated events. Originally, the emergency management practices did not involve planning and preparation for events but focused majorly on emergency response. However, after the Cold War, the initial focus of emergency management shifted from military response to include both manmade and natural phenomena. As Kapucu, Hawkins, and Rivera (2013) state, in the new approach, the emergency management community integrated a five-phase model that can address all aspects of an event. Sometimes, the phases of the model tend to overlap, and the duration in each phase majorly depends on the type of the disaster. The phases include:

Prevention

Preventive measures are usually designed to reduce the severity of an event should it happen or the likelihood of a disaster occurring. The main focus of the emergency management community is to prevent human hazards from getting to the wrong hands such as terrorists or from potential natural disasters (Edrissi, Poorzahedy, Nassiri, & Nourinejad, 2013). It is often viewed as a more permanent solution from disasters; nevertheless, some events are of great magnitude, and not all disasters can be prevented. Certain risks such as injury to a person and death can be successfully limited by a comprehensive preventive plan that includes good evacuation plans, design standards, and environmental planning.

Preparedness

Just like the prevention phase, the preparedness phase occurs just before an event. According to Croope and McNeil (2011), the main focus of the emergency preparedness programs is to identify programs that strengthen the managerial and the technical capacity of the emergency management personnel to enable them to achieve a comprehensive level of readiness to counter any disaster. The key components here include threat assessment, resource acquisition and assessment, training and exercises, and plan documentation. During the preparedness phase, the emergency management community with all strive to develop plans to minimize disaster damage, save lives, and improve the response operations. Even so, their success rate relies heavily on the integration of relevant measures both in national and regional development plans. Availability of information on hazards, countermeasures, and emergency risks also influence their effectiveness and success.

Response

This phase marks the beginning of the execution the plans already implemented and allocation of the appropriate resources availed in the preparedness phase. As the name suggests, this phase majorly focuses on providing the immediate assistance to save lives, improve health and to boost the morale of the affected victims (Wex, Schryen, Feuerriegel, & Neumann, 2014). This includes providing the victims with food, clothing, transport, and helping them establish a temporary settlement in other locations. Essentially, in this phase, the emergency management community focuses on providing the victims with basic needs until a better and more permanent solution is found. In some cases, they may also help in repairing damaged infrastructures.

Recovery

Although there is always a smooth transition between the response and the recovery phases...