The Oso landslide of Washington could be one of the worst landslides in the history of USA. Till date, about 24 people died and 176 are still missing according to reports. Rescuers and search crews are searching for life; the hope of finding life is declining as time passes. Heavy rainfall is suspected as the cause of this tragedy. Earlier, in February, a winter storm affected the South and East Coast of the United States causing 22 deaths and damage to the amount of 15 million dollars. Several states were struck with structural collapse. Strong waves, high wind and several feet of snow were responsible for the damages and collapse. Right before that millions of US, Canadian and Mexican residents were hit by a blizzard in early January. The snowstorm killed about 21 in the USA alone and altogether 200 million people have been affected. The estimated damage is around 5.0 billion dollar. The National Weather Service marked this extreme weather as 'life threatening' by saying, 'Combined with gusty winds, these temperatures will result in life-threatening wind chill values as low as 60 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit/minus 51 degrees Celsius).' It is the lowest temperature in two decades in some areas of USA.
The figures given above are surprising. One of the most developed countries of the world is incurring this much losses caused by disasters. A 'more developed country' is more prone to economic and financial losses due to having mega and expensive construction and advanced technological infrastructure. However, developed countries tend to recover more quickly compared to less industrialized and least developed nations. In contrast, many of the affected Filipinos are still struggling to meet their basic needs even after four months of the hit of Typhoon Haiyan, an exceptional tropical cyclone killing at least 6,000 people. The country is trying to rebuild the affected areas of Typhoon Haiyan. It was one of deadliest cyclones recorded so far causing damage of about 1.5 billion dollar. Aid groups, charities, international non-government organizations have extended their support to the Philippines government to help the Haiyan survivors. The Philippines is one of the few countries of the world which is exposed a long list of hazards like flood, cyclone, storm and surge, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide etc.
All these extreme events are life changing. The survivors become traumatized after losing their house, loved ones and livelihood. Blown away houses, felled trees, flattened crops, toppled power lines are some of the impacts of these disasters. The long-term impacts of these disasters are even worse.
In Bangladesh, the southwestern region is still bearing the scar of very severe cyclonic storm Sidr and severe cyclonic storm Aila which hit in 2007 and 2009 one after the other. The embankments were damaged and as a result flooding became regular for some parts of the coastal region. Transport and communications systems were severely affected. Many children dropped out of school. Regardless of all the assistance from government and international communities, the situation is still grim. Large numbers of farmers are striving to grow crops due to high salinity in the land. Water crisis is acute. Women walk for hours to fetch water for daily necessities. Lack of employment opportunities are forcing young people to move to cities in search of work. Even after 5 years of Aila, people are struggling to lead a normal life.
Our vulnerabilities to disasters have been increasingly aggravated by the micro level issues including resource depletion, over exploitation of natural resources, environmental degradation. Among the macro level issues, climate change is leading the list. The earlier blizzards of USA could be an impact of climate change; several studies on the connection between extreme weather and the polar vortex were published suggesting a link between climate change and increasingly extreme temperatures experienced by mid-latitudes (i.e. USA).
It is not possible to make communities completely safe from disasters; natural and man-made. Though building a disaster and climate resilient community is possible if and only if all the communities' development activities are 'risk informed'. In Bangladesh, it is the Disaster Management and Relief Division (DM&RD) which leads the mission of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction (DRR) into sectoral development planning with the participation of all sectoral experts. It will also be responsible for overall monitoring and follow up to ensure if DRR agendas are mainstreamed with sectoral policies, plans and programmes. In addition to that, in terms of mainstreaming both DRR and climate change adaptation (CCA) in all development planning DM&RD and Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) will work as supporting agencies where Ministry of Finance and Planning will take the lead.
When it comes to safeguarding life and livelihood from uncertain climate events, the traditional thinking of holding government 'the only' responsible authority for disaster management should be changed. Instead, communities must come forward to lead their risk reductive initiatives. In Bangladesh, community level disaster preparedness for disaster management has been prioritized for its benefits over cost. One of the broad-based strategies of Bangladesh's National Plan for Disaster Management (2010-2015) is focused on community's involvement for preparedness programs. As per the plan, the involvement of local government body is described as an 'essential' part of the strategy. In addition, the plan affirms self-reliance as the 'key' to preparedness, response and recovery.
Being the first to suffer, the affected community is usually the first responder to disasters. It is the community's social capital which pulls out the most affected from devastation and helps rebuilding. The 'spirit' of community is a crucial strength on which the community depends on during and after disaster. Following the paradigm shift from post-disaster response to risk reduction initiatives, it is of utmost importance that communities act the same. Communities need to be ready in the context of climate uncertainties. The disaster management's policy frameworks of Bangladesh encourage community preparedness and foresee communities are better prepared to cope and adapt to disaster and climate uncertainties.
On 27th March, the National Day for Disaster Preparedness (NDPD) was celebrated. Every year, this day is observed to promote disaster preparedness as a means to minimize disaster loss.
Deciding on communities' roles and responsibilities regarding disaster management is critical. The Standing Order on Disasters (SoD) held the Union/Pourashava/City Corporation disaster management committees (DMCs) responsible for their respective areas' risk reductive activities. These DMCs carry out all the prevention, mitigation, preparedness, and response and relief activities of their area. Yet, for successful and effective disaster risk reduction, these DMCs need to be people centric to get support and assistance from their communities. Communities can be engaged in a wide variety of risk reduction activities.
Large-scale risk reduction activities (i.e. building and maintaining embankments) cannot be performed by the community. Therefore, the potential of communities can be best used for mitigation measures mainly raising awareness, planning for risk informed development activities, disseminating early warning messages. These measures are convenient for communities as these are less costly and can easily be done by communities themselves. In cities, urban volunteers can raise awareness and consciousness on earthquake resistant infrastructures as cities are more vulnerable to earthquake compared to rural areas. At the individual level, people can reduce risk of flood water inundation by raising their household's plinth. In flood vulnerable areas water stays for a long period of time, therefore as part of their preparedness measures, people preserve dry foods and fuel woods to avoid starvation.
The ecosystem-based risk reduction is a traditional yet often ignored risk reduction approach. Most of the communities are familiar with this approach as it is nothing but building up and maintaining natural infrastructures for reducing risk of flooding, erosion, land/mudslide, coastal risks and others. It is a cost effective solution based on natural infrastructures with the additional advantage of favouring ecological stability, developing green belt and increasing aesthetic values. Communities can easily maintain this natural infrastructure as it is less expensive and requires little attention. This ecosystem-based approach not only reduces disaster risks but also creates livelihood opportunities for its surrounding neighbourhoods. For example, many people living around the Sundarbans depend on it to earn their livelihood (i.e. honey collection, fishing, timber, fuel wood, pulp wood harvest). In 2007, when Sidr hit the southern region, the Sundarbans worked as a shield which is still recovering from the devastation. Studies show that it will take many more decades to reach its normal life if it gets a congenial environment.
Disaster is not fresh to human experience. Every year people around the world face disasters; it can be natural or man-made. Natural hazards like flood, drought, river erosion, cyclone, storm and tidal surge, earthquake, blizzard, volcanic eruption turn into a disaster by destroying people's life and livelihood. Though it is not possible to build a disaster-free community; building resilient communities is not impossible. Being a citizen of this disaster and climate vulnerable country, it is everybody's duty to come forward and contribute to a successful disaster management system.
The writer is Program Officer-Knowledge Management, Climate and Disaster Resilience Dept, Islamic Relief, Bangladesh. Email: aminusu@hotmail.com
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