Development and Cooperationl, Oct 2009
Reducing disaster risks
Within few decades, climate change has quadrupled the number of natural disasters. Especially in
Asia, more and more people are affected. Bangladesh is one of the countries where disaster risk
reduction works fairly well. And Burma (Myanmar) is trying to enhance the crisis management
after the bad experience with cyclone Nargis.
[ By Stephan Beschle ]
Back in the 1970s, 100 million people were affected by the annual floods, cyclones, droughts or
earthquakes. Today, some 225 million are affected, as urbanisation is growing in threatened areas
such as coastlines, among other reasons.
Of all continents, densely populated Asia is the region where people are most endangered by
natural disasters. Asia must live with tougher weather events – including tropical storms, harder
monsoon rains or ongoing drought. Devastating landslides and floods are only two categories of
consequences.
A survey by the children’s rights organisation “Save the Children” has examined the effects of
two cyclones that hit Asia within only six months. The results show that comprehensive disaster
risk reduction (DRR) can save lives and substantially reduce financial damage.
When cyclone Sidr hit the coast of Bangladesh on 15th November 2007, 5.4 million people were
affected, 3,500 died. Less than half a year later, on 2nd May 2008, cyclone Nargis was raging in
Burma. One million people lost their homes and 130,000 were reported as dead or missing.
Both level-four cyclones struck lower and extremely populous delta regions where mostly poor
fishermen and farmers dwell. However similar the two disasters were, their effects were indeed
very different: in Burma, considerably more people died and the economic damage was more
than twice as much as in Bangladesh ($ 1.6 billion).
Early warning systems and emergency plans
The main reason for this difference is that Bangladesh has a fairly well-functioning disaster risk
reduction system (DDR). DRR includes all activities by families, communities, governments or
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that help diminish the effects in advance. The aim is to
cover all risks, including the effects of climate change.
In practice, communities are analysing the hazards they are exposed to, and accordingly, escape
routes are identified. On the national level, safe schools and storm-proof emergency shelters are
built, early warning systems installed and infrastructure projects – such as embankments – are
financed. Campaigns help to inform people about the risks and life-saving measures.
Bangladesh is frequently struck by cyclones. For twenty years now, the country has been engaged
in disaster risk management. Hence, emergency plans, early warning systems, evacuation and
acute emergency assistance are coordinated properly. A network of trained volunteers managed to
warn the people of the approaching storm Sidr. Three million were evacuated, 1.5 million were
brought to storm-proof shelters. All over the country, the media were covering the imminent
cyclone Sidr so that every village was well informed.
The early warning system of the Bangladesh communities is controlled by the Cyclone
Preparedness Programmes (CPP) and supported by Save the Children, the Union Disaster
Management Committee and other NGOs. The CPP was introduced in the 1970s by the Red
Cross, the Red Crescent as well as the Bangladesh government. It focuses on the aid of
comprehensively trained volunteers. The CPP builds shelter-homes and works directly with the
concerned people. Today, the CPP early warning system itself reaches up to eight million people
in the country’s delta region.
In Burma, the situation was entirely different when cyclone Nargis reached the AyeyawaddyDelta. As cyclones are rather uncommon in that area, there was almost nothing like disaster
preparations or early warning systems. Most of the local inhabitants were not prepared for the
storm, it hit them completely defenceless. Only people living in villages with solid buildings such
as monasteries or schools were able to find protection. Yet, many villages were entirely destroyed
by the storm and the waves. There were no defined evacuation routes, embankments and shelter
buildings. As a result, cyclone Sidr claimed a considerably higher number of victims in Burma
than Nargis did in neighbouring Bangladesh.
Role model Bangladesh
In a way, Bangladesh can be regarded as the vanguard of Asian disaster prevention. It can serve
as a role model for other nations. The country has learned from its experience. In 1970, the
hitherto most devastating cyclone Bhola caused the death of at least half a million Bangladeshi. It
was followed by Gorky in 1991: 138,000 people died. In November 2007, cyclone Sidr claimed
3,500 lives.
However, Bangladesh is only at the beginning. Nationwide, disaster plans and prevention
programmes are being arranged in endangered towns and villages, but further efforts are
necessary for a yet more comprehensive preparation of the country.
Bangladesh and Burma are poor countries with long coastlines. It is not easy to keep all coastal
towns and villages prepared for disasters and effectively provide preventive measures at all times.
Even though the benefit is proven, the financing of disaster risk reduction programmes and
strategies is not sufficient. Thus, damaged emergency shelters, for instance, are not always being
repaired. Emergency stocks for times of disaster are hardly ever replenished, if at all. Financing
the training of volunteers or professionals is difficult.
As shown in the survey by Save the Children, there are still no standardised warning signals to
warn people of natural disasters. Different flags used before and during cyclone Sidr caused utter
confusion and many families were only evacuated after the cyclone had already reached the
mainland.
After the disastrous consequences of Nargis, Burma started enacting national guidelines to define
the roles and responsibilities of disaster management. For the first time, there is a strategic plan
on how to react during natural disasters. This effects all levels – from the government down to the
villages.
Other endangered countries would be wise to adopt these measures – not only in Asia, but all
over the world. Pragmatic disaster preparation is costly, but surveys prove that these investments
make economic sense: according to the World Bank, every dollar invested helps to prevent a
damage of two to four dollars. The understanding of the local people is essential for effective
DRR. A safety culture can only be established if people in danger areas are well informed and
above all motivated to consciously integrate the risks into their everyday lives.
The necessity of DRR projects and their implementation can be shown by the principle of “build
back better” – e.g. that damaged structures are not simply replaced but improved. If, for instance,
the roof inclination of a building is altered, the surface exposed to the wind can be diminished.
During the next storm, the structure will be much more resilient and therefore the house will
remain intact.
In Burma, the “build back principle” is applied during the restoration of infrastructure destroyed
by cyclone Nargis. Schools, water supply, sanitary facilities, water reservoirs and dykes are not
merely rebuilt but ameliorated by maintaining safer construction standards. DRR concepts are
developed in schools, but also in special trainings as well as assessments with those communities
at risk. Moreover, these communities are closely connected to the country’s general healthcare,
education and food programmes.
Thanks to all these measures, the people in Burma have become more aware of the dangers of
cyclones and additionally, many people – including teachers, mayors and religious leaders – are
eager to learn more about how to protect themselves from the various other natural disasters (such
as floods or earthquakes).
People of all age groups have to be taken into account. The organisation Save the Children, for
example, is focussing on the work with children, teaching them the ability to identify evacuation
routes and mark them in self-drawn maps.
Culture of safety
A well-functioning network of all institutions involved in DRR projects is helpful as well.
Governments have to become actively engaged, but so must private or civil-society actors. A
comprehensive coordination of all participants is indispensable. Yet, the actual key to success can
only be found in the local people: they are the ones who have to react immediately in order to
save their own lives in an emergency. Nobody is more familiar with the villages, regions and
ultimately the local risks than the local inhabitants themselves. Therefore they are best placed for
finding appropriate solutions.
In Bangladesh, both the government and the population have been appreciating the DRR-measures for quite some time. Yet, often one disaster succeeds another so that medium and long-term
infrastructure projects are very troublesome to accomplish. After the 1970 Bhola cyclone,
embankments were built in the city of Barisal – but only few have been added over the last 30
years.
After the devastating cyclone of 1991, investments primarily went into the construction of
emergency shelters. However, they were not maintained or refurbished in the years to follow. As
a result, many of these shelters were useless and failed to protect people from cyclone Sidr in the
year 2007.
Meanwhile, people have realised that emergency shelters can be integrated pragmatically into
their everyday lives. Many of the renovated buildings are also used as schools or administrative
buildings. Thus, they are not abandoned and left to dilapidate, but serve a vital function for the
lives in the towns and villages.
Stephan Beschle has been working for Save the Children since 2006. He is the head of
communication in Germany.
»» stephan.beschle@savethechildren.de