The Concept of Disaster - Accidents and Catastrophes - Case Study Example

The Concept of Disaster - Accidents and Catastrophes The long lists of calamities and hazards that have happened throughout history allowed the classification and in-depth study of their nature, initiation and propagation in order to reduce man’s vulnerability to these risks. Through the efforts of specialists and scientists across the globe, there is now an existing broad scientific base that analyzes and classifies the risks of extreme events caused by nature and technology. (Knowledge International Humanitarian Fund. 1998-2003) A classification of these events helps us to cope with them and, as much as possible, prevent them from happening in the future. Accidents and catastrophes must be first understood within the more central concept of disaster. The term “disaster” and its meaning has been intensively debated and consequently, it has acquired several definitions in such a way that it become so multifaceted and open to a number of different interpretations. However, David Alexander (2000) wrote that, fundamentally, disasters are the sudden shocks to the socio-economic and environmental systems, which involve widespread destruction of property and involve a substantial number of human casualties. (pp. 20) The classifications of accidents and catastrophes could be traced back to the threshold values of disasters. This paper, will specifically explore accidents and catastrophes in these context and several other variables identified in the following paragraph. On Accidents and Catastrophes Again, there is no universal or globally standard definition for what constitutes an accident or a catastrophe but the difference may be demonstrated by this statement: An accident is an event causing death and/or property damage and that it becomes a disaster or catastrophe when the magnitude overrides normal response capabilities. So for instance, a road accident with fifteen injured people could be considered an accident in a major urban center while it becomes catastrophic for a small village. Another important factor to be considered here is the significant disruption to public life. In this regard, Jay Levinson and Hayim Granot, argued that the 1979 crash of a New Zealand airplane on Mt Erebus, which killed 257 fatalities would be termed an accident instead of a catastrophe because the course of public life was not disrupted. (pp. xi) Of course, this analogies are not enough to draw the line between accidents and catastrophes and that to further help in their classification, one could use the variable as to whether such events are man-made or caused by nature. An accident would most likely be man-made or technological in nature and that a catastrophe would usually caused by nature. Finally, it is also important to consider what the victims and participants think and perceive about a disaster, an accident or a catastrophe. To further demonstrate the classifications of accidents and catastrophes, several cases would be analyzed by this paper and that these include the Chernobyl incident which happened in Ukraine in 1986, the Hurricane Katrina in the United States and the 21st century terrorist threats demonstrated by the 9/11 attack in New York and the IRA bombings in London. The Chernobyl Incident Chernobyl was a nuclear power station in Ukraine, about 100 km north of Kiev. The accident occurred on April 26, 1986 after two successive explosions blew 1,000-ton cover plate off the reactor as well as the roof from the station’s buildings. (Savchenko, pp. 2) As a result, all noble gases, fission products and a large amount of uranium fuel were released into the atmosphere. The Chernobyl incident is a case that illustrated the concept of accident, which eventually evolved into a major catastrophe. The accident occurred as a result of a serious disregard of operational and safety rules. Because of this, there was a disastrous overheating episode that eventually resulted to a fire and a chemical explosion of radioactive fission. Such blatant disregard for operational and safety rules became clear in the authoritative and full technical reports of the on-site situation that became available as a result of the then-unprecedented gesture by the Soviet authorities of communicating and cooperating through the UN system, with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. (Winteringham 1992, pp. 26) In the interim Soviet report, Aleksei Makhukhin, then First Deputy Minister of Power and Electrification, said that the accident had been due to “a coincidence of several highly improbable and hence unforeseeable failures” and that neither the design nor the construction of the plant seemed to be at fault and that additional measures was introduced. (Park 1989, pp. 109) In the report, the Soviet authorities did not give any specific details in regard to the circumstances leading up to the accident however it revealed that the staff at Chernobyl at the time of the accident were engaged in experiments not authorized by authorities. The major causative factor in the Chernobyl incident is now widely believed to be the faulty construction of a nuclear reactor that should not have been in operation in any part of the world. (Keyes et al. 2005, pp. 195) The immediate effects of the Chernobyl incident were felt within the surrounding area but the radiation eventually reached Western Europe and the Atlantic, contaminating the surface wherever it touched down. The present estimate of the casualties, as a consequence of the accident include: a range from 14,000 to 475,000 cancer deaths; 144,000 hectares of agricultural land and 492,000 hectares of forest were withdrawn from use; a total cost of 10 billion rubles for cleaning the contamination. (Savchenko, pp. 2) The Chernobyl catastrophe is significant in several respects. The most important of which is that it is now considered to be the biggest technological catastrophe in the world, with its impact spanning several countries in Europe and creating long-term radio-ecological situations in the process. The case of Belarus reflected the adverse economic disruption of the Chernobyl explosion. The economic losses of Belarus, wrote Savchenko, are comparable to the economic damage caused by the Second World War and are equal to the country’s sixteen-year budget. Hurricane Katrina Natural catastrophes are different from those caused by man and technology because they are usually low-probability events that can produce extreme damage. (Fomer and Tietenberg 2003, pp. 160) In addition, man is powerless to stop natural catastrophic events. These catastrophes include earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, floods, and drought, among others. The effects of natural disasters are seen to escalate as global warming reportedly would increase the intensity and frequency of storms. (McGuire et al. 2002, pp. 187) Natural catastrophes are among the most important events since time immemorial and that reviewing these incidents is a prerequisite for all probabilistic assessments of risk. All in all, the natural hazards will forever be present in our midst and our environment and that an understanding and examination of their collective characteristics is pivotal in our ability to understand their causes, warn their occurrence, predict their behavior and, consequently mitigate their impact. The hurricane Katrina that ravaged through New Orleans and other parts of the United States is an example of a natural hazard that acquired catastrophic proportions because of the failure to act on the part of the people. Hurricane Katrina is considered to be the worst natural catastrophe in recent American history according to losses. It claimed over 1, 417 lives and over 75 billion dollars in damage. (Levitt & Whittaker, pp. 184) The hurricane, however, was not an unexpected natural calamity. The region where it hit was in the path of the hurricane belt and that the vulnerability of New Orleans, for instance, has been well understood. Joel Bourne, writing for the National Geographic, described how hurricanes hit New Orleans: The storm hit Breton Sound with the fury of a nuclear warhead, pushing a deadly storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain. The water crept to the top of the massive berm that holds back the lake and then spilled over. Nearly 80 percent of New Orleans lies below sea level. (Bourne 2004) This article was written a year before Bourne could very well have written about Katrina with chilling accuracy as he described a hurricane’s impact. Besides, the trivial allusion to prophecy on Joel Bourne’s part, the article underscored how the people and the government saw the dangers. Prior to the hurricane’s landfall, multiple warning has been sent out and that more than a million people had, in fact, evacuated to higher ground. (Bourne) A sizable number remained however and this factor was what raised the death toll and not the strength of the raging storm. New Orleans is one of the poorest cities in America and unfortunately, a number of the casualties and those who remained after the evacuation were those who were car-less, homeless, the aged and infirm. (Bourne) This now adds a certain “people-variable” to the catastrophe. This, in addition to the actions by authorities prior to the storm, aggravated the damage and casualties. Since, New Orleans along the Gulf Coast are perennially battered by hurricanes, steps have already been taken to mitigate the hurricanes’ effect. For example, an Army Corps of Engineers had come up with a thirty-year, $14 billion plan, to deal with the situation but, for some reason or another, this plan has been stalled by President George W. Bush and his administration and has languished in the US Congress ever since. (Levitt & Whittaker, pp. 187) Also, there has been continuous dredging and diversion of the Mississippi River, which, everybody authorities know, take away 25 square miles of coastal wetland a year. (pp. 187) This wetland provides a critical buffer against incoming storms. These failures on the part of the people has contributed much to the magnitude of casualties, which could have been avoided in the first place because of people’s understanding of the calamity in the region. The hurricane Katrina confirmed what Smith has suggested, that natural disasters result from the interface between natural geophysical systems and human systems. Terrorism The US National Research Council divided modern terrorism into three types, according to the way in which they are carried out and their target: the traditional, technological and intellectual terrorism. (pp. 210) Terrorist attacks are carried out against governments, individuals, industries, property and other targets through the propagation of conventional or traditional accidents and catastrophes. The rationale is that with the shock or disruption caused by damage to life and property, along with the psychological effect it would generate, the social, economic and political goals of these terrorists would be achieved. This is what happened during the spate of vicious Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombings in the United Kingdom. As early as 1969, the IRA has carried out various terrorist attacks and assassinations, attempting to force the British to completely withdraw from Northern Ireland. One of the deadliest of these terrorist attacks happened on August 15, 1998. Harvey Kushner (2003) recounted the incident: Real IRA [a splinter group of the IRA] members left a 500-pound car bomb in the market square of Omagh, a town in Northern Ireland. A warning was phoned to the police 10 minutes before the bomb exploded. Police response to this warning was tragic… the result was that the police cleared the area near the town’s courthouse and directed the people toward the market square and the bomb. The explosion killed 29 and injured more than 200 – making it the deadliest single bombing in Northern Ireland’s 30-year conflict. (pp. 307) The 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York demonstrated the core characteristics of suicide terrorism particularly those driven by religious-based terrorism. These terrorist groups have demonstrated a willingness to inflict massive damage and to view civilization as legitimate targets. In addition, the nature of the attacks was planned not only to claim an extreme number of casualties but also create major economic disruptions. The 9/11 attacks and similar others taking place today in the recent years have immense effects on both the US and the global economy. While traditionally, attacks have been aimed at government, military and diplomatic targets, today most terrorist attacks are directed against private entities. This has been the nature of the series of bombings in London, which primarily targeted important financial districts. According to Jon Coaffee, there was a growing realization by the world’s terrorists that by targeting business centers and their commercial infrastructure they could not only cause severe damage directly to valuable building structures but also to the reputation of a location through media exposure. (pp. 73) Fifteen of the terrorist attacks that inflicted the greatest number of casualties in terms of fatalities and injuries combined, were those that occurred after 1982, two-thirds of them happening between 1995 and 2005. Following these developments vast expenditures were spent on security measures worldwide following the successful attacks. (Auerswald 2006, pp. 7) In examining the characteristics of terrorism caused catastrophes, it is easy to understand how it is different with natural disasters. In this case, the probability of an attack occurring is directly affected by the actions of people – of governments, organizations and the citizens themselves. Regulations and Preventions In regard to accidents – man-made/technological catastrophes – their analysis and investigation became pivotal in setting up capabilities for accident response. For instance, the accident at the Nypro plant in Flixborough in the United Kingdom in 1974 brought about the creation of the regulatory control of major hazards in the British industry through the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act (HSW Act). The HSW Act outlined the principles and structures by which health and safety in the workplace could be ensured and at the same time, extend the duties of employers and health and safety personnel to include public safety. (Jasanoff, pp. 114-115) afterwards, in the 80s, the European Council passed a Council Directive 82/501/EEC, which is an intergovernmental effort that aims to minimize the risks of industrial accidents covering new, and existing industrial activities. (Jasanoff, 118-119) The Chernobyl catastrophe, explored previously, has prompted the Soviet government to enforce stricter regulations in regard to constructing and operating nuclear reactors. This also prompted the US to mandate a robust construction of its nuclear reactors. There are also stringent requirements for construction and management of these nuclear stations that enable them to withstand many threats. In regard to terrorism, security measures and regulation from various governments across the world had been set up to minimize terrorist attacks. An important dimension, however, in this aspect that further sets it apart from the natural disasters and accidents, is that while people, governments and organizations could enact systems and upgrade response capabilities to terrorist attacks, the terrorists can adapt and tailor their actions according to the changing needs to override these security and anti-terrorism measures. Conclusion It must be understood that there are no clear boundaries between natural calamities, technological disasters, social calamities and armed conflicts especially in terms of thresholds. The fact is that they kill, they can damage properties, disrupt public and economic life and inflict other adverse effects on individual citizens, society, institutions and governments. Furthermore, accidents and catastrophes are similar in the minds and perceptions of their victims. These disasters have inflicted pain, claimed lives, destroyed properties and disrupted public life. The classification disasters - man-made/technological disasters and natural disasters, accidents and catastrophes, among others - helped outline clear differences particularly in regard to the causes and effects of their occurrence. This is particularly helpful in the prevention and mitigation. Such classification outline many opportunities wherein knowledge of one type of disaster to another could be easily accessed, transferred and analyzed. This makes it easy to develop systems that would help to prevent them. In addition, the also make it easy to determine whether safety is improving or not and that where there is improvement, which category is it taking place. Then, response becomes clear-cut. As the scope of accidents and catastrophes are defined and classified, there is a foundation for the following stages: searching for reasons and accountability; compensation for damages; punishment for culprits; and identifying reasons in order to prevent the occurrence of similar accidents and catastrophes in the future. References Alexander, D. 2000. Confronting catastrophe: new perspectives on natural disasters. Oxford University Press. Auerswald, P. 2006. Seeds of disaster, roots of response: how private action can reduce public vulnerability. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bourne, J. 2004. Gone with the Water. National Geographic Magazine Online. Retrieved 7 Nov. 2009 from, http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/. Coaffee, J. 2003. Terrorism, risk, and the city: the making of a contemporary urban landscape. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Folmer, H. and Tietenberg, T. 2003. The international yearbook of environmental and resource economics 2003/2004: a survey of current issues. Edward Elgar Publishing. Keyes, D., Burstein, J., Schwarts, R., and Swienton, R. 2005. Medical response to terrorism: preparedness and clinical practice. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. Knowledge International Humanitarian Fund. 2003. Russia Safety: Legal, Socioeconomic, and Scientific-Technical Aspects 1-24. Moscow: Znanie Publishers. Jasanoff, S. 1994. Learning from Disaster: Risk Management After Bhopal. University of Pennsylvania Press. Kushner, H. 2003. Encyclopedia of terrorism. London: SAGE Publications. Levitt, J. and Whittaker, M. 2009. Hurricane Katrina: America's Unnatural Disaster. University of Nebraska Press. McGuire, B., Mason, I., and Kilburn, C. 2002. Natural hazards and environmental change. London: Arnold. National Research Council. 2006. 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