Crisis Management of a Large Scale Tsunami - Report Example

Running Head: Crisis Management of a Large Scale Tsunami Crisis Management of a Large Scale Tsunami Student Name: Professor’s Name Subject Code and Name Date Submitted: Crisis Management of a Large Scale Tsunami Overview A tsunami is recurrent ocean waves that come in a series and is caused by underwater earthquake (Iwan, 2006). The size of the tsunami depends upon the earthquakes magnitude, its depth below the floor of the ocean, energy released, depth of overlying water and type of seafloor water movement. The tsunami wave may be relatively small in the ocean floor but increase as it approaches the land surface in height which classifies it as either local or distant. Both tsunamis are life and property threatening to the low lying coastal communities while the waves may be further destructive in the inlands thus people are advised to move to higher ground. Coastal areas are most vulnerable to tsunamis among other hazards which include localized or seasonal floods, cyclones, landslides, and droughts while the neighboring areas are affected by the impacts of these hazards. The Asian tsunami and a great earthquake in December 2004 left devastating effects in many Asian countries especially in countries that experience floods in the two monsoon seasons like Sri Lanka. The vulnerability to the hazards in the Asian countries more than in the West may be associated with physical, legal-institutional and environmental weaknesses which include land use patterns, poor construction practices and human settlements developments. The encroachments to the flood plains and poor construction on the coastal slopes led to environmental effects such as depletion of the coastal mangrove forests, erosion, and poor water-shed management that would further increase the impacts of the tsunami. Multiple agencies and specialized bodies either have a direct or indirect role in disaster and emergency risk management while the national state holds the overall responsibility in coordination of rescue operations. Emergency Management System and Response Strategies In June 2006, there were wide concerns on how the nations were prepared for the tsunami where the US adopted a tsunami program to detect and warn the people on the tsunami. This was a state and federal government partnership under the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP) to focus on the assessment of the hazard and its mitigation. Further the communities which were at risk focused on emergency planning and education in a partnership named TsunamiReady. In 2006, the Tsunami Warning and Education Act was used to direct improvements of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) programs on the tsunami through their warning and mitigation efforts. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) would then analyze the programs and interview the state, federal and local groups responsible for tsunami preparedness and planning efforts and make their recommendations. The NOAA programs included the strategic plans that involved all stakeholders with components such as long term goals and mission statements alongside performance measures and goal strategies for the programs. Since 2005, the programs have been expanded and strengthened in the tsunami warning and capabilities in the mitigation process but the research is challenged to move to application. Detection buoys have been deployed to strengthen the warning capabilities of the programs. Further, the mitigation efforts have been expanded to 29 coastal states that are at risk of the tsunami impacts where both strategies require great operation and maintenance costs yearly. The program to mitigate the tsunami impacts through the tsunami Ready program has been greatly hampered by the limited local community participation especially since it is voluntary at those identified as at risk communities. The NOAA further delays its research to application to the new tsunami forecasting system in its warning centers due to its failure to follow its transitional plan that is consistent with the agency wide policy. NOAA was expanding its research on mitigation, and warning on the tsunami after the Indian Ocean tsunami but the research lacked long run strategic plans. The warning systems were also hampered by the lack of accuracy and reliability despite them being quick to detect potential tsunamis. The GAO recommended that the NOAA take actions aimed at assisting to determine the potential impacts of the tsunamis improve the warning systems and reduces the false alarms through identification of barriers to participation of the TsunamiReady program and assists in strategic planning and developing of a comprehensive tsunami program. The Tsunami Warning and Education was passed by the Congress in 2006 to improve nationwide mitigation and warning efforts of the tsunami program through improving and enhancing the existing detection and warning systems of tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean and other territories which are equally vulnerable like the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea [8th June 2010]. NOAA is also required to execute the transitional plan from research technology into application in forecasting and warning system. GAO in turn should evaluate and report to the Congress committees on the extent to which NOAA has developed effective strategic for the tsunami program and its state of efforts to strengthen and expand the move on the tsunami research and programs to application. The process used by the tsunami warning centers to detect the potentiality of tsunamis and issue safety warnings will involve a series of steps and guidelines. First to evaluate and monitor data on seismic networks and when the occurrence of a tsunami is likely, they transmit the warning message to the weather forecasting offices and state emergency centers. The warning centers are also responsible for monitoring the coastal water level and reports from the detection buoys to detect whether a tsunami is likely to be generated and cancel any warning if such cannot be determined. The centers also have the tsunami forecast models which help predict the tsunami waves after the earthquake is detected for the locations that are at risk and estimate the size of the expected waves and the likely impacts to the coastal communities. Funding in the emergency management is allocated to the warning, mitigation and research activities and increases with expansive research. Warning activities lie in the tsunami warning centers buoys, tsunami data management and seismic and sea level networks monitoring. Mitigation activities are through the community participation with the TsunamiReady program to partner with the risk locations in the coastal communities. It also involves liaising with the information centers while research is done by the buoy centers (GAO, 2010: 11). Key practices are essential in developing effective strategic plans in the tsunami program involve stakeholders like the federal and state agencies who define the desired outcomes that help ensure that they meet their expectations and interests properly and that resources target the highest priorities in the program. Assessment of external and internal forces helps the organizations and agencies in the tsunami programs to prepare for future challenges and adjustments required for where problems can become potential crises. External forces such as the technological trends and revised statutory requirements and internal agents such as management practices, culture and businesses may in turn influence the ability of the program to improve its ability to achieve goals. The planning activities for disaster preparedness ensure that the resources for the emergency programs effectively meet the stakeholder’s interests and the desired outcomes and identify emergency structures that need to be eliminated. NOAA has put in place important steps that are effective and result oriented in management and creation of strategic plans for the Tsunami programs which include critical practices and effective plans for managing its programs. The agency may fail to measure its progress towards the goals due to lack of performance measures and therefore may not be clear on the way of achieving them. To improve the Tsunami preparedness at national level, it’s important to revise the program and the strategic plans on performance measures for the goals in the programs and also develop a transitional plan for the application of the forecasting system. In Sri Lanka, the government adopted an emergency management approach in response to the tsunami which included a risk identification program by understanding the most vulnerable areas in the country, the physical and economic assets and population at risk. Comprehensive assessment of the potential and location impacts of tsunami would give the physical and economic losses that would be experienced after the event where the environmental factors that increase these impacts would be considered. The comprehensive assessment is to achieve the establishment of institutional arrangement necessary to bring together the administrative levels and relevant information. The assessment would also involve early warning signs systems for emergency preparedness where the tsunami disaster can be monitored and forecasted. The well functioning early warning system can be effective in emergency response and saving of lives and property. The system for the Asian countries preparedness such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System would take years to be developed. Only the national systems in existence can monitor and regulate the Tsunami hazards and therefore needs upgrading and strengthening and further integration to the regional warning system. The emergency preparedness capacity will be enhanced if only there is increased national coverage, improved equipments, and staff training on new tsunami and large-scale disaster response techniques. Media coverage and Communication of crisis to the public The emergency information and communication system is developed to bring the right information to the local authorities and the public which is crucial in mounting a swift disaster rescue operation. The information dissemination system is timely, coordinated and accurate in the flow of information to the disaster management services, the public, the press and the local administration. This includes dissemination of the early warning information by the national agencies in charge of early warning system to relevant government agencies, the press and the public which should be strengthened in light of the recent tsunami events. The information flow on early warning should be strengthened to local communities, and then the information is linked to the disaster preparedness activities at both local and national levels. The disaster preparedness and response capacity is further decentralized to act upon the early warning information. Despite its scale, the tsunami is not exempt form the communities and local level governments emergency response as first responders. The enhancement of local level emergency preparedness and national security through policy formulation by communities has been seen to be a most effective way of administration and improvement of public resilience and rapid response in high risk disaster areas in Australia which include those affected by the tsunami (AEMI, 2008: 1). This includes the national broadcast of early warnings which can be improved through effectiveness, consistency and clarity between the broadcast media and the emergency management organizations upon request. Post crisis recovery and continuity strategies Investment in risk reduction is important in post tsunami reconstruction and can be taking as a major investment to rebuild the country like in other hazardous situations such as the earthquakes. Experiences from the tsunamis should be captured and the property should be equally protected alongside the human life. The findings from the risk identification process should help in the reconstruction planning and reducing future risks through improved building designs and standards. Public buildings with large populations should be well protected and areas such as hospitals that are critical in emergencies. The facilities should have improved standards that reduce impacts from the hazards and built in safe locations and use design specifications that provide tsunami evacuations centers for the populations affected. Legislations and standards for future safety should include practices that could reduce the impacts of the tsunami. Local risk management practices and strategies should have risk reduction measures that are locally tailored. The water resource management and strengthen community capacity and local institutions for effective disaster management and mitigation. There should be a long-term investment in tsunami program through careful assessment, designing and schedule implementation. Institutional capacity building in disaster management is mainly on post disaster recovery and emergency response. The disaster management authorities should have a system of coordination that clarifies roles, streamlines coordination and responsibilities at administrative and national levels and the various stakeholders. Education and training should be exercised in the disaster management plans and maintain a well functioning system at all administrative levels. The tsunami reconstruction plan should involve basic training for builders on the safety measures for construction. Public awareness on the tsunami is high on the impact of the disaster unlike the safety and preparedness for the disaster. The assessment of damage and losses by the donor community and the Indonesian government is estimated at US dollars 105.3 million with the education sector losing close to 2000 schools and the government that supports infrastructure. The need to rebuild the schools in the tsunami ravaged areas can help improve the functionality and systematic planning of schools. The disaster preparedness mechanism can be put in place to sustain the development of the rescue and recovery operations during future tsunamis (Satake, 2005:240). This includes reviving the social and religious of cultural traditions and activities and also cultural inheritance and conserving arts of the communities involved. It also involves helping the victims of tsunami through trauma in order to return to normal life. It also involves helping the children to continue with their studies and help improve protection for the most vulnerable in the community who include women and children (SEAMEO, 2006:1). The disaster relief agencies are often systematic and comprehensive with information about disasters. It is therefore important for communities to have disaster information which are usually the least informed on disaster. The education helps to increase the community’s preparedness on disaster and engage them in preventive activities. The local people are also prepared on how to anticipate for disasters and reduce their level of occurrence and reduce their potential impacts once they occur. Disaster preparedness program is localized into the specific tsunami impacts of a community and incorporated into the community development program. The disaster preparedness and management program in the tsunami disaster goes along sustainable development in the affected areas and those that are vulnerable though not yet affected. The programs have been introduced gradually alongside developmental programs as sponsored by various agencies aimed at reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts after the tsunami. The government of Indonesia has in particular embraced the importance of incorporating disaster preparedness programs into community development and institutions through the life skills program. Further strategies have been developed to help in the reconstruction and relocation strategy which includes integration of disaster risk mapping (Manning, 2007:2). National and international research should capture emergency management from the tsunami experiences which includes review on the damage and assessment of loss. Further actions should construct and strengthen the existing forecasting systems and early warning systems with an established information dissemination system that is linked with the disaster preparedness at community level. The countries should also develop a disaster management system and authority at national level. The decentralized local level disaster preparedness system should also be developed in the affected areas to raise awareness on the tsunami and disseminate the information necessary for relocation and reconstruction strategies among the public and the local authorities. The tsunami program should continue with a database for risk identification and mapping and establish a taskforce that is well trained and equipped for this purpose (UNEP, 2007: 6) Bibliography SEAMEO-UN Habitat.30th August 2006. Post-Tsunami Rehabilitation and Disaster Preparedness. [Online]. Available: http://www.seameo.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=80 [8th June 2010] UNEP-Sri Lanka. 2007. ANNEX XV- Hazard risk management. [Online]. Available: http://www.adb.org/Documents/Reports/Tsunami/sri-lanka-annex15.pdf [8th June 2010] GAO. April 2010. US Tsunami Preparedness. [Online]. Available: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10490.pdf [8th June 2010] Manning, T.E. 20th June 2007. Earthquake & Tsunami Preparedness for local government. [Online]. Available: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/aboutus/nepec/meetings/07May_Portland/Presentations/NEPEC_051807_12_Manning_EMperspective.pdf [8th June 2010] Australian Emergency Management Institute. 2008. Emergency Management in Australia. [Online]. Available: http://www.ema.gov.au/ [8th June 2010] Satake, K. 2005. Tsunamis: case studies and latest developments. Natural and technological hazards research. Tokyo: Springer Tsunami research Centre. 2005. Tsunami Surveys. [Online]. Available: http://www.usc.edu/dept/tsunamis/2005/index.php [8th June 2010] [8th June 2010] Iwan, W.D. 2006. Summary report of the Great Sumatra Earthquakes and Indian Ocean tsunamis. Earthquake Engineering Research Institute: EERI Publication Read More