Development of Disaster Plan for Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia - Example

Development of Disaster Plan for Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia Name: Institution: Abstract The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework that develops a disaster plan for Jeddah city in Saudi Arabia. Jeddah City, a coastal town will be hit in the next 72 hours by a Category 2 Hurricane. As seen in past occurrences, the city is often flooded after hurricanes and is averaged to have 90mm of rain in an hour. The death toll of one of the hurricanes in 2009 in was over a hundred and twenty-one persons, and more than six hundred were injured. The storm left homes and businesses destroyed and various authoritative bodies were criticized for ill-preparedness. This paper aims to avert such scenarios in future by presenting a structural plan that will aid the city in circumventing disaster and avoiding any casualties through a prior and comprehensive risk assessment that will include evacuation strategies. Introduction It is critically imperative to have sufficient and demonstrable disaster management skills that are achieved through adequate training. Appropriate training will ensure efficient response to the catastrophe. Several natural disasters occurrences have given disaster management a bad name over the past few years. These disasters have led to the loss of lives and destruction of property. In the past mistakes have been made because of insufficient knowledge that led to fatal consequences. These decisions were as a result of lack of experience, intense pressure and inadequate information required in managing these occurrences. Nevertheless, sufficient development in Information Technology will be effective in the supervision of emergency services through targeting of digitization processes to achieve the standard target for training capabilities for those who respond to emergencies. The suggested emergency services of this paper will discuss the disaster plan for Jeddah city in response to the anticipated Category 2 Hurricane as well as address the recovery process. Primary Contemplations on Disaster Reduction Sustainability remains a key concept in development plans of disaster management. Viable vulnerability mitigation will be a key concept in the operations. The program will use six of Dennis Mileti’s (1999) components that are usually considered when attempting to mitigate a hazard. They are: 1. Maintain and enhance the quality of the environment if possible. 2. Maintain and enhance the quality of life of the people involved. 3. Nurture local resiliency and responsible undertaking towards such disasters. 4. Identify and safeguard natural resources. 5. Ensure that there is intergenerational impartiality. 6. Adopt a consensus building methodology. Strategic Planning The strategic plan will employ three principles. They will involve stakeholder participation, future developmental schematics for the town and a three phase disaster reduction plan. The planning process will be developed according to the strategic planning framework to ensure that the principles are accomplished. The disaster reduction planning will begin with a risk assessment. The assessment will be an attempt to investigate areas that areas that are susceptible to fatalities. The evaluation of the risks will save lives of the by forewarning people who live in the locations. Phases of Disaster Management 72 Hour Phase Plan The public will be adequately informed of the impending threat within the first 72 hours. According to Dr. Barbara Reynolds of the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the public should be informed early enough and not in the heat of the crisis. They should be reported at a time they can actually think about it and be able to make rational decisions about their safety. The info provided should provide information on the type of hurricane expected its magnitude and its exposure. It should also give advice on what steps that are recommended and should be taken by the public (Lewis, Watson, and Pickren, 2003). The plan acknowledges that there may be communication challenges in the attempts to inform the public of the impending disaster. Emergency management officials expect that the various avenues that they intend to use to communicate the message may suffer extensive damages. Inadequate communication may lead to compounding problems related to the issue. The results may prove to be catastrophic and may dent the chances of these officials in making recovery plans (Lewis, Watson, and Pickren, 2003). Other than using the EFS strategy that involves coordinating with telecommunication agencies and other agencies as measure of ensuring that the communication infrastructure is protected against extensive damages, the officials also intend to address the issue by the use of six fundamental principles. One of the principles is being the first authoritative body in discussing the imminent natural calamity. Predicaments are usually time sensitive hence making communicating earlier and quickly imperative. Members of the public often perceive the first source of information as reliable and make it a preferred source. The second step is to ensure that the information relayed is correct and accurate. Credibility is always established by accuracy. Information communicated should always inform the public what is known and what is unknown about the hurricane and how gaps in the information are being addressed. The third principle is always to keep the management team viewed as credible by the public. Credibility will be achieved by being honest and truthful to the general public and to ensure that the disaster management committee is not compromised in the process. Empathy should also be shown by the team during the communication process and by addressing, what the people are feeling will create trust and a good rapport. The fifth principle will entail giving people ideas on what to do to calm the people and prevent anxiety. It will also help in restoring order and a sense of control. The last principle will entail showing respect during communication. Respectful communication will create communication (Maslen, 1996). The next step that will be implemented within the first 72 hours is the evacuation of persons residing adjacent to the coastline. The plan will be done on the basis of the uncertain risks associated with the hurricane occurring while people are near the coast. The planning here is drawn from operational familiarity and the understanding of emergency control regulations. The plan will also be implemented based on intuition and expecting the worst from the natural calamity. Evacuation will be by air, road, railway, and use of boats to navigate upstream to higher ground. All the main road highways will be heading out of the city except for a few local authorities who will be allowed to travel to the town to aid efforts of evacuating persons from the town. Priority will be given to saving lives and not material possessions. However, the public is encouraged to carry any necessity such as food, water, and spare clothing that will be used during the periods they will be away from home. All traffic will be regulated by state troopers with help from the military who will be flown in to help in the situation. 48 Hour Phase Plan The 48-hour phase plan will lay emphasis in risk mitigation. This phase is primarily aimed at prevention of perilous scenarios by reducing their severity and minimizing chances of occurrence of damages and losses. This plan acknowledges that the prevention of the occurrence rate of the hurricane and flooding is impossible and cannot be done. It, however, seeks to lessen the effects that will occur as a result of the storm. The 48-hour phase plan will attempt to reduce direct and indirect losses. Direct losses are often felt immediately after the storm occurs while the indirect loss is felt after the disaster often economic in terms of lost business ventures. Losses that direct are often mitigated long before the occurrence of the catastrophe. Since the catastrophe will occur in less than 48 hours, the plan will be centered on mitigation of indirect losses. The rationality of this mitigation action is based on a particular event. For instance, events such as eminent epidemics, oil spills, and fire outbreaks will be contained in this phase (Walker, Chaiken, and Ignall, 1979). Actions employed at this stage will be aimed at reducing and totally avoiding losses by reinforcing the targets. Avoidance may be impractical since devastations brought about by a hurricane are often unpredictable (Walker, Chaiken, and Ignall, 1979). Avoidance is a technicality that would need a long-term plan that necessitates stringent regulations. Avoidance of hurricanes is a complex thing as it may require persons to keep off entirely from the coastal towns, unlike earthquakes which may be regulated by forbidding construction of fault lines. The occurrences cannot be avoided but can be reduced by the measures applied in the 48-hour phase. These targets can be hardened by technicians specialized in the fields from whom service is required, and personnel will be sourced from the Saudi Arabia military (Wong, Geist, and Venturato, 2004). The reduction of these effects will be made by the military personnel equiped with expertise in the areas that are required. They will do the following: Construction of codes and other building standards that can endure forces brought about about by the hurricane as well as its winds (Milleti, 1999). An example of building codes were those that were implemented during Hurricane Andrews and wad beneficial for it saved up to $20 million in damages in one county alone in the United States. Fire suppressant systems should be put in place to mitigate fire incidences to reduce indirect loss. Fire redundant materials should also be applied in fire-prone areas (Voelkert, 2006). Also, at least, one fire response machine such a fire horse will be strategically placed near fire-prone areas to extinguish them. Protection of telecommunications systems such as computer hardware and software’s will be given priority. They will be useful in the critical communication during the hurricane and will be used during rescue operations to communicate with stranded persons. They will locate and secure facilities to avoid threats that arise from looting from the public who will not have been evacuated. The aim will be to ensure that services that are not within the destruction radius of the hurricane will not be affected as a result of human induction. All technological, as well as analytical resources within the reach of the Disaster Management team, will be used in the mitigation struggles. The geographical information systems will be used to navigate through various areas to find out location in which damages can be reduced. 24 Hour Phase Plan The 24 hour Phase Plan will be based on the immediate emergency response since time will be critical. The emergency responses will require immediate actions. Responses here will address the disaster itself as well as problems caused by the disaster. The meteorological department speculates that during this time period the hurricane effects will have started to be felt primarily through strong swirling winds. The notion will necessitate the immediate evacuation of individuals within the coastal areas of the city, and final touches on the measures put in place in the 48 Hour Phase plan. Fundamentals of emergency response efforts will be at addressing implementation procedures that will tie resources together to achieve the Disaster Management team’s objectives before the anticipated calamity antagonizes them (Zsidisin et al., 2003). Most of the events during this period will be centered in ensuring military personnel involved in the reduction of calamity effects will be safe and civilians will have been safely evacuated. The phase will also us animal shelter administrators in the locating of accessible domesticated animals and airlifting them to animal shelters in higher grounds. Wild animals will also be tranquilized and transported to safe areas to prevent their confrontation with the public (Zsidisin et al., 2003). This phase will ensure that all safety equipment is ready for use. All evacuation plans as safety routes will be evaluated at this stage keeping in mind the hurricane has started exercising its might as evident through the heavy winds. All media houses covering the hurricane will be required to vacate their stations and head to safer grounds. Medical personnel will be kept on standby to assist in emergency cases. Response Phase During the hurricane storms, precepts and measures similar to the EFS strategies and focus should be taken to ensure that persons caught up in the storm are rescued from the imminent danger. This measure would be effected through the use of aerial transport for rescue and search missions in the areas already experiencing flooding. As part of the plan, it is also mandatory to prepare and service the helicopters that will be used for the rescue operations. The rescued persons will be taken to places of higher altitude as a safety precaution. Besides, emergency medical teams should also be prepared to help with the administration of first aid and treatments to persons who may need urgent medical attention. To uphold public safety and security, the EFS precepts that enhance crowd control and access to traffic and other evacuation means will be provided. Other than that, the city’s power supply systems will be switched off to limit the damage and accidents that may result from short-circuiting and electrocution. The other measure targeted at controlling and limiting accidents that may result from traffic will involve the restriction of traffic heading to the city as all roads and highways will be used as exit routes from the city. This is a measure that will also help with the evacuation processes. Disaster Recovery Plan The disaster recovery plan gives insights into steps included in preparedness, and eventual recovery. Its primary aim is to resume normal processing and situations that were before the calamity. An example is that authoritative bodies may require a section of services to be up and functional immediately (Hoch, 2000). For instance, health institutions as wells as law enforcement organizations are needed to be functional immediately after a disaster to address health issues as well as casualties, enforce laws, and ensure there are control and harmony. However, other administrative bodies may take weeks to be up and running (Hoch, 2000). Even before the recovery plan is executed, emergency response teams must ensure that civilians caught up in the hurricane are safe by rescuing people from flooded buildings and taking them to places where they can be housed and fed in advance before long-lasting plans are made for them. The phase is the most opportune time to find and locate where emergency response facilities will be set up. The government must set up firehouses, emergency medical services centers, and administrative offices. Entrepreneur organizations must determine where to locate backup processing centers that will be necessary for transactional purposes (Whiteman, 2003). Businesses may choose to outsource their transactional functions to firms in areas that were not affected. Another plan is firms may share a mutual backup agreement, which is more cost effective. However, it raises questions whether data is secure within shared storage. The final options are to use a facility owner by a third party, for instance, a hot site for computer processing services (Wallace and Webber, 2004). Examples of primary issues encountered during recovery are the issue of long-term operations at the recovery site experiencing low efficiency compared to the primary site as well as ensuring that personnel, equipment, and supplies can support full operations Wallace, M., and Webber, L. (2004). These issues cannot all be timely addressed. However, company departments can choose to improve on one area at a time. Replenishing of supplies, upgrading of communication equipment, and hiring of new employees can be addressed systematically. Conclusion Disaster preparedness priority should be given to saving lives of human beings. All areas that are vulnerable to damages must be well fortified in future through the implementation of long-time plans. The government, as well as the local authorities, should actively play their role in disaster management. Adequate time and money should always be spared for the occurrences of situations such as this. Budgeting for a situation such as hurricanes should always be ample, and the public should be adequately informed of any imminent danger that is looming. Administrators in industries such as banking and insurance should ensure that recovery plans are in place, and the process can be well established. There must be contingency plans that ensure that data is easily recovered, and organizational functions can continue smoothly. Institutions will be able to overcome such disaster through their exposure to a diversity planning skills coupled with dependency on technology. Mitigating the disaster will be easy is the above guidelines are adhered to. References Mileti, D.S. “Disasters by Design: A Reassessment of Natural Hazards in the United States.” Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry Press, 2000. Voelkert, C, (2006), “Achieving A Balanced Fire Protection Plan,” Occupational Health & Safety, February, 75(2), 32-94. Walker, W, J. Chaiken, E. Ignall (eds.), (1979), "Fire Department Deployment Analysis," North Holland Press, N.Y. Wallace, M., and Webber, L. (2004); the Disaster Recovery Handbook: A Step-by-Step Plan to Ensure Business Continuity and Protect Vital Operations, Facilities, and Assets (AMACON) Whitman, ME., (2003), “Enemy at the Gate: Threats to Information Security, “Communications-ACM, Volume 46, and Number 8, 91-95 Hoch, J.(2000) “The Practice of Local Government Planning Third Edition.” Washington, D.C.: International City/County Management Association. Wong, FL.; Geist, EL.; Venturato, AJ. , (2004), “GIS Development of Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Maps,” American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2004, (December) abstract OS23D-1343 Zsidisin, GA., Ragatz, GL., and Melnyk, SA. (2003); Effective Practices in Business Continuity Planning for Purchasing and Supply Management. The Eli Broad Graduate School of Management,Michigan State University. Lewis Jr., W, RT Watson, and A Pickren. (2003). “An Empirical Assessment Of IT Disaster Probabilities,” Communications of the ACM, 46(9): 201-206. Maslen, C (1996); “Testing the Plan Is More Important Than the Plan Itself,” Information Management & Computer Security, 4(3); 26–29 Read More