Disaster Management - Essay Example

Introduction Different disasters happen every year in any part of the globe and this is evidenced by various news reports ever published. Tracking disasters from previous years could be of great help in avoiding potential losses from hazards when the same disasters strike, and ensuring rapid and effective recovery to possible victims (Warfield). In order to track disasters, data from previous years' catastrophes must be obtained for the certain area to be tracked as this could help analyze the kinds of calamities that strike the area and the frequency of them happening (Warfield).

Online data from the internet and previous news clippings could be used in tracking disasters. For this paper, we tracked disasters in different provinces/cities to be able to draw conclusion on the hazards, impact and vulnerability of these cities, and to recommend measures in mitigating and being prepared when such disasters strike.Ontario and Quebec Disasters from 1993 to 2010Data of disasters that happened in Ontario and Quebec for 1993 up to 2010 were obtained from http://www.scribblemaps.com. Most common disasters in these areas based on the data gathered are floods, forest fires and storms/snowstorms.

Other disasters that struck the area are chemical fire, train collision, tornado, snow avalanche, aircraft and bus accident, chemical release, epidemic and mine collapse.In Quebec, flooding happened every year since 1992 until 1996. These resulted to deaths, loss of homes and jobs, disruption of classes, washing out of roads and bridges and electricity cut-off. As a low lying area, Quebec has been vulnerable to floods. The government devised a plan to combat this via various infrastructures like construction and operation of a water retention reservoir, construction of a sill, consolidation and enhancement of existing dikes and implementation of an upgraded flood forecasting system as reported in Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Another prominent disaster in the area is forest fires, these happened in 1997, twice in 2002 and in 2005. It affected a number of forests and left people homeless and in various evacuation centers. All other calamities such as fire, tornado, train collision, bus and aircraft accidents happened but frequency has been very minimal as these disasters could have been isolated cases and are not expected to happen normally in the course of life of the people in the area.In Ontario on the other hand, flooding was also a big problem.

Flooding happened thirteen times for a period of 13 years. Three floods were recorded in 1992 and 1993 and it was experienced in different areas in Ontario like in Kashechewan First Nation, Peterborough, Attawapiskat, Municipalities of Ignace, Fort Frances, Rainy River, Alberton, Atikokan, Chapple, Dawson, Emo, La Valle, Lake of the Woods, Morley, Machin; Township of Sioux-Narrows - Nestor Falls, Durham, Ottawa, and Atikokan. Flood in the province resulted to contamination of water system, people trapped in cars, basements turned into pools, cutting off of electricity and gas supply, evacuation of various households, and washed out roads and bridges.

Next common disaster in the area is storm and snowstorm which happened 11 times for a period of seven years. Effects of the storm include fallen trees, washed out roads, tossed boats, and broken docks and the storm shut down parts of the city's transit system and left thousands stranded, cancelled flights and schools were closed. This affected municipalities like Morley, Chapple, Dawson, Emo, Lake of the Woods, La Vallee, Rainy River, Fort Frances, Southern Ontario Kenora, Barrie, and Toronto to Maritimes.

Other disasters in the area are train derailment which happened in 1995, 1999 and 2005; hazardous chemical leak in 2002; industrial and chemical fire in 2002 and 1997 respectively; epidemic which resulted from contamination of water supply due to manure spread on one farm in 2000; auto accident in 1999 and mine collapse in 1993.From the above disasters, the respective local governments have devised mitigating actions like various technological and infrastructure development for floods. Preparedness plans have also been disseminated and constituents were informed of their role in combating effects of these various disasters.

ConclusionDisaster management aims to reduce, or avoid, the potential losses from hazards, assure prompt and appropriate assistance to victims of disaster, and achieve rapid and effective recovery (Warfield). Disaster management is not only the role of the government and some institutions but is the role of the whole community. Preparing for disasters can be effective if we have a good knowledge of how it happened in the previous experiences of other people and also of the people affected and tracking the areas which are at risk whenever one happens.

This could be done by knowing and examining when and how it actually happens. However, there are some disasters which cannot be frequently experienced as some are just isolated cases, but still, comparing these disasters with previous experiences could be of great help in combatting the negative effects to most people who could be affected.References:Corina Warfield. The Disaster Management Cycle. Urban Environmental Management, Web. November 11, 2010.The Government of Canada Response to the Environmental Assessment Joint Review Panel Report of the Proposed Lac Knogami Watershed Flood Control Project.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Oct. 1, 2007. Web. Nov. 11, 2010.Canadian Press. Quebec, Ontario having bad forest fire seasons. CTV News, Aug. 1, 2005. Web. Nov. 10, 2010.