ENVIRONMENT_DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. Disaster Response and
Recovery
Pragnyan Ghimire
pragnyan24@gmail.com

2. Response and Relief
• If a disaster occurs, response and relief have to take place immediately. Rescue of affected
people, distribution of basic supplies such as food water, clothing, shelter and medical care
become urgent need of the hour. Delays will occur if government departments and municipalities
have no clear plans to manage such events. It is therefore important to have plans in place.
• Take a simple example. A flood has occurred in a mountainous area and there is very strong wind
and continuous heavy rain. The possibility of landslides is real. Members of the public are
panicking and the mayor is under pressure to take emergency action
• A well-managed team of government and local players should be prepared and know where to go,
what to do. If the situation is managed in an ad-hoc way, the affected people will rush off in all
directions, waste valuable time, and even make serious mistakes with fatal consequences.
• Search and rescue plans need to be clear and all role players need to know their role and
functions in such activities. Basic needs such as emergency shelter, water, food, and medical care
have to be provided. A plan must be in place.

3. Rehabilitation and Reconstruction
• The rehabilitation period involves the weeks and months after the disaster.
The focus is to enable the area to start functioning again. This involves
debris removal, restoration of public services and provision of temporary
housing.
• Reconstruction is a much longer-term activity. This phase involves
permanent rebuilding, improved infrastructure and better disaster
planning.
• Both rehabilitation and reconstruction phases demand good management.
Diversion of national and international aid prudently, prioritization of
activities, proper coordination and monitoring as well as prevention of
corruption and abuse of scarce funds become priorities

4. Disaster Response
• The speed and manner of disaster response is often critical to the
recovery, rehabilitation and final outcome
• The Actual response depends on
1. Scope
2. Nature
3. Timing
4. Part of the facility and collection affected
5. Staff available for response

5. Checklist of first Response
• Step 1- Make sure people are safe
• Step 2- Make a rapid assessment of the situation
• Step 3-Protect from further damage
• Step-4- work with Facilities staff members to stabilize the
environment
• Do a comprehensive assessment of damage to the collections.

6. Aims of Disaster Response
• saving and protecting human life;
• relieving suffering;
• containing the emergency – limiting its escalation or spread and mitigating its impacts;
• providing the public and businesses with warnings, advice and information;
• protecting the health and safety of responding personnel;
• safeguarding the environment;
• as far as reasonably practicable, protecting property;
• maintaining or restoring critical activities;
• maintaining normal services at an appropriate level;
• promoting and facilitating self-help in affected communities;
• facilitating investigations and inquiries (e.g. by preserving the scene and effective records management);
• facilitating the recovery of the community (including the humanitarian assistance, economic, infrastructure and
environmental impacts);
• evaluating the response and recovery effort; and
• identifying and taking action to implement lessons identified.

7. Disaster Response activities in context of
Nepal
• 1 Natural Calamity Relief Act 1982 and Local Self Governance Act 1999 are the
existing legal foundations for disaster response in Nepal.
• 2 Natural Calamity Relief Act 1982 mandates the Ministry of Home Affairs as a
lead agency for immediate rescue and relief work as well as disaster
preparedness activities. Ministry of Home Affairs has also been coordinating
preparedness and rehabilitation initiatives pursuant to the responsibilities given
by the Work Division Regulation 2064 of the Government of Nepal to oversee the
overall activities of the disaster response in Nepal.
• 3 The National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management was formulated in 2009.
This Strategy outlines the Government’s vision for making Nepal a disaster
resilient country.
• 4 The Cabinet, as per the recommendation of the Central Natural Disaster Relief
Committee, shall declare a state of emergency in case of mega disaster that is
beyond the existing capacity of the Government of Nepal.

8. Contd…..
• 5 As per the Disaster Rescue and Relief Standard 2064, the Natural Disaster Relief Fund
shall remain active at the central, regional, district and local level. The Prime Minister
Natural Disaster Relief Fund will be mobilized for disaster response as per the Prime
Minister Natural Disaster Relief Fund Regulation 2064. In addition, there are several
funds available at international and national humanitarian communities for disaster
response. These funds are being used as per the response needs; therefore, it has been
realized to establish a dedicated disaster response fund at the central, regional and
district levels.
• 6 The formation of Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee (CNDRC), Regional Disaster
Relief Committee (RDRC), District Disaster Relief Committee (DDRC) and Local Disaster
Relief Committee (LDRC) is mandated by the Natural Calamity Relief Act 1982 for the
overall disaster response in Nepal. In addition, there are Supply, Shelter and
Rehabilitation sub-committee and Relief and Treatment sub-committee at the central
level. In order to collect, analyze, disseminate and coordinate disaster related
information, Emergency Operation Centers (EOCs) are functional at the central, regional,
district and municipality level.
• 7 As provisioned by the Local Self Governance Act 2055, local bodies (DDC, Municipalities
and VDCs) are responsible for disaster preparedness and response.

9. International Asisitance
• 1 In case of a mega disaster requiring international assistance, the Government of Nepal (Cabinet) may request the UN
Humanitarian Coordinator, national and international governments, Red Cross Movement, regional organizations, donor
communities, I/NGOs, political parties, different professionals, resident and non-resident Nepalese citizen, foreign citizen, and
other sources for international assistance in terms of cash or services to respond to disaster through concerted national efforts
and intensified regional co-operation. But in normal circumstance, the Ministry of Finance shall be consulted for such an appeal.
• 2 As per the call for assistance from the Government of Nepal, the United Nations and the Red Cross Movement shall appeal for
the international assistance to respond to disaster.
• 3 Ministry of Home Affairs, in accordance with the Guidelines for Accepting International Assistance and Early Registration to be
prepared in consultation with the Ministry of Finance, shall facilitate and coordinate the overall management of International
Humanitarian Communities. This includes their listing, registration, as well as delineating priority response areas for them during
the mega disaster.
• 4 Government of Nepal shall establish provisions for granting immediate visa, visa fees and custom duty exemptions at entry
points (land or air) to International Humanitarian Communities (IHC) along with relief goods, search and rescue equipments,
including medical equipments and accessories as per the Model Agreement for Emergency Customs Procedure 2007.
• 5 The Government of Nepal shall facilitate the issuance of entry visa for members of international community who come to Nepal
for search and rescue and humanitarian support in times of mega disaster. In addition, the Government of Nepal shall also take
initiatives, and facilitate as necessary, for the provision of transit visa for international humanitarian community coming to Nepal
via India and the port facility for relief items destined to Nepal.
• 6 During a large scale disaster, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator shall activate the cluster system of Nepal. Government of Nepal
shall nominate the full time focal person to the respective cluster in order to respond to disaster through a coordinated cluster
approach. In addition, the Central Natural Disaster relief Committee may also activate the clusters as necessary.

13. Disaster Recovery
• Includes all operation after the initial response including
restoration of the collections and/or services
• Time for recovery may be as short of a few hours or up to several
years
• Whatever the damage, the collection will never be exactly the
same

14. Procedures for disaster recovery
• Provide Continuity of service
• Restore
• Create and Implementation plan

15. Disaster Recovery Plan
• A disaster recovery plan (DRP) is a documented process or set of
procedures to recover and protect a business IT infrastructure in the event
of a disaster.[1] Such a plan, ordinarily documented in written form,
specifies procedures an organization is to follow in the event of a disaster.
It is "a comprehensive statement of consistent actions to be taken before,
during and after a disaster".[2] The disaster could
be natural, environmental or man-made. Man-made disasters could be
intentional (for example, an act of a terrorist) or unintentional (that is,
accidental, such as the breakage of a man-made dam).
• Given organizations' increasing dependency on information technology to
run their operations, a disaster recovery plan, sometimes erroneously
called a Continuity of OperationsPlan (COOP), is increasingly associated
with the recovery of information technology data, assets, and facilities.

17. Critiques on Disasters as opportunities for
development initiatives
• Hazards and disasters often have low salience in the political agenda. Nonetheless, disasters also
provide development opportunities for communities and nations (Fordham 2007; McEntire 2004).
A major disaster can open a “window of opportunity” and help the issue move into the policy
agenda (Prater and Lindell 2000; Sylves 2008). Research shows that many communities
participate in better construction practices after disaster (Manyena 2012; Schilderman 1993). In
the United States, the government became more alert about terrorist activities after the 9/11
terrorist attack Likewise, the 2011 earthquake and Tsunami in Japan raised attention on potential
harmful aspects of nuclear power plants. Similarly, the leadership and collaboration failures
exhibited during Katrina (Waugh and Tierney 2007)
• have forced the government to find ways to foster collaboration among sectors and governmental
bodies. The importance of an integrated emergency management approach is highly valued after
Hurricane Katrina. Communities with previous disaster experience also tend to adopt building
technologies that increases the resistance of the buildings (disaster subculture). Likewise a city
that was completely destroyed by a disaster may seek to adopt planning strategies that reduce
vulnerability to future disasters. Nonetheless, the lack of resources often acts as a barrier to
incorporate effective development practices. This is why despite having many devastating
experiences with disaster, many of the developing nations are still ill prepared for future hazards.

21. Modern and traditional response approach
• The responses to disasters may employ a mix of approaches from
traditional to modern with these approaches moving back and forth
depending on the nature of disaster in term of their scope. The scope of
disasters has influenced responses in the following ways:
• ƒHumanitarian (aid to relieve pain and suffering),
• ƒRemittance (Cash sent to victims),
• ƒRelief assistance (food, medication, tents),
• ƒNetworking (contacting organizations),
• ƒVolunteerism (internal and external groups of people volunteering help or
community- based approach) and ƒ
• Mutual aid agreements (pre-drawn up agreements to provide resources)

22. • As disasters continue to occur, people affected by them sometimes need external
assistance in order to survive and recover. Response can be either modern or
traditional to the extent that assistance is transferred to individuals in the
disaster. The assistance can either be provided in-kind, in the form of food aid,
shelter materials, seeds or blankets, or it can be provided in cash, enabling
people to decide for themselves what they most need, and to buy in local
markets. A striking means of response to disasters has been remittances where
people residing outside the disaster area channel sums of money or goods over
long distances to those affected. The terms used to describe this response are
most commonly understood to refer to transfers between migrants and their
places of origin. In many countries the community-based approach to emergency
response has been the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), organized
in communities to work closely with the local government and the community
members themselves to identify community needs and priorities for any disaster
situation

23. Modern methods of Response
• 1 Cell phones: cell phones as warning devices can be very useful. Short messages can be
sent to recipients warning of imminent threat of tropical storms, wind storms or any
severe weather likely to cause damage.
• 2 Spatial information – use of satellite imagery. The emergency management community
is keenly aware of the potential of mapping technologies such as geographic information
systems (GIS), remote sensing (satellite imagery), and global positioning systems (GPS) in
support of emergency response operations. Increasingly, geographic technologies are
being utilized for hazard mitigation as well as response efforts. These range from damage
assessments mapping the event and affected areas to search and rescue, risk
assessment, risk perception (Hodgson and Palm, 1992), and risk communication
(Hodgson and Cutter 2001). There is more information on the role of technology for
managing disasters in Unit 8.
• 3 Social media and social networking – social media and social networking can be used as
a tool to emergency response communications. Text messaging such as Twitter and the
social networking system such as Face book can be used as a channel of communication
in disaster response.