different papers

Running Head: MASS EVACUATION DURING DISASTERS 1

MASS EVACUATION DURING DISASTERS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES 8

MASS EVACUATION DURING DISASTERS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

NAME

INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATION

Mass Evacuation during Disasters: Challenges and Opportunities

Section One

Disasters

A disaster is a consequence of an unforeseen incident that results in damage, death, ecological disruption, worsening of health and health services. The damage caused exceeds the capacity of a community to use its resources to recover to the extent that it requires an extraordinary external response.

Mass Evacuation

Mass evacuation means clearing a multitude of people from one or many operational areas that hold an impending or ongoing threat, or a hazard to human life or property. The evacuation is urgent and requires immediate assistance from the state to take in and shelter the evacuees, ensuring public safety.

Previous Disasters

Brutal disasters causing tremendous loss of both lives and property have been a reality throughout history. One natural disaster that can be easily called the most deadly in history was the floods of 1931 in Central China. The phenomenon, experienced in July and August that year, was so harmful that the death toll was in the millions. Two million people lost their lives according to government figures after vast waterways including the Yangtze River went beyond their banks. In December 2004, the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean caused the death of approximately 230,000-280,000 people in fourteen distinct countries. Indonesia was hit the hardest and recorded the highest number of dead and missing people, 126,473, and, 93,943 respectively, as recorded in administrative government records. Sri Lanka was next in line with 36,594 people reported either dead or missing.

An earthquake in January 2010 hit Haiti, a catastrophe that cost 160,000 precious lives as recorded in a journal that was published the same year September 11, 2001, was one of the darkest days for New York. Al-Qaeda, an extremist group, seized four airplanes and perpetrated strategically targeted suicide attacks in the United States. Two thousand, nine hundred and ninety-six people died, including 19 terrorists who had hijacked the planes. In 2005 alone, twenty-eight hurricanes and tropical storms were recorded including Hurricane Katrina and Rita in 2005, as well as, Hurricane Dean in 2007. Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico in September 2017. The hurricane led to the death of more people than those recorded after 9/11 and hurricane Katrina put together. The death rate recorded was higher by 62 percent in the months following that in the same period the previous year.

Challenges and Opportunities

Many interconnected variables determine whether a mass evacuation will succeed and fail. Delays in warning or unclear warnings can affect the evacuation process, making deciding on when to evacuate even harder. A large population, Inadequate resources, and, fear of vandalism are other factors that can paralyze evacuation. The cost incurred during a mandatory evacuation is high for both the government and its people. Evacuation has many ethical and legal questions. Invoking the order of compulsory evacuation is a complex decision since those who resist only endanger themselves and not others. Should there be a penalty for failing to comply? Do public officials have any duty of evacuation for people who oppose the order?

Weather forecasting is an unpredictable process, and some storms are not adequately informed early enough to necessitate evacuation or commit resources before their onset. Shelters and transportation are interdependent; therefore, shelters located too far significantly reduce the capacity of transportation assets for evacuation. Management of these shelters and knowing the status of their supplies can be difficult. Old people may not be able to evacuate, and, reuniting children separated from their families in the case of a no-notice evacuation is difficult.

The responsibility of the government is a significant player in the success of mass evacuation. Federal support is available when jurisdictional capacities are overwhelmed, and the coordinating structures ensure necessary resources are provided for an efficient response. Transportation and shelter are among the primary responsibilities. There are safe evacuation plans and procedures developed ahead of time in case of emergencies. The situations requiring evacuation, the exit and entry routes, and, the people in command are clearly outlined enabling the process to flow smoothly.

Law enforcement agencies, both state and local, provide the security needed during the process. The attention given to evacuation has allowed researchers to explore and develop software and simulation programs that make the evaluation of evacuation plans possible. Any obstacles that could arise are foreseen and corrected. Social networks are a huge asset in planning and the assessment of evacuation demand. Social network data acquired through interviews and network research is used in predicting logistics like route choice, destination, and, the number of evacuees (Sadri, Ukkusuri, and Gladwin, 2017). Social media is essential in warning the public, managing them, and, answering their questions during the process. The information is also enlightening during simulations.

Section Two

The United States is among the most hurricane-susceptible countries worldwide. The Atlantic Ocean has recorded scores of destructive hurricanes, among them, Hurricane Andrew (1992), Isabel (2003), and, Francis (2004). The events of 2005, however, cannot be quickly forgotten.

Hurricane Katrina-Challenges and Opportunities

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landing on Louisiana and Florida, especially in New Orleans and its surroundings, causing disastrous damage. There were devastating difficulties due to the overwhelmingly large number of stranded victims in the affected areas, inadequate response, and, the fact that the evacuees were dispersed. In Louisiana alone, almost 1500 people were killed. One major challenge was uncoordinated evacuation orders. The governor of New Orleans issued the order to evacuate two days after the governor for Louisiana, who did it less than 24 hours before the storm arrived. This confused the residents of Louisiana, probably preventing timely preparation in terms of getting supplies, protecting their houses and leaving. Traffic was also undesirably congested just before the storm due to this.

A good number of residents in New Orleans, 104,000, did not comply with the evacuation order. Some underestimated the risk despite the warnings while others just decided to take shelter rather than beat the devastating traffic experienced in previous evacuations. Residents of nursing homes and patients admitted in hospitals were not evacuated by those whom they depended. Other residents lacked the resources they would need to provide essential resources if they left. They needed money for fuel, booking hotels, and buying food.

Transportation was also unreliable. There was little commitment to execute the existing evacuation strategy. Contrary to the emergency operations plan, school buses were not used to clear the city. The state of the Gulf of Mexico was briskly changing, making forecasting difficult and the federal officials became apathetic. Communication slacked, and federal attention was not maximal, slowing down the expected response as seen in the days after the landfall. The stock of necessary facilities like food, medicine, healthcare workers and water was insufficient. There were also ethical challenges, including dilemmas like whether to evacuate families together or whether to evacuate pregnant women and girls. It was also challenging to tell the families of patients with a do not resuscitate order that their patients would not be a priority in the evacuation.

Horne illustrates some of the challenges that were faced during the disaster in History Live (2018). There were chaos and social disorder that disrupted interventions (see figure 1). The roof of the Superdome, which was the last hope, was destroyed by the winds as well (see figure 2).

Figure 1. A thief with a rifle in a K-Mart in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Figure 2. Evacuees at the Superdome left vulnerable after the roof was blown off.

Despite the shortcomings, the response was still among the largest in US history. The government was prepared, quick to take action and intensify the efforts to ensure everyone was evacuated. The governor of Louisiana promptly declared a state of emergency, and, the president of the US announced it a disaster and freed up assistance for the areas that would be affected even before the landfall.

The rate of evacuation was exemplary. 92% of the population of New Orleans was evacuated. People were able to temporarily seek refuge in improvised shelters in overhead highway bridges and other mass assembly points, including the Morial Convention Centre. The federal government, eventually, was able to deploy the military for a massive evacuation operation. Five hundred thousand people were finally evacuated after one of the deadliest storms. The nation was able to accommodate the internally displaced citizens who were still in New Orleans since the city had been destroyed.

Haiti Earthquake-Challenges and Opportunities

On January 12, 2010, Haiti, which had been facing challenges politically, socially, and economically, was struck by a devastating magnitude-7.0 earthquake. It led to the death of two hundred and fifty thousand people. More than 1 million people were displaced.

There were many civilians in the country without identification cards, which made it difficult to identify and register the evacuated victims. The coverage of public services like water, sewer systems, and solid waste management was very low. These inadequacies made it challenging to provide these previously insufficient basic facilities in the emergency shelters holding the evacuees. The conditions in the camps were terrible due to the disposal of waste. Urban planning in the country was poor, hence the road networks were poor, and there were inadequate public spaces. The evacuation was hectic due to traffic problems. The vulnerable neighborhoods were not easily accessible for quick evacuation, and there was limited space to establish temporary shelters. Some evacuated victims had to take refuge in risky areas.

The country had many people that were already homeless and living in the slums before the earthquake making them more vulnerable. This situation also posed an ethical dilemma on whether to evacuate them. Due to the extreme poverty among the citizens, some evacuees preferred to sell the provided shelters and satisfy other basic needs. Insecurity caused by thefts and assaults disrupted the process and posed a risk to the evacuation teams, shelter staff, and the facilities.

The earthquake struck at a time of the month when people did not have savings, making it difficult to evacuate due to lack of resources to cope. The rainy season was also fast approaching, and there had to be contingency planning while identifying the shelters. Language barriers among the staff made coordination with national authorities, organizations, and the victims difficult. Uncoordinated leadership made it hard to determine who was in command and this slowed the response. The United Nations, in their situation update, reported an assessment carried out by World Vision which showed some of the problems that made the process difficult (2010). Although these issues existed before the earthquake, it certainly made them worse (see figure 3).

Figure 3. Priority problems in some regions of Haiti

Factors that contributed to the success of evacuation despite all these setbacks included political backing and prior preparedness activities. The government endorsed evacuation plans and supported the shelter sector. The government also allocated land, enabling victims who had been settled in dangerous areas to get safe shelters. Some emergency shelters had already been established before the earthquake, and this made evacuation easier. The response staff was extremely experienced, which made strategy development easy and ensured smooth coordination. The team was also able to contribute significantly in solving the numerous problems during the evacuation, like shelter constraints. Haitians who lived abroad sent generous contributions to their relatives and acquaintances to enable them to obtain better shelters in appropriate conditions. Financial constraints were also taken care of by funding from donors, which allowed better facilitation of the evacuation process.

Section Three

Importance of studying the challenges and opportunities of mass Evacuation during Disasters

Mass evacuation is a crucial facet of disaster planning, yet it is often overlooked, and, given a dismal part of the overall disaster management plans. This topic points out significant issues that need to be addressed to ensure people are cleared from danger promptly with minimal challenges. Consequently, the students, some of whom will be future stakeholders in disaster management and planning, and the current stakeholders become aware of the gaps that need to be filled. It creates awareness created on the challenges that threaten to paralyze the process of mass evacuation and the procedures that need to be followed in the event of a crisis.

The critical role of some of the technological breakthroughs like social media in informing both the press and the authorities about the situation on the ground during the process is eye-opening. In a world where l media has found its way in all households, the ease of public education using the knowledge acquired here becomes evident to the students and they can take up the challenge. Public education can greatly improve mass evacuation since the response to a compulsory evacuation is determined by how the citizens perceive the risk they face. “People understand some risk better than others, trust some officials more than others, and have greater freedom to act in some situations than others” (Dombroski, Fischhoff, and Fischbeck, 2006). The knowledge of disasters and how to respond, therefore, has a role in the process.

The importance of the information uncovered in this topic cannot be underestimated. The relevant stakeholder including the government and relief organizations can be alerted towards specific needs that should be taken care of to improve mass evacuation. Resources that are essential but inadequate can be sourced early and made available to ensure nothing is lacked. Simple problems that can be solved should be settled. Shelters should be identified early, and transport should be organized. Roles should be outlined beyond questionable doubt to avoid conflict on issues like the authorities in command. Evacuation procedures and plans should be reviewed and improved, ensuring the program covers all possible outcomes that can be faced and how to counter them.

The skills acquired can be used to facilitate discussions on how to strengthen the opportunities that make mass evacuation easy. The government, for instance, can encourage and fund more research to get more innovations to use for simulations and improve the existing ones. Such a move will ensure better preparedness during the response to a disaster. Evacuation unquestionably saves lives, and these issues shed light on some of the policies that need to be modified to provide the development and implementation of suitable evacuation and sheltering plans.

References

Dombroski, M., Fischhoff, B., & Fischbeck, P. (2006). Predicting emergency evacuation and sheltering behavior: A structured analytical approach. Risk Analysis, 26(6), 1675-1688.

Horne, M (2018,). Retrieved March 22, 2019, from https://www.history.com/news/hurricane-katrina-photos (Originally photographed 2005, August)

Sadri, A. M., Ukkusuri, S. V., & Gladwin, H. (2017). The role of social networks and information sources on hurricane evacuation decision making. Natural Hazards Review, 18(3), 04017005.

UN News Centre | Haiti Earthquake: Situation Updates. (2010). Retrieved March 22, 2019, from http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/haiti/haiti_quake_update.shtml