Tag: disaster management: responding to disasters

The Disaster Management Act was passed on 23rd December 2005 by the Rajya Sabha. The Act provides for "the effective management of disasters and for matters connected there with or incidental thereto."

B.  BDO

As the head of the Block administration, Block Development Officer plays a very significant role in the implementation of Disaster Management operations like Preparedness, Prevention and Mitigation. As the main functionary of the Block administration, he will act in the following sectors:

1. Monitoring of functioning of all kinds of Disaster Management operations in his area and sending report to the Sub Divisional Officer and other higher authorities,
2. To monitor the functioning of all committees related to Disaster Management at the Panchayat Samity and Gram Panchayat level,
3. To visit every part of his area and to see that the social assistance measures are promptly, properly & effectively given to disaster victims whenever required and make periodical routine examination/assessment of the socio-economic status of his area,
4. To make assessment of fund required for infrastructural reconstruction after any disaster,
5. Will maintain all the accounts of the Disaster Management operations that have to be started during any natural calamity,She/he will prepare Block Disaster Management Plan every year and also revise it from year to year.
6. She/he will undertake preparedness, mitigation and rehabilitation measurers every year.She/he will keep the Block level India Disaster Resource Network updated every year.
7. After every calamity, s/he will prepare and send preliminary report in CAII form to the Sub Divisional Officer at once.

A.  Earthquakes

An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth, resulting from the sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can be violent enough to toss people around and destroy whole cities. The seismicity or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time. In modern popular culture, the portrayal of earthquakes is shaped by the memory of great cities laid waste, such as Kobe in 1995 or San Francisco in 1906.Fictional earthquakes tend to strike suddenly and without warning

Generation of disaster warning is a multi-institutional effort, which has direct application in disaster mitigation and management, urban development, planning, design and construction, and risk assessment to existing life and property, defense installations, heavy industry and public utilities and services, etc. During the last few years’ efforts have been made to take up microzonation studies for Delhi, Guwahati, Sikkim and Bangalore

Hurricane Betsy was an intense and destructive tropical cyclone that brought widespread damage to areas of Florida and the Central United States Gulf Coast in September 1965. Hurricane Betsy was the first natural disaster to generate more than a billion dollars in damages. At that time there was no standardized floodplain management strategy throughout the country and flood insurance was not widely available through private companies.Hurricane Betsy was the final push for the creation of national flood legislation. The implementation of the National Flood Insurance Program was intended to make flood insurance more affordable, but also to manage development in floodplains.

• The four phases of Comprehensive Emergency management are Mitigation, Preparation, Response and Recovery. 
  
• Mitigation i.e preventing future emergencies or minimizing their effects and it includes any activities that prevent an emergency, reduce the chance of an emergency happening, or reducing the damaging effects of unavoidable emergencies. 
  
• The preparation phase is centred around arranging or developing a plan to approach events after the incident crops up. Unlike prevention and preparation phase, response is undertaken during a disaster situation. 
  
• The aim of the response procedures is to save lives, reduce victim's suffering and alleviate economical losses. Crucial for this phase is the implementation of the plans formulated and prepared prior to the event in the preparation phase. 
  
• During a recovery phase, which takes place after an incident had occurred, affected community is assisted in restoration of concerned area.