LAW OF THE CHAIN FOR RESETTING OUR SHARED GLOBAL VISION FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, USA

LAW OF THE CHAIN

A DISASTER IS A WINDOW OF OPPOR- TUNITY TO FIX THE TWO WEAK LINKS IN EVERY COMMUNITY’S DISASTER RESILIENCE PROGRAMME:TRANSFER and MPLEMENTATION OF KNOWLEDGE

2010 PROVIDED MANY NEW WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY HAITI EARTHQUAKE FLOODS IN RUSSIA, BRAZIL, AND POLAND CHILE EARTHQUAKE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WINDSTORM XYANTHIA DROUGHT IN CARIBBEAN DROUGHT IN CHINA VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN ICELAND OIL LEAK IN GULF OF MEXICO MUD FLOWS IN MADEIRA LACK OF UNDER- STANDING, TECHNOLOGY, AND PREPAREDNESS FAILURE TO TRANSFER AND IMPLEMENT GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE COMMUNITY VULNER- ABILITIES EXPOSED COMMUNITY VULNER- ABILITIES EXPOSED

HAZARDSHAZARDS FACT: ELEMENTS OF DISASTER RISK EXIST IN EVERY COMMUNITY FACT: ELEMENTS OF DISASTER RISK EXIST IN EVERY COMMUNITY EXPOSUREEXPOSURE VULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY LOCATIONLOCATION RISKRISK

A disaster has undesirable local, regional, and global consequences.

REALITY 101 ALL NATIONS LOSE WHEN KNOWLEDGE ON NATURAL DISASTERS IS NOT TRANSFERRED OR IMPLEMENTED IN A TIMELY AND EFFECTIVE WAY TO REDUCE COMMUNITY VULNERABILITIES

THE BOTTOM LINE KNOWLEDGE THAT DOES NOT PROMOTE “DISASTER RESILIENCE ON THE GROUND” SOMEWHERE DOES NOT LEAVE A LEGACY ANYWHERE.

REALITY 101 A disaster is the result of NOT TRANSFERRING AND IMPLEMENTING knowledge to reduce vulnerability and risk

REALITY 101 DISASTER = KNOWLEDGE BUT WITHOUT TRANSFER AND IMPLEMEN- TATION DISASTER RESILIENCE = KNOWLEDGE WITH TRANSFER AND IMPLEMEN- TATION

A DISASTER ALWAYS EXPOSES A COMMUNITY’S WEAK LINKS INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI HURRICANE KATRINA FLOODS IN CHINA CYCLONE NARGIS—2008 WENCHUAN, CHINA EARTH- QUAKE--2008

A DISASTER ALWAYS EXPOSES A COMMUNITY’S WEAK LINKS HAITI EARTHQUAKE CHILE EARTHQUAKE AND PACIFIC TSUNAMI ICELAND VOLCANIC ERUPTION AND ASH CLOUD OIL LEAK IN GULF OF MEXICO

INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI DISASTER: DECEMBER 2004 Elements of the disaster: 1) An inadequate tsunami warning system, 2) An estimated 220,000 deaths in 11 nations, and 3) $ billions in losses.

FLOOD DISASTER IN CHINA: JULY 2007 Elements of the disaster: 1) Evacuation of one half-million people from the rain- swollen Huai River, 2) a plague of two billion mice, and 3) losses of $3 billion.

HURRICANE KATRINA DISASTER:AUGUST 2005 Elements of the disaster: 1) poor siting and design of the levee system, 2) flooding of 80 percent of New Orleans, 3) 1,800 dead, and 4) losses of $81 billion.

CYCLONE NARGIS DISASTER: IN MYANMAR: MAY 2008 Elements of the disaster: 1) Poor implementation of warning systems, 2) Slow receipt of Inter- national AID, 3) an estimated 220,000 deaths.

WENCHUAN, CHINA EATHQUAKE DISASTER: MAY 2008 Elements of the disaster: 1) Poor implementation of building codes, 2) 88,000 deaths, 3) 25 million buildings damaged, 4) 45 million affected

HAITI EARTHQUAKE DISASTER JANUARY 2010 Elements of the disaster: 1) poor implementation of building codes, 2) an estimated 220,000 deaths, 3) $ billion in damage, and 4) a 10-year- long recovery.

EYJAFJALLAJOKULL VOLCANO ERUPTS IN ICELAND: MARCH 2010 Elements of the disaster: 1) Lack of prepared-ness to deal with an ash cloud, 2) 100,000 canceled flights in Europe, 3) 1 billion + loss to aviation industry.

THE GREAT OIL LEAK DISASTER OF IN GULF OF MEXICO: APRIL 2010 Elements of the disaster: 1) Lack of technology to deal with an 1-mile deep oil leak adding 22,000 gallons of oil per day, 2) pollution, 3) dead fish and wildfire, and 4) $ billion loss.

REALITY 101 It is much more cost-effective for a nation to improve the transfer and implementation of knowledge than to try to sustain the socioeconomic losses from recurring disasters

YOUR COMMUNITY DATA BASES AND INFORMATION HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS HAZARD MAPS INVENTORY VULNERABILITY LOCATION HAZARD & RISK ASSESSMENTS RISK ACCEPTABLE RISK UNACCEPTABLE RISK DECISIONS ON ON DISASTER RESILIENCE PREPAREDNESS PROTECTION EARLY WARNING EMERGENCY RESPONSE RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION ELEMENTS OF DISASTER RESILIENCE

THE UNREALISTIC GOAL NO DISASTERS! …UNREALISTIC BECAUSE NATURAL HAZARDS (E.G., FLOODS, SEVERE WINDSTORMS, EARTHQUAKES, DROUGHTS) ARE INEVITABLE AND COMMUNITIES ARE VULNERABLE. NO DISASTERS! …UNREALISTIC BECAUSE NATURAL HAZARDS (E.G., FLOODS, SEVERE WINDSTORMS, EARTHQUAKES, DROUGHTS) ARE INEVITABLE AND COMMUNITIES ARE VULNERABLE.

THE REALISTIC GOAL DISASTER RESILIENCE! …, BUT IT DEPENDS ON SUCCESSFUL CAPACITY BUILDING ON MULTIPLE SCALES FOR PREPAREDNESS, PROTECTION, EARLY WARNING, EMERGENCY RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY/RECON- STRUCTION. DISASTER RESILIENCE! …, BUT IT DEPENDS ON SUCCESSFUL CAPACITY BUILDING ON MULTIPLE SCALES FOR PREPAREDNESS, PROTECTION, EARLY WARNING, EMERGENCY RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY/RECON- STRUCTION.

DISASTER RESILIENCE REQUIRES A “24/7” EFFORT A 24/7 EFFORT IS NEEDED TO BUILD THE CAPACITY NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT EVERY ELEMENT OF COMMINITY DISASTER RESILIENCE.

FACT: MANY GLOBAL COMMUNITIES LACK CAPACITY FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE. 200 NATIONS AND 7+ BILLION PEOPLE 200 NATIONS AND 7+ BILLION PEOPLE NORTH AMERICA NORTH AMERICA CARIBBEAN BASIN CARIBBEAN BASIN SUB-SAHARA AFRICA SUB-SAHARA AFRICA MEDITER- RANEAN MEDITER- RANEAN ISLAND NATIONS ISLAND NATIONS ASIA SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA EUROPE

STEP ONE: FINDING AND ENGAGING Finding and engaging the right people in the community (i.e., those who are willing to commit to a sustained effort to build capacity for disaster resilience).

STEP TWO: EQUIPPING Only if the people at risk are adequately equipped with knowledge on the occurrences and consequences of natural hazards (e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes / typhoons, and floods) and a political mandate to become resilient before a natural disaster occurs is there a good chance of actually achieving disaster resilience.

HOW TO SUCCEED POLITICAL & SOCIAL SCIENCEPOLITICAL SCIENCE PHYSICAL SCIENCES ENGINEERINGSCIENCESENGINEERINGSCIENCES SUCCESS: COMMUNITY DISASTER RESILINCE STRATEGIC GOAL: WORKING TOGETHER TO INCREASE CAPACITY IN EVERY COMMUNITY

STEP THREE: PARTNERNING Forge partnerships in the community that involve the best available politicians, business leaders, scientists, engineers, the media, medical professionals, and educators in a concerted long-term effort.

COMMUNITY CAPACITY COMMUNITY CAPACITY GOAL: DISASTER RESILIENCE PRIVATE SECTOR PUBLIC SECTOR ACADEMIA FUNCTIONAL NETWORKING CHANNELS INFORMATION NETWORKING CHANNELS ORGANIZATION NETWORKING CHANNELS IMPLEMENTATION COMMUNITYSTAKEHOLDERS Stratec Consulting

HOW TO FAIL FACT: NO COMMUNITY CAN REDUCE DISASTER RISK WITHOUT GOALS, CAPACITY, OR BY WORKING ALONE FACT: NO COMMUNITY CAN REDUCE DISASTER RISK WITHOUT GOALS, CAPACITY, OR BY WORKING ALONE FACT: NO COMMUNITY CAN REDUCE DISASTER RISK WITHOUT GOALS, CAPACITY, OR BY WORKING ALONE NO CAPACITY FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE: HIGH RISK NO MANDATE FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE EDUCATION THAT DOES NOT BUILD CAPACITY