[Disaster Management] Uttrakhand flood vs Phailin cyclone

[Ranjith]

·         India is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, and many of its 1.2 billion people live in areas vulnerable to natural hazards such as floods, cyclones, droughts and earthquakes.

·         The 1999 super cyclone which thrashed Odisha with wind speeds of 300 km per hour - leaving more than a million homeless - was a wake-up call to authorities as well as humanitarian agencies, say disaster experts.

·         With meteorologists warning that climate change will bring more severe natural calamities to the Indian subcontinent, states like Odisha and Andhra Pradesh have since invested heavily in disaster risk

·         Around 76 percent of India's coastline is prone to cyclones and tsunamis, while 59 percent of the country is vulnerable to earthquakes, 10 percent to floods and river erosion, and 68 percent to droughts.

·         But not all states in India are as prepared as Odisha and Andhra Pradesh reduction projects.

 

	Uttrakhand flood	Odisha Cyclone
1.	Without preparedness in case of flood in Uttrakhand by ignoring early warning -> caused devastation (Himalayan tsunami).	With preparedness, resilience, reducing vulnerability in Odisha for Phailin cyclone -> saving countless lives.
2.	Early warnings were ignored	Early warnings before five days & preparedness for Phailin
3.	Failure to organise timely evacuations in the popular Hindu pilgrimage area.	The pre-positioning of food rations and packaged drinking water in shelters, and the orderly & forceful evacuation of close to one million people saved many lives.
4.	Armed forces came to rescue after the devastation.	The army, navy and air force were put on standby, and power and telecoms companies were instructed to be ready to restore damaged infrastructure
5.	Pilgrims & natives were not warned & not prepared enough	Warnings! Fishermen not to venture out to sea and to put boats in safe places & farmers were advised to harvest their standing crops.
6.	Very less attention on disaster management. The construction of hydroelectric dams, rampant deforestation and the spread of unregulated buildings along river banks worsened the impact.	All time investment for disaster management paidoff.
7.	Sufficient importance was not given to disaster mitigation.	DM: AP & Odisha have disaster management departments and have built hundreds of cyclone shelters across the coast.
8.	No networking of people for disaster management.	Established an extensive network(Christian Aid, Red Cross & local org) of disaster management task forces all along the coast
9.	No preparedness measures.	Increased the resilience of coastal communities, preparing them for emergencies, teaching them about life-saving search and rescue activities, and the availability of stockpiles of emergency relief supplies.
10.	Almost 6,000 missing people are presumed dead, and the devastation has disrupted the lives of two million people - one-fifth of Uttarakhand's population.	23 reported as dead

 

 

 

Reference:

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/10/14/analysis-cyclone-phailin-odisha-idINDEE99D04T20131014?feedType=nl&feedName=intopnews

[Ranjith]