Disaster Management, Preparedness, and Recovery

Disaster can be defined as both sudden and warned threats to a particular city, country, or even to the world that can be hazardous to both human and monetary capital. There are mainly two types of disasters natural and man-made disasters but both are equally threatening and can be a curse to humanity.

Disaster can take place anywhere and anytime and most of the time disaster takes place suddenly and destroy human life in just a single wave that disaster wave could be a covid wave, tsunami wave, or earthquake wave but just a single wave is enough to harm the human and monetary resources.

In order to prevent the loss made by any form of disaster, disaster management becomes essentially important and should be taken seriously by the government of every country. And is the sole responsibility of both the central and state governments of the country to take appropriate steps to mitigate the effects of the disaster.

It is to be said that prevention is always better than cure, here in the case of disaster, “preparedness and awareness” is better than cure. Because preparedness can save many lives but the cure for the problems created by the disaster is always expensive and a threat to the economy of the country so preparedness should be there and this preparedness could be brought by good disaster management skills.

Recovery from a disaster is also very difficult because the life that has been taken by the disaster can never be recovered. So in this case, one can only attempt to save the life instead of recovering from the threat of the disaster. So every country should have effective plans to save its citizens and important infrastructure from the threat of disaster. 

Disaster Preparedness

Disaster preparedness refers to the process in which an organization, government, or society individually or combinedly takes steps to avoid the apocalyptic moment of loss from a disaster. Disaster preparedness is an important step that should be taken by every country to protect its citizens and infrastructure. It is so pathetic to see someone crying for his/her loved one, it may be a person or a home or could be anything that has been earned by a person after so much hard work.

Disaster is a curse not just for a layman but for the government also as the loss done by the disaster is a loss for the economy of the country as well. Once a disaster threat has shaken the very foundation of the country it is hard to build the foundation again. So some steps ought to be taken by the government to save the economy of the country.

In the process of preparedness, the pieces of advice from the professional have a significant value. The contingency planning, stockpiling of equipment and supplies, the development of arrangements for coordination, evacuation, and public information, and associated training and field exercises are some steps that have to be followed by the government of every country to avoid being hit by any disaster. 

There are a few steps that should be followed by every country according to their geography. For example, countries surrounded by water bodies like oceans or seas should always stay alert for disaster that arises from oceans and seas. Disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis, hypoxia, the spread of harmful algal blooms, oil, and chemical spills in the water, etc. these such disasters, whether man-made or natural can be threatening to both marine animals and humans who are especially living in the coastal areas.

So in this case government or any organization that is responsible for the safety of human beings living in coastal areas should take conducive steps to prevent human and economic losses. The steps, in this case, should be like this:

-  When it comes to natural disasters, the government most of the time is alarmed by the meteorological department and government must take steps according to the advice of the professional and for the safe side, another place must be pre-organized for those people who are living in a coastal area so that if any hazardous disaster comes from the sea towards them they could move to that place.

-  The second step is to safeguard the property or important assets people have in coastal areas and to save these assets government  should plan a scheme in which the insurance could be applied to these assets and if any loss by chance is faced by someone he/.she could get the reimbursement to the asset.

-  Another important thing is the arrangement of food for the people and education for their children because no one knows how long  the disaster will last in that particular area but education and food is the basic need of a person that should be given to everyone on time and for that government should make a good infrastructure.

-  Next are those who could face threats arising from land, people living on land can face a number of disasters that are really hazardous and apocalyptic. These such disasters are tornadoes, floods, landslides, Earthquakes, drought, wildfires, hurricanes, community violence, land disputes, security threat, etc. a government should always be ready to cope with these problems as these problems could lead to a national emergency. Earthquakes and landslides could arise both due to the mistake of men and arise naturally due to the movement of tectonic plates.

So in order to avoid life loss from earthquakes, a government of a country should clearly declare the earthquake-prone zones/areas, mining in these such areas should be restricted, and construction of heavy infrastructure like multi-story buildings, dams, etc should be banned in these such areas. A government should have devices that can quickly tell from where the threat is coming and how lasting its effect would be. A rescue force should always be available in order to save people from these threats. A flood is also natural it occurs when the rivers flow beyond their banks.

Flood badly affects the villages which lie near the bank of rivers. A river flows beyond the region of its banks generally because of two reasons, when glaciers in the hilly areas melt faster than their natural speed and second when the rainy season lasts for a long time or rain falls heavily. Floods are really hazardous as it destroys forests and wildlife and agriculture and human life. The effects of flood remain even after the flood vanishes away.

Diseases like cholera, diarrhea, dengue, malaria, epidemics, etc spread fastly in flood-affected areas and reap off most of the population. In order to save human and animal life, a government should clearly mark the flood-prone zones. People living in the villages that lie on the banks of the river must be warned during the rainy season and the government should arrange a safe place for their migration. Arrangements for basic needs such as water, food, and shelter should be done by the government. People should be rescued from flood-prone areas even before the flood arrives.

All the natural disasters including security threats could be prevented with the support of the normal citizen of the country as the people of the country are not goods but capital that should be used well. Every people in the country should be taught about the types and causes of natural disasters so that, if they meet such disaster they could take appropriate steps at least to save themselves and their families. So awareness is the most important on which a government of the country should work. Hence, awareness is the main step towards preparedness. 

Recovery from the disaster

Recovery from the disaster is not an easy task it is the loss of property and life which don't have any reimbursement price. It is a slow process but has to be done on time as long as a person is affected by the loss he/she is a threat to herself/himself so redeem what you have to come out of that negative mode and recover from the loss. For recovery, one must do the following things such as:

-  A government should first take a glimpse of the health of the people suffering from the loss of disaster.

-  An individual must quickly go and claim the insurance for all the expensive things he/she had once but now has lost it.

-  Second is to claim the health insurance of a person who is suffering from the threat of a disaster and the life insurance of a person who recently died due to the disaster.

-  Once the threat of the disaster is over, government officials should quickly back to work and work on reviving all the public facilities which got blocked due to the disaster.

-  The government must avail reimbursement money for the loss to the people as it is the best way to support and bring life back on track.

Scope of Disaster Management

Humans are the best resources that can be used as assets but humans sometimes become a liability to the government, if they are not well-trained. So in order to use human power, a government must focus on the skills of humans and must avail people of the right education about specific topics or skills.

Disaster management can be done only by managing human power and to trained humans in such a way that they could control the loss. For this government should make people aware of the importance of disaster management skills and how these skills will help them in difficult situations. And the importance of disaster management sets its scope.

Once people are known of the importance of disaster management they will definitely try to establish their career in this field. risk management, loss management, control of events, equity of assistance, resource management, and impact reduction, are the six main activities that are taught in this course. Which are actually important and helpful as these skills save your life and make you the savior of someone else’s life as well.

Conclusion:

Disaster management aims to reduce and avoid a potential loss, save people from hazards and assure safe and appropriate assistance to the victims of a disaster, and achieve a quick and effective recovery. It is crucial that hospitals, rescue forces, and armed forces remain safe, active, and functional during and after disasters. But proper safety measures could only be taken by an individual itself.