Analysis of Humanitarian Crises and the Role of Civil Engineers

This report examines the crucial role of engineers in addressing humanitarian crises, focusing on two specific examples: flash floods in East Africa and a landslide in the Philippines. It highlights the diverse contributions of various engineering disciplines, including structural, telecommunications, civil, water and sanitation, geospatial, electrical, mechatronic, and mechanical engineering. The report details how engineers are involved in all stages of disaster management, from preparedness and mitigation to rescue, relief, and reconstruction. Specific examples of engineering interventions are provided, such as building shelters, providing clean water and sanitation, designing infrastructure to prevent future disasters, and developing technologies for communication, search and rescue, and landscape transformation. The report emphasizes the importance of innovative solutions to address the challenges posed by humanitarian crises and underscores the critical role engineers play in saving lives and supporting affected communities.

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Humanitarian Crisis
Name
Institution

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Humanitarian Crisis
The Guardian, Tuesday 8th May 2018
(https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/may/08/deadly-flash-floods-east-africa-
dire-need-kenya-rwanda-somalia)
The paper reported the impact of flash floods experienced in East Africa. The areas hit by
the floods had a great crisis due to drought. The flooding caused more than three hundred deaths,
and thousands of people were also displaced. The heavy rains destroyed significant roads making
it impossible to access the affected areas (Altay, KOVÁCS, 2018).
Role of Engineers
Engineers play an essential role in the lives of those affected by the various crises. In the
crisis described above, engineers are responsible for providing shelter, water and sanitation, and
good infrastructure. Engineers take part in all processes of disaster management. The processes
involved include preparedness and mitigation before the disaster strikes, evacuation of victims,
rescue and relief of survivors and reconstruction (Robinson, 2018). Engineers may help in
training communities on the best methods to use in case of a crisis.
Structural engineers are responsible for building houses for the affected people after a
disaster has struck. Because the floods caused the displacement of many people, the house
designs done by the engineers should be able to accommodate many people. Structural engineers
are also in charge of building warehouses for food storage, roads, and temporary airstrips.
Through better infrastructure, relief food can reach the ones affected on time.
Telecommunications engineers are responsible for creating communication networks to enable
information sharing between the people on the ground and the ones responsible for supplying

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resources (Carrasco, O’Brien, 2018). Civil and Structural engineers can also come up with
designs to prevent future floods crises. Building sturdy buildings and bridges prevents loss of
lives in case of future disasters. Water and sanitation engineers are responsible for creating water
supply lines to ensure that the affected families access clean drinking water. The sanitation
engineers also design drainage systems to avoid stagnant water that may cause cholera. Stagnant
pools also act as breeding places for mosquitos which cause malaria.
The New York Times, September 20th, 2018
(https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/world/asia/philippines-landslide-naga-typhoon.html)
The paper reports about a landslide in Manila that killed a minimum of 12 people and
buried approximately 25 homes. Some people were rescued, but most of the victims were
untraceable (Robinson, 2018).
Role of Engineers
Even though landslides occur naturally, engineers may design a system for detecting
landslides early to prevent loss of lives. Avalanches also happen as a result of human activity due
to soil erosion, and failure to properly check soil properties before construction of buildings.
Mining engineers should also have details of soil profile of the excavation places. Engineers
have a role to play in the prevention of landslides and rescuing victims affected by landslides
(Savonen, Mahan, Curtis, Schreier, Gershenson, Pearce, 2018).
Structural and Civil Engineers may build canals to act as barriers for retaining flood
waters. The trenches also serve as diversion points to direct flood waters away from people
settlements. Drainage systems built by structural engineers are used to drain groundwater and
surface water. Drainage systems are regularly. Geospatial engineers are responsible for designing

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devices that will remotely sense and predict about landslides. Electrical engineers provide
temporary lighting for the victims and even in rescuing other people. Mechatronic engineers may
come up with a robot design that has camera installations to be used in checking for victims who
are stuck in collapsed buildings. Mechatronics engineers may use drones with a capability to
carry food supplies and clothing for those affected. The drones are also used in search and rescue
missions to find missing victims. Mechanical engineers can use generators and water pumps to
ensure that victims have access to water. Engineers should come up with innovative ideas to
help in landscape transformation in places prone to landslides to prevent future crises.

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References
Altay, N., & KOVÁCS, G. (2018). Innovation in Humanitarian Supply Chains: A Systematic
Review. Innovation, 03.
Carrasco, S., & O’Brien, D. (2018). The Role of Humanitarian Agencies in Reconstruction and
Development of Disaster Affected Communities in Japan and the Philippines. Procedia
engineering, 212, 606-613.
Robinson, T. R. (2018). Disaster Games and the Role of Science for Informing High-level
Emergency Response Planning for Nepal. In Evolving Narratives of Hazard and Risk(pp.
87-105). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Savonen, B. L., Mahan, T. J., Curtis, M. W., Schreier, J. W., Gershenson, J. K., & Pearce, J. M.
(2018). Development of a resilient 3-D printer for humanitarian crisis
response. Technologies, 6(1), 30.