Case Study on Disaster Relief

Introduction

A magnitude $9\mathrm{.}0$ earthquake occurred on Sunday, $26$ December $2004$ off the west coast of Northern Sumatra. It was the largest since the $1964$ Alaskan earthquake and it triggered massive tsunamis that devastated several countries throughout South and Southeast Asia. The number of people killed in the disaster has been estimated at about $220,000$ with Indonesia being worst hit with about $165,000$ people dead or missing. Apart from bringing aid to the victims, aid agencies had problems of disease outbreaks $($due to decomposing bodies in the hot weather$)$ and possibility of resistance from the affected countries $($e$.$g$.$ Sri Lanka$).$ They also had problems assessing and coordinating such a huge and unprecedented humanitarian relief effort.

Stages of Disaster Relief

Disaster relief can be categorized into three critical stages, namely, Disaster Strike, Assistance and Normalcy, and through the transition phases of Deployment, Reconstruction, and Capability build up$.$ For each phase of a disaster, goals for disaster relief are established.

From Disaster Strike to Assistance. The core processes involved in this Deployment phase are analyzing the impact of the disaster, scoping the relief efforts and preparing resources and logistics to support the relief operation. Impact analysis focuses on assessing the extent of the damages from the disaster. With the analysis results, the range and depth of relief support are then determined. The scope of the effort required would take into consideration the numerous boundaries and limitations facing the team and to ensure the availability, dependability and capabilities of the resources provided. Finally, timely logistics support and transportation of the necessary resources to the disaster sites are needed to provide the necessary relief.

From Assistance to Normalcy. The social and economic reconstructions are the focus of this Reconstruction phase. Economic reconstructions will focus on the $$hardware$$ aspects concentrating on building infrastructures and the economy that support basic human needs. Social reconstructions tackle the $$heartware$$ of the victims by providing them with moral support and counseling through this difficult period. At the same time, operations are gradually transferred back to local government and$/$or non$-$governmental agencies. Hence the goal here is to help build lives and infrastructure to return the victims back to normalcy.

Capability Build Up$.$ Throughout the relief efforts, many lessons can be learnt and it is important to capture and share such knowledge during reviews. These will then need to be translated to certain support structures, drawer plans and doctrines. Training, education and regular drills or exercises will help to sharpen the processes involved in such time$-$critical environments. All of these preparations will take time to develop and evolve.

Stakeholders

Stakeholders determine how these goals can be achieved and the success of them. In the relief operation for the $2004$ Asian Tsunami, stakeholders included the victims, the government institutions of the distressed countries, Non$-$Government Organizations $($NGOs$),$ United Nations Office for the Co$-$ordination of Humanitarian Affairs $($OCHA$),$ disaster relief teams from aiding nations such as Singapore, and the general public.

The victims of disasters are likely to be helpless and lost and usually suffer from hunger, thirst, diseases and psychological trauma of shock, disbelief and loss of family members. However there may be those who have recovered quickly and these people could be employed to help in the relief work. Moreover, the affected communities should always be consulted in aid distribution and reconstruction to avoid corruption and loss of material resources. The affected countries may be concerned about their national pride and ability to be self$-$reliant and may delay their decision to seek external help openly. NGOs and OCHA may organize their relief efforts independently according to their respective organizational constitution and philosophy. Nations providing aid would generally have to take careful considerations in the area of political, economic and social implications, weighing the needs and pride of the distressed country in totality before arriving at the decision to offer assistance. Relief teams may be apprehensive in operating in an uncertain and harsh environment. The teams may also experience time pressures to reach to the victims and subject to emotional and psychological stresses at the disaster scene. Careful consideration of the needs of the stakeholders will lead to better programs and more effective relief operations.

Complexities

Some of complexities of the Asian Tsunami are:

Time critical surge operation. The disaster relief was a time critical surge operation that required sudden and massive support. However, this resulted in a sudden congregation of large amount of resources $($manpower and material