Post-Crisis Recovery and Continuity Strategies Implemented during the Asian Tsunami in 2004 - Coursework Example

CRISIS MANAGEMENT 1. Introduction Crisis is often the result of destructive events and for this reason, crisis management should take into account the value of well-thought response strategies and coordination among related agencies. These include emergency planning, response, and post-crisis recovery. The following section discuss the different aspects of crisis, the relationship between crisis and disaster, appraisal of existing emergency management systems and response strategies, the advantage of inter-agency working, and the value of media coverage and public perception in crisis management. This report also evaluate post crisis recovery and continuity strategies implemented in various events such as the Asian Tsunami in 2004 and the recent Japan earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant crisis. The actions being taken because of these crisis and some recommendations on government and communities can be prepared for such destructive and life threatening events. 2. Crisis Management 2.1 Different Aspect Crisis Generally, crisis is defined as an extreme event often resulting to significant disruption and put lives and property at risk (National Research Council, 1999, p.2). There are environment crises or events that originate from nature such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and so on. Some extreme events come from facility or structure resulting to facility crisis such as building fires, power failure, collapse, and the like. Human errors or conscious act can also be considered crisis as these events result to accidents, injury or death, trauma, and so on (Zdziarski et al, 2007, p.42). In emergency management, crisis can come from the impacts of disasters such as the events of September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina, and the Tsunami in Japan last March 2011 (Haddow et al, 2010, p.17). Theorist and practitioners discuss dangerous events differently thus it is possible that emergencies, crises, and disasters are viewed as different types of phenomenon. For instance, the term disaster is traditionally referring to an irregular or unusual events or acts of God but practitioners of risk management see disaster as an event caused by causal agents that can be identified and prevent (Borodzicz, 2005, p.76). In politics, crises are socially related events, real or manufactures, that call for extraordinary action and resources such as an international diplomatic crisis, economic crisis, leadership crisis, and others (de Landtsheer, 1998, p.80). The criminal justice system has their own concept of crisis as a specific situation that overcomes people’s ability to cope such as a hostage crisis (McMains & Mullins, 2010, p.24). Although the term “crisis” and “disaster” are commonly used synonymously as they both deal with the unusual, the unexpected, destructive, and unimaginable situations. However, crisis is different as it can be something other than personal and infrastructural damage. For instance, a crisis may result from threats such the Cuban Missile Crisis, Chernobyl, Asian Tsunami, and others. In contrast, disasters is commonly viewed as very harmful to people and destructive to infrastructure. They are caused by a number of agents mostly belonging to the category of natural forces such as floods, hurricane, tsunamis, earthquakes, and others. Moreover, the term disaster cannot be applied to terrorism, hostage taking, ethnic conflicts, financial, technological breakdown, and so on. The nature of crisis somewhat refers to a critical point and covers various adversities and dramatic events resulting to impossible conditions. It can occur in a variety of ways such as crisis due to threats affecting the core values of the community or life-sustaining system, safety and security, welfare and health, integrity and fairness (Rodriguez, 2007, p.42). 2.2 Critical Appraisal of Emergency Management Systems and Response Strategies and Inter Agency Working Emergency management typically deal with risk and a task often assumed by governments (Haddow et al, 2010, p.2). The importance of emergency management and planning for the maximum event possible is demonstrated by FEMA’s miserable performance in Hurricane Katrina. According to Bullock et al, (2012), FEMA marginalized the importance of response, recovery, preparedness, and mitigation programs on either natural or man-made disasters as evidenced by their poor response to the crisis (p.617). According to Haddow et al. (2010), there is no doubt that Hurricane Katrina is massive, deadly, and destructive but the real concern is how the United States emergency management system failed to take account of such event and demonstrate poor level of performance during and after the storm. The system failed to account the vulnerability of New Orleans and Louisiana coast and the stability of the levee system and it maintenance (p.19). In December 2004, an earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastated southern Asia and eastern Africa. Confirmed deaths in Indonesia alone is 127, 420 while 116, 368 people are still missing. The giant tsunami waves took 15 to 20 minutes to reach the coastal areas of Indonesia and hit India and Sri Lanka two hours later. According the final report of this incident, the coastal areas of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lank, India, and Maldives were severely devastated because they are not aware of the incoming tsunami. Investigation after the incident revealed that there was no alert system in the Indian Ocean at that time (Carpenter, 2005, p.7). This 2004 tsunami served as impetus for those concerned to improve tsunami detection and warning capabilities including detection, education, and preparedness. For instance, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expanded its network of tsunami ocean sensors or DART (Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) while the federal and state government improve their tsunami hazard and evacuation maps along coastal communities. These include undertaking risk assessment, public awareness campaign, evacuation and response (National Academy of Science et al, 2010, p.2). Management of such disasters was also improved and through hazard mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, different models were developed covering the physical, engineering, and social aspects of such disastrous events. For instance, observation and collection of data, prediction of weather disturbances, design of structures, land-use planning, risk analysis, and so on. Approximately three hundred international and local NGOs including government and private sector workers are involved in mapping exercises for recovery and rehabilitation. In Thailand for instance, the UN and Swedish Defence are working hand in hand to collect GIS data for 3D modelling and analysis (ESRI, 2006, p.13). In Somalia, a Tsunami Task Force was developed to facilitate coordination of humanitarian response that include an Assessment Task Force that would identify any gaps in the existing humanitarian response and recovery needs of those that will be affected (Food Security Analysis Unit, 2005, p.4). 2.3 Media Coverage and Public Perception and Response to a Crisis Dealing with media and public perception is part of crisis management because media coverage and public perception determine the significance and direction of a crisis and the image of the organization handling the crisis. Moreover, public perception is directly linked to this image thus, organization must be sensitive to the safety and hazards of its operations (Ray, 1999, p.200). For instance, when an organization handling the rescue effort hides something important to the media and the public, the tendency is to embark on a process of ritual damnation (Loosemore 2000, p. 53). This is because media coverage influences public opinion that often makes their judgement based on information provided by the media (Wang, 2008, p.135). For instance, both the Tylenol and the Dow Corning silicone breast implant crisis in the 1980s involves public health and safety issues but Johnson & Johnson, the company behind Tylenol, managed to retain their reputation while Dow Corning suffer the opposite. This is because Johnson & Johnson’s crisis management is open to media and the public while Dow Corning concealed the truth about the health implications of silicone breast implant, which they already know since 1970s (Tung, 2001, p.201). In a disaster, media coverage and public perception can have the same impact as what had happened in several extremely destructive events. For instance, media provided a graphic and nearly continuous coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Most of the media accounts however were focused on governmental response to the crisis, which unfortunately were all negative. These include depicting local officials as unprepared, incompetent, and fraudulent while state officials were described as confused, disorganized, and unreliable. Adding to the then already worsening government image were contradicting and demoralizing statements from federal officials such as FEMA’s public admission of their ignorance of the terrible conditions in New Orleans despite mass media coverage. Some high federal officials even described the heinous conditions in New Orleans as exaggerated. President Bush himself did nothing to alter negative public perceptions of governmental incompetence and even praised FEMA for doing a good job. Consequently, victims of Hurricane Katrina were puzzled, confused, disillusioned, and furious, as they did not understand what was really happening to them particularly when expected government assistance did not arrive (Scheider, 2011, p.177). The same is true in tsunami prone country like Japan where perceptions of the desirability of visiting the country is important to potential tourist. According to Laws et al. (2007), Japan seems to have a bad press when it comes to covering unpleasant facts about the country thus it has not yet that popular for majority of international visitors (p.235). The recent March 2011 earthquake and tsunami was not only turned by media into apocalyptic visions of destruction but struggle to control radiation at Fukushima nuclear plant (Spiegelhalter, 2011, p.1). 2.4 Evaluation of Post Crisis Recovery and Continuity Strategies The post crisis stage generally represents opportunities to learn from the crisis and to recover. For instance, the problem with the Indian Ocean Tsunami is the lack of information and warning to enable effective contingency planning and therefore being address through the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System. The recovery on the other hand went well as the Patong Beach showed no sign of the tsunami just months later. Tourism also started to pick up in 2005 and expected to be normalized by 2006. In Maldives, resorts were rebuilt and re-opened along with new construction standards in preparation for the future. (Murphy, 2007, p.336). Post recovery and continuity strategies in Japan after the March 11, 2011 magnitude earthquake and the resulting gigantic tsunami include post-disaster environmental response, humanitarian, economic recovery, and changes in policies. The Fukushima accident dramatically alters the political and social landscape for energy in Japan. Local residents, NGOs, and other concern groups began to question the authorities who decided to move away from top-down technocratic decision-making to public consultation. On the road to recovery, Japan received tremendous support from the international community. As of February 2012, people living in evacuation centres decreased by more than 40,000 people, the damaged Tohoku Express Way is restored and again open to the public, Sendai Airport is now fully operational, and basic utilities and services almost returned to normal. Japan’s crisis management made their reconstruction open to the world to prevent reputational damage caused by misinformation. The 10 years reconstruction plan include restoration of lives of affected people, budget scaling, building disaster resilient regions, revival of local economic activities, and nation-building through lessons learned from the great Earthquake (Government of Japan 2012, p.1-42). 2.5 Tsunami Emergency Management in Practice Japan has a sophisticated tsunami warning and concrete sea walls but they had not anticipated the possibility of such event. Japan’s tsunami warning did went off while the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration send a tsunami alert 12 minutes after the great earthquake (Woodsome, 2012, p.1). The problem with this tsunami warning system is the fact that notification time is too short for anyone to evacuate. The 2009 Samoa event, the Chile event in 2010, and the March 11, 2011 event in Japan made the states of Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and territories of American Somoa, Guam, and Northern Marianas into a Tsunami Advisory or Warning points. It requires each state to take emergency response actions that include working together with the Western States Seismic Policy Council and National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program or NTHMP in order to prepare communities from the hazard of tsunamis (Western States Seismic Policy Council, 2011, p.1-30). The “state tsunami programs” include collaboration, long-term education programs, tsunami preparedness plans that will be implemented in the community level. This is because community-level outreach is seen as the most effective means of mitigating loss of life. Coupled with expanded and improved tsunami inundation mapping, the program hoped to improved mitigation and preparedness among communities. These include better tsunami source evaluations and characterizations, paleo-tsunami deposit databases for validating modelling, and mapping results, and establishment of tsunami evacuation map and guidelines. These approaches are created from four important findings such as the importance of strong state programs in supporting community-based tsunami planning, better relationship between Federal agencies and state programs, maintaining partnership and funding to realize long-term goals of tsunami mitigation and preparedness (Western States Seismic Policy Council, 2011, p.1-30). 2.6 Preparing for Crisis and the Role of Government and Local Communities Earthquakes often occur without warning but the subsequent tsunamis can be detected and measured through NOAA buoys that records changes in the water pressure as the tsunami pass through it. This is information is then transmitted into a NOAA satellite and finally into the tsunami warning centre. However, although the warning centre managed to warn states about an incoming tsunami, the local authorities will not succeed in informing everyone within a very short time. There seems no workaround to this problem but educate everyone particularly those living in coastal areas about the relationship between earthquake and tsunami. As mentioned earlier, Japan is well equipped with this kind of event but the unexpected magnitude of the earthquake and size of tsunami rendered them helpless. Note that people in the affected areas were warned but time is just too short to evacuate. The “state tsunami programs” discussed in the previous section may be effective as it is targeting the community level because this is where the real problem occur. These recommendations are far more realistic than improving the warning time as clear evacuation map can save more lives. Governments and communities can best prepare for such event through zoning and continuing education. For instance, development of tsunami resistant building standards at coastal can greatly reduce property loss while continuing education about signs and symptoms of tsunami, evacuation map and procedures, safety and health, recovery skills, and so on can save more lives. 3. Conclusion Crisis can come from the impact of different disasters thus crisis management should be ready to deal with all kinds of risk and implement mitigation and recovery programs. Tsunami is a deadly phenomenon affecting mostly those in coastal areas thus state programs should focus on the community level and equip them with knowledge and skills to improve their chances of survival. Continuous public awareness campaign may be necessary to ensure a well-informed community ready to take appropriate action whenever such events occur. Recent actions being taken by concerned states are likely to succeed if they maintained their community level approach as warning systems could do little to help them survived. 4. 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