COMMUNITY PLANNING FOR DISASTER

MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

Our community can be affected by disaster at any

time. Hazards like floods, earthquakes and
landslides can happen without any warning but
this doesnt mean that we should panic. What it
does mean that our community should always
have a disaster plan which can respond to all our
areas needs during an emergency.
We cannot assume that official help will always be
available immediately after a disaster. A
community should be prepared to work together so
that they can find even a temporary solution to
their problems.
If our plan is to be successful, our entire
community needs to be educated, informed and
organized. Its important that we dont neglect
anyone because of their job, literacy level, or their
age. Everyone can contribute something to this
plan.

HOW CAN I MAKE A COMMUNITY

PLAN?
1. IDENTIFY AND LOCATE HAZARDS
What is a hazard?
Hazard is the presence of something that can threaten a group of
people, their activities and their environment. There are two types
of hazards:
Natural Hazards hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, tsunamis.
Man-made Hazards oil spills, fires, explosions.

..
Now that you know what a hazard is, you can decide which ones
your community is at risk for. Do you live near a volcano? Is your
community at the bottom of a steep slope? The first thing you
should do is take a good look at your surroundings.
Then, consider the history of your area. What kinds of hazards
have happened there in the past? Are they likely to happen
again? How often do they happen? Now is also a good time to find
out what kind of action was taken during the last emergency and
if that can be improved.

You should also know the causes of these hazards. Some hazards
can be prevented, for example, the chances of flooding can be
reduced if you dont let litter build up in the gutters.
Now is also a good time to become aware of organizations that
can help you. Gather contacts for the Fire Department, Police,
National Disaster Organization and the Hospital.

2. FIND OUT HOW VULNERABLE YOU ARE

Vulnerability means the exposure of people,

their work, and their environment to the
effects of a hazard. The more vulnerable you
are, the more damage a hazard can do.

To determine your communitys vulnerability, you

must ask:
Which places and persons are exposed to the
hazard?
How are we threatened?
Your vulnerability also depends on your
communitys capacity for dealing with disaster
situations. Capacity depends on the physical,
social, economic and institutional resources that
you have available.

Ask yourself, where the persons at risk located?

What tools do you have available to help them?
This can be made easier if you draw a map of your
community that highlights where persons live as
well as dangers like rivers, old trees, steep slopes
etc.

Now that youve done that, you can start to create

an inventory of what you have. It lets you know
what the community has available to respond to an
emergency situation.
Physical spaces and safe facilities Know where
green areas, community centers and parking lots
are these areas can be used as meeting places
before, during or after a disaster.
Means of transportation Make a list of any
public or private vehicles available that can be
used in an emergency.
Basic Medical Aid First aid supplies and
necessary medication should always be readily
available.

 Rescue and Protection Equipment Tools, such

as, fire extinguishers, shovels, ladders, rope,
pick-axes, axes and chainsaws.
Electric Energy Systems As well as other
alternate energy supplies such as flash lights,
generators and gas burners.
Water Systems Pipelines, hydrants, wells,
springs and other sources of water.
Sewage Water Disposal As well as alternative
methods of sewage disposal.
Authorities As well as their contacts and
responsibilities.
Organizations: A list of organizations the
community has, for example, sporting groups,
youth groups etc.

Pre-incident training and testing

Emergency management plans and procedures should include the
identification of appropriately trained staff members responsible
for decision-making when an emergency occurs. Training plans
should include internal people, contractors and civil protection
partners, and should state the nature and frequency of training
and testing.
Testing of a plan's effectiveness should be carried out regularly. In
instances where several business or organizations occupy the
same space, joint emergency plans, formally agreed to by all
parties, should be put into place.

Communicating and assessing incidents.

Communication is one of the key issues during any emergency,
pre-planning of communications is critical. Miscommunication can
easily result in events escalating unnecessarily.
Once an emergency has been identified a comprehensive
assessment evaluating the level of impact and its financial
implications should be undertaken. Following assessment, the
appropriate plan or response to be activated will depend on
specific pre-set criteria within the emergency plan. The steps
necessary should be prioritized to ensure critical functions are
operational as soon as possible.

3. MAKE AN ACTION PLAN

Who will do what? When will they do it? Persons

should be put into groups in order to avoid too
much stress on a single individual. Plan what your
groups will do to reduce the hazards in your
community. Actions should be grouped into three
periods:

 Before the Emergency

During the Emergency
After the Emergency

BEFORE EMERGENCY
Comprehensive Disaster Management has four
phases: prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response and recovery.
Prevention refers to things you can do to avoid an event that may cause
an emergency. Mitigation means what is done to reduce the effects a
disaster may have.
Here are some prevention and mitigation measures:

Identify and locate dangerous areas.

Re-locate people and belongings to places outside of these
dangerous areas.

Inform and educate the community about the hazards they are
vulnerable to and the ways to avoid them.
Protect and re-forest river banks in order to reduce the chances
of floods, erosion and landslides Any trees and even grass
would work.
Protect sources of natural drinking water and other natural
resources.
Pollution in coastal areas causes erosion and other problems. You
should try to reduce this as much as possible.

After youve done everything you can to avoid and reduce the effects
of a disaster, you can focus on preparedness. This means you can
decide how you will react to disasters that cannot be evaded.
Here are some things you can do to prepare:
Determine meeting points and temporary shelters for emergency
cases.
Identify and train the persons who will help the relief
organizations during an emergency.
Make sure all groups and community members know what their
responsibilities are during the emergency.
Establish a community information and communication system.
Tell the population what procedures need to be followed during
an emergency.
Publicize your emergency plan.
What types of alarms will alert the community during a disaster?
Ensure that everyone is aware of this and what to do when they
hear it.
Design an evacuation plan and outline a clear route. You should
also show dangerous areas to avoid and other safe zones.

DURING AN EMERGENCY

While the disaster is happening, your job is to save

lives, and to reduce suffering and property damage
all while keeping yourself safe.

Normally, these tasks are left to disaster

organizations like the Red Cross, firemen, police or
community development officers. However, a
prepared community makes their job easier.

This can be done by supporting them and by

helping with some of the other things mentioned
below:
Temporary shelter and food for anyone who
needs it.
Evacuation of those affected.
Medical assistance for those injured.
Security to prevent looting of abandoned
homes and businesses.
Preliminary damage assessment.
Conducting a survey of the affected people.

AFTER AN EMERGENCY

After the emergency has passed, your work is still far

from over. At this stage, your actions are divided into two
phases:
Rehabilitation re-establishing the vital needs of the
community that may have been damaged (water,
electricity, communications).
This includes:
Restoring basic community services health, energy,
water, transport etc.
Do damage and needs assessment.
Organize community teams that can help do basic
rehabilitation tasks.
Reconstruction restoring structures (houses, roads)
that were damaged in the disaster.
This includes:
Organize volunteer teams to support institutions in
the rebuilding of infrastructure that benefits your
community. For example, schools, roads and clinics.
Help your neighbours to restore the things that they
need.
If you have followed the other stages of the plan, then the
amount of work you have to do after the disaster should
be minimal. This stage requires a lot of financial help so
you need to plan ahead of time, exactly where this
money will come from.

Community Preparedness Programs

Community preparedness can be thought of as the

advance capacity of a community to respond to the
consequences of an adverse event by having plans
in place so that people know what to do and where
to go if a warning is issued or a hazard is observed.
This result can be achieved through the
development of programs. This type of program
can increase resilience to flash flood and other
hazardous events, reduce economic losses, and
shorten recovery periods.
Key components of a community preparedness
program include:
Raising public awareness and effecting
behavioral change in the areas of mitigation
and preparedness.
Deployment of stable, reliable, and effective
warning systems
Development of effective messaging for
inducing favorable community response to
mitigation, preparedness, and warning
communications

Important Points to Remember about Community

Preparedness Programs:
Outreach and communication with the public are crucial to
their understanding the nature of the flash flood hazard, the
risks to personal safety and property, and the steps that can
be taken to reduce those risks.
During actual flash flood events, a warning center should
have a designated public affairs officer to coordinate media
response.
Well-coordinated plans and procedures for working with the
media and public/ governmental officials are essential to the
success of a warning system.

Community-Based Disaster Resilience Programs

Effective community preparedness programs also include hazard
and vulnerability assessmentssustained actions taken to reduce
or eliminate the long-term risk to human life and property based
on risk assessments. This includes planning and zoning to
manage development in areas particularly at risk for various
natural hazards, embracing severe-weather-resistant
construction, and protecting critical facilities and infrastructure.

4. TEST YOUR PLAN

Now that your plan is ready, its time to make sure

that it works. Remember to inform the community
about the plan through meetings, training,
workshops, simulation exercises and other
activities that explain what the plan is all about.
How do I test and evaluate the emergency
plan?
Conduct exercises that simulate conditions that
occur in a real emergency. You wont be able to
fake a flood or a volcanic eruption, but youll be
able to see how long it takes your community to
evacuate and if everyone remembers what theyre
supposed to do. This will tell you:
The effectiveness of the plan.
Whether people know and remember the plan.
Whether or not the plan can be improved for when
a real emergency strikes.

CONCLUSION:
Benefits of following community resilience processes include:
Being more prepared to save lives
Increased contacts with emergency managers and
researchers
A well informed public
Community resilience resource
needs are identified
Improved positioning to receive
national and provincial funds
Enhanced core infrastructure
to support other community
concerns
Demonstrated benefits to the
public showing how their tax
money is being spent in hazard
programs

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

 http://weready.org/CDM/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=14#top
http://www.meted.ucar.edu/communities/hazwarnsys/ffewsrg
/FF_EWS.Chap.7.pdf
www.googleimages.com

Residents react to floods.

Enlighten the common people about community disaster management