Dealing with Infrastructure BEFORE the disaster

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Earthquake damage - Bridge Street.

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The title of this article in the HuffPost on August 24 is somewhat oblique, but the article does make the key point that our nation’s infrastructure is in bad condition and the stresses of disasters will make matters worse.  See: What Do the Earthquake, Infrastructure and Antiquated Accounting Have to Do With Jobs?

The earthquake yesterday was the largest east coast trembler in 67 years. But earthquakes of moderate intensity are not rare. The U.S. Geological Survey counted an average of 1,300 earthquakes each year that range in magnitude from 5 to 5.9 on the Richter [Sic] Scale. Yesterday’s was on the high end, at 5.8. Earthquakes — even in areas like the East Coast that is the middle of a tectonic plate — happen regularly and should not come as a surprise.

The same is true of floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and huge snow storms. Natural disasters don’t happen every day or every year, but they are definitely going to happen.  And when they do they test our infrastructure. If, as a society, when we let our infrastructure deteriorate — or cut corners to build  things on the cheap — it often turns out that the cost of our neglect is much greater than if we had taken a more responsible, prudent course and built roads, and high rises, and levies and nuclear plants that are designed to survive the natural disasters that
are all but certain to happen some day.

Editor’s Note: Many people do not realize that the Richter Scale is no longer used; the 5.9 magnitude cite is on the Modified Mercalli scale, the one currently used by geologists.

5.8 Magnitude Earthquake hits DC Metro Area – 1:51 pm on August 23rd

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This the first time I have experienced and reported an earthquake first hand, even though I have been in the disaster field for more than 30 years. Details are still coming in about the event: epicenter thought to be in VA; magnitude 5.8 event; impacts range from VA to Boston. Also people in OH and MI are said to be affected.

The USGS website has some details.  If you are truly curious about the epicenter’s characteristics and want to see a lot of details about the local geology, I recommend the American Geophysical Union’s blog.

Next up for the eastern seaboard of the U.S. — Hurricane Irene.  The National Hurricane Center and other weather experts are saying this will be a potentially huge storm.  Already estimates suggest it will cause damage in the billions.

 

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New Insider Report on FEMA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency

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Well, I figured it would not take long for some critics of FEMA and DHS to issue their versions of disaster response history since H. Katrina and since 911 events. This one is by a former FEMA employee, Leo Bosner.   See FEMA and Disaster: A Look at What Worked and What Didn’t From a FEMA Insider: Part One and Part Two. 

Note that the last two postings in this blog are complimentary to FEMA.  I am trying to be even-handed in selecting news items.  I leave it to the readers to sort out the conflicting views.

 

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Louisiana — Six Years After H. Katrina

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FEMA 16076

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Also on the positive side, FEMA’s account of the 6th anniversary after H.Katrina and H. Rita hit LA and neighboring Gulf coast states. See this report on the FEMA website. 

In my view, given the political and economic environments were are in presently, we are not likely to see this amount of federal outlay or time devoted by public officials to post-Katrina recovery repeated any time soon.

I would be interested in hearing other perspectives, from consultants, researchers and others who worked the disasters.

Some Praise for FEMA

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I am always glad to note some positive comments about FEMA, when they happen.  “A Season of Wild Wind and Water,” in Homeland Security Today, Aug. 15.

Amid an unprecedented onslaught of storms and tornadoes, FEMA just may be achieving mission success.  In this season of extensive and devastating disasters, Director Craig Fugate, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), just may have led his agency to again find its “groove”—effectively aiding disaster response and recovery.

Federal, state and local officials from at least a dozen states across the central and southern parts of the country, mostly along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, have worked at full capacity through the spring and early summer to respond to what seems like endless disaster: billions of dollars worth of homes, businesses and public buildings lost, not to mention the deaths of some 527 people as of June 8.

From the summary analysis of the article:

It wasn’t that long ago—five years in fact—that FEMA was the much-maligned actor in the Katrina aftermath, blamed for everything from the personal incompetence of top officials to decisionmaking slowness and logistical disorganization. Knowledgeable observers say that an infusion of confidence and resources from the Obama administration, combined with Fugate’s sage guidance, prepared the agency for an impressive response to the outbreak of devastating storms and flooding this spring.

FEMA gets high marks from disaster experts for inserting field staff into the disaster zones quickly and opening up communication with local and state officials. So many of these tornadoes hit in succession and in multiple states within hours—creating millions, if not billions, of dollars in property destruction upon impact—that FEMA was uniquely challenged with getting resources and people on the ground fast and dealing with different governors and county officials, all with different needs. At the same time, it prepared for and reacted to ongoing flood conditions across at least nine states.

This is not to say that FEMA is “there yet,” said experts. It still lacks the resources and focus to prepare for a more catastrophic event. With ongoing economic fragility and more attention paid to the national debt and fiscal restraint on Capitol Hill, however, it is not clear that the agency will necessarily get its wishlist in terms of additional funding. It may just have to make do with what it has.

But Fugate’s leadership has improved morale and encouraged a proactive culture, so maybe getting its “groove back” is good enough for FEMA right now.

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More Details re Response to Japan Disasters

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Some information from high level U.S. envoy about the initial actions for response in Japan; from the L.A. Times.  Former envoy tells of U.S. worries over Japan’s quake response.

“There was nobody in charge,” says Kevin Maher in describing the disarray that Washington saw in March as Naoto Kan’s government tried to deal with the tsunami and nuclear disaster.

Relations between the U.S. and Japan, already strained over the delayed relocation of an American military base on Okinawa, received no help this week after a retired U.S. envoy publicly criticized Tokyo’s initial response to its March nuclear crisis.

Comments by Kevin Maher, a former director of the U.S. State Department’s Japan Office, shed light on Washington’s behind-the-scenes mindset during the early days of the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Maher said U.S. officials worried over the lack of leadership shown by Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s government after damage from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that led to meltdowns of several reactors at the coastal atomic plant.

At one point, Maher said the Obama administration considered a worse-case scenario of evacuating tens of thousands of U.S. citizens from the Tokyo metropolitan area.

“There was nobody in charge,” Maher said Thursday at a speech at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. “Nobody in the Japanese political system was willing to say ‘I’m going to take responsibility and make decisions.'”

 

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Debris Management – an essential first step to recovery

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Decisive Disaster Debris Management, Waste Management World, August 17, 2011. Interesting discussion of large scale debris management.

Millions of tonnes of waste were estimated to have been generated by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. With natural disasters becoming more common, should nations have better prepared infrastructure and plans to cope with such quantities? And what about recycling opportunities?

Debris and waste are unavoidable by-products of natural and anthropogenic disasters. Waste management in the aftermath of major disasters is complicated by the priority for life saving and safety efforts. Then comes the interrelated concerns associated with availability of disposal capacity, availability of treatment or recycling/reuse options, transport of wastes, access to waste management facilities, environmental hazards, financial responsibility, and ownership related legal and ethical issues.

The magnitude and significance of waste and debris from natural disasters continue to be highlighted with recent examples around the world. Take the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011 and major storms, tornados and flooding in central United States in April and May 2011.

But how can nations prepare for hazard mitigation and the management of debris from major disasters? For the purposes of this article, California and its waste management infrastructure and constraints, will be used as an example.

California, similar in geography and demographics to many areas around the world, is selected due to its large population, presence of major metropolitan areas, and high-risk geographic setting for multiple natural disasters.

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Katrina Evacuees Living in Houston – a 5 year retrospective on their relocation

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Katrina evacuees shift Houston’s identity, CNN, August 12.

Six years ago this month, Gasper and most other New Orleans residents boarded buses, filled SUVs and crammed highways to escape the wrath of Hurricane Katrina.

While the Louisiana city has begun to rebound, its former residents have made an indelible mark on the places they’ve gone — and none greater than in Houston, where as many as 250,000 evacuees landed after the hurricane, according to some estimates.The 2005 hurricane along the Gulf Coast left more than 1,700 people dead and wracked up billions of dollars in damages. Gasper is among the countless New Orleanians who chose to rebuild their lives in Texas after losing their homes, possessions and communities in the storm.

Although the numbers are still in question, the relocation and resettlement of many New Orleans residents to Houston seems to have been positive.  More studies on this topic are needed.

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Proposed Change in Federal Funding of Disasters

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Article titled Debt Deal Reopens Debate on Climate Catastrophes appeared in the NY Times, August 10, 2011.

A provision tucked into the debt ceiling legislation is rekindling debate about the nation’s ability to pay for soaring catastrophe losses as coastal development and carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise.

The nation has struggled for years to find an effective way to help communities rebuild homes, businesses and infrastructure after natural disasters. Now, in a collision between downward federal spending and an upward presence of catastrophes, Congress is moving to pre-fund disasters.

The last-minute legislation approved by Congress last week to raise the debt ceiling creates a disaster fund that will carry billions of dollars for recovery in hard-hit areas. The fund is a money-saving effort proposed by the president’s bipartisan fiscal commission last December in its report “The Moment of Truth.”

The fund could reduce stress on the deficit by preventing the need for emergency supplemental appropriations made in the wake of a crisis. Those unplanned expenses are not included in the budget, so it amounts to new debt

Some Indirect Effects of Recent Japan Disasters

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Plate tectonic movements measured by GPS devices.

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NOTE: This article is getting a lot of hits in 2015 and I am wondering who is reading it and why. Would someone let me know, please. Just put a note in the Comments section at the end of the article.
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This is an interesting discussion of some indirect effects of the recent Japanese disasters, aspects that I have never seen noted before.  It is an important reminder that  intellectual property matters deserve serious consideration. In the U.S. we too have advanced research being conducted in place that are known to have seismic risks,  such as Silicon Valley CA and Boston MA have known seismic risks.

The article Brain Drain and Need for New Infrastructure Loom as Challenges to Post-Quake Japan appeared in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News, August 9, 2011.

The numbers stagger the imagination: 15,683 people lost their lives in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, while another 4,830 people remain missing…   Japan’s life science community did not escape unscathed from the twin natural disasters. The earthquake and tsunami brought to a halt research at Japan’s academic and independent institutions and companies. In nearly all cases, though, by now, some five months after the disasters, the institutions involved have either resumed or are close to resuming near-normal operation.

The disasters have forced the government to delay releasing an updated Science and Technology Basic Policy Report for the five years ending in 2016. This would be Japan’s fourth effort at a five-year plan for growing these industries.

Some of the Lessons to be Learned include:

If there’s anything good that could come from the disaster, it is the focus placed by institutions across Japan on drawing lessons that could help future generations avoid the worst effects of another disaster. One of Dr. Miyata’s lessons include distinguishing between valuable intellectual assets that cannot be obtained elsewhere and preserving these first rather than lab equipment, which can be re-purchased.

Another lesson calls for institutions to maintain their own sources of electricity, at least for preserving intellectual assets. Still other lessons include organizing food and living necessities for emergencies, developing leadership and governance policies with the cooperation of faculty and staff, forwarding accurate information quickly to staffers, and agreeing to implement emergency plans quickly as need arises.

As Japan’s life science community continues to return to close-to-normal operations, two of the numerous challenges resulting from the disasters will require urgent attention: repatriating researchers who left immediately following the worst, and rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure with greater resistance to as well as forewarning of earthquakes and tsunamis. If these are not covered by the five-year science and technology plan to come out later this month, they should be addressed as soon after as possible.