China - Reconstructing after a giant earthquake..

Three months before the scheduled Olympic games in China, one of its regions suffered a catastrophic earthquake, where nearly 1 lakh people died. Within four months, the State Council issued a plan for recovery. The plan divided reconstruction areas into three categories: suitable for reconstruction, suitable for appropriate reconstruction (for areas with environmental constraints or economic limitations), and unsuitable for reconstruction (ecological areas that accounted for 63.5 percent of the planning area).

The reconstruction was expected to cost US$147 billion, which was equal to the gdp of the entire province or 20 percent of all Chinese government revenue for the previous year.

A unique aspect of this recovery process was the “pair assistance” program through which the state council asked 19 eastern provinces to support recovery in 24 counterpart counties. Donor provinces were asked to “offer assistance with no less than 1 percent of their last ordinary budget revenues”.

Pair assistance facilitated the speed and efficiency of reconstruction by decentralized recovery activities. Pair assistance distributed some of the administrative work, technical capacity, and financial burden to the wealthier provinces. By creating many more channels for financial flow, the program reduced the potential for bureaucratic bottlenecks to impede funding streams. It increased reconstruction capacity by mobilizing planners, designers, and construction specialists from the donor provinces and directly connected them to earthquake-affected counties and towns.

Most of the reconstruction of housing, infrastructure, and public buildings was complete within three years. However the new cities are not fully occupied, nor are the industrial parks. Jobs and social needs were not kept in mind while rebuilding. 

Recovery from disaster takes many years..

Great natural disasters are rare, but when they occur, the aftermath can change the fortunes of a city or region forever. The process of recovery and its management can affect both the intensity and duration of the experience. Post-disaster reconstruction can offer opportunities to fix long-standing problems: to improve construction and design standards, renew infrastructure, create new landuse arrangements, reinvent economies, and improve governance. If done well, reconstruction can help break the cycle of disaster-related impacts and losses, and improve the resilience of a city or region.

This neighborhood park, located in the north Rokkomichi area of eastern Kobe, was constructed as part of a land-readjustment project to widen roads and add neighborhood-level disaster services following the 1995 earthquake. The park includes an auxiliary water supply for firefighting, emergency latrines, and a community meeting center stocked with post-disaster supplies. 

Source: L. Johnson (2013).

The process of recovery is a major aspect of disaster, and its management greatly impacts citizens. Such catastrophes disrupt lives and businesses, as people await assistance, infrastructure repair, and the return of their neighbors. Management of recovery matters because the aftereffects of disasters extend over time. Many people survive the initial disaster but then suffer from the recovery as the economy stagnates, social networks weaken, and health care and support services decline. The physical recovery from disasters takes many years and the psychological scars can last for decades.

According to the first major study of recovery from disasters in 1977, the authors estimated that it takes more than two years to attain pre-disaster levels of capital stock and activities, and it can take 10 years or longer to complete major reconstruction. 

Although the extent of damage and the availability of financial and human resources are important, the authors say that communities with a high collective efficacy—those who see themselves as self-organizing and not reliant on others—are most likely to recover. 

Every detailed account of reconstruction decision making that follows disasters— especially great disasters—describes chaos and confusion among participants.

Reconstruction challenges after a disaster..

While the number of geophysical disasters – earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions – has remained steady, the number of hydro-meteorological (weather-related) events – including droughts, windstorms and floods – has more than doubled since 1996.

• Whatever the kind of disaster, richer countries can guard themselves against it, much better : the 6.5 earthquake which hit central California in 2003 took two lives and injured 40 people. By comparison, the 6.6 earthquake, which hit Iran four days later, killed over 40,000 people. Both events took place in areas with high density populations

• In San Francisco….the last major earthquake caused the death of 62 people. In Turkey, an earthquake of similar magnitude killed 17,000.

•  Each year of the past decade an average of 258 million people have suffered from disaster – most of them in the developing world, up from 74 million a year in the 1970s...

A 2006 study of past disasters found that the immediate humanitarian relief work was generally effective and well-funded. But the same could not be said for the medium/long-term recovery and reconstruction. There tended to be a lack of funding and absence of coordinated management of the reconstruction phase following major disasters.

Despite huge improvements in the emergency response to natural disasters, permanent reconstruction is often inefficiently managed, uncoordinated and slow to get off the ground.

While humanitarian emergency operations have been in general well funded…sectors such as critical infrastructure/ environment, shelter/non-food items, restoration of livelihoods, agriculture and capacity building remain under funded.

Traumatised disaster survivors spend far too long in unsatisfactory transitional accommodation, often unsure whether they will ever have a permanent home and, if so, where. 

Anatomy of a disaster

The Kobe Earthquake 1995 : Most of the deaths and injuries occurred when older wood-frame houses with heavy clay tile roofs collapsed. The collapse of buildings was followed by the ignition of over 300 fires within minutes of the earthquake. The fires were caused by ruptured gas lines. Response to the fires was hindered by the failure of the water supply system and the disruption of the traffic system.

Weathering the storms in Cuba : Cuba’s geographical location gives it a high and recurrent risk of hurricanes. In the seven years between 1996 and 2002, six major hurricanes have hit Cuba, yet a total of only 16 people have died. The same hurricanes claimed the lives of 665 people elsewhere. 

Cuba is a small and poor country that makes the best use of its social assets at the national and local level. ‘Disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery measures are enshrined in laws that are enforced’