For any disaster management, there should be a proper methodology to be followed by emergency managers and any individual. The National Governor’s Association has set a methodology of disaster management which are its four phases known as mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
The main types of disasters that occur in nature include floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, fires, mudslides, typhoons, tsunamis, etc. These affect the human health and life, shelter and land.
As we cannot stop most of the natural phenomena that occurs around but we can reduce the damage caused by them. Management is everything about how to be prepared in advance, so that the damage and loss that is caused can be lowered to greater extent.
Here are few disaster management techniques that can be useful in reducing the damage caused:
- Prevention is better than cure. Disaster prevention is the first and foremost thing one can do. Be prepared according to the natural disasters that may occur according to the locality/area. Know the hazards in your area and know the risk. The information about natural hazards, their occurrence and effect should be known according to the location, region, etc. Geographical information systems (GIS) play a crucial role in this criterion.
- Social media is a great tool now-a-days, make use of it. Social network can help in communicating with those who are aware and can help you, before or during a disaster.
- Know about your nearby community officials and government servants who can help you and your neighbors in evacuating the place and also announce a ‘mandatory evacuation’ in the hazard prone area.
- Identify your nearest local media sources so that they provide valuable information and useful safety measures to people living in the area.
- Make sure you have a stock of first aid kit or a go-kit that helps you and your family during a disaster. If possible make sure you have stock pile of medication, food and enough water for at least 3 days during the disaster.
- In order to make sure you are not affected by the hazards, be in touch with any of your friends or relatives who stay far from you or from the disaster hit area. So that when you are evacuated, you are least affected in any terms.
- Raising your home, buying flood insurance, securing heavy furniture to the walls all are a part of mitigation, and these help in reducing or eliminating the impact caused by the disasters.
- Make sure you are adaptable to the environment or surrounding that you are evacuated to, so that no day of your work is missed out in case it takes long time for your previous area where you have lived to cope up from the disaster effect.
- Making use of Remote sensors in natural hazard assessments with the help of satellites or sensors mounted to aircrafts. They are very helpful in showing the evidences for occurrence and presence of the disasters according to the geographical, geological and hydrologic and natural phenomena.
- Public awareness is the most important one in disaster management. Development, planning and management will only be possible with the people being aware of the natural hazards and safety measures that are to be followed during or before a disaster. The study or knowledge on disaster management helps in taking good decisions regarding buying homes, building and living in hazard-prone areas.
