Tag Archives: disaster response
Back to the Future – An EMP
Recently, the first winter blast along the Canadian west coast resulted in a power outage for about an hour. Some folk pulled out flashlights and candles; intersections were on 4-way stop procedures; and, heaven forbid, internet connections were cut due to a lack of electricity to routers and local servers. This small inconvenience reminded me […]
Flooding – the Billion Dollar Disaster
Last month’s flood event in Colorado, and a June 2013 event in Alberta emphasize that flooding is one of the most severe, ruthless, and destructive of disasters. Most of the natural disasters to which I have responded have been somehow related to flood waters. The SE Asia tsunami was, in essence, a flood, whose source was […]
The Horror of Chemical Weapons
The alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria last month should sicken all of us. What exactly is a chemical weapon, and why are they universally condemned? Chemical agents are “weapons of mass destruction” along with radiological and biological agents. WMDs cause great social upheaval, and usually the psychological effect is greater than the physical effect. Briefly, […]
Complex Emergencies R Us. (Part 2)
I call the 1980s the “naïve decade”. The cold war was ceasing. The East – West, USSR – USA struggle was ending. The Berlin Wall was tumbling down. No more nuclear arms race. Disarmament talks. Superpower chess game over. Peace at last! Nothing could be further from the truth. Seething, pent-up animosities between various ethnic groups in […]
Complex Emergencies R Us (Part 1)
The recent deadly riots in Cairo. Egypt during August have been shocking. Equally alarming have been other conflicts, such as Syria, with the alleged use of nerve gas on civilians. It is debatable whether the greater tragedy is the killing itself or the paralysis of the international community to stop the carnage. The world seems […]
The Season of Wildfires
All of us were shocked and saddened by news of an elite crew of firefighters in Arizona who died on July 2 when the wind suddenly changed and they were trapped. It is a reminder of the deadly danger that wildfires pose, and the risk that is taken by both homeowners and those battling the flames. Virtually every summer, […]
The Four Horsemen of Emergency Management
A basic principle of emergency management is that we can do something useful both before and after the disaster-triggering event occurs. This is called comprehensive emergency management, and includes mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery. Mitigation: Mitigation eliminates or lessens the severity of the disaster. This can be done in a couple of ways. One is […]
Recent Comments