Disasters and Emergency Management News
December 4–10, 2023
As part of my work, I regularly come across interesting and noteworthy articles and tidbits that are of importance to the emergency management community. I’ll be sharing many of these as I come across them, along with thoughts and insight from my experience.
Pre-Alerts/Emerging Disasters
Canada — Dam Failure
The Province of Quebec issued a warning and evacuation order for a potential dam breach at the Kaimika Reservoir northwest of Montreal in the Mont-Laurier region of the province. Officials are concerned that the dam may breach and flood areas downstream.
Province of Quebec Emergency Alert
Matt’s Commentary: This is a potentially significant event, one that demonstrates the challenges associated with maintaining the approximately 99,000 dams in North America that have been constructed over the past four centuries (the oldest dam in the United States dates back to 1640). While many emergency managers may not have a major dam in their area of responsibility, the risks posed by smaller dams can still be significant. Dam failures are not only a risk to those in the immediate vicinity of the dam, but also to residents and critical infrastructure far downstream. An apparently small failure in a dam can lead to catastrophic consequences as seen at the Oroville dam in 2017.
Live Events/Actual Disasters
East Africa — Fatal Flooding
More than 350 people are dead and 1 million have been displaced by flooding in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. Torrential rains fell faster than the ground could accept and remove the water, leading to flash flooding that impacted countries that are already in the midst of an ongoing humanitarian emergency.
Matt’s Commentary: There is often a desire to see major flooding events as something that happens “somewhere else” but we need to be paying attention. This is not an incident that is precipitated by infrastructure failure or planning failure, but intense rainfall. I’ve heard meteorologists and people who study weather disasters say that the days of average rainfall are past — we are moving into an era of extremes where torrential rainfall that falls faster than the ground can absorb it is the new normal. This poses significant challenges as we consider how we design and build our infrastructure for the 22nd century and beyond.
United States (Tennessee) — Fatal Tornado
What has been called a “Catastrophic” tornado struck the heart of the US State of Tennessee on Dec. 9. Cities including Nashville, Hendersonville, Clarksville, and Springfield all reported major damage to buildings and vehicles. At least six people died and dozens of others are injured — though the full damage assessment has yet to be completed.
Matt’s Commentary: These storms were, in fact, catastrophic by every sense of the word. They are an excellent example of the impact that climate change is having on disasters and major incidents. These occurred in an area that hasn’t historically seen many tornadoes, but has been the site of major tornadoes in the past few years. When considering future risk, we have to look at not only historical events, but how weather and other systems are changing as a result of climate change. Past occurrences are not necessarily a good indicator of future potential.
General EM News and Research
Communication and Language
An interesting article from The Diplomat — an Asia-Pacific news source — asks whether the term “Bushfire” is out of date. It has long been used in Australia to refer to outdoor fires, but the question is whether the language should be changed to reflect the hazard.
“Wildfire” implies a fire that is “out of control” and may be more accurate. In North America, “forest fires” became “wildfires” to take in a broader context. In Australia, fire more and more threatens the suburban fringe. Residents there don’t see themselves as living in “the bush” but rather in a city. So, they may lack readiness for a fire emergency if they don’t think bushfire warnings apply to them.
Matt’s Commentary: Language matters. When we consider how we communicate, we have to consider the language we use and how it is perceived by those for whom the communication is intended. This article asks a very good question about whether the traditional language used accurately reflects the hazards to the residents of the country. As Emergency Managers, we all need to reflect on our language and whether our word choices are accurately conveying the message(s) we are intending to send.
Climate Change Mitigation
The Canadian Press has published an article about the effects of climate change on municipal budgets — specifically how the failure to effectively plan and prepare for its effects are creating major budgetary pressures.
As high inflation eats away government revenues, cities and towns are increasingly being battered by historic fires, flooding, heat and ice storms, and having to dispense additional sums to guard against severe weather and clean up in its aftermath. Municipal officials are warning that they’ll be unable to absorb growing weather-related costs without more money from the federal and provincial governments.
Matt’s Commentary: When municipalities are forced to deal with the effects of “unprecedented” snowfall or rainfall, or those of long-term drought it affects their ability to deliver other programs that are just as important. Having to move funds from recreation, libraries, parks, roads, or even emergency services to cover shortfalls caused by climate change-fueled disasters means that those critically important items don’t happen, or are less effective. This means that there are fewer programs that help build people’s resilience such as team sports, community-building events hosted by libraries, and potentially fewer resources available to respond to emergencies.
Originally published at https://mgwoodall-consulting.odoo.com on December 11, 2023.