Author: Leanne Auyeung

In this brief, Justice Quaye describes the importance of community resilience during disasters since they are the first line in disaster management, especially since they are the individuals impacted.  Quaye lists the various ways communities may be involved in mitigating disasters such as blowing horns, ringing the church bells, running from house to house, and so on.  Therefore, Community Base Risk Reduction and Community Base Disaster Management are powerful tools for building proactivity and resilience in disaster mitigation.

Read Justice Quaye’s brief here

In this brief, Khadija Akther discusses the Fukushima Daiichi accident.  On Mar 11, 2011, a tsunami caused by a major earthquake disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, resulting in the melting of all three radioactive cores. The incidence cost $10 billion to clean up and 80,000 residents were left displaced.  Some evacuees have rejected the government’s request to re-inhabit the area and joined a lawsuit to oppose the plan due to concerns due to the residual levels of radiation.  Meanwhile, the Tokyo government has set a timetable for “decontamination efforts” over a 2-year period.  Khadija points out that if the plant’s owner and Japan’s regulator had followed international best practices and standards, the disaster that a nuclear plant being struck by a tsunami could have been predicted and protected.

Read Khadija Akther’s brief here

After the Great East Japan Mega Disaster, Japan has adopted several structural mitigation strategies to minimize harm from disasters.  Nancy Daneau points out, for example, buildings have been built to withstand earthquakes and strong winds and be more resilient; more trees have been planted as a post-disaster recovery strategy to provide a barrier against wind; AI software has been utilized to calibrate building frames and glass thickness; earthquake-resistant pipes, redundant communication system, and back up mini power grids have been built and implemented.

Nonstructural strategies have included updating building regulations to include rigorous mandatory testing; establishing key partnerships with industry to maintain critical infrastructure such as transportation; and harnessing social practices and norms to institutionalize risk mitigation into the culture.  

Read Nancy Daneau’s brief on mitigation strategies here

Mitigation strategies are central to disaster management.  In this brief, Michelle Bandel starts the precis by drawing upon the literature to define the structural and non-structural mitigation strategies that can be harnessed during crises. Structural measures are the physical constructions that are built to reduce the impacts of hazards while non-structural measures make use of knowledge and/or practice to reduce them. Bandel uses the Great East Japan Earthquake as a case study to describe some of the structural measures that can be utilized such as policies to promote the resilience of critical structures such as flood levies, reinforced water supply, and earthquake-resistant construction.  Some non-structural measures include building codes, land-use planning laws, and public awareness programs.  Overall, these measures can be effective pre and post disasters to reduce the damage to lives and livelihoods. 

Read Michelle Bandel’s brief on mitigation strategies here