Category: Spring 2022

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

On August 4th, 2020, one of the world’s largest non-nuclear explosions devastated Beirut, Lebanon, resulting in 200 deaths, over 6,000 injuries, 300,000 people displaced, and $15 billion in property damage. An uncontrollable fire caused the explosion of tons of ammonium nitrate due to improper storage of chemicals near oil, kerosene, hydrochloric acid, and fireworks. The fireworks ignited the explosion, destroying buildings, homes, and skyscrapers for miles, reaching as far as Cyprus. 

The American University of Beirut Medical Center faced many challenges treating patients due to structural damage and limited staff from the explosion. The hospital disaster plan was enacted, but the influx of patients was still very overwhelming; victims struggled from lung damage, eye injury, bleeding, toxicity, and thermal burns. 

To manage the event, government officials made little effort to prevent the situation, despite being informed about the improper storage of ammonium nitrate, there were no attempts to safeguard the Beirut port. Fortunately, volunteers in Lebanon took the reigns to respond to the deadly explosion by cleaning up the rubble in mass groups alongside firefighters working on controlling the fire, and the Red Cross treated injuries and transported victims to the hospital.

The Beirut port explosion was a tragedy that killed many residents, destroyed infrastructure, and damaged many businesses. There was a lot of government dissatisfaction with their lack of management and corruption; it was widely believed that the explosion was preventable if Lebanon’s government did not neglect the people. The aftermath of the explosion narrowed into a political crisis focused on corruption and injustice that forced the Lebanese people to take matters into their own hands by engaging in community resiliency after the tragedy. 

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On April 21st, 2019, the Sri Lankan Easter Bombings resulted in 270 deaths and 400 injuries. This sparked the need for improvements in communication, preparedness, and mitigation efforts within public places of worship. The nature of the bombings suggests they were planned and coordinated by extremist religious groups who had access to advanced weaponry and financial support. One consequence was that of tourism; tourism dropped by 70%, causing a huge economic crisis due to businesses that heavily relied on it. 

There was little done to manage this tragedy; for instance, the government was aware of the bombings before they occurred. The Sri Lankan government was warned by countries, like India, that an extremist religious group threatened to attack the country, as well as the whereabouts of the group. They even knew that Churches would be the target of the bombings. To alleviate the consequences, the Sri Lankan government established a curfew, and immediately banned the use of social media after the attack to limit the spread of misinformation, however, it led to poor community responses and limited aid from Red Cross and FEMA. 

The Sri Lankan Easter Bombings revealed the role of controlling panic and misinformation during an emergency disaster. There was little done by leaders, government, and authorities in Sri Lanka to prepare for the disaster and mitigate its effects. With more evaluations of government structure and existing policies, there can be better methods of responding to future possible terrorist attacks.

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Mitigation through resilience is a very effective means of addressing vulnerabilities after a disaster and encouraging communities to persevere. Maddie West discusses the relationship between dependency on aid and resilience in communities post-disasters; people are more vulnerable to risks when they become dependent on relief and aid from external organizations. Maddie West uses Rio+ as an example of how communities can create solutions through interconnectedness, empowerment, and working together to target systemic and upstream change. 

Click here to read the full exemplar. 

Mitigation aims to alleviate the long-term consequences and impacts of a disaster event. Julia Winer highlights the importance of community resilience when lessening the risks involved in a disaster. Community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) and Community-based disaster management (CBDM) are two approaches that reduce disaster risks through community participation. The approaches encourage the citizens to advocate for their own preparedness as a way to decrease dependency on external aid and resources.  The main goals of CBDRR and CBDM are to reduce vulnerabilities within the community by empowering people and local institutions, reduce the impact of structures that increase inequality and underdevelopment, and preserve infrastructure, the environment, and other resources. As an example of this, Julia encourages individual measures that prevent the environmental impacts of climate change by encouraging citizens to do their part. 

Click here to read the student’s full exemplar. 

On April 20, 2010, an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the coast of Louisiana killed 11 workers, injured 17, and leaked 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It took four days to understand the scale of the explosion and to identify the leak, and it took about a month for the leak to be sealed following many unsuccessful attempts by BP. While the well was declared “effectively dead” at the time, reports conducted in 2012 found the well active and still leaking two years later. This event led to over 100 civil and criminal lawsuits against BP and other defendants responsible for the incident, which ended in more than $65 billion in costs for cleanup, charges, and penalties. 

Rebecca Payne goes into great detail discussing this case from a public health standpoint. In this case study, Payne explains the epidemiological aspects of the case with a specific focus on the human health implications. Following the spill, the oil rig workers reported physical symptoms ranging from throat irritation to rectal bleeding to miscarriages as well as mental health symptoms including depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Payne also discusses the management surrounding the clean-up of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DHOS) which proved to not only be expensive but also controversial. The use of dispersants to contain the spread failed while simultaneously resulting in major destruction to the marine wildlife and underwater ecosystem. These efforts appear to also have been mishandled by BP who failed to provide proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and safety training for the clean-up crew, despite orders from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). 

Overall, as Payne explains, communication was poor and inefficient as both BP and the federal government under President Obama’s leadership failed to act in a timely manner, confirming that there are many lessons to be learned from this case. Payne explains that so long as the world continues to rely on petroleum, there will continue to be oil spills. However, the DHOS can serve as a cautionary tale and pave the way for improvement in public health policy, response time, clean-up efforts, and PPE while mitigating the effects on the surrounding biological environment. 

Download the case study here.

On the night of November 7, 2018, 28-year-old Marine Corps veteran Ian David Long opened fire on the 259 patrons and employees of the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California with the sole purpose of targeting as many college students as possible. Over the course of 20 minutes, Long issued multiple attacks on the establishment using a .45-caliber handgun illegally fitted with a high capacity magazine, ending in the fatal shooting of 12 people before Long committed suicide. 

In this case study, author Maryam Razzaq discusses the epidemiological aspects and management of this fatal event as well as the communication involved between local law enforcement, the media, and the public. While an extensive epidemiological study has not been conducted, Razzaq discusses the details of a 2021 report released by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office which describes Long’s potential motive, risk factors including his mental health, and eye-witness testimony. During the event, on-site command posts and off-site information centers were effective in coordinating operations and managing the influx of media and concerned family members safely. However, the first choice of placement of the command post was not appropriate and may have hindered early assessment of the scene and rapid deployment of resources. 

Razzaq also explains the utilization of social media before, during, and after the shooting as a conduit of real-time information while also describing the criticism faced by the Ventura County Sheriff’s office on their lack of transparency with the public during such a confusing and stressful situation. Overall, Razzaq stresses the importance of gun legislation reform as well the need to strengthen the public’s education and accessibility of the law as a preventative measure. 

Download the case study here. 

Wenqi Lu presents the facts of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in this case study.  In the morning of Dec 26th, 2004, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake shook the Indian Ocean, causing an 800 miles rupture in the ocean.  Within 20 minutes Indonesia was the first country to be impacted, and eventually, the resulting damages spanned 14 countries. The total death count reached 227,898 people, with 1,740,000 people displaced, costing countries $15 billion to rebuild and recover.

From an epidemiological aspect, 3 countries (Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India) suffered the greatest losses in lives.  Females had a significantly higher documented mortality rate than males, with twenty-year-old males having the lowest rates.  The association between distance from the coast, gender, and mortality rates was described by Wenqi Lu.  The data used in this case study was aggregated by the Synthesis Report, and documented by the survey “Mortality, The Family and the Indian Ocean Tsunami”.

The global response to this disaster was unprecedented; in just a few hours food supplies, financial aid, and resources were rapidly deployed as well as long-term assistance to rebuild and reconstruct the affected areas.  While almost half of the health clinics were damaged, the global community was able to set up mobile field hospitals and provided the necessary relief services.

From the event, lessons learned included the gaps in the warning systems and other mitigation plans, which have been adopted during the 2012 Japan earthquake and tsunami.

Read Wenqi Lu’s case study here

Community-based disaster risk reduction and community-based disaster management are emphasized in Alnsour’s exemplar on mitigation and community resilience.  Sabaa points out that the top-down approach employed by government institutions has been ineffective, or even harmful at times. Examples of such include the industrial efforts of large countries such as the United States and China; they are major emitters of pollution and contribute to the global impacts of climate-related disasters. Sabaa emphasizes the impacts of an empowered community when describing the efforts at the individual level which can be effective in disaster response and recovery.  The example of Central Luzon’s earthquake is used by the author as an example of the success that can be achieved from an involved and empowered community.  

Read Sabaa Alnsour’s exemplar here

An independent and well-equipped community can respond to and recover from disasters when aid is not available. Maryam Razzaq emphasizes how vulnerability increases when communities are overly dependent on external help and resources. Therefore, by establishing mitigation strategies beforehand, communities are better-suited for post-disaster rehabilitation. Such efforts are also helpful because they bring a sense of hope and security to the individuals in a community to be able to withstand disasters, collaborate with support agencies, and follow mitigation guidelines.

Click here to read her work.