Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
We are living in an era when information has the ultimate responsibility for deploying
become the top commodity to control, with assistance lies with the stricken nation7.
search engines and twenty four hour news Whether or not outside intervention is
cycles to enable constant streams of data and appropriate for a nation’s relief efforts is
media. When disasters occur these days, im- largely determined by the scale of the disaster,
ages of the destruction and stories directly from and the international community cannot even
the source are available instantaneously, which begin provide aid to disaster victims without
draws an initial spike in the world’s attention the specific request of the recipient govern-
to the plight of a population in some remote ment. While it can be assumed that the poorer
corner of the globe. Although this initial peak the country the more likely it is to be lacking in
in concern from those in the developed world disaster planning and preventative measures11,
compels international aid organizations to co- a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina proves
ordinate relief efforts, in any disaster situation that rich, highly developed nations can also fall
1
short in providing their citizens the most basic
life requirements in the wake of great destruction.
2
local provincial governments in tent distribu- these structures fairly easily, greatly aiding in
tion and placement2. Most families that owned relief implementation and improvement in
a house preferred to stay within walking distance the quality of life for displaced populations.
of their property, even when all that was left was
rubble. The most common complaint among
members of the population was the lack of toilets
and showers, making the construction of these
facilities a top priority for the IRCS relief efforts.
3
resulting in either too many hospitals and Once the Federal Emergency Management
clinics in one location and not enough in Administration (FEMA) realized the scope of
another7. Across commodity types, delivery the destruction and totaled the displaced, they
decisions and outcomes were more determined implemented a plan to house the newly homeless
by terrain than by population size or degree in what they considered the most cost and time
of destruction. By March of 2006, Pakistani effective venue, intermodal trailers. When con-
authorities had dissolved all the formal camps sidering the location of the trailer parks, FEMA
for the displaced, dispatching families to the identified three different site types: 1) private
roadheads of their destroyed villages and leaving property, 2) preexisting commercial trailer
them to fend largely for themselves5. As well as parks, and 3) greenfields and undeveloped farm-
being a tale of caution for disorganized man- land4. A trailer park requires a certain amount of
agement of aid entities, the case of the Kashi- surface to “breathe” properly, pointing to green-
mir earthquake relief efforts shows that among fields as a good option. However, the people
disasters, the nuances of topography and set- who were going to live in these parks needed re-
tlement patterns are very important as well. liable access to healthcare and education, mean-
ing that locations closer to the urban core were
critical in FEMA’s considerations of trailer sites.
4
The preparations and response of FEMA in the playgrounds. schoolyards, soccer fields,
case of Katrina fell far short of the expectations plazas, parks, and Haiti’s only golf course. In
for such a developed nation. With the media the absence of any authority during the quake’s
machine spinning full throttle on the story of immediate aftermath, survivors formed their
the storm and its devastating impacts, it was own security brigades, while doctors set up
impossible not to see how Katrina dispropor- impromptu clinics to treat the injured6.
tionately impacted the black community that
had called the low-lying wards their home.
Because of sedimentary deposits along the Mis-
sissippi River, valuable riverfront properties
in New Orleans tend to be elevated compared
to less valuable properties further inland, as
a result, there was a concentration of low-in-
come populations in the lowest-lying areas1.
5
To fix this cycle of dependency will require
more than just the $23 million requested from
the UN6 to help Haitian farmers obtain seed
and fertilizer. Haiti needs strong government
leadership and a comprehensive strategy for re-
viving local food growth to wean the nation off
of the handouts that are currently sustaining it.
6
population back on its feet, the solutions to
disaster displacement go far beyond monetary
donations. The physical design of relief camps,
provisions for sanitary infrastructure, and logis-
tical coordination of many vested interests are
the most crucial determinants of success or fail-
ure in mitigating despair in the wake of shared
tragedies.
References
1. Thomas Craemer, “Evaluating Racial Disparities in Hurricane Katrina Relief Using Direct Trailer
Counts in New Orleans and FEMA Records”, Public Administration Review. May/June 2010. 367 –
377. Accessed December 2, 2010.
2. Jean-Francois Pinera, Robert A. Reed, Cyrus Njiru, “Restoring sanitation services after an earthquake:
field experience in Bam, Iran”, Disasters. Volume 29, Issue 3. September 29, 2005. 222 – 236. Accessed
November 5, 2010.
4. Belinda Creel Davis, Valentina A. Bali, “Examining the Role of Race, NIMBY, and Local Politics in
FEMA Trailer Park Placement”, Social Science Quarterly. Volume 89, Number 5. December 5, 2008.
1176 – 1194. Accessed December 2, 2010.
5. Aldo Benini, Charles Conley, Brody Dittemore, Zachary Waksman, “Survivor needs or logistical
convenience? Factors shaping decisions to deliver relief to earthquake-affected communities, Pakistan
2005-6”, Disasters. Volume 27, Issue 4. October 30, 2006. Accessed November 5, 2010.
6. Reed Lindsay, “Haiti’s Excluded: How the earthquake aid regime sidelines those it is supposed to
help”, The Nation. March 29, 2010. 18 – 22. Accessed November 9, 2010.
7. Esther K. Hicks, Gregory Pappas, “Coordinating Disaster Relief After the South Asia Earthquake”,
Society. July/August 2006. 42 – 50. Accessed November 9, 2010.
8. Garry Pierre-Pierre, “Living under tents: Haitians brace themselves for rainy season”, The New York
Amsterdam News. February 25-March 3, 2010. 2. Accessed December 2, 2010.
9. Naomi Pollock, “Shigeru Ban Aims to Build Waterproof Shelters in Haiti”, Architectural Record On-
line. May 11, 2010. Accessed November 21, 2010. <http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/
archives/2010/100511shigeru_ban_shelters.asp >
7
10. Jonathan Benthall, Disasters, Relief, and the Media. New York. I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. Publishers. ©
1993. 1 – 40.
11. Randolph C. Kent, Anatomy of Disaster Relief: The International Network in Action. London.
Pinter Publishers Ltd. © 1987. 1 – 68.
Image Sources
Page 1: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article95870.ece
Page 2: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/sci_nat_san_francisco_earth-
quake___1906/html/1.stm
Page 3: http://news.in.msn.com/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=3482069&page=11
Page 5: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Haiti-Earthquake-Diary/2010/0125/Haiti-earthquake-
diary-The-lives-within-the-tent-cities
Page 6: http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/SBA_WORKS/SBA_PAPER/SBA_PAPER_6/SBA_
paper_6.html