DRDM Open Day - Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction

The Department of Environment held a public open day at the National Library on December 21st. The Divisions of Risk and Disaster Management were present with an impressive and colourful display consisting of various educational materials, banners, policy documents, plans and equipment.


The display materials, developed by Mrs. Sharon Ernesta the Education and Sensitisation Officer, included:

• new DRDM folders including information on the Divisions their mission statement and objectives for dissemination to the public,
• large calendars and bookmarks depicting the national colour code for warning alerts for free distribution,
• a poster setting out the national disaster chronology – a time line of the various disasters that have befallen Seychelles through its human history such as the great landslide of 1862 and the tidal waves of 1883, following the eruption of Krakatoa, and 2004 Asian earthquake disaster,
• various posters depicting subjects such as: the structure and role of the National Emergency Operations Centre, different disaster scenarios and potential mitigation measures etc...

All this presented under a large banner setting out the Mission Statement of DRDM in English and Creole, namely:

“To establish and continually review and improve capacities, mechanisms and procedures to enable the optimal reduction of disaster risk and vulnerability in the context of the people of Seychelles, their security, health and socio-economic well being”.

“Dan Sesel : etablir, revwar dan en fason kontinyel e amelyor kapasite, mekanism ek prosedir pour redwir risk dezas e vilnerabilite dimoun, zot sekirite, lasante e osi byennet sosyal e ekonomik”.

The DRDM stand attracted a lot of attention in particular the various equipment that was out on display. This included:

• loudhailers, with various alarm signals for different disaster scenarios,
• an INMARSAT satellite phone,
• a Codan SSBHF radio – this portable radio can be powered by car or battery pack and send text messages, e-mails and faxes as well as voice radio communications over long distances thanks to its collapsible whip antenna,
• a functioning mass texting communication network operated through a notebook computer to mass text all first responders (i.e. key emergency response agencies), and
• an example of the hand wound sirens (purchased under the current IBRD/GFDRR project - Seychelles National Disaster Preparedness and Response Project) for distribution to all schools as part of the national school emergency preparedness programme, was particularly popular.

The stand was filmed by the national TV company (SBC) and appeared on the evening news with Mr Labaleine (DG OEC) demonstrating various equipment.

The President of Seychelles, Mr James Michel – accompanied by the Minster of Home Affairs, Environment and Transport Mr Joel Morgan - stopped at the display and spent several minutes in discussion with DRDM staff and asking questions about the equipment and its practical applications. Ministers Adam and Sinon also took the time to speak to staff and inspect the stand.

The Public Education and Awareness materials are designed to be readily set out and packed up. They will serve DRDM well in the various public and educational events that it undertakes each year as part of its open-ended commitment to raise awareness and mainstream Disaster Risk Reduction in Seychelles.

The Making Cities Resilient Campaign

The Divisions of Risk and Disaster Management have been holding a series of stakeholder workshops over the last few weeks in order to address this International Campaign, launched by UNISDR, in the context of the Seychelles Capital, Victoria.


The Vision of the campaign is:

To Achieve Resilient Sustainable Urban Communities

This vision is to be realised through the attainment of the following three Objectives:

• Know more – raise the awareness of citizens and governments, at all levels, of the benefits of reducing urban risks.

• Invest wisely – identify budget allocations within local government funding plans to invest in disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities

• Build more safely – include DRR in participatory urban development planning and processes and protect critical infrastructure.

The DRDM workshops have received coverage in the national press – click on the photo below to enlarge and read the whole article:

 

For more information on the international campaign and to download the campaign kit simply follow the following link: http://www.unisdr.org/english/campaigns/campaign2010-2011/  


                                                   Is Your City Getting Ready?

DRDM on the move...

Following its incorporation into the Department of Environment in July the former department has been re-structured into the Divisions of Risk and Disaster Management with two Director General posts covering the portfolios of Policy Planning and Risk Management and Operations, Education and Communications respectively.


This restructuring reflects a refinement of the national approach to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and accompanies the development of a new Policy for National Disaster Management which sets all national objectives and activities into the globally recognised context of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). The proposed policy was presented to the National Disaster Committee in September and is now going through the standard Government approval procedures - as and when the Policy is finalised and endorsed will return to that subject on the project Blog.

DRDM has also, as of November, moved offices to the new “Global Village” complex at Mont Fleuri in the first of a two step transition. The change in location offers various benefits:

1) The primary one is strategic positioning for emergency response. The former offices in the town centre posed potential limitations as the frequent traffic congestion there could serve to greatly lengthen response times whilst adequate parking for DRDM vehicles was also a constant problem.

2) The new location also brings the Divisions much closer to their new administrative centre of the Department of Environment in the Botanical Gardens, whist being strategically placed at the centre of key roads to La Misere, Sans Soucis and of course the east coast highway.

The construction of a temporary Emergency Operations Centre is to start early 2011 in the Botanical Gardens at which time the Division of Operations, Education and Communications will move to that location to enable day-today DRR operations.

So a time of transition and evolution for DRR in Seychelles, check back periodically to see how the ongoing project contributes to this process...

Consultancy to develop a Disaster Contingency Plan for the Education Sector

Children are one of the sectors of society most vulnerable to disaster events. The education sector has therefore been identified as one of priority for the mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Reduction.


The objective of this work is the development of a Disaster Contingency Plan for the Education Sector that integrates Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) at the systemic and institutional level.

The advert for this work is reproduced below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONSULTANCY

The Government of Seychelles in partnership with the World Bank and funding from the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) is implementing the Seychelles National Disaster Preparedness and Response Project aimed at enhancing Seychelles’ disaster preparedness and response capacity.

Consultancy to Develop an Education Sector Disaster Contingency Plan

The Divisions of Risk and Disaster Management are seeking applications from consultant(s) to undertake the following works:

• Undertake a disaster preparedness assessment for the Education sector at systemic and key institutional level.
• Prepare an Education Sector Disaster Contingency Plan that addresses the findings of the preparedness assessment.
• Develop emergency standard operational procedure manuals for the 3 categories of education facility (i.e. Creches, small schools and large schools).

Skills/Experience/Qualifications. Candidates should have:

• At least five years of management/administration experience in the Seychelles education sector.
• Good educational background e.g. a higher degree in field relevant to proposed works.
• Excellent English verbal and written communication skills.

Previous experience of strategic planning and related consultancy work is advantageous.

Detailed Terms of Reference and further information is available from the address below.

Applications, including covering letter and full CV should be sent to:

The Project Management Unit
Divisions of Risk and Disaster Management
MS Complex,
Revolution Avenue,
P.O. Box 55
Victoria, Seychelles.
Telephone: 322979
Email: jnevill@statehouse.gov.sc


Closing Date for Applications: 29Th September 2010

Consultancy to Develop a Health Sector Disaster Contingency Plan

The health sector is a key national service in the effective implementation of the disaster management cycle in any country. In Seychelles, however, it is even more essential that Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is effectively integrated into the health sector as the country’s isolation means there may be significant delay before substantive aid would be received from overseas in the case of a serious disaster event.
The objective of this work is the development of a Disaster Contingency Plan for the Health Sector that integrates DRR at the systemic and institutional level.
The advert for this work is reproduced below:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONSULTANCY

The Government of Seychelles in partnership with the World Bank and funding from the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) is implementing the Seychelles National Disaster Preparedness and Response Project aimed at enhancing Seychelles’ disaster preparedness and response capacity.

Consultancy to Develop a Health Sector Disaster Contingency Plan

The Divisions of Risk and Disaster Management are seeking applications to undertake the following consultancy:

• Undertake a disaster preparedness assessment of the Seychelles Health sector at systemic and key institutional level. 
• Prepare, through stakeholder consultation, a Health Sector Disaster Contingency Plan that addresses the findings of the preparedness assessment.

Skills/Experience/Qualifications. Candidates should:

• be an MD , with at least ten years working experience,
• have experience in disaster preparedness/response and management,
• have excellent English verbal and written communication skills.

Previous experience with international emergency response agencies and working in small Island states is advantageous.
Detailed Terms of Reference and further information is available from the address below.

Applications, including covering letter and full CV should be sent to:

The Project Management Unit
Divisions of Risk and Disaster Management
MS Complex,
Revolution Avenue,
P.O. Box 55
Victoria, Seychelles.
Telephone: 322979
Email: jnevill@statehouse.gov.sc

Closing Date for Applications: 29th September 2010.

National Media Coverage

The Seychelles Nation newspaper this morning carries an article regarding the opportunity for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) that the ongoing devevelopment of the country's 3rd generation environmental management plan provides. The article seeks to raise awareness about the importance of integrating DRR into this strategic national document.

Simply click on the image below to enlarge and read the article submitted by the Project Management Unit.

Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction

2010 seems to have seen a procession of global disasters of biblical proportions. The horror of the Haiti earthquake, mudslides in Brazil and Rwanda, flash floods in Madeira, the earthquake in Chile and now the terrible floods in Pakistan and to a lesser extent China, just to name a few. The fatalities and devastation stack up while the global 24 hour news media rush from one disaster scene to the next to fill our TV screens with the suffering of others.

What is apparent is that one event is soon subsumed and eclipsed by the next and after a few months all but the every largest events are forgotten by the world at large and certainly by the media. The assistance that devastated areas can expect to receive from other countries is also on the wane due to the global economic situation. Likewise international NGO aid organisations can expect to receive declining contributions from the public due to economics but also due to “disaster fatigue”.

The terrible famine in Ethiopia in 1984-85 shocked the developed world and resulted in a massive outpouring of aid from regular people – subsequent famines however did not gain the same amount of attention. How much public assistance has there been for the starving, displaced multitudes in the Sudan? The 2004 Tsunami again had enormous media and emotive impact with massive global response, the same was true of Haiti this year. Will this still be the case for Pakistan?

There are only so many disasters that an individual can take on board, inevitably people become inured to the shocking images and tragedy or succumb to the sense of futility of attempting to address such large and recurrent problems.

All of the events cited in the first paragraph above will require long term measures and efforts to enable communities to recover and even further investment to mitigate against repeat events... yet most are already out of the global spotlight and will largely have to look within to achieve their goals.

This only serves to underline the importance of the thorough and comprehensive mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in national and sectoral activities. This is far from easy - people and agencies are always reluctant to devote a portion of already limited resources to eventualities that are in the short term unlikely to, and in the opinion of many never will, happen. Efforts in this regard need to be strategic and yet targeted, and above all persistent.

The Seychelles National Disaster Preparedness and Response project has as a primary objective: “the integration of disaster and risk reduction issues into national strategic documents and processes” . Works to promote this have included an assessment of ongoing national initiatives that offer scope for the mainstreaming of DRR and outreach to facilitate said mainstreaming.

The domain of environmental management is very active nationally at the current time with several GEF funded programmes in place, such as the Biodiversity Mainstreaming and Sustainable Land Management projects. Also of considerable significance and recently in the news is the project to develop the 3rd generation Environment Management Plan for Seychelles 2011-2020 (EMPS).

The EMPS is the main national strategic document that seeks to integrate environment into the development sectors. The EMPS is also moving towards becoming a more complete national approach to the pursuit of sustainable development. Sound environment management is a key component in many aspects of DRR, whilst disaster risk reduction is itself a component part of national sustainable development. The EMPS drafting process therefore offers a key, once in a decade, opportunity to mainstream DRR.

The Project Unit took the opportunity of the national EMPS inception workshop last week to propose DRR as a cross-cutting issue for incorporation into the proposed EMPS thematic areas. This represents a new concept for the EMPs and may not be easily incorporated.

Do check back periodically for updates on the ongoing activities to mainstream DRR.

DRDM launches logo

Public recognition of and support for the Department of Risk and Disaster Management's role in disaster risk reduction is vital for it to successfully fulfill its function. Both of these aspects of public recognition were highlighted yesterday on national TV and in today's Nation newspaper.

The Principal Secretary Mme Lucie Athanasius launched the DRDM logo representing a new initiative to raise the Department's profile whilst local company JHC International trading donated a special heavy duty chainsaw capable of cutting through construction materials and sheet metal a vital tool for certain disaster scenarios.
Simply click on the images below to enlarge and read more about the above or to see the new logo in detail.

Consultancy to Develop a Tourism Sector Disaster Contingency Plan

The Tourism sector is a major component of the national economy and a major national employer. The sector has developed extensive infrastructure and typically hosts between 2,000 and 4,000 tourists at any particular time.

As such an important and widespread sector, it is essential that all reasonable contingency measures are undertaken to ensure the safety of tourists and tourism workers alike in the case of disaster.
The objective of this work is the development of a National Tourism Disaster Contingency Plan that integrates Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) at the systemic and institutional levels of the sector.

The advert for this work is reproduced below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONSULTANCY

The Government of Seychelles in partnership with the World Bank and funding from the Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction (GFDRR) is implementing the Seychelles National Disaster Preparedness and Response Project aimed at enhancing Seychelles’ disaster preparedness and response capacity.

Consultancy to Develop a Tourism Sector Disaster Contingency Plan

The Department of Risk and Disaster Management is seeking applications from consultant(s) to undertake the following works:

• Undertake a disaster preparedness assessment of for the Tourism sector at systemic and key institutional level.
• Prepare a Tourism Sector Disaster Contingency Plan that addresses the findings of the preparedness assessment.
• Develop Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) guidelines for large and small residential tourism operations respectively.

Skills/Experience/Qualifications. Candidates should have:

• At least five years of management experience in the Seychelles tourism industry.
• Good educational background e.g. a degree in Tourism, Management, Business, Strategic Planning or related fields.
• Excellent English verbal and written communication skills.
Previous experience of strategic planning and related consultancy work is advantageous.

Detailed Terms of Reference and further information is available from the address below.

Applications, including covering letter and full CV should be sent to:


The Project Management Unit
Department of Risk and Disaster Management
MS Complex, Revolution Avenue,
P.O. Box 55, Victoria, Seychelles.
Telephone: 322979
Email: jnevill@statehouse.gov.sc
Closing Date for Applications: Monday 24thof May.

Manmade or Natural Disasters

It is often difficult to distinguish between what constitutes a natural and a manmade disaster. In truth it is often a combination of the two. The landslides in Uganda covered in the post below were caused by heavy rains but clearly aided and abetted by man’s clearance of land on such steep mountain slopes. Hurricane Katrina would generally be considered a natural disaster but it is widely recognised that the frequency and intensity of such storms has been increased by man’s impact on the global climate. Couple this with a city built on land much of which is below sea level surrounded by dykes that were improperly maintained and the circumstances become more complex.


International news has recently been covering what is very clearly a manmade disaster in the making, namely the oil leak off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. The Deepwater Horizon rig undertaking exploratory drilling for the British Petroleum (BP) exploded and sank on the 22nd April killing 11 people in the process.

Initially believed to be leaking the equivalent of 1,000 barrels of oil a day that estimate was yesterday increased to 5,000 a day. That is an enormous amount of oil and there is no end in sight at the moment, the problem being the extreme depth of the sea bed being worked. The leakage from the drill pipe is at a depth of 5000 ft below the sea surface and attempts to activate the blowout preventer with submersible robot have failed. The latest from BP is that the leaks will take some three months to close.

This leak threatens a major environmental disaster in what is known as the Fertile Crescent for fishing in the region worth approximately US$2.5 Billion per annum in particular for shrimp, crab and oyster fisheries. Worse still vitally important marsh habitats of the Mississippi delta are threatened when the slick comes ashore these areas serve as the main nursery habitats for the regions fisheries as well as supporting habitat for animals and migrating birds. Add to this the likely impact upon dolphin, turtle and seabird populations of such a volume of oil and an environmental catastrophe of potentially long lasting impact looms.

Oil spills are an issue of concern in Seychelles too. Aldabra, the largest raised atoll in the world and one of Seychelles World heritage sites lies not far from a major oil tanker lane. Small shipping-related spills in Port Victoria are not uncommon and oil exploration continues in Seychelles’ waters. Seychelles has a detailed plan and established capacity to address small spills in the Port and east coast area of Mahe and ongoing regional project is reviewing that plan and seeking to improve regional cooperation and capacities in case of a larger spills.

This project will also be seeking to improve capacity to deal with, and minimise the risk of, terrestrial spills. As development continues rapidly in Seychelles increasing amounts of fuel are “tankered” round the island either to petrol stations or to large facilities with their own storage facilities such as hotel complexes etc... spills on the steep roads of Mahe or into freshwater sources could have very serious consequences whilst fire risk at private storage facilities also needs to be considered - just another aspect of the work being enabled by this GFDRR/IBRD grant. Accidents will always happen this is inevitable minimising their occurrence and impact and increasing resilience to them is where the focus must be.

Environmental degradation, natural disasters and refugees....

We have heard a lot in recent years a lot about economic migration... the problem of illegal immigration in Europe with boat loads of desperate people risking everything to get into the EU. In the states it largely relates to people from Latin America attempting to get into the perceived promised land of the USA. Just last week tough new immigration laws were passed in the US state of Arizona in attempt to combat an estimated half million illegal residents in a state with a population of 7 million.


One concern however, that is increasingly coming to the fore, is the role of environmental degradation as a driving force behind what is broadly termed economic migration. A poorly managed and degraded environment provides fewer services and supports less life and resources that can in turn support viable incomes for people. Environmental disasters also play their role and certainly can greatly exacerbate the situation in already poor circumstances and even make life untenable in certain areas.

The earthquake in Haiti is requiring the decampment and relocation of hundreds of thousands of people, the same will doubtless be true though on a smaller scale in Quinghai province, China after the recent quake.

Another quite extreme example of this has been the mudslides last month in Uganda. The mudslides on 1st March in the east of Uganda on the slopes of Mount Elgon swept away three villages killed up to 300 hundred people and rendered several thousand homeless. It has further raised concerns about outbreaks of cholera and malaria due to submerged pit latrines and pools of stagnant water.

Uganda has one of the highest population growth rates in Africa which has driven people ever higher up the mountainsides in search of land to eke out a subsistence living. The resulting deforestation and land clearance has left large areas vulnerable to landslides. The recent landslides have been labelled a ”wake-up call” by the Ugandan Minister for Disaster Preparedness, Mr. Musa Ecweru, and prompted him to state that some half-a-million people will need to be moved from their homes in mountainous areas because of the risk of landslides.

For such a statement to be made and only a year before national elections shows how serious the situation is being viewed. It remains to be seen however where provision can be made to re-settle so many people in such a relatively small and poor country.

The terrain of the main populated islands of Seychelles also means that landslides are a risk that needs to be mitigated. The heavy rains of 1997/98 saw several roads being washed out and gradual shifting of soil on some slopes has been and remains a problem in some areas. The most infamous disaster in Seychelles – the 1862 La Valasse - was a landslide. This too was likely coupled with significant environmental degradation of the time with several contemporary writers referring to the extensive deforestation that was prevalent in the 19th century. Today the mountainsides are generally quite heavily forested, though not necessarily by the most desirable species. Nevertheless the Seychelles Disaster Preparedness and Response Project will be, as one of its activities, undertaking a geological risk assessment of the three main islands in order to identify areas where mitigation actions or precautionary measures are required.

Expect the Unexpected

News over the last week has been filled with the eruption and ensuing ash cloud from the volcano Eyjafjallajokull (Yes apparently that’s its name!) in Iceland. The volcano has of course had significant impact on the communities and farmers surrounding it particularly those downwind and images have shown the ground covered in several inches of ash.


Who however would have predicted the broader ramifications of this natural disaster? Major airports across large parts of Europe have been closed for fear of the affect the ash may have upon sensitive jet engines. This has left literally tens of thousands of people stranded around the globe and according to IATA (The International Air Transport Association) has cost the airline industry some US $ 1.7 Billion.

BBC world service radio in the Africa region has been covering other stories that relate to the impact of this closing of European airspace for example the cut flower industry in Kenya that relies on international flights to take its products, primarily fresh roses, to market in saleable condition, apparently the fresh flower industry in Kenya is losing more than a million US$ a day!

Locally the SBC news has cited how imports of fresh produce for hotels has been severely affected and showed the empty shelves of ISPC, a major importer, to highlight the situation. Though I have yet to hear any figures or news on fishery exports there must also presumably have been an impact of the export of fresh fish to the European restaurant market an important high-profit market for local fishers, not to mention of course the affect upon tourism revenue!

Today (21/04/10) the news is of airports slowly opening up again but even if all goes well the back log is expected to take weeks to clear – in the meantime there is concern that the volcano may be increasing its ash output and there are further fears that this activity may trigger eruptions in the second much larger Katla volcano nearby!

All this goes to show how interconnected we all are in this global economy and how disasters even thousands of miles away can have ramifications for Seychelles. It is clearly important for isolated countries like Seychelles to optimise their levels of self-sufficiency and investigate their vulnerability to even less likely occurrences and identify what pragmatic steps can be taken to build resilience into our infrastructure, services and economy.

In 2007 the Department of Risk and Disaster Management (DRDM) undertook a capacity needs assessment for disaster management and early warning in Seychelles. The worst case scenario used in this exercise was a hurricane hitting the east coast of Mahe. Now whilst Seychelles lies outside of the hurricane belt it can expect every few hundred years to be hit by one – it is believed for example that the 1862 “la Valasse” – a famous historical disaster in Seychelles that caused considerable loss of life (see post of January 11th for further details) - may have been caused by a tropical depression. The east coast of Mahe constitutes the main storage, power generating, communications, travel and services infrastructure of the country as well as the main population concentration; all this along the narrow low-lying coastal plain. The east coast is therefore highly vulnerable to such an event even if the risk is rather low.

The current Seychelles Disaster Preparedness and Response Project will be seeking to address some of these concerns in particular under the development of disaster contingency plan for the Industrial sector. Initial consultations with key stakeholders in this domain have commenced so do check back periodically for updates...

DISASTER BULLETIN

Writing posts for this blog is a mixed bag. The international news is followed closely for examples of hazards and disasters. In a certain sense therefore, one is pleased when there is a new occurrence that provides a basis for something to write. At the same time however these reports generally reflect misfortune and/or disaster befalling others and so clearly in that sense, it would be far preferable to have nothing to write about at all.


The weekend before last was tragically disaster strewn, though most of the stories were dwarfed by the enormous earthquake in Chile, we start below by returning to Haiti.

• Haiti. In the post of 23rd February it was noted that the seasonal rains, due to hit Haiti in the coming weeks, pose another great threat that of waterborne diseases breaking out in the unsanitary conditions of the temporary camps established by the newly-homeless. With Haiti in such a devastated state with services provision practically entirely destroyed by the earthquake such disease outbreak amongst the tens-of thousands camping out could lead to many, many more deaths particularly amongst children, the already injured and the frail. Enormous effort is hence being directed to build sanitary encampments on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince in an attempt to accommodate people before the imminent onset of the seasonal rains. Over the weekend heavy rains caused flooding in Haiti and caused at least 8 deaths by drowning in the south-western port town of Les Cayes. People were reported to be taking refuge from the water on the roofs of their homes and some houses are reported to have collapsed. The hospital there, so important in the ongoing treatment of earthquake victims, has also been flooded and the ground floor rendered unusable. Now what makes this even more remarkable is that the town of Les Cayes was in general unaffected by the earthquake in January. It has since then seen its population swell with the arrival of thousands of the displaced from Port-au-Prince. The real concern now however is that this may signal an early commencement of the rains and all the additional suffering that it may bring to those in the camps – people who have already suffered so much.

• Storm system Xynthia batters southwestern Europe and takes lives. The Iberian Peninsula and France were hit by storms over the weekend. At least 50 people have been killed, the vast majority in France, whilst at least a dozen are reported missing and 60 or more others have been injured. Winds of up to 140km/h in the Bay of Biscay drove huge waves into coastal towns causing the collapse of buildings and inland flooding. Several people were injured or killed by falling trees uprooted by the strong winds. There have been extensive power cuts along the west coast of France affecting more than a million homes. The storm system, named Xynthia, is moving north-eastwards and areas of Northern France have been put on alert for heavy rain and high winds.

• Madeira. The latest news from Madeira has the death toll at 42 from the flash floods and mudslides of the previous week. Efforts are ongoing, with divers and sniffer dogs, along the coast of the island to find 13 people missing feared dead. 19 people displaced by the disaster have been found alive and well. In the meantime the cleanup is ongoing with heavy machinery clearing mud and debris from the streets and other teams working to clear large boulders from water courses. Questions are now also being asked as to how such flooding could occur with some alleging that unauthorised development and poor urban planning have left Madeira vulnerable to flash floods.

• Chile. The main story over the weekend was of course the huge magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile on Saturday morning (Seychelles time). The initial fatality counts were remarkably low for such a major quake but as the day progressed the news got worse figures going from 48 to over 700, with many more expected as response teams reach the worst hit areas. The images on the news highlighted the power of the quake with motorway flyovers collapsed and cars strewn all about. A lot of coverage has been given to the fact the Chile quake was vastly more powerful than that which hit Haiti, 8.8 magnitude as opposed to 7 for Haiti. The Richter scale is logarithmic and 8.8 is immensely larger than 7, but a key issue here is that the Haiti quake was very shallow at 13km down whilst the Chile quake occurred significantly deeper at 60km down. The vast difference in fatalities recorded to date relates to this and other aspects of vulnerability of the two sites – a subject covered in detail in the post of 23rd February below. Chile is a much more affluent country than Haiti and has a long history of earthquakes. As such resilience has been effectively integrated into their development planning and sectors something that has doubtless saved untold numbers of lives in this disaster.

National Media Coverage

The Nation newspaper has kindly printed an article on our work at DRDM and specifically the World Bank project that this blog covers. The article printed in the Nation of Monday 1st March builds on the blog post of Monday February the 8th (see below) and goes into more detail regarding the communications programme under the project.


To read the article simply click the photo below to enlarge.

Disaster Death Tolls and the Factors Involved

The extent of the tragedy in Haiti reveals itself further as time goes by. The Haitian Interior Minister stated last week that the verified death toll to date is more than 217,000 people whilst estimates of total lives lost to date are appearing to begin to settle around 230,000. In addition to this it is estimated that some 300,000 people were injured in the quake, that more than 500,000 are currently homeless and that some 5 million are currently dependent on aid to survive.

The scale of the impact of this tragedy is hard to assimilate – so much death and destruction in such a confined area. The life lost so far is now getting on a par with the 2004 tsunami where it is estimated that some 250,000 (USGS NOAA figures: 225,000 – 275,000) died. The Sumatra quake and subsequent tsunami was much larger however, and its geographic range of impact vast. The race is on now in Haiti to put in place shelter and services before the rains come. As rain, in make-shift camps with poor hygiene, brings with it the spectre of waterborne diseases.

So why did the Haiti quake kill so many people? The answer lies in the harsh combination of risk and vulnerability. Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, lies on what is called the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system which is in the boundary region separating the Caribbean and North America tectonic plates. This means that the area is at risk of seismic activity and whilst this particular fault system has not produced a large quake in recent decades it does have a history. In 1751 a major earthquake to the east of Port-au-Prince destroyed the city. In 1770 the city was again destroyed by a quake this time centred to the west of the capital. In 1860, further west again, there was a major earthquake which caused a tsunami. So the risk is clearly there.

Vulnerability is more complicated but centres on the terrain, the relative poverty of the people and of course the every high population density. The combination of these factors means that damage caused by a quake particularly in terms of loss of life is likely to be high.

Finally, to compound these factors the quake had a large magnitude, its epicentre was close to the city and critically it occurred very shallow in the earth’s crust. So at 21.53 hrs on January 12th a magnitude 7 quake with epicentre just 25 km west south west of Port-au-Prince at a paltry depth of 13km hit the city and enormous death and destruction ensued.

In the coming months when final figures are applied to the Haiti quake it will fall within the top 10 deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Looking at the current top 10 it is notable that 6 of the 10 worst events have occurred in China a country, of course, with a very high population density. Of those disasters 4 were floods and two were earthquakes. The yellow river in China accounts for 3 of the top 5 worst natural disasters in history: in 1887 it flooded and killed 900,000-2,000,000 people, the 1931 floods are estimated to have taken between 850,000 – 4,000,000 lives and just 7 years after that it flooded again to take a further 500,000 – 900,000 lives! In the latter half of the 20th century the Yellow river has been tamed by major flood prevention works until today in fact there is insufficient water in the basin to meet the growing human, agricultural and industrial demand.

In the last decade earthquakes have been responsible for nearly 60% of fatalities caused by natural disasters globally.

Now when we consider the Seychelles scenario we face different issues. As noted in previous posts Seychelles is blessed to lie far from the edge of its tectonic plate and outside of the cyclone belt, whilst floods on our tiny islands drain rapidly into the sea.

The central archipelago is not immune from cyclones of course, they are just rare. A 2007 disaster management capacity assessment for Seychelles cited a worst case scenario of a major cyclone hitting the east coast of Mahe. The east coast harbours our major population centre, something like 90% of our food storage facilities, the port and international airport, as well as the bulk of power generation, fuel storage and health care capacity. Food for thought!

The vulnerability of our east coast was further underlined by the 2004 tsunami. Much of the contingency planning measures addressed by the current World Bank project will be looking in depth at the vulnerability of that area and how to reduce and mitigate this. Over the coming months this blog will cover these issues in more depth... do keep checking back for updates!

For those interested to investigate further the risk and vulnerability issues that affect fatalities there was a very interesting article on the BBC website recently that compared these factors in 3 recent earthquakes, that of Haiti and the 2008 China and 2009 Italy quakes. To read the article, follow the link below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8510900.stm

Flash floods and Mudslides claim Lives on Island of Madeira

A new disaster has hit the international news headlines this weekend namely the flash floods on the autonomous Portuguese island of Madeira. News coverage on three networks (BBC, CNN, France 24) over the weekend revealed stunning images of walls of water powering down flood drains and high streets alike. It also recorded a gradually increasing death toll: first 28, then 32 and now over 40 with numbers expected to rise as bodies are believed to have been washed out to sea and buried under mudslides. Two naval vessels have left port in Portugal to bring aid to the island.


It is easy to forget the enormous power of water but watching footage of cars getting washed away and bridges collapsing from the force of the torrent soon sets that straight and was reminiscent of scenes from the 2004 tsunami. Photographs on the BBC website give further evidence of the impact with cars piled up, buildings collapsed and streets blocked with debris left by the waters.

Now clearly this disaster pales into insignificance compared to the tragic destruction in Haiti and will doubtless rapidly fade from the headlines. For Seychelles however the Madeira disaster is very relevant as it offers many parallels to our circumstances. Madeira, like Seychelles, lies several hundred kilometres off the coast of Africa (and nearly a thousand kilometres from its nearest source of help Portugal) and tourism forms a major component of its economy. Flash floods and mudslides are also a key disaster risk in Seychelles and something we have seen quite a lot of in recent years though nothing thankfully, on the scale of that which has occurred in Madeira. Nevertheless, we stand to learn quite a lot from the disaster and subsequent response and recovery, that can be extrapolated to our own circumstances here and guide us in our contingency planning.

To that end, and international media permitting, we will follow the disaster and its aftermath as long as we can. Please do check back for updates.

Wetlands, Water Catchment Management and Disaster Mitigation

Wetlands have been all over the national news of late, as the International Convention on Wetlands, or Ramsar Convention, chose to hold its first ever world wetlands week in Seychelles. Inland water ecosystems in Seychelles are of great biodiversity significance. Small freshwater ecosystems isolated by a 1,000 miles of salt water and 70 million years of evolution are certain to contain high levels of endemic fauna much of which has yet to be properly studied.


The Ramsar definition of wetlands is much broader than inland water ecosystems however and includes lakes, rivers, swamps, marshes, wet grasslands, peat lands, estuaries and areas of marine water the depth of which is 6 metres or less at low tide. In the Seychelles context this includes fringing coral reefs and their lagoons and so has extensive environmental and socio-economic relevance in the local context. It was therefore interesting to note the repeated references in media interviews to wetlands’ importance in mitigating the impacts of climate change and indeed in mitigating disaster events.

Healthy fringing coral reefs can provide very significant protection to the coastland, they surround, from wave action and even attenuate some of the force of a tidal wave. Mangroves in particular are considered to be very important for coastal protection with various examples coming out of the 2004 Tsunami where coastal areas with mangroves fared much better than adjacent areas where the mangroves had been removed.

In Seychelles one of the key considerations is management of the water cycle from catchment areas through streams and rivers to coastal wetlands and their drainage into the sea. One of the features of changing weather patterns in Seychelles in recent years is that while the average amount of rain falling during the rainy season is remaining reasonably stable the nature of the rainfall is changing. Rain is tending to come in shorter and heavier bursts. This poses various problems for the main granitic islands which with their steep topography and very small area experience a rapid run-off of precipitation into the sea. Firstly, of course, it means that the provision of potable water is more problematic as brief but very heavy rain rapidly exceeds the capacity of the small river dams and runs into the sea before any large quantity can be pumped to the La Gogue reservoir.

Likewise this rapid flow of water can cause downstream problems through flooding of coastal plains. When Europeans first explored the granite islands they reported that much of the coastal plains consisted of wetlands which they considered to be ideal for rice production. As time passed much of this low-lying land was reclaimed by early settlers for development. Today this means that various portions of the developed coastal plains are prone to flooding. The capital Victoria is itself largely built on land reclaimed from the sea between 50 and 100 years ago – the former mudflats now host the capitals shopping centres, bus terminal etc... whilst the rivers and streams have been straightened and canalised. The vulnerability of such areas to flooding was emphasised by the heavy rains of 1998.

The first way agencies typically address such concerns is by “improving” drainage through the widening and deepening of drainage channels and marsh outlets. This attains the objective of increasing outflow and shortening and lessening the period and extent of flood events but can give rise to other problems.

Another approach though offering much more gradual results is the integrated management of entire catchment areas. The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) cites sound environmental management as a key factor in the reduction of the instances and impact of disasters. In the Seychelles context this means optimising vegetation cover in catchment areas and along water courses. In this case native vegetation is much better as natural ecosystems have greater structural diversity and integrity and can absorb and hold more water than habitats dominated by invasive species.

Catchment areas if managed properly can act as enormous sponges, capturing and holding vast amounts of water and allowing it to drain off much more slowly resulting in better water retention, slower flow rates and hence less downstream flooding.

Wetlands likewise can be used to mitigate flooding and reduce offshore siltation with its knock-on impacts upon reef health and lagoon fishery production by enhancing their capacity to hold and filter water.

One of the main aspects of the “Seychelles Disaster Preparedness and Response Project” is the mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) into other sectoral plans. The environment sector in Seychelles is currently going through a very dynamic phase of project implementation courtesy of GEF-funded projects being rolled-out through the UNDP office in Seychelles. The Department of Risk and Disaster Management (DRDM) is therefore seeking to work with these projects to integrate DRR. To further this end DRDM will soon be making presentations on its project to the national environmental steering committee and the steering committee of a new environmental management capacity building project. It will further more be targeting aspects of the GEF Biodiversity Mainstreaming project and the Sustainable Land Management project specifically with regard to enhanced management of the water cycle for disaster reduction as both those projects will be investigating aspects of watershed management.

Such an approach of inter-project and inter-sectoral cooperation offers considerable scope for the realisation of synergies and the enhanced utilisation of donor funds to attain the objectives of sound environmental management integrating the tenants of disaster risk reduction.

As these activities continue and the process of DRR integration progresses we will report further so please do check back periodically.

Disaster Education and Awareness

Public education and awareness is a key aspect of the “Seychelles Disaster and Preparedness and Response Project”. Firstly it is important that general public awareness of disaster risk reduction as an issue is raised. Secondly it is important that the existence of DRDM, its location, role and ongoing work is better understood so that people and other agencies know better how to react and interact in disaster events. Thirdly, we hope in time and as the project rolls out that we can provide information that will empower individuals to take precautionary measures in the context of their own day-to-day lives that can improve their resilience, and that of their families, to disaster occurrences. Finally, it is important as a means of providing transparency on the project for current and potential future partner agencies so that they can see how work is progressing, the motivation behind it and the course that is charted. In this way it is hoped that cooperation can be enhanced and facilitated.


This blog was set up for the above reasons and the project management unit also periodically produces articles for the national press with the same objectives in mind. One such article was published in the nation newspaper on Monday February the 8th.

To read the article, simply click on the photo below to enlarge the text. Unfortunately the graphic did not reproduce very well in print so the original digital version is also reproduced in the sidebar.

The Disaster Management Cycle (Part 1)

Our televisions continue to be flooded with images of destruction and distress from Haiti and increasingly criticism of the international aide response is being heard. There are reports of critical planes being diverted to the Dominican Republic as other apparently less urgent planes are allowed to land in Port au Prince and of relief materials lying unused at the airport as logistics and priority foul-ups slow their urgent distribution.

The scale of the disaster in such a small area seems almost unprecedented with news reports this morning citing a figure of 150,000 bodies recovered so far in the capital alone. To put this in some perspective the terrible 1985 earthquake that impacted upon Mexico city is generally considered to have cost 9,500 lives; the Kobe, Japan quake in 1995, 5,500; Gujarat India 2001, 20,000; Pakistan 2005, 86,000; Sichuan Province, China 2008 88,000. Only the 2004 Sumatran earthquake and related tsunami has cost more lives (228,000) since an enormous quake in China in 1976.

The final total for the Haiti quake including areas outside the capital has yet to be estimated of course and its prominence in this terrible regard may yet worsen. What is clear however, is that the shallow nature of the quake, so near to a major population centre and in such a poor country are factors that have combined to devastating effect.

Today the international media has reported a senior Italian relief official as being highly critical of the response to date in particular with regard to the strategic approach and inter-agency coordination. Others are now questioning as to whether lessons have been properly learnt by the international agencies following the 2004 Tsunami and speculating whether the recovery and reconstruction phase will be any better managed.

What is being referred to here is the broader integrated response to disaster scenarios typically referred to as the disaster management cycle. In its most simple iteration this is considered to have four phases: i). Response, ii). Recovery, iii). Mitigation and iv). Preparedness.

This is often also referred to as the 4 “Rs” of disaster management (Response, Recovery, Readiness and Reduce).

In Haiti they are still very much in the response phase, though the time of active search for survivors has now officially ended, the medical response needs are still extensive and quite long term. Planning will however already be under way for the recovery phase, with funds being pledged and reconstruction programmes planned. Mitigation in the Haiti context will likely focus on matters such as: improved building codes, limitations on areas that can be developed for residential use to avoid higher risk terrain etc… Preparedness will focus on lessons to be learnt, e.g. How could the response have been managed better? How can the public be educated and thus better prepared to cope should such a catastrophe strike again? What plans and emergency protocols can be integrated into the local development and government sectors to minimize the impact of a future earthquake and so on…

Sadly reconstruction, mitigation and preparedness are not so “news worthy” and one can expect the CNN, BBC (etc…) camera lights to fall dark in Haiti soon enough. So we will not get such an insight in to that process except perhaps for a visit on the anniversary of the event. These stages are however vitally important if the loss of life is to be minimized in future events and hence do merit attention and coverage.

The GFDRR project just commencing now in Seychelles is directly addressing the mitigation and preparedness phases of the disaster management cycle and in future posts we will return to this topic and set the various project activities in this context.

Do check back periodically for updates.

Earthquakes

The news over the last week has of course been full of the tragic events in Haiti. The shallow epicentre of the quake right below a major population centre in such a poor country is proving to be a truly catastrophic combination. This has led many in Seychelles to look up at the densely populated hills around the capital Victoria and think of the impacts such a quake would cause in our context.


Seychelles, however, is blessed by its location in many ways: isolated from continental landmasses it is still thankfully devoid of several of the most problematic tropical diseases, it lies outside the cyclone belt and critically, in the context of seismic activity, a long way from the edge of the African tectonic plate (see image in sidebar).

The vast majority of seismic activity – earthquakes and volcanoes occur along the edge of tectonic plates (see sidebar). The earth’s surface is made up of a series of plates that are in constant motion due to the convection currents originating in the earth’s core. Plates may be:

• forced apart by a magma upwelling or “rift” such as is the case in the Indian ocean between the African and the Indo-Australian plate;
• forced together resulting, in oceanic situations, with one plate being forced (subducted) under the other and destroyed as the rock melts back to magma or in terrestrial situations the land may be forced and buckled upward as is the case in the formation of the Himalayas with the Indian plate, with the sub-continent at is forefront, forcing into the Eurasian plate.
• sliding past one another causing enormous frictional forces the energy arising from this being released by earthquake events. This is the case for Haiti, where the “small” Caribbean plate is surrounded by the enormity of the North and South American plates which are moving incrementally westwards relative to the Caribbean plate.

So the Seychelles is, as such, not vulnerable to such events though of course the 2004 Tsunami showed all too clearly how, even far distant, earthquakes can reach out their destructive power towards our islands. What many people do not realise is that this may occur more often than is generally thought as residents in Seychelles recorded the sea going in and out 17 times during the day following the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883!

For teachers or those wishing to investigate a little further there are some really good website facilities on the subject of seismic activity and earthquakes (including near real-time maps of seismic activity) try the following:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/   and  http://www.iris.edu/seismon

Addressing Landslides

Hidden beneath all the recent headlines about the big freeze in the northern hemisphere have been news items on the occurrence of land/mudslides in both Brazil and the Solomon Islands.


The slides in the Solomon Islands were following an offshore earthquake whilst those in Brazil were the results of very heavy rain. Now whilst freezing weather is clearly not a risk factor in the Seychelles, landslides are. The very steep terrain to be found in areas of the four main granite islands coupled with tropical rainfall provide the basic ingredients for landslide events.

The most famous natural disaster recorded in the human history of Seychelles is the landslide that occurred on the 12th October 1862 known locally as “La Valasse”. Accounts vary as to whether it was very heavy rain, brought on by a tropical cyclone, or a waterspout releasing its contents on the mountainside, either way, a huge landslide resulted. Originating from the east face of the Trois Frères mountains, sweeping down a swathe of land along the St Louis river valley, the boulders, mud and debris battered into the parts of the town of Victoria below. Many lives were lost and much infrastructure engulfed and submerged.

Looking at the photos of the landslide that took place at the beach resort of “Angra Dos Reis” on the island of “Ilha Grande” in Brazil I was struck by the similarity with the Seychelles scenario (see photo in sidebar). The landslide has occurred leaving the bare rock face – or glacis as we would call it locally – behind. Local readers will recall exactly the same thing happening, though on a much smaller scale, on the Beau Vallon Baie by-pass road a few years ago. What happens of course is quite simple, with very heavy rainfall the soil saturates and water actually starts to flow down the rock surface underneath the soil. This serves to lower the friction coefficient between the soil and the mountainside whilst increasing the weight of the soil. If sufficient water flows the soil and boulders can actually begin to slip down over the surface of the rock due to gravitational force.

A more gradual occurrence of this is one of the underlying problems affecting and causing great concern at the Vista-do-Mar estate in recent years.

One of the key activities of the GFDRR project in Seychelles will be a geological survey of the 3 main inhabited islands in order to assess the stability of steep hillsides in particular those that host or are above key residential and infrastructure areas. The findings of this work will enable better guidance to be provided to developers that are building in such areas and also allow the level of risk to be reduced or mitigated in existing developed areas.

These aspects of risk assessment and reduction are a key component of the raison d’etre of the Department of Risk and Disaster Management and the results of this study, when undertaken, should help provide a risk baseline upon which their other activities can be designed and targeted.

Seychelles’ Disaster Preparedness and Response Project Receives National Press Coverage

The Seychelles Nation Newspaper carried an article on Monday January 1st regarding the New DRDM GFDRR project.

To read the article, simply click on the image below to enlarge it.

Alternatively the article can be accessed on the Nation website by following the below link and then using the search tool for articles published on the 4th January 2010.

Seychelles Nation Website