STAR SCIENCE: PHL FALLS VICTIM TO EXTREME
DISASTERS SHOWED BY RECENT CALAMITY
[PHOTO FROM GOOGLE -Hard to imagine how people survive these
calamities]
MANILA, AUGUST 16, 2012 (PHILSTAR) STAR SCIENCE By Joost R. Santos,
Ph.D., Krista Danielle Yu, Kathleen B. Aviso, Ph.D. and Raymond R. - Systems
perspective on disaster risk management.
In recent years, the world has witnessed many catastrophic natural and
man-made disasters with dire consequences that have crippled the entire global
society.
Notable examples include the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the
Fukushima earthquake of 2011 (which then triggered a nuclear plant meltdown) or
the massive floods in Manila in 2009 and Bangkok in 2011. At the same time, the
near misses of recent years and the specter of future disasters (e.g., the ever
present threat of a global pandemic and the gradual but inevitable onset of
climate change) have highlighted the need to manage disasters through a
scientific approach. As a result, global awareness on risks of natural and
man-made disasters has grown at a much accelerated pace than before and also
underscored the need for integrated preparedness policies that extend beyond
customary organizational boundaries.
The Philippines falls victim to extreme disasters as evidenced by calamities
that recently struck the nation.
The aggregation of economic losses, infrastructure disruptions, population
displacements, and mortalities make the Philippines the "world's most
disaster-hit country" in 2011, according to the Citizens' Disaster Response
Center.
In addition, data compiled by the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction
and Management Council indicate that the majority of the top-10 costliest
typhoons in recorded history occurred in recent years — with Pepeng (2009),
Pedring (2011), Frank (2008), and Ondoy (2009) comprising the top of the list.
With the vulnerability of the Philippines to super-typhoons and its location
within the "Pacific ring of fire," the nation has suffered from numerous
catastrophic disasters — resulting in massive loss of lives, disruptions to
economic livelihoods, and irreversible damage to critical infrastructure
systems.
It is also significant to note that, in the wake of such disasters, people's
limited financial resources are inevitably channeled toward more urgent everyday
needs; on the other hand, education is sacrificed, thus creating an insidious,
self-reinforcing cycle of poverty in an already poor country.
Development of disaster preparedness and resilience strategies spans
multidisciplinary fields, which include engineering, economics, emergency
medicine, and public policy, among others.
Critical infrastructure systems (e.g., transportation, telecommunications,
electric power, banking, etc.) are highly complex and interdependent. These
interdependencies take the form of physical connections, information flows,
organizational partnerships, and exchanges of commodities and services.
Our modern world has become more reliant on the essential services these
critical infrastructure systems provide, hence ensuring their availability and
recovery is of paramount importance particularly in the aftermath of disasters.
Failure of infrastructure systems can also spin off additional public safety and
environmental hazards as proven by incidents such as the British Petroleum (BP)
oil rig spill and earthquake-induced Fukushima nuclear reactor failures.
Closer to home, recent spells of bad weather in the previous weeks resulted
in flashfloods, which in turn triggered massive gridlocks that crippled
transportation systems in large parts of Metro Manila. In his seminal book
(Normal Accidents), Charles Perrow coined the term "interactive complexity" to
describe chaotic outcomes that can potentially stem from combination of two or
more "normal" discrete failures.
Research publications and funding opportunities on infrastructure safety and
disaster management areas have gained momentum in light of the recent
catastrophic disasters. A case in point, the United States Agency for
International development (USAID) identifies disaster mitigation as one of its
priority development areas.
Furthermore, USAID-Philippines also includes humanitarian assistance as one
of its core programs, which comprise of initiatives in disaster response, early
recovery of internally displaced persons, and disaster risk reduction. The
number of infrastructure risk analysis and disaster-related articles also
appears to be on a steady rise.
For example, queries for keywords such as "disasters" and "infrastructure" in
databases such as ISI Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar reveal hundreds
of new articles pertaining to the adverse effects of disasters on infrastructure
systems (several of which relate to climate change, energy, and sustainability).
Despite the surge in methodological development and policy formulation
efforts in disaster assessment and management, significant gaps and
opportunities still prevail.
To wit, the analysis of workforce recovery relative to critical
infrastructure protection remains incremental. In contrast to the numerous
publications on infrastructure systems, a disproportionately low number of
disaster-related articles directly focus on critical workforce sectors.
Arguably, the same workforce sectors that drive the economic prosperity of a
region are also central in expediting the recovery of disrupted physical
infrastructure systems.
In a country as disaster-prone as the Philippines, there is a strong need to
develop tools and strategies based on cold, hard, scientific methodologies, as
all too often, haphazard measures driven by good intentions fail to do the job.
There also exists a wealth of opportunities to synergize the technological
innovations and policies that are separately explored in different scientific
fields, institutions, and agencies. In his seminal book "7 Habits of Highly
Effective People," Stephen Covey coined the expression "1+1=3" to emphasize the
importance of synergy.
In the context of this article, the synergistic fusion of knowledge across a
diverse pool of experts and stakeholders will indeed result in broader and more
effective impact on assessment, management, and communication of disaster risks.
Integration of available analytical models, policymaking strategies, and best
practices on enhancing infrastructure and economic resilience is necessary in
today's interdependent global society.
***
Dr. Joost R. Santos is an assistant professor of the George Washington
University. The purpose of his visit to the Philippines is to provide
educational and institutional outreach initiatives on disaster risk management,
with acknowledgments to DOST's Balik Scientist Program and the US National
Science Foundation (Award #0963718). He may be contacted by e-mail (joost@gwu.edu).
Krista Danielle Yu is an assistant professor of Economics at De La Salle
University. Her current research is on impact analysis of disasters on the
welfare of various sectors of the economy. She may be contacted through e-mail
(krista.yu@dlsu.edu.ph).
Dr. Kathleen B. Aviso is an associate professor of Chemical Engineering at De
La Salle University. Her research focuses on the use of optimization models for
designing sustainable industrial systems. She may be contacted via e-mail (kathleen.aviso@dlsu.edu.ph).
Dr. Raymond R. Tan is a university fellow and full professor of Chemical
Engineering at De La Salle University. He is also the current director of that
institution's Center for Engineering and Sustainable Development Research
(CESDR). He may be contacted via e-mail (raymond.tan@dlsu.edu.ph).
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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