Thailand: Cyclone season shows dire need for preparation
By Loretta Hieber Girardet, Chief of the UNISDR Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
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The Asia-Pacific region suffered several notable and unusual disasters in 2018. Indonesia suffered its deadliest year due to disasters since 2007, according to BNPB, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, with at least 4,231 people dead or declared missing. Japan was hit by two earthquakes and a number of typhoons, including Typhoon Jebi. In India, the state of Kerala experienced the worst floods since 1924. The torrential rains triggered several landslides, which along with the floods, affected 5.4 million people, displaced 1.4 million people, and took 433 lives, according to the Asian Development Bank.
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Building resilient infrastructure does not just apply to public roads, bridges and dams, but also to schools, hospitals, and critical facilities. These basic service facilities play an important role in recovery and rehabilitation efforts after a disaster. That is why the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a global agreement adopted in 2015, designates the strengthening of their resilience as a distinct target to be achieved by countries. Notably, tropical storm Pabuk damaged several hospitals and schools, thereby reducing essential services for the community. Recovery efforts must ensure that these facilities are repaired and rebuilt in a manner which allows them to withstand the impact of future storms.
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To maximise the use of limited resources, it is critical that investments towards resilience be targeted in a calculated manner. Communities need to understand the risks they face and prioritise actions to address these risks. This includes understanding which groups are most vulnerable and most likely to be negatively impacted by a hazard such as a cyclone or flood. The knowledge gained from such assessments must be used to guide development decisions thereby ensuring that major development decisions and urban planning are risk-informed and do no create new risk. This will help protect development gains from being washed away by an avoidable disaster.
A key method of integrating risk knowledge into government programmes is the development of a sound national disaster risk reduction strategy. Currently, about half of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region have developed such strategies. The Thai government is conducting a national workshop, with the support of UNISDR to revise their National Disaster Risk Management Plan so that it focuses more on understanding and managing risk, rather than simply responding to disasters.
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