EC: Against the mighty winds - Kristalina Georgieva

As I write this, Hurricane Sandy’s devastation is felt all over the US east coast, all the way to Canada. More than 40 people died, thousands have been evacuated. Cities look like props in an apocalyptic movie. The New York stock exchange was closed for two days in a row – the first time this has happened due to weather since 1888!

But behind the bad news and the fear, there is another story: that of the thousands of men and women who are not mere spectators or victims – without whom the impact of this disaster would have been much worse. I am talking about the first responders of FEMA, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency and their colleagues from local and state authorities, about the rescue workers of the American Red Cross and other similar bodies, and all the volunteers in their ranks. They have worked around the clock – monitoring the course of the storm, coordinating, alerting, preparing, prepositioning supplies, organising evacuations, weather-proofing buildings, helping people out of harm’s way. Their dedication during the last week is saving lives and is indispensable for weathering the superstorm.

Yet, the preparedness work has been going on longer than one week – it goes back years. Smart response requires years of planning, investments in mitigation and an eye on the long-term. This is something I have discussed repeatedly with Craig Fugate, FEMA’s Administrator.

Craig and his colleagues are tackling a huge challenge today and showing that preparedness pays off. We, in Europe, are not immune to natural disasters either. We don’t face large hurricanes, but we do have floods, violent storms, earthquakes, and forest fires. Over the last 10 years 100,000 Europeans died in natural disasters and they have cost our economies over 150 billion euros. Climate change only intensifies the risks. This means we in Europe also need to take seriously preparedness, risk assessment, coordination, and mitigation measures. We are taking steps in the right direction – Sandy is yet again ringing the bell that we must do more and do it faster.