Monday, May 12, 2008

Issues at El Faro

Reconstruction with Transformation: Changing the Way We Rebuild

Natural disasters destroy infrastructures and lives, but there can be benefits to having to start over from scratch. Hurricane Mitch’s legacy in Central America shows how this can be done and what the benefits are.

By: María Jesús Izquierdo, Ayuda en Acción

The continually increasing frequency and impact of disasters in recent decades is caused, fundamentally, by the recklessness with which certain projects are developed and the increasing conditions of vulnerability for communities located in areas where extreme poverty prevents rebuilding and restructuring.

The risk of disaster is the result of the dynamic interrelationship between the risks created by humans or nature, and a population’s conditions of vulnerability. Of course, the people exposed to the risk of disasters should not be passive, dependent and impotent victims. They must be agents for their own development with the capacity to reduce risks and, if a disaster happens, the ability to deal with crisis, recover, and go on with their lives.

Ready, Set, Saved: Disaster Comes to Central America

The number of disasters in Central America has increased in recent years. According to the International Red Cross, they have caused the average annual loss of 5,000 lives over the last 25 years. This figure is doubled if we take into account the impact of minor disasters that are largely ignored by the international media.

Central America is extremely vulnerable because of inappropriate land use and the location of human settlements in disaster-prone, easily flooded coastal areas. The dreadful physical condition of homes and community infrastructures, the impoverishment of rural areas, the processes of environmental degradation, deforestation, soil erosion, overexploitation of water resources and the ineffectiveness of public and private institutions, and national and local governments in managing these risks and preventing disasters all contribute to exacerbating the situation.

In October 1998 Hurricane Mitch reached the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale (Grade V) before returning to tropical storm status. It affected 10% of the population of the seven Central American countries and left a toll of nearly 10,000 dead, in addition to losses estimated at 5 billion dollars. Honduras and Nicaragua sustained the greatest damage.

Except for Honduras, the capital of which suffered heavily from the tropical storm, the greatest impact in the remaining countries was felt in rural areas, particularly in coastal towns and those located in the lower and middle zones of river basins. The population that bore the brunt of the hurricane and its consequences were those living in the most fragile social conditions: peasants, indigenous groups on the Caribbean coast and, generally speaking, the poorest, most marginalized people. They were excluded from the plans, programs and public policies of their respective governments.

Problems and Solutions

Hurricane Mitch also produced the largest-ever response of worldwide solidarity to a disaster, which enabled a quick recovery, in humanitarian terms, and led to reflection on the prevailing development model in force in the region. Central American society rightly opposed any reconstruction process that would reproduce the situation before the disaster. They called for “reconstruction with transformation”. That is, a process that would eliminate risk conditions.

These last ten years have been witness to a significant advance of disaster risk in the area, generating more awareness for the need to prevent disasters, with efforts from neighboring countries and the international community.

There is a great need to strengthen local and national capabilities of reducing disaster risk.