lessons from international disasters apply here in the USA

I believe that most Americans look at tragic international disasters and think to themselves, “Those poor people, the damages and lives lost are due to their living in substandard housing, in countries not as sophisticated as the United States. Thankfully, we live here in the USA where we are better prepared than them.”

I question that thinking. See this video from the United Nations that calls out what needs to be done to prevent tragic losses from natural disasters.

https://www.linkedin.com/embed/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7425266982738116608?collapsed=1

The major points they call out are right on the money and applicable to our nation/us:

• Weak Disaster Risk Governance

• Lack of Early Warning

• Lack of Zoning to Avoid Dangers

• Strong Building Codes

• Weak Governance Overall

• Lack of Competent Leadership

Major disasters in the United States have made us look like a third world country. Hurricane Katrina was the first example of when other nations saw the desperation of people impacted by that storm and tried to give help to our federal government. At the time, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was on its lips, and the State Department had no procedures to accept foreign aid.

The word “governance” is used multiple times. Governance is handled at the elected and executive levels of government. Our job as emergency managers is to be “competent” and try to influence governance—before there is a disaster that takes lives and destroys property.