Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
So some power and transport systems were inoperable for longer than they should
have been. But the storm has also shown that private companies and public agencies
need to pay more attention to their risk exposure and cannot just rely on the city or
other levels of government to provide protection. Some companies in the flooded
Wall Street area, such as the investment firm, Goldman Sachs, had enough sand-
bags to protect their lower floors, while their back-up generators were above flood
level. By contrast, many others had few precautions, while several hospitals were
without power for long periods because their back-up generators and pumps were
in areas reached by the flood. It is worth noting that most of the flood affected zone
in Manhattan lies on areas that have been built out over the centuries from the 1609
shoreline where the city was located. So this zone has become more at risk from the
natural hazard of flooding and in recent years has been heavily overbuilt, adding
to the risks. Yet what must also be considered is the way that a solution in one area
affected by a storm may cause problems elsewhere because of displacement effects.
For example, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the June 2013 update of the 2007
New York Plan (PlaNYC), originally developed to cope with climate change, rec-
ommended providing incentives for owners to move electrical equipment to higher
floors, raising new buildings and utilities, adding flood walls and levees to pro-
tect vital infrastructure and erecting storm surge barriers on rivers and creeks, with
flood gates to protect high value areas, copying the approach used in London, St
Petersburg and Rotterdam. The cost of such a scheme was estimated at $20 billion.
However, even if these improvements were made, the storm surge water has to go
somewhere. So less valuable areas on near by shorelines—sometimes areas with
poor residents—are likely to be affected instead. This means weighing up the value
of protecting one area, yet accepting the destruction of another, which is clearly a
question of relative public justice for city authorities.
9723
Levels of Human Preparedness for Disasters
A human knowledge component that helps reduce the consequences of disasters
consists of creating a detailed evaluation of the existing state of readiness of the
population in any urban area to cope with a natural hazard. This involves reviewing
the amount of preparedness by households, communities, businesses and various
levels of government. Once a function only of local and national governments, the
scale of many disasters now involves international organizations who have started
to provide guides to local governments, especially in the developing world, about
how to measure their level of preparation to combat natural hazards (UNISDR
2011). This is not done by some top-down process through commands from the
national or international organizations. Instead the guides help local governments to
evaluate their own risk reduction strategies by responding to an extensive question-
naire. This helps them understand their own limitations in risk awareness and reduc-
tion capabilities, as well as their strengths, while discussions with local stakeholders
and community groups can identify their priorities, which may be quite different.
These actions build up local knowledge of their current level of preparation and
