Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
population) took part in the first drill. It is too soon to know the lasting effect of this
type of national action, although it has been argued that similar drills carried out
in Japan were embraced with alacrity in the early years after a major disaster, but
that participation rates fell-off in later years, with decreasing responses and general
indifference. One only has to look at attitudes towards fire-drills and responses to
emergency procedures described on airlines to see similar complacency. In Japan,
schools and workplaces regularly practice earthquake drills, as well as being made
aware of safe routes to places of refuge on higher ground in the case of tsunamis.
In the case of the March 2011 tsunami many children in coastal towns died because
although they were ready to move to higher ground, their teachers had not been
given the instruction to move, given the speed of the tsunami advance. There is also
a need to be aware of safe places to shelter from major storms or wave surges. One
of the few good news stories that emerged from the trail of destruction and death on
the shores of the Indian Ocean after the 2005 tsunami was the way that a young Eng-
lish school girl on holiday on a Thai beach convinced her parents to move to higher
ground as quickly as possible when she saw a rapid sea level retreat. She had learned
about tsunamis in a geography lesson in her school and realised that this unusual
retreat occurred before the main tsunami wave overwhelmed the shore. Her knowl-
edge saved her family, whereas others around them moved down the now exposed
beach in search of the fish that had been stranded and paid the price with their lives.
Similarly in Japan many people survived because they moved to higher ground
or to the fourth or higher stories of concrete buildings in March 2011 when they
heard the warning sirens which rapidly alerted them to the threat of the earthquake.
However some were not quick enough to move to safety, given the speed of the
tsunami advance that builds up when the waves hit shallow shorelines. It is worth
noting that it was not simply the wall of water, reaching over 20-30 metres high in
some locations, that caused such destruction to the coastal settlements, but the fact
that it contained the remains of so many buildings and boats. The result is a boiling
mass of debris that acted as an abrasive, overwhelming sea walls that were too low
to contain the size of the waves and utterly destroying most structures in its way.
Specific advice to reduce risk is also needed for other types of natural disasters.
In the case of tornadoes it is wise to take shelter in ditches if caught in the open,
or in cellars, if indoors. In the case of places that are in danger of floods survival
rates increase dramatically if people can swim or at least know how to stay afloat,
a particular problem for small children, females and the elderly who have been
shown to suffer greater death rates in developing countries because they are less
likely to have had swimming lessons. Yet many still drown because of the speed of
water flow and the buffeting from debris carried by the flood water, or in the case
of many tsunami by the long fetch of the waves that means the wave advance can
often continue for ten or fifteen minutes, unlike the limited time of a normal wave.
In addition to all this type of advice and basic training for the general public, there
is also a requirement to have adequate numbers of trained first responders to natural
disasters. This means encouraging local people to obtain basic first-aid training, and
adequate numbers of trained rescue people and medical personnel to quickly deal
with those injured.
