Being prepared is much more than saving lives, says a report by the Overseas Development Institute, which calls for access to social safety nets, resilient infrastructure and a focus on the poorest to cushion the long term impacts of catastrophes
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There is consensus that this time round local authorities and national agencies were better prepared for the impact of cyclone Phailin. But being prepared is much more than saving lives, as confirmed by a new Overseas Development Institute (ODI) report, which calls for access to social safety nets, resilient infrastructure and a focus on the poorest to cushion the long term impacts of catastrophes.
In fact, a series of factors – both fortuitous and deliberate – conspired to produce a relatively low death toll in Odisha following cyclone Phailin. After the catastrophic super-cyclone of 1999 which killed more than 10,000 people in the same state, shelters had been built, an effective early warning system had been put in place that allowed for the mass evacuation of almost 1 million people, and the storm surge was several meters lower than in 1999.
However, disaster risk preparedness and management seems to be key when disasters strike. The ODI report highlights how, for example in 2008, Cyclone Nargis killed 138,000 people in Myanmar, while in the Caribbean and US a storm of similar strength, Hurricane Gustav, killed 153. The difference was disaster risk preparedness and management.
So for Odisha, does it mean they can relax now? The answer is an obvious “no”. The same report points at the need to direct efforts towards both saving lives as well as livelihoods. There is the immediate need to protect lives, but in the long term, it is also about people’s futures.
Indeed for Odisha dwellers, this crisis is far from over: much has been lost and there are no guarantees about the future. According to Business Insurance, “crop losses arising from Cyclone Phailin… have been estimated at 23 billion Indian rupees ($376.7 million).” The same source points to a cyclone-related “loss to power infrastructure” estimated at “around INR 10 billion ($163.8 million).” Hundreds are reported to have lost their livelihoods and their homes. The BBC reported damages to power and communication lines, road and rail links, and “an estimated 5,000 sq km of mostly paddy crops” destroyed.
The geography of poverty, disasters and climate extremes in 2030 examines the relationship between disasters and poverty. Combining climate and poverty projections, it looks at the overlaps for 2030 and concludes that, “without concerted action, up to 325 million extremely poor people could be living in the 49 countries most exposed to the full range of natural hazards and climate extremes in 2030.”
India represents a special case in ODI’s report. “It has the highest number of people who are still likely to be living in poverty in 2030 and experiencing some of the highest exposure to hazards, yet does have the central capacity to manage disaster risk… Given its size, India needs to be treated as a cluster of separate sub-national entities, with some states causing considerable concern, including Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.”
The study concludes that disaster risk management efforts are being directed in many cases to just protecting high-value assets and to saving lives, rather than also protecting livelihoods, and that needs to change if we want long term results in poverty reduction.
So let’s be prepared for the next storm, but make sure that being prepared includes investing in people’s ability to make a living, be resilient and avoid having to rebuild at all.
The author is Climate and Environment Programme Communications Manager, Overseas Development Institute
Miren Gutiérrez 