Lessons from Hurricane Katrina in Addressing Extremes in Developing Countries:

1
Lessons from Hurricane Katrina in Addressing
Extremes in Developing Countries

• Paul V. Desanker, Malawi and Penn State Univ
• E. Clark Knighton Seipt, Penn State Univ
• E-mails desanker_at_psu.edu and eck136_at_psu.edu
• www.geog.psu.edu/desanker www.unfccc.int/ldc

2
Introduction

• Extreme events such as floods, droughts, storms
  on the increase world wide

http//www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/h2
005_katrina.html
3
Mozambique

• Mozambique floods of 2000
• Limited tracking ability and warning, most rural
  people unaware
• 700 people dead, 500,000 displaced, 2 million
  affected
• Major impact on economy
• Trigger for action to address urgent and
  immediate needs in LDCs, and the evolution of the
  LDC National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA)

After
Before
4
Katrina in the US

• Hurricane Katrina in the US
• Brief history Category 4 hurricane, tracked for
  several days, evacuation orders given, scenarios
  of similar category storm existed, system in
  place to respond from local government to state
  and federal government

5
Katrina in the US

• Hurricane Katrina in the US
• Several hundred dead, millions displaced
• Many situations similar to Mozambique in terms of
  who most at risk, survival strategies and other
  factors associated with disasters

6
Determinants of Vulnerability

• Physical exposure to the hazard in the path of
  destruction, flood plains
• Status of ecosystem buffers e.g. wetlands land
  subsidence
• Socio-economic factors the poor had limited
  ability to evacuate or do anything
• Level of awareness function of level of
  education and networks to communicate information
• Complexities of institutional response
• The poor, young, elderly and the sick especially
  vulnerable

7
Lessons learned and recommendations for
developing countries

• Importance of early warning systems but these
  need to reach all stakeholders and should be
  adequately integrated into normal operations
• Awareness about the risks to take informed
  decisions about personal response actions
• Important role of pre-planning such as through
  scenarios and drills New Orleans had
  participated in scenarios of a major storm to
  explore possible extent of damage and to plan
  evacuation
• Need for contingency planning, active generation
  of solutions
• Most disasters are complex, often with dimensions
  no one could have foreseen

8
Coping Solutions

• Coping solutions assembled in the LDC Expert
  Group database on local coping
• Official launch Monday Dec 5th, LEG Side Event at
  1-3 pm
• Will be available online at www.unfccc.int/ldc

9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
For more information

• LDC and LDC Expert Group Work Programme at
  www.unfccc.int/ldc
• Assessment of Mozambique Floods and Katrina
  visit Malawi booth in the Exhibits Hall