Listen to Those Who Know About Disasters

Doing what's necessary before the next threat hits
By Bas Vanderzalm
Special to The Times

Bas Vanderzalm - President, Northwest Medical Teams

As the first displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina began arriving in the Pacific Northwest, the vast scope and searing impact of the disaster came, both literally and figuratively, closer to home.

Helping to manage part of the largest disaster-relief effort in American history — seeing, firsthand, the selfless and heroic efforts of so many — I recalled, more than once, the courage of Winston Churchill, who led his nation through its darkest hours. "It is no use saying 'We are doing our best,' " Churchill told his countrymen. "You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary."

Whether those in positions of responsibility did their best before and after Katrina struck will be debated for months, if not years to come. The more important question before every American now is how to help those impacted by the disaster rebuild their lives, and to prevent, avoid or mitigate similar disasters in the future.

In the years I've worked with disaster relief in many parts of the world, I've learned many humbling lessons. Among them:

• Prepare for disaster to strike and invest in preparedness. We live in a dangerous world. We know with scientific certainty that hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and floods will continue to strike the U.S. and other countries in the years ahead. The time to invest in preparing for these threats is now.

We see from the terrible floods in New Orleans that improving the levee system would have cost much less than rebuilding a ruined city.

• Reduce vulnerabilities by reducing poverty. The impact of a disaster is determined not only by the intensity of the event but the vulnerability of those affected. In New Orleans, people living behind inadequate levees were vulnerable. So were those who had no means to evacuate. There's often a direct link between poverty and vulnerability, as was so evident with Hurricane Katrina.

Reducing poverty is a powerful way to reduce vulnerability to disaster.

• Be realistic about results. Disasters are inherently chaotic, frustrating and time-consuming. Responses to disasters move through predictable phases — from relief to recovery to reconstruction. All along, there will be frustrations and disappointments.

Our response to this disaster is fundamentally a test of the American spirit. This is a defining moment for our country.

• Avoid dependency. We are often tempted to do for people what they need to do for themselves. This creates a cycle of dependency. Already in some shelters, people are waiting for others to prepare meals, to clean up, to make decisions. As quickly as possible, we need to get people out of these shelters and into their own homes, doing as much as possible to help themselves and resume their lives.

Just as Americans and the world helped and continue to help the victims of the Asian tsunami, Americans and the world will continue to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Many stories of heroism and personal sacrifice are unfolding every day: from the churches that immediately opened their doors to evacuees needing shelter; to the people who picked up strangers on the highway trying to escape the area; to our volunteers who worked to save lives in the midst of disease and danger at the Convention Center in New Orleans. For every story of despair, there are many more stories of hope.

Disasters are times of great tragedy but they are also moments when we see ourselves clearly and when we can move forward to do things differently than in the past. In the end, our efforts will be judged not so much by the mistakes we made, but by our determination to do better.

As they did for Britons more than a half-century ago, Churchill's words now resonate for Americans facing some of our darker hours: "We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."

Bas Vanderzalm is president of Northwest Medical Teams, www.nwmedicalteams.org, a humanitarian-aid organization that responds to disaster relief efforts in more than 45 countries around the world.

Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company

Urbane Analysis: Local and state government officials are miserably overdue - they simply must regularly, formally consult with U.S.-based Non-governmental Organizations (N.G.O.) - groups with active and current experience as first responders to disaster and refugee situations. Here in the Pacific Northwest, are headquarters for some of the largest and most capable relief organizations on the planet. Portland has Mercy Corps and Northwest Medical Teams, Seattle-Tacoma has World Vision and World Concern, among others.

It causes us great concern that these organizations have not been invited to the table for disaster response planning. And make no mistake: it is "table top" exercises which are needed to stretch and further refine our capabilities regionally.

Seattle's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has small desks for organizations like the Red Cross and Salvation Army - but we have other organizations as well. We need their perspective - borne of experience - work that they do day-in, day-out all over the world. Take a look at the kind of damage we can anticipate, shown in the posting below: we will need these neighbors to help us when the time comes. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and Portland Mayor (let's see, is it Vera Katz? No...) Tom Potter would do well to follow the example of Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, who wears his heart on his sleeve and gives his people straight talk on the subject.