12.07.2015 Views

From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

FROM POVERTY TO POWERBOX 4.5:CUBA VS KATRINA, LESSONS IN DISASTERRISK REDUCTIONTwo months after Hurricane Katrina inundated New Orleans in2005, killing around 1,300 people, Hurricane Wilma, at one pointthe strongest hurricane ever recorded, struck Cuba. The seaswept 1km inland and flooded the capital Havana, yet there wereno deaths or even injuries in the city. Nationwide, 640,000 peoplewere evacuated and only one life was lost. The six major hurricanesthat rolled over Cuba between 1996 and 2002 claimed only16 lives.What did this poor developing country, subject <strong>to</strong> a long-standingeconomic embargo by the USA, do that the wealthy superpowernext door failed <strong>to</strong>? Both countries have ‘tangible assets’, includinga well-organised civil defence capability, efficient early-warningsystem, well-equipped rescue teams, and emergency s<strong>to</strong>ckpilesand other resources. But ‘intangible assets’ present in Cuba andapparently lacking in the USA proved <strong>to</strong> be just as important.The oil in the Cuban civil defence machine that enables it <strong>to</strong>function properly includes effective local leadership, communitymobilisation, a strong sense of solidarity, and a population thatis both well educated and trained in disaster response.Cuba has developed a ‘culture of safety,’ which centralisesdecision-making in a crisis but decentralises implementation.Many ordinary people play important roles in disaster preparednessand response. Frequent and repeated use of the system has builthigh levels of trust between communities and civil defence officials.‘Any child in school can give you an explanation – how you prepare,what you do. Students know what <strong>to</strong> do, they know the phases[the four emergency phases: information, alert, alarm, andrecovery], what <strong>to</strong> do in each phase…how <strong>to</strong> gather things in thehouse and put them away…shut off the water and electricity.All students, workers, and small farmers get this training’,explains José Castro of the civil defence unit in Cienfuegos.Once a year, at the end of May, the entire country participatesin a training exercise in risk reduction, including a full day ofsimulation exercises, and another identifying vulnerable residents,252

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!