Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management

Crisis and Emergency Management

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April 2004                                                                            Volume 6 - Number 3

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Perspectives...

Mitigation Strategy

Harnessing Post-Event Behavior

By Tom Ruffini

A tornado, a hurricane, flooding, or civil disturbances - regardless of the event that effects a community, there is a common thread in the aftermath of each. The community members are aware of a problem and they want to know what can be done to help prevent its reoccurrence, or to limit the damages of the next similar crisis. For the answers to their questions these residents will, and should, look to their local government/politicians. These public figures however, will then look to the local emergency managers and responders. Therefore, it is critical that these organizations be prepared to handle such situations as responsibly, and as professionally, as they handle the response to the crisis event itself.

Historically, we see that in a post-disaster atmosphere, communities are interested in learning about, preparing for, and mitigating the hazards they know have affected them. The emergency management community, particularly the local government and first responders, can help teach their fellow citizens to prevent the same misfortunes from occurring. But to do so we must revert back to the old Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared.”

While it may seem like an item with low priority in a post-disaster community, local emergency managers should perform outreach to enhance mitigation support and hopefully implement new mitigation plans and goals. For example, hosting community meetings to address emergency management issues - starting with open forums for the residents to speak their mind, which will help clear their mind (vent), and allow them to add value to the post-disaster work and decision making. While most citizens will have an opinion and their ideas should be heard and respected, remember that you are the professional with the education and experience. You must use your own skills to ensure that the right ideas are integrated into the community’s hazard mitigation plans. To do this you must have the right people in the right places at the right time. Emergency managers must be educated on the topics of which they will speak and should have literature, brochures, etc., that can aid in relaying goals and ideas to the average person.

Sure it is easy to say ‘host a meeting and share ideas’ in the post-event timeframe; this is not my point. Planning your mitigation strategy merely begins here. Integrating mitigation should be a top priority once the life safety concerns of the event are handled, and the community is recovering from, not responding to, the emergency. But how do you do this when the streets are blocked or the lights are out? How are you going to get the word out about meeting at town hall? How are you going to assist the citizens to make it to these meetings? The answers to these questions are the root of a mitigation strategy in the post-disaster timeframe.

Given that there is only a short window of opportunity with which the majority of citizens will have an interest in a disaster and more importantly that there is an even shorter timeframe with which they will have a concern to do something to help prevent this type of disaster from reoccurring, the emergency management community must be prepared to strike while the iron is hot. You must work diligently and always be ready to take advantage of the influential time period after a critical event and of course before the next crisis event makes your story yesterday’s news.