Disaster causing sudden and great damage to a community is referred to as catastrophes. Catastrophes are of different kinds and shapes. Human catastrophes are the results of human errors like structure failure or industrial explosions. Physical phenomena which include droughts, floods, snowstorms, and earthquakes are categorized as natural calamities. Catastrophes can disrupt communities and their properties, environment, and economies as well.
Many catastrophic incidents have been recorded in 2021.[1] Natural disasters and conflicts have reached South Sudan after its ten-year presence as an independent country. This country faces a severe level of hunger according to UN and Hunger Hotspots reports.[2] Around 8 million people were in need of aid in 2021 according to WFP (World Food Program). Severe kinds of flooding and around 8 lakh people have escaped the country to other areas leaving their homes and resources behind, which has exaggerated the situation further. This devastating situation was mitigated by mobile response groups to access starving and famished people in isolated and remote areas. With the use of helicopters, affected people were registered by mobile teams and food or aid was supplied to these affected people through rivers, roads, and air as well. To avert the severance of hunger, in addition to food, cash assistant was also being provided in this Famine situation.[3]
Texas has faced a severe power crisis due to winter storms in the USA. Texas suffered from a shortage of heat, food, and water affecting 4.5 million families and businesses. Around 210 people lost their lives.[4] To overcome this calamity, measures were taken at the state level by declaring disaster situations in the state, and the Texas military department also played its role. At the federal level, the department of homeland security and the federal emergency management agency also provide assistance to mitigate this calamity.[5] Moreover, local community centers and many individuals opened their doors for physical and monetary donations for the affected persons. CEO of Electric reliability Council of Texas was fired. Every concerned department played its role. The reason behind this power failure was initially blamed on the frozen solar panels and wind turbines. It was later known that power sources were not winterized especially natural gas resources which caused the failure of the grid. Many years ago, Texas separated its powerhouse from the national grids to decrease the cost. This separation created difficulties for Texas to import power from other areas during disaster time. The state was not prepared to fight against such a crisis and according to a report Texas has warned about this situation ten years before, hat its power plants would fail in severe cold conditions. Damages because of a winter storm and cold wave were assessed to be around 200 billion dollars. According to ERCOT when partial shutdowns of the grid were applied, Texas powerhouse was minutes even seconds away from thorough failure. During the disaster, many firms went very profitable while many went bankrupt too because many firms imposed high prices on customers, while many other firms could not do so. It means extra charges were imposed on customers for electricity.[6]
The horrific and painful moment has happened in New York. The fire ignited at Bronx apartment, killed 19 people including children in New York. The reason for this fire was a faulty space heater. This glaze was considered the deadliest in the last thirty years. The door of the room was opened, which allowed the smoke to spread quickly throughout the building creating a critical situation for dozens of people. Around five dozen persons were affected, with the majority suffering from severe inhalation of smoke. The smoke of the fire has affected almost every apartment and floor of the building creating serious damages to life. The structure of the building was designed without any emergency exit, no fire exit, there was only an inner staircase. Residents were unaware of the staircase and moreover smoke did not make them find it. Escaped residents were told that smoke was very thick but building management alerted the residents about the fire before time so that’s why many people were able to save their lives. However, Government officials responded to that incident, the fire was under control. This incident has cast a spell of despair in this city. Firefighters escaped stranded people without caring about their own lives, even their oxygen cylinder was out of gas. Concerned departments would work to resettle the affected families by providing them temporary or permanent houses.[7]
Recently in Murree, Pakistan, an emergency has been declared due to a blockade of roads caused by heavy snowfall and more vehicles were allowed to enter Murree than its capacity and many stranded tourists suffered suffocation within their motor vehicles. Around 22 deaths have been declared during the rescue operation. The situation in Murree is compounded because of the rush of tourists. Tourists rush towards the Murree without checking the weather conditions and no barriers were put, before the worse situation, to stop the vehicles made these shocking deaths.[8]
About Murree incidents, apart from the weather conditions many bad circumstances could be stopped or minimized. There were not MSVs enough to clear the road of snow and other necessary machines to clear the mess of the fallen trees on time. Unfortunately, no new machines were bought or repaired old ones for the last three years. There is Murree development authority whose budget is enough to take this precautionary measure, but a criminal negligence contributed to flaming this tragedy. Moreover, the tourism department should have played its role in providing services to fight against the weather condition to facilitate tourists. The government and every department understood there is a capacity of 32000 vehicles in Murree despite that more vehicles were allowed to enter not because there was no hindrance from police or traffic management but because of the insistence and blackmailing of many tourists.
Many tourists did not cooperate with the management. This situation was further deteriorated due to the higher fare from the hotels which was unaffordable for many families leading them to leave the city or spend nights in their cars. So, there is the big question about individual behaviors. In addition to that Murree has a huge area occupied by the army and air force, the burning question was the army and air force did not take any action before the causalities despite having their own machinery.
A natural catastrophe like earthquake, heavy snowfall, heavy rainfall, windstorms, and many more, cannot be stopped but with efficient planning and awareness campaigns, their adverse effects could be mitigated . Like in the case of Texas all the concerned departments at the state and federal level were well prepared in providing aid and the local community also played their role in saving the affected people by giving them shelter and food.
However, in Murree, its administration should take necessary measures to inhibit the entrance of vehicles beyond its capacity in Murree. Authorities concerned with roads and highways should take steps to clear and clean the roads in order to escape any chaos. Individuals should also have checked weather conditions before going there. Individuals should also be alerted by rescue departments or through media about the use of heaters and carbon monoxide. As many people died because of air blockade and continuous use of heaters which created carbon monoxide inside the vehicles. It is a harmful gas that affects the lungs and is so lethal that death could result merely within minutes. Residents should have given shelter to stranded tourists before their deaths. Proper planning along with a contingency plan could deter such unfortunate incidents.
Catastrophe, either man-made or natural, occurs everywhere in the world but there should be someone to take accountability whether they are individuals, communities, or Government Departments. There should be command and control centers that can respond quickly, efficiently, and effectively. Like in the case of Murree, DMA (Disaster Management Authority) and other local departments should have played their role to prevent adverse impacts of road blockade and certain causalities. Prevention and mitigation are two terms that are very effective to minimize potential suffering and damage that a catastrophe can cause. Prevention does not mean to prevent disaster, but it aims to prohibit this disaster to become compounded because of ignoring manageable risks and causal factors. Mitigation is a measure that can lessen the harshness of any catastrophic impact. More importantly, it is the responsibility of the state and government to raise awareness about the catastrophic conditions and educate the people on how to respond to different kinds of hazards through social mass media and mass media.
“The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops, but the kind of man that the country turns out.” Ralph Waldo Emerson)
[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/269652/countries-with-the-most-natural-disasters/
[2] https://www.wfp.org/publications/hunger-hotspots-fao-wfp-early-warnings-acute-food-insecurity-august-november-2021
[3] https://www.worldvision.org/disaster-relief-news-stories/worst-disasters-2021
[4] Christine Hauser and Edgar Sandoval (July 14, 2021). "Death Toll From Texas Winter Storm Continues to Rise". The New York Times. Retrieved July 14, 2021
[5] Erin Douglas (February 20, 2021). "Gov. Greg Abbott wants power companies to "winterize." Texas' track record won't make that easy". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Texas_power_crisis
[7] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/01/09/bronx-fire-five-alarm/9150657002/
[8]"At least 22 dead as heavy snow traps vehicles in Pakistan resort". TheGuardian.com. 8 January 2022.
