The Program for Hydro-meteorological
Disaster Mitigation in Secondary Cities in
Asia (PROMISE), funded by USAID/OFDA,
commenced from October 2005. Through
consultations with a number of ADPC
partners, five project countries have been
selected – Bangladesh, Pakistan, the
Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam – for
implementing demonstration projects in each
country in a highly vulnerable city with
recent history of hydro-meteorological
disasters. Other components of the program
consist of capacity building, risk
management advocacy, networking and
dissemination initiatives in the selected
countries. The objective of the program is
to contribute towards reduction of
vulnerability of urban communities through
enhanced preparedness and mitigation of
hydro-meteorological disasters in South and
Southeast Asia. The main activities from
July to September 2007 are: local-level
skills training, planning for the conduct of
national courses, and implementing the
small-scale mitigation projects for each
city.
PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
PROMISE Activities for July and August 2007:
BANGLADESH – BDPC
conducted a validation and compilation
meeting was on July 8 at Lion hospital
auditorium, Chittagong. A total of 60
participants attended, including Ward
Commissioners, CAs, and members of the Ward
disaster risk management committees. The
participants validated their reports and
identified 5 priority small-scale disaster
mitigation projects for their respective
wards. The PROMISE Bangladesh team met on
July 9 with Mr. Manjur Alam, Acting Mayor of
Chittagong City Corporation, and with other
city officials to seek approval for
arranging the small-scale disaster
mitigation projects; Mr. Imtiaz Hossain, CEO,
Mr. Rezaul Karim, City Planner, and Mr.
Mokter Alam, Chief Engineer, were also
present. A presentation on PROMISE
Bangladesh was made to the new set of
officials. The CCC officials gave valuable
suggestions and comments on the accomplished
and planned activities. They recommended
that the project intervention areas should
be revised in the context of recent
landslide disaster. However, the only
concrete decision taken was to merge the 10
WDRMCs formed under PROMISE with the
ward-level disaster management committees
since the Bangladesh Government recently
advised CCC to form Ward disaster management
committees. Ms. Susan Mcintyre, Regional
Advisor, OFDA/USAID, and Mr. Anup Karanth of
ADPC visited PROMISE Bangladesh on July 21
to 22 and met with Change Agents, ward
commissioners, WDRMC representatives and
BDPC. They went to observe the
post-landslide activities, and take stock of
the achievements under the project. They
also visited a proposed site of a
small-scale disaster mitigation project in
North Potenga, Ward # 40. Ms. Maliha
Ferdous participated in the 2007
Coordinator’s Meeting on July 31 to August 2
in Thailand. Activities for next month
include the revising of HVRA report,
finalizing of small-scale community disaster
mitigation projects, and awareness raising
activities and disaster response drills at
schools.
PAKISTAN – AKPBS(P)
organized training on Community-Based
Emergency Response Course from July 24 to 28
at Hyderabad. Twenty-four participants from
six Disaster Management Committees atended.
The resource persons were from ADPC, Mr.
Frederick John Abo and Mr. Muhibuddin bin
Usammah, as well as from FOCUS Humanitarian,
and from Aga Khan University. Country
partner coordinator Mr. Masood Mahesar
participated in the ADPC regional training
on Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction
from July 16 to 27 in Thailand, and the 2007
Coordinator’s Meeting in Thailand. The
Disaster Management Committees are
continuing their mobilization meetings.
PHILIPPINES – CDP and
Dagupan City’s Technical Working Group (TWG)
representatives had a courtesy call with
Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. on July 10 to
present PROMISE Philippines. They gave an
orientation on the accomplishments for the
past 1.5 years. The Mayor was given a copy
of the UNISDR Publication highlighting the
successes of the project. Mayor Fernandez
along with City Administrator Alvin
Fernandez were very happy with the Project
and expressed their continued support for
the project.
Dagupan City held
Disaster Preparedness Day activities on July
16, highlighted by the awarding of
certificates of appreciation for the
stakeholders, partners and ommunities who
actively participated in the city-wide drill
last May 31. Mayor Fernandez awarded the
certificates along with the other important
city officials. The Guest Speaker of the
ceremonies was Director Armando Duque of the
Regional 1 Disaster Coordinating Council.
He commended the city’s Preparedness
Activities and announced that the City of
Dagupan and Barangay Mangin (one of the
PROMISE pilot communities) are winners of
the Kalasag Award (the Disaster Risk
Management Award) for Region 1.
Congratulations to Dagupan City and to
Barangay Mangin for continually showing that
disaster risk reduction are key activities
for any urban area. The city held
month-long activities for schools, including
the mangrove reforestation and revegetation
headed by City Agriculturist Ms. Emma
Molina, the tableau and slogan competitions
on July 16 and the Academic Olympics on July
26. The Olympics was much-awaited by
students not only in Dagupan but of the
province, as it featured an oratorical
contest, essay writing, extemporaneous
speaking, art contests, and the quiz bee
with the theme “Are you Safe?” The Academic
Olympics were organized by the TWG headed by
City Tourism Officer Ms. Dea Que. The
Dagupan Jaycees co-sponsored the
celebrations with Dagupan City.
On July 17 to 19, ADPC
conducted the Community Based Emergency
Operations Course for the Dagupan City Staff
by headed by Mr. Frederick John Abo and Mr.
Muhibuddin bin Usammah, co-facilitated by
the Pangasinan Red Cross team represented by
Mr. Benjo Bacani and the others. There were
29 participants representing different city
offices within the City Disaster
Coordinating Council: the City Health
Office, City Engineering, City Social Work
Department, Public Order and Safety Office,
Bureau of Fire, and Waste Management
Department. The training included Basic
Life Support and First Aid, as well as Mass
Casualty Scenarios.
The PROMISE team conducted
two Disaster Management Orientations for the
school teachers and administrators. The
first orientation on July 19 had 90
participants while the second batch on July
20 had 60 participants. The orientation
included basic information on Disaster Risk
Management and different DRM activities for
schools and children. They also conducted
one orientation for the media, coordinated
by Mr. Ryan Ravanzo, the new City
Information Officer, with PATRIMA and other
media people. Ms. Adelina Alvarez was the
main speaker for DM and Media, while the TWG
facilitated the sessions on the basic
concepts and Dagupan’s disaster situation.
Thirty participants came from various
newspaper, TV and radio organizations.
Finally, country partner
coordinator Ms. Mayfourth Luneta attended
the 2007 Coordinator’s Meeting in Thailand.
Activities for next month include briefing
the new City Councilors and sharing the
Dagupan Experience with Children’s Fund
Japan Partners.
SRI LANKA – Sarvodaya
continued working with the community and
developed some small-scale disaster
mitigation projects. Ms. Priyanka Mudalige
attended the 2007 Coordinator’s Meeting in
Thailand.
VIETNAM – CECI
finalized poster on principles of
construction resistant to typhoon and floods
in collaboration with the Construction
department of Da Nang and the people who
were trained in safe construction principles
under the PROMISE Vietnam project. One
hundred copies of the poster were made and
will be distributed to the communities in
the coming month. Guidelines on safe
construction techniques was reviewed and
translated into Vietnamese, and will be
finalized next month. The guidelines were
developed in collaboration with the
Construction Department of Danang city and
the Construction Consulting Company of
Architect Union. The guidelines would be
disseminated in the community.
Five disaster preparedness
plans are being reviewed by the project
team. These plans are the basis for
small-scale disaster mitigation projects to
be set up at ward level. Two 3-day CBDRM
training classes at ward level were
conducted in Hoa Thoa Dong and Hoa Xuan
ward, the first on July 19 to 21, the second
on July 27 to 29. Nearly sixty persons
attended the training, including members of
the ward CSFC and representative of the most
vulnerable sections (head of sections).
Finally, country partner coordinator Ms.
Duong Thi Hoai Trang attended the 2007
Coordinator’s Meeting in Thailand.
Activities for next month include training
on CBDRM at two more wards, distribution of
the poster on construction principles, the
finalization of guidelines on urban planning
and safer construction techniques, the
development of guidelines for selecting
small-scale disaster mitigation projects,
and the CBDRM training of trainers for
change agents.
A. FROM THE REGION
(1) Chinese rats on the move
(based on reports from
Alertnet)
Heavy rains in China have
created more than floods and landslides; it
has caused an estimated 2 billion marauding
rats to flee rising flood waters in the
giant Dongting Lake. The rats plagued the
surrounding 1.6 million hectares of cropland
in the province of Hunan, according to state
media Xinhua news agency. Farmers armed
with ferrets and shovels had killed 90
tonnes of rats in the country's eastern. The
huge volumes of rat bodies were being
cremated or buried deep in deserted areas to
avoid the spread of disease, but no human
infection had been reported thus far.
(2) Eruption alert for Mount
Gamkonoro, Indonesia
(based on reports from
Reuters, AlertNet, and BBC)
Mount Gamkonora
in Halmahera, North Maluku
province
has started spitting out
flaming rocks,
ash and smoke on 9 July.
Saut Simatupang, head of Indonesia's
Vulcanological Survey said flaming material
started to appear, indicating magma was
approaching the crater's surface. No
casualties or damages have been reported,
but authorities have placed the highest
alert level on the forest-clad volcano since
Sunday.
After a slowdown in volcanic activities on
12 July, five volcanic quakes shook the area
on 13 July, sending ash over an area six km
from the crater. It is feared that a major
eruption could be imminent and the alert has
been raised to its highest level.
More than 9,000 people have
been evacuated from an area surrounding
Mount Gamkonora. The evacuees are staying in
tents provided by local army and police
authorities. The government has sent food,
tents, blankets and mats for the evacuees.
Indonesia has the highest
number of active volcanoes of any country,
sitting on a belt of intense volcanic and
seismic activity known as the "Pacific Ring
of Fire".
(3) Quake in Japan, 16 July
2007
(based on reports by The New
York Times)
A strong earthquake struck
northwest Japan on Monday, causing a
radioactive water leak and fire at one of
the world's most powerful nuclear power
plants and turning buildings into piles of
lumber. Japan's Meteorological Agency said
the earthquake occurred shortly after 10
a.m. local time, with the epicenter off
Niigata state, measured at a 6.8 magnitude,
and left fissures 3 feet wide in the ground
along the coast. At least seven people were
killed and hundreds injured. National
broadcaster NHK reported that water
containing radioactive material leaked from
the plant into the Sea of Japan, but that
the radioactivity level was low and posed no
environmental danger. Nearly 300 homes in
Kashiwazaki, a city of about 90,000 that
appeared to be hardest hit, were destroyed
and some 2,000 people evacuated, officials
said. Several bullet train services linking
Tokyo to northern and northwest Japan were
suspended. Tsunami warnings were issued
along the coast of Niigata but later
lifted.
(4) Wet Asia…
(based on reports from
AlertNet, CNN, and The Daily Star)
Monsoon rains have taken
heavy tolls in China, India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, and Indonesia.
At
least 42 people died and more than 150
injured when heavy rains caused buildings in
Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, to
collapse, according to provincial health and
police officials. Storms have caused
widespread power outages, the shutdown of
Karachi’s communication systems, uprooted
trees, and toppled billboards on Karachi
streets that in turn caused massive traffic
jams and some injuries. The government has
declared an emergency situation in all
hospitals of Sindh Province.
Heavy monsoon rains have
killed at least 143 people in Kerala state
since June, and triggered landslides in
southern India that killed at least 22
people and left at least 4,500 homeless in
the past two days, officials said on
Wednesday. More than 27,000 people are
living in hundreds of relief camps due to
the monsoon.
The recent floods due to the
monsoon have already displaced some 4 to 5
million people in China. Quinghui Gu,
regional disaster coordinator for the
International Federation of Red Cross and
Red Crescent societies (IFRC), said the
response had so far been a success and that
the death toll of around 500 people was
surprisingly low. China's government has
mobilised vast numbers of volunteers and the
People's Liberation Army to help, supported
by the Chinese Red Cross. Hundreds of
sections of embankments along Huai river,
China’s third longest river, have already
been loosened. The monsoons have also
caused flash floods and landslides.
Torrential rain in Chittagong
yesterday brought city life to a standstill
as it left low-lying areas in as much as
waist-deep water and severely disrupted
vehicular traffic. The daylong downpour on
July 20 dumped 141.6 mm of rain that caused
three rivers (Halda, Sangu and Matamuhuri)
to flow over the danger mark.
Days of heavy downpour in
Central Sulawesi province have caused
landslides and floods up to three m high,
submerging hundreds of homes. The poor
weather and lack of heavy equipment are
hampering efforts to rescue about 23 people
believed buried under the landslides and to
provide food for survivors, said Frets Abast,
coordinator of provincial disaster relief
teams. Helicopter food drops were
periodically halted due to the rain. The
National Disaster Relief Coordination Agency
said 57 people had been killed and 23 others
were missing after the landslides and
flooding. About 100 homes were damaged and
5,000 people had been displaced.
(5) … Dry Philippines
(based on reports from PAGASA
and Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Dry spells have persisted in
parts of the Philippines and China. The
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)
has warned that the dry spell in Luzon is
expected to continue next month. PAGASA
said the dry spell would lead to red tide,
warmer air temperatures, decreased water
supply, bush fires, and health problems.
Nathaniel Cruz, chief of the forecasting
department at PAGASA, said the weather
remained “displaced” because there were no
tropical cyclones that normally would have
hit Luzon by this time, while it’s raining
in the Visayas and Mindanao when these areas
should be dry.
PAGASA forecast the volume of
rainfall next month to be less than 40
percent in Luzon, a trend that has prevailed
in June and July. If this trend continues
throughout August, PAGASA would declare a
drought in September, officials said. Angat
Dam which supplies water to Metro Manila is
already at a critical water level. Other
dams in Luzon with water at critical levels
are San Roque, Binga, Ambuklao, Magat and
Pantabangan dams, according to PAGASA, while
the hydroelectric plant at Caliraya lake in
Laguna province is no longer working. All
power distribution companies are on “red
alert” for power outage.
The weather bureau has
advised the public: Pray for more rain,
conserve water and mitigate the problem.
The bureau recommended optimum water
allocation and use, cloud-seeding, repair of
dikes, adoption of water-impounding projects
or shallow tube wells, the rehabilitation of
deep wells and water harvesting facilities.
For the agricultural sector, it proposed
water conservation, use of resistant crops
with less water requirements, enhancement of
irrigation efficiency, modified cropping
calendar and reduction in leakages.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo instructed
the Defense Department to release two more
planes for cloud-seeding operations. The
National Disaster Coordinating Council
spokesperson, said the NDCC was launching an
information drive on water conservation,
global warming and climate change.
(6) Tsunami evacuation drill
in Thailand, July 25
Phuket Provincial Governor’s
Office organized an evacuation drill on 25
July 2007, 9 am, at Patong Beach and other
districts where the tsunami warning system
is set up. The drill will test the
province’s preparedness and its coordination
with other government agencies and resident
volunteers. ADPC sent an observer. The
drill tests the evacuation plan developed
under the Phuket Tourism Risk Management
Strategy.
B. CALLS FOR SUBMISSION
(7)
Call for Presenters: Church
World Service Emergency Response Program
Forum on Domestic Disaster Ministry
The Church World Service Emergency Response
Program is seeking speakers, panelists, and
workshop leaders to present research and
case studies, introduce new concepts and
approaches, and generate discussion related
to domestic disaster mitigation/
preparedness, response, and recovery under
the umbrella theme "Economics & Justice in
Disasters" for its third forum on Domestic
Disaster Ministry. The forum will bring
together experienced volunteers and
professionals in disaster ministries from
the interfaith community from March 29-April
1, 2008, at Scarritt Bennett, a United
Methodist conference facility near the
campus of Vanderbilt University in
Nashville, Tennessee. Sample topics
include: Sustainable Livelihoods &
Affordable Housing In Reducing Disaster
Vulnerability; Professional Care vs. Local
Capacity Building Following Disasters;
Predatory Lending, Price-Gouging &
Unscrupulous Contractors; and Using Disaster
Recovery to Build Economic Vitality of
Communities. The deadline for receiving
program proposals is Friday, September 28,
2007. Please submit proposals to: Bob
Arnold, Church World Service Emergency
Response Program, 7th Floor, 475
Riverside Drive, New York, NY, USA 10115;
barnold@churchworldservice.org.
(8) Call for Papers:
Performance under Stress: Managing
Emergencies and Disasters
Journal editors are seeking
manuscripts for a symposium on "Performance
under Stress: Managing Emergencies and
Disasters," to be published in the Public
Performance and Management Review. This
symposium will focus on performance in
dealing with disasters, including
catastrophic disasters. Catastrophic
disasters are characterized by unexpected or
unusual size, disruptions to the
communication and decision making
capabilities of the emergency response
system, and an initial breakdown in
coordination and communication. Editors are
soliciting articles that analyze a range of
issues related to performance management in
managing disasters, such as the meaning of
responsiveness in managing disaster
networks, efficiency and timeliness, the
factors that affect public organizations'
level of responsiveness, and best practices
of improving disaster management
performance. The deadline for manuscript
submission is September 30, 2007; all
submissions will be refereed. Please send
manuscripts or proposals for manuscripts to:
Dr. Naim Kapucu, Department of Public
Administration, HPA II 238M, University of
Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA 32816;
nkapucu@mail.ucf.edu.
C. CONFERENCES AND COURSES
(9) Regional Course on Use of
GIS & RS in Disaster Risk Management –
Bangkok, Thailand: August 27 to September 7,
2007
Organizer: Asian Disaster
Preparedness Center (ADPC). The course
provides an opportunity to enhance the
capabilities of executive managers and
technical staff involved in disaster risk
management by providing them with
understanding on the use of spatial
information in disaster risk management.
More information on this course and on the
updated ADPC Calendar for Training and
Workshops are available at
www.adpc.net.
(10) 4th International
Conference on Debris Flow Hazards
Mitigation: Mechanics, Prediction, and
Assessment – Chengdu, China: 10 – 13
September 2007
Organizer: Institute of
Mountain Hazards and Environment. This
conference will offer a forum for
debris-flow researchers in the international
community to exchange ideas on how to cope
with debris-flow. Advanced, state-of-the-art
science and technology in debris flow
mechanics, hazard prediction, and risk
assessment will also be presented and
discussed. For more information, please go
to:
http://4thdfhm.imde.ac.cn.
(11) Regional Course on
Governance and Disaster Risk Reduction –
Bangkok, Thailand: 17 – 21 September 2007
Organizer: Asian Disaster
Preparedness Center (ADPC). The overall
objective of the course is to develop a
cadre of local government professionals
sensitive to issues presented by the
recurrent hazards. The course intends to
increase their knowledge, as well as of
other stakeholders, on urban governance and
disaster risk management to be responsive to
the needs of vulnerability reduction, and to
create opportunities for mainstreaming risk
reduction as a component of urban
governance. To download the course
brochure,
please go to:
(12) 2nd UCLG
World Congress –Jeju, Rep. of Korea: 28 - 31
October 2007
Organizer:
United Cities and Local
Governments.
The Congress is aimed at
representatives from 1,000 local governments
from 127 countries, to discuss common
interests such as decentralization,
globalization, climate change, and local
diplomacy. The selected theme is "Changing
Cities Are Driving Our World". For
information on the Congress, please visit
www.uclg2007jeju.org
(13) 4th UN-wide Meeting on
the Use of Space Technologies for Emergency
Response and Humanitarian Assistance,
Bangkok, Thailand: 27 November 2007
The meeting will focus on the
International Charter Space and Major
Disasters, and expand activities to include
the other opportunities the UN-community can
and should build upon.
D. USEFUL RESOURCES
(14) Guidelines for
Earthquake Resistant Design, Construction,
and Retrofitting of Buildings in Afghanistan
– Gov. of Afghanistan and UNCRD, 2003
The Ministry of Urban
Development and Housing of the Government of
Afghanistan and the UN Centre for Regional
Development Hyogo have developed a document
for earthquake resistant buildings. The
English version can be seen
http://www.hyogo.uncrd.or.jp/publication/guide.html
(15) Natural Catastrophes
2006: Analyses, Assessments, Positions –
MunichRe
This publication is a
background analysis of natural hazards,
their potential for loss, and their
potential for loss reinsurance. Topics
covered for the year 2006 include the
Northwest Pacific typhoon season, the July
17 tsunami in Java, and the Yogyakarta
earthquake. To download the document,
please go to:
http://www.munichre.com/publications/302-05217_en.pdf.
