The Questions the Japanese Tsunami Raises

Stunning picture of before and after the Japanese tsunami. The scale of the destruction brings up a real question for emergency managers. Are there some disasters that are to big to recover from? Not everywhere but in some areas city's will never come back from certain disasters. What is emergency managements roles in these types of disasters? Can we recognize them as they occur or will we recognize them only afterwards with some distances and perspective? I think we in the profession need to begin to have answers to these questions because they will affect how we will respond to such a disaster. Japan opens a new and vital question for all of us.

 Before and After the Tsunami

Essential Elements of Information during a Disaster

Milton Fire Rescue and Law Enforcement Agencies The link is an excellent learning/training tool. It is the radio traffic of the law enforcement and fire departments just before and after the tornado struck. The messages, their timing and the information that can be gleaned from there is an excellent example of the confusion and fragmentary nature of the information that an emergency manager will receive after such an event. How should you prepare to pull together the information? There will be other information sources in addition to the radio traffic you hear how do you sort it and begin to get a picture of your community and what has been done?

A list of Essential Elements of Information would be an ideal tool for your EOC. EEI's specific to each ESF and for the community as a whole would be a good first step. This list should be specific to your community and developed long before a disaster strikes. It should be a check list with a simple grading system to allow for a quick size up. It could be as simple as green, yellow and red. Green would mean the asset or facility was up and running and in service. A yellow would mean that it was damaged but still capable of performing most of it's duties. A red would mean it either destroyed and out of service. Everything should be considered a red until information proving otherwise was obtained. This simple system would go a long way to preparing a community for a sudden disaster. 

Social Media and Disasters

Seventy-two percent of Americans belong to some sort of social network. These numbers must drive emergency management organizations at every level to develop plans and to become involved in social networking sites and services. Craig Fugate the head of FEMA said recently that he was able to determine the severity of the Jopin Tornado because of pictures he received over Twitter of the hospital and the surrounding neighborhood. Yet there are some caveats to that statistic.


In a recent Sachs/Mason-Dixon Poll 45% of those questioned stated that they would use social media for both gathering and sharing critical information during and after a natural disaster. Those 18 to 34 were much more likely to use social networks during a disaster with 63% stating they would use them during a disaster. While these numbers are impressive more than 50% of those responding to the poll stated they would continue to rely on home and cell phones. And less than 50% of those over 60 are members of social networks.

So these numbers point to more involvement for emergency management in social media it also points to a more sophisticated public information and communication plan for a jurisdiction. There must be a mix of the use of social media and of  the local news media to get any word out to the public. By using both social media and the local news outlets the likelihood of the word reaching all of the needed audience is dramatically increased. So any communication plan must address both social networking and news outlets.

The other side of the social networking coin though is the anecdote is used at the beginning of the blog. Properly used the public is a invaluable source of information in the first hours and days of a response. If the systems are in place to track the calls for assistance and to evaluate the photos coming from the public can be a huge help in the initial assessment and response. This type of capability requires planning, organization and a social media presence in the community.

So while you many not be able to depend on social media alone to keep your citizens informed is it a critical part of any communications plan for a disaster. More importantly it is turning into an invaluable resource of information for your response. If the head of FEMA can gain situational awareness from social media then the local emergency management can certainly use it as a part of his or her disaster response plan.