Did you feel that earthquake? Do you have a plan?

Posted by kstohr on Aug 23, 2011,  Architecture for Humanity

As an earthquake rocked the Eastern seaboard today, it's another reminder to take stock in each and everyone of our communities of our preparedness planning for a major natural or man-made disaster.

It's not just about designing and warehousing shelter. If you are concerned about your community, have you thought about the following:

1) Do you have a plan, but more importantly, do you have the financial instruments in place that will allow the plan to be executed? Those take longer to setup than any other aspect of disaster reconstruction and are too often ignored.

2) Where will you house your residents? Preparedness is knowing where you are going to build transitional shelter and executing planning and zoning permits, easements, etc. in advance.

3) Does your community have a clear understanding of how many it may need to shelter? It’s not 100% of your population...

Most disaster preparedness focuses on evacuation and immediate response, that addresses only half of the issues that arise. NYC and NY State through Office of Emergency Management worked with our local New York City chapter to start thinking through some of these longer-term housing issues. Only city i know of that is working to develop a housing strategy that truly addresses the dense population of an urban environment-- in advance of catastrophe.

Read more...

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Six months after Haiti was ravaged by the fifth deadliest earthquake in history (according to the U.S. Geological Survey), it's hard to find anybody involved in the reconstruction effort who isn't deeply frustrated by the lack of progress. Relief organizations rail against the Haitian government for its failure to come up with a plan for removing debris or perform other vital logistical duties; government ministers fire back that the nonprofits are confusing matters by failing to coordinate their efforts. Former President Clinton, co-chairman of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, is irked at international donors that have been slow to honor their commitments. Read more...

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Haiti's January 2010 earthquake left more than 230,000 dead, 300,000-plus injured, 1.5 million homeless and physically leveled 28 of 29 government ministries. In response, the international community pledged 5.5 billion dollars in aid to rebuild Haiti. Today, only 10 percent of the promised funding has reached its shores. Read more..

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Slugglish Progress, Resilient People

Young tenants of Haiti's quake camps :: Media Center :: News from the Field :: U.S. Fund for UNICEF - UNICEF USA

Young tenants of Haiti's quake camps :: Media Center :: News from the Field :: U.S. Fund for UNICEF - UNICEF USA

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Rains Swamp Haiti's Homeless

Emergency Relief housing, Chilie.

Rev. Felipe Berrios's award-winning organization has in less than 15 years nearly gotten all Chilean families into permanent housing. His group is now joining the effort to help those made homeless by the Chile earthquake. Read more.

Disaster/Emergency & Low Income Housing

Aquentium is uniquely positioned to provide better living conditions for those individuals or governments seeking low income housing or for those devastated by a disaster or emergency. Read more ..

Earthquake: Padang, Indonesia

People sleep in a temporary shelter after fleeing their damaged homes shocked by a powerful earthquake in Padang October 2, 2009. Rescue teams struggled on Thursday to reach scores of people trapped under debris and survivors pleaded for aid after a powerful quake hit the Indonesian city of Padang, possibly killing thousands.

REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni (INDONESIA DISASTER IMAGES OF THE DAY)