UK learns lessons from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

A report produced by the Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat looks at Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and gleans what can be learned for UK disaster recovery and response.

The document ‘Hurricanes Katrina & Rita – A Perspective’ states that the following key issues present “a selection of the more pressing issues that have a particular read-across to emergency planning in the UK.”

* Plan for the continuity of local government and first responders during a large scale emergency and make arrangements for the welfare of local staff and their families.

* Consider the requirement to enable essential staff in the private sector (eg critical national infrastructure workers, petrol station operators, key public transport staff, supermarket/convenience store staff) to evacuate their families early before returning to assist in the main evacuation effort.

* Local authorities’ and cities’ risk assessments and planning should be based on two separate events: the evacuation of citizens and the reception of those evacuated from elsewhere.

* Both sets of the above plans should have healthcare elements to enable management of chronic conditions as well as injuries received in the incident or in the course of evacuation.

* Consideration should be given to the need for residential care homes and special needs facilities to be licensed to the effect that evacuation plans are in place and exercised regularly.

* Both sets of the above plans will need to consider the requirement for additional policing in order to maintain essential law and order either as a result of the original incident/evacuation or to deal with a large influx of displaced people.

* Evacuation plans need to take account of the untoward effects of weather. In the UK, this may be a heatwave but is more likely to be cold weather resulting in a requirement for blankets and hot drinks/food in order to avoid hypothermia and avoid aggravation of existing medical conditions.

An evacuation plan that consists of telling people to get out on their own is not an evacuation plan. Special needs clients require considerable preplanning both in terms of the evacuation itself, availability of medical support, and the receiving area. Traffic flows need to be thought through well in advance and pre-planning is required to ensure sufficient essential workers are in place to both assist with the evacuation and to shore up critical national infrastructure.

* The role of voluntary agencies needs to be agreed in advance along with details of facilities to be used, and repayment arrangements etc

* Facilities need to be exist for rapid activation to enable tracking of evacuees, and missing persons including children.

* Expect pets to be evacuated with their owners and plan accordingly.

* In using large venues as shelters eg stadia, retain the venue’s commercial operators to help run the shelter.

* Central government is simply not well placed to respond instantaneously to an emergency. The leadership, the enunciation of needs, and the ability to source from neighbouring areas is the most effective form of response in the first few hours and days. Regions and cities should therefore considering adopting pre-agreed mutual aid arrangements.

* Local authorities should consider the scope for centrally stockpiled supplies and equipment and the use of pre-agreed procurement contracts resulting in faster delivery and increased value for money.

* The availability of, or the ability quickly to set up, computer networks and records systems to manage all aspects of the emergency response and recovery effort is likely to be a particularly important part of the necessary logistics capability.

•Date: 30th March 2006• Region: UK • Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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