1. What are the difficulties that arise when trying to develop a comprehensive national warning strategy that covers all hazards in all places for a country like Canada?

There are several difficulties that might arise when developing comprehensive national warning strategies that cover all hazards. One of the difficulties is ignorance. Some people wait till the last minute for them to take precautions. Another issue is that disasters are uncertain in relation to their occurrence and outcome. Disasters are dynamic events which keeps evolving with time.

Canada is a very large and diverse country when talking about the different provinces and even cities, and each of these different places experience differences in disasters so some places might not be as educated or prepare for the disaster that is being warned. Also there might be some people who chose to not follow these national warning strategy and might believe the hazards are a hoax, so its hard to get the entire population on Canada to be on board and be following what the national warning strategy suggests for us to do. There is also diversity with Canada’s individuals such as language and some people in this country has 2 national languages which are English and French but not all people speak both either of those languages, there’s a lot of cases of immigrants moving to the country who do not choose to learn or have not yet learn any of our languages so its hard to reach out to these people.  (THIS IS AN EXAMPLE THAT MY CLASS MATE WROTE, CAN YOU EXPAND)

  1. On a number of occasions, the only viable option for reducing future disaster risk has been to relocate an entire community out of a high-risk zone. Share examples of cases where this has happened in the past.  What challenges do these relocated communities face? (9)

One example is the Katrina Hurricanes that occur back in 2005. These located communities experience significant challenges such as lack of basic needs. Another example is the earthquake that occurred in Indonesia. The people were relocated, and they still experience problem because they live in the camps.

A well known example of relocation due to a disaster was the nuclear accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine. The process of relocation alone takes a lot of planning and resources from the nation’s government. The government needs to firstly look for viable land and undertake development-planning efforts. It’s especially helpful to the recovery speed if the land found was closer to the previous community. Suitability assessments are taken to assess the risk of hazards and other factors so that they can ensure it’s safe enough to relocate to. More than 300,000 people were relocated in order to reduce the exposure to radiation. However, this took a toll on the community members. Even to this day, many that relocated are unemployed and lack self-efficacy due to the disaster. Most that were relocated, mainly being the elderly, have not settled in fully, and still wish to return to their communities. This is why the most important factor is to make sure that community members are coping well with relocation; they should be able to create a working community at the new location, have access to clean water, engage in cultural and/or religious events, etc. However, as mentioned with Chernobyl, there could be a lot of conflict; community members may refuse to leave. This may be solved through simple cooperation; incentive programs play a big part in the decision-making process of community members. (AN EXAMPLE MY CLASSMATE WROTE)

  1. The importance of incorporating the viewpoints of affected communities, individuals and businesses, in the different types of recovery operations has been highlighted. Share your own thoughts on why this is important. Provide specific examples where applicable. (9)

It is important to incorporate the viewpoints of affected communities, individuals and businesses, in the different types of recovery operations. This is because they are the victims and knows the problems (This doesn’t make sense, can you expand on this)that they experience. Also, they know what they need to help the most vulnerable among them. A good example is the case of Haiti where an earthquake occurred in 2010. The affected communities and businesses were involved in the recovery operations and this helped to save more lives (you cant say this without providing proof).

  1. Children have unique needs when recovering from disasters.  Which of these needs do you think are the most important?  Why do you think this is the case?  In your opinion, how can those needs be effectively met? (9)

The most important needs for children recovering from disaster include counselling, basic needs and support. This is because they get traumatized and need people to encourage and support them emotionally, physically and financially. These needs can be met by the government and humanitarians getting involved to provide the basic needs. Other well wishes can visit the children (This doesn’t make sense) and spend time with them, encourage and support them.

  1. Research NGOs (both national and international).  If you had the opportunity, which NGO(s) would you like to be a part of? Why? How can you get involved? (10)

There are several NGOs both national and international that help the victims of disasters. If given an opportunity, I would like to be part of the Red Cross organization. This is because it is an international organization and I can have a great chance to help other nations. I can get involved by giving donation and being part of the rescue team.

  1. Discuss examples of  how bureaucracy and/or politics can interfere with disaster management  efforts. (10)

There are many ways that politics interfere with disaster management. One way is that politics can interfere is through the misuse of resources for political gains. This implies that political leaders might use resources meant to help the victims for their own political gain. Another political interference is corruption where leaders steal resources that are supposed to help the victims.

  1. Share some arguments for and against the involvement of the military in disaster management. Through examples, share some implications of military involvement in domestic disaster relief efforts and/or cases where military assets are deployed internationally? (10)

The military should be involved in disaster management because they have equipment, manpower and training to deal with disasters. There are some areas that cannot be accessible for humanitarians due to terrain and this requires military support. It is also not good to involve the military because the terrorist might attack a nation due to enough soldiers at the borders.

One of the implications of military involvement is conflict due to a lack of subordinate and clash between organizations protocols, culture and procedures. A good example is the Pakistan earthquake where despite the military working together with humanitarians, there were some conflicts.