Concepts of Precaution Free-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Question: Discuss about the Concepts of Precaution, Relief, and Recovery. Answer: Predominantly, precautionary measures are taken before the occurrence of an event, or taken to reduce the possibility of an event happening and lastly taken to mitigate the occurrence of an event. Usually, natural disaster precautionary measures are implemented by the government. However, all persons should be stakeholders in disaster management .For instance the implementation of the Delta plan in Holland which led to the construction of the Maelstant Barrier to protect the Rotterdam Port. This Delta plan was solely engineered by the Government of Holland through its commission (Surowiecki, 2012) Notably, government based precautionary measure include construction of levees and barriers against flooding, Zoning regulations and incorporation of warning systems .Private stakeholders can help minimize the consequences of these natural disasters through relocating to safer grounds, choosing houses likely to withstand natural disasters like flooding .Predominantly, relief measures are designed to limit the severity of the consequence following the occurrence of the event. Notably, relief efforts consist of first aid to the victims, evacuation and search and rescue activities. Further, relief services involve resource pooling, communication and medical infrastructure coordination by relief providers. Following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the federal government allocated $75b for relief efforts .Notably slow evacuations and poorly coordinated rescue efforts marred the relief efforts in New Orleans due to the unpreparedness .However, with proper media coverage, more organized and sufficient relief efforts took place (Federal bank of Atlanta,2015)Notably, a successful relief expedition needs proper coordination and funding which is highly attainable through government agencies Significantly, recovery has helped natural disaster victims and affected areas move on. Notably, recovery takes place after the occurrence of the disaster .Further, recovery could be through compensation or reconstruction. Primarily, compensation deals with payments being awarded to the victims to rebuild their lives and access to medical and mental health support whereas reconstruction deals with public services restoration. For example, following the Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has experienced major reconstruction and economic growth following its restoration through government and other private stakeholders. Year Peril Insured Loss 2005 Katrina 41.1 2004 Hurricane Charley 7.5 1992 Hurricane Andrew 15.5 Source : Insurance services Inc ,Insurance Information System,2015 Notably, New Orleans infrastructure greatly improved following the hurricane Katrina (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 2015) The reconstruction efforts were majorly funded by the government. Also, the American Red cross, Salvation Army, and other private stakeholders chipped in. Notably, the federal emergency management Agency dedicated $120.5m for disaster management. With the reconstruction, better infrastructure was put in place which boosted the living standards of inhabitants, improved access to public services and opened possibilities for investors thus creating more jobs for and increased government revenue. Effects of Recovery on Precaution Recovery cost in most cases is more expensive than precautionary measures (Sivandan, 2015).However, recovery is the right time to plan for future reoccurrence of natural disasters through precautionary measures(Parker,2016)Notably, early preparation for the reoccurrence of natural disasters will significantly mitigate the effects of the disaster. Although, in most cases, government intervention has created overdependence on government intervention as compared to precautionary measures. Recovery causes more awareness and action as compared to precautionary measures (Wilson and Temple et. al, n.d.) Effects of Relief on Recovery and Precaution. Undoubtedly, relief is vital and beneficial to victims in that the victims are able to be evacuated and taken to safety where they are offered medical and psychological which is the first step to recovery .Evidently, relief interventions largely reduce recovery costs due to the promptness of the relief activities. Furthermore, relief mitigates recovery oversupply and in the process dilutes incentives for disaster prevention measures. In addition, relief decreases the severity of the losses on lives and property thereby translating into decreased recovery expenditure by government and private individuals Usually, precaution precedes relief.However, in most cases relief triggers prevention where theres a possibility of reoccurrence. Relief is a damage control tool to save lives and irreplaceable belongings .Relief has created overdependence on government thus expanding the budget for relief efforts (Management of disasters, 2015).Relief efforts are temporary. Relief efforts are likely to stir precautionary measures by private stakeholders due to the irreplaceable nature of lives and property of nonpecuniary nature thus personal responsibility thereby reducing relief costs .Also, recovery causes ignorance of precautionary measures due to relief and recovery benefits. Optimal Relief Efforts. Ideally, optimal relief efforts must be speedy and sufficient to cover the affected areas and victims within short time possible. Regarding public provision, the government is best placed to address relief efforts due to its public interest driven incentives and an obligation .Further, security during relief operations is vital and the government is adequately equipped with facilities and trained personnel as opposed to private individuals. Also, Centralized relief operations are likely to offer timely and properly coordinated results thus making the government the optimal relief provider due to its resources, training and obligation to all citizens. Positive and Negative Externalities of Decentralized Relief. Noteworthy, decentralized relief efforts has enabled private stakeholders and the corporate world to be involved in relief services.Notably, the Coca-Cola company offered a large supply of water through its distribution chain during the 2004 Tsunami .Further, Fedex, DHL, and UPS offered free transportation for relief cargo thereby providing relief services (Thomas and Fritz,2006)Positively, decentralized relief promotes unity and social responsibility. Further, infrastructure is improved during relief missions. For instance, in cases of a hurricane or massive snowing, transport systems may be improved to reach the victims for relief purposes. Also, decentralized relief boosts coordination and communication. Further, economic development may result from decentralized relief efforts in the sense that many relief centers may be required to serve a large number of victims divided over the rescue area .Inevitably, this has created a need for decentralized rescue centers thus creating jobs. Eventually, after the crisis, relief infrastructure will keep serving the communities .Negatively, poor coordination and communication between decentralized relief centers leads to slow response thus furthering damage severity thereby increasing the expenditure for recovery. Decentralized relief efforts could lead to environmental pollution due to the fact that each relief operation has its own relief guidelines and policies .However, a centralized relief operation minimizes pollution and damage risks due to internal coordination of the relief operations. In addition, politics shapes disaster management policies and measures thereby affecting victims and non-victims in that setting up of the disaster management task force and budget is part of the public finances obtained through revenue collection as taxes. Thereby the tax burden is on the citizens to contribute to the disaster management operation funding whether future victim or not (Depoorter, 2006) References Depoorter, B. (2006) Horizontal Political Externalities : The supply and demand for Disaster Management. Duke. [Online]Available at https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1295context=dlj[Accessed 9 May 2017] Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. (2015)Economics of Disaster: New Orleans and Katrina .Federal Reserve Bank of Australia.[Online]Available at https://frbatlanta.org/education/publications/extra-credit/2015/fall/economics-of-disaster[Accessed 9 May 2017] Management of Disasters. (n.d.) Introduction to International disaster Management. Waseda [Online] Available at https://www.waseda.jp/gsaps/eaui/educational_program/PDF_WS2015/Lecture1_Reading2_Zha.pdf[Accessed 8 May 2017] Parker, D.(2016)The Economics of Natural disasters: Mitigating the Impact.Fireengineering.com. [Online]Available at https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-169/issue-9/features/the-economics-of-natural-disasters-mitigating-the-impact.html[Accessed 9 May 2017] Thoma, A and Fritz, L .(2006)Social Responsibility: Disaster Relief, Inc.Harvard Business Review.[Online]Available at https://hbr.org/2006/11/disaster-relief-inc[Accessed 8 May 2017] Sivanandan, T.V. (2015) Compensation for Natural Disaster Victims Increased. The Hindu.com. [Online]Available for https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/compensation-for-natural-disaster-victims-increased/article7111471.ece[Accessed 9 May 2017] Surowiecki, J.(2012)Disaster Economics .The New Yorker.[Online]Available at https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/12/03/disaster-economics[Accessed 9 May 2017] Wilson,S, Temple,B et.al.(n.d.)The lack of Disaster Preparedness by the public and its effect on Communities .Internet Scientific Publications.[Online]Available at Http://ispub.com/IJRDM/7/2/11721[Accessed 9 May 2017