Disaster Relief as a Global Effort (Part III)

According to data from the Emergency Events Database that is maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) at the University of Louvain at Belgium, from 1980 to 2004, over 6000 natural disasters occurred, directly affecting 4.7 billion people, and resulting in 1.5 million deaths. Droughts, windstorms such as tornados and hurricanes, and tsunamis, were the most devastating type of natural disaster, and the occurrence of major natural disasters is increasing in frequency. Being able to coordinate disaster relief efforts is something that we can expect to need to be able to do, no matter what corner of the globe we live on.

Modern technology, combined with mass media and the internet, has given us ways to be connected to disaster events in real time, even when we are on the opposite side of the world. Images of devastation are often uploaded to the internet via cell phones as they occur. Major news networks send reporters to be on the scene, sometimes even in advance of the disaster (such as with a hurricane that gives warning). This past week’s earthquake in Haiti has people in Haiti using Facebook to try to locate missing loved ones, and there have been tweets sent via the microblogging website Twitter made by trapped victims themselves, to alert rescuers of their location and situation. Never before has communication been so immediate between victims, rescuers, the media, and the rest of the world at large. By being able to put an immediate face to the suffering, the unaffected have been more willing to open their hearts and their wallets to helping with disaster relief.

Right this very minute, medical personnel from more than 60 different countries, and reporters from even more are on site in Haiti helping because of the generosity of people around the world who fund disaster relief efforts through NGOs, and encourage their governments to get involved. While each of us might not have the skills, training, or flexibility in their schedule to go to Haiti to provide direct help, each and every one of us can help out by donating a small amount to the relief effort. Technology has even made this easier than ever to do. By texting “Haiti” to 90999, a $10 donation can be made to the Red Cross for relief efforts and charged to your cell phone bill, and 100% of that amount goes to the Red Cross. And during these times of disaster that are removed from us, it is a good time to reassess our own community disaster plans and take the time to learn CPR and donate blood. A life could be saved, and you never know, it might be your own!




Sources:

American Red Cross. Web. 21 Jan. 2010. http://www.redcross.org/en/.

Ethridge, Robbie. "Bearing Witness: Assumptions, Realities, and the Otherizing of Katrina."
American Anthropologist 108.4 (2006): 799-813. Print.

Rosensteil, C. Ronald. "Disaster Relief in a Kentucky Town." Ethnohistory 19.1 (1972): 27-36. JSTOR. Duke University Press. Web. 23 Jan. 2010. http://www.jstor.org/stable/481342.

Shah, Anup. "Natural Disasters — Global Issues." Global Issues : social, political, economic and environmental issues that affect us all — Global Issues. 13 Sept. 2005. Web. 21 Jan. 2010. http://www.globalissues.org/issue/522/natural-disasters.

Stromberg, David. "Natural Disasters, Economic Development, and Humanitarian Aid." The Journal of Economic Perspectives 21.3 (2007): 199-222. JSTOR. American Economic Association. Web. 21 Jan. 2010. .