Emergency response agencies had planned a large-scale disaster drill in the city of Columbus in the 1st week of April, 2017 which was designed to better prepare the Officials for a potential disaster. The drill included over  500 volunteers who were costumed to look like real victims with simulated wounds from guns and grenades. Men... Read More

    An emergency HAM radio network (Amateur Radio) actively supported the relief and recovery work in the town of Mocoa in Colombia.   A disastrous landslide overnight on 31st March-1st April, left more than 230 dead, and many went missing or injured, devastating the town residents. Heavy rainfall in Colombia’s Putumayo Province triggered the... Read More

The shocking human toll of over 20,000 in the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat in India, inspired Elizabeth Hausler with the vision to use her skills learnt working as a bricklayer (she went on to study engineering), into a career helping thousands of people to rebuild their homes after disasters. “Most people died because their house... Read More

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan announced plans to introduce daily charge in Central London (additional to congestion charge) for the most polluting road vehicles from April 2019. The heavily polluting buses, coaches and lorries will be affected London wide in 2020. Further expansion of the Ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) will include inner circular route... Read More

Learning from experience Australia’s Ministry of Human resources has backroom plans in place to deal with disasters. Hundreds of staff can be mobilized in the ‘Channel Operation Center’ in Canberra which co-ordinates governments financial and physical response.     40 screens at the center simultaneously assist in dictating action in diverting relief and assistance suitably to... Read More

The Sendai Framework for DRR recognizes the role of volunteers and voluntary organizations as active actors in relief and to better understand community risks and increase collaborative efforts.  Volunteer role can be decisive and it is important that they have adequate training, which is relevant at the national, regional and global levels. A parallel session... Read More

Humanitarian aid has not been very successful in delivering on its goals at times of disaster, mainly due to lack of coordination among NGOs, resulting in duplication of services. Studies of major disasters show 60% of items arriving at disaster sites are non-priority items with rescue teams wasting precious time dealing with them. Meantime victims... Read More

  On the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, a disaster drill was exercised at Sensoji Temple, a popular tourist destination in Taito Ward and adjacent areas of Tokyo’s Asakusa district on March 8. The drill was organized by the Asakusa Tourism Information Association in which 250 foreign... Read More