Natural disasters: Stop neglecting communities at risk

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t’s a sad fact that it doesn’t take a lot for a natural disaster to wreak havoc. We have seen this with the latest earthquake in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Already, over the course of two days, an estimate puts the death toll at around 400. Fortunately, the deep nature of the earthquake meant that tremors reached fewer people than it could have. But it’s still more than we should have lost.

Pakistan has been hit with a series of earthquakes over the last decade. Of them, the most severe was the first in 2005, claiming the lives of tens of thousands, and displacing countless more. The response was rapid. Almost six billion dollars’ worth of aid poured in, and all kinds of support was rushed to Pakistan. Many, such as UNICEF, heralded it as one of the most successful relief operations ever.

Japan experienced similar disasters yet have kept deaths in the single digits. Why is Pakistan still losing so many people? 

The event also brought a burst of attention on future protection from disasters. Institutional bodies were created (Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority, for example) to focus on rebuilding destroyed communities with resistant infrastructure. So, has it worked? Well, sort of. The regions that suffered in 2005 have thankfully not been struck again, and should be ready if it does. But, because Pakistan is extraordinarily prone to earthquakes, other areas have been affected. Around 120,000 were made homeless in Quetta in 2008, and two successive earthquakes in Baluchistan in 2013 claimed over a thousand lives. Japan experienced similar disasters yet have kept deaths in the single digits. Why is Pakistan still losing so many people?

In asking this, I realised that there is a peculiar trade-off between the short and long term, making me consider something controversial: the victims of the tragedy have absorbed our attention, as they should do. But in doing so, it appears we are neglecting other communities at risk.

As the memories of the disaster fade, so will the emphasis on future prevention.

This is made evident through how prevention ventures revolve almost exclusively around reconstructing destroyed areas. Barely any of the earthquake projects featured efforts to educate and prepare people throughout Pakistan, and time has only made this worse. Studies in Japan have highlighted the effectiveness of education on creating efficient community practises during disasters. Had this been carried out throughout Pakistan, we could have, for example, saved the lives of the school-children who rushed aimlessly amid a stampede in the recent earthquake. But, as the memories of the disaster fade, so will the emphasis on future prevention. Although uproar is once again challenging the corruption and complacency that has left so many exposed, it will fizzle in time, and communities that are yet to be affected will remain susceptible.

As such, tackling this problem may need questionable actions, such as saving some aid money for future projects, putting conditions on aid, or actively publicising personal tales of heartbreak. It is a frustratingly grim challenge to confront, but I feel it should be  resolved; we keep forgetting, after so many reminders, that anyone, at any moment, can be a casualty.