Coping with Disaster

Nature has a way of reminding us that the unexpected will always happen. Earthquakes, forest fires, avalanches, tsunamis, disease and flooding are some of the events that have disastrous outcomes and continue to surprise the world when they occur. How we cope with the effects of such events is determined by the willingness and capabilities of governments, NGOs and individuals.

Whilst unable to predict precisely when and what will occur experience has taught society that preparation and planning at all levels leads to a greater level of resilience for communities. This resilience however is dependent upon the capabilities of the authorities, voluntary organisations and businesses to respond at the time.

The Indian Ocean tsunami challenged the world to respond and stretched resources worldwide and has highlighted lessons on how the UN and others can work more effectively in such situations. Closer to home the flooding in Carlisle provides an excellent case study and underlines the importance of resilience planning at a local level.

On the weekend of the 8th January 2005 storms lashed Cumbria. Winds gusting at 90 mph battered the county and a month’s rain fell in 36 hours. The city of Carlisle and surrounding areas were hit by the worst floods since the 1820s. Nearly 3000 properties were affected, 500 people were evacuated, several elderly residents lost their lives and 80,000 were without power.

The challenge for the emergency services and the local authorities was to manage the disaster under extreme circumstances. In Carlisle the police and fire stations were flooded as were the City Council offices. There was no power, water supplies were affected and the main railway line north of Carlisle damaged.

Temporary accommodation in Carlisle soon became fully occupied as residents were moved from their homes, many of these homes will remain uninhabitable for many months. It will be 12 months before the police station can be re-occupied due to contamination and water damage.

The bus company lost most of its buses, the Post Office and BT lost their vehicle fleets and many businesses, including the main Carlisle builder, were seriously affected. McVitie’s biscuit factory, the main employer in the city, employing over 1000 people, was flooded out and there were fears that it would not re-open. One major supermarket was flooded and shops ran out of batteries for radios, the only source of information for the public in a city without power.

Looters moved in to steal items from flooded businesses under the cover of darkness and bogus builders moved into the city to take advantage of those affected by the high winds and floods. This provided a challenge to the police who were already stretched dealing with the wider implications of the disaster and having to operate out of temporary premises.

Getting the community back on its feet is a priority now the floods have gone. However there are some key lessons to be learnt. Every report shows that no one anticipated the speed at which the flood occurred or the levels to which it would rise. As a consequence many key services were quickly disabled. The combination of failures worsened an already disastrous situation.

But how could the community and it’s key organisations, both public and private, have been better prepared under such extreme circumstances? What can be done to ensure that essential services continue to operate in the event of a disruption? Where can they go for help?

The answer lies in the Civil Contingencies Act which has been designed to improve Civil Protection in the UK and was passed in November 2004. The basis of the Act is to enable a community to be better prepared to deal with any emergency that threatens human welfare, the environment or the security of the UK. The Act covers the responsibilities of bodies that are key to responding to an emergency, they are divided into two groups, Category 1 and Category 2 responders. Category 1 responders are the main organisations involved in most emergencies at local level and include the emergency services, local authorities and elements of the NHS. Category 2 responders are those likely to be heavily involved with some emergencies and include the utilities, transport companies and telecommunications providers.

The main civil protection duties fall on the Category 1 responders who must carry out a risk assessment for the community, ensure that they have appropriate Business Continuity Management processes in place, have planned for emergencies and have in place arrangements to maintain public awareness and to warn, inform and advise the public.

An important part of the Act is designed to ensure that Category 1 and where appropriate category 2 responders work together to ensure greater community resilience. A Local Resilience Forum must be created to co-ordinate the activities of all key players. This Forum must agree the risks that face the community and develop emergency plans to manage the risks should they occur. The Forum must ensure that emergency plans provide for a co-ordinated response from both Category 1 and Category 2 responders.

Details of the risks which face the community have to be communicated to local residents and organisations; public, private and voluntary, so that they are better informed as to the consequences of certain risks occurring and are better prepared to cope with them.

The act requires Category 1 responders to maintain business continuity plans to ensure that they can continue to perform their functions in the event of an emergency and to be able to maintain their own crisis response capabilities and to continue to deliver critical aspects of their day-to-day functions. It further imposes the duty to ensure that those organisations delivering services on their behalf or capabilities that underpin service provision can deliver in the event of an emergency. As far as the public is concerned, these services remain part of a responder’s functions even if they do not directly provide them.

To meet this element of the Act it will be essential for category 1 responders to identify their critical activities, what resources are needed to provide them and to ensure that they have the capability to do so, no matter what the cause of the disruption is. In Carlisle the police and city council lost access to buildings and computer facilities. Their ability to function at the time of the emergency would have been impaired as a result.

The Civil Contingencies Act recognises that to plan is not enough. Not only must the emergency plans be exercised but also the business continuity plans for the organisation must be subject to exercise and audit. The exercising of BC Plans should take place as part of a combined emergency exercise to ensure individual BC plans can inter-work, again Carlisle provide a clear example of why this is necessary.

The final element of the Act falls on the shoulders of the Local Authorities who are required to provide advice and assistance to those undertaking commercial activities and to voluntary organisations in relation to business continuity management. They must provide general advice and assistance to business and voluntary sector communities at large. In addition they may provide specific advice and assistance to individual organisations and may refer organisations to business continuity consultants.

The purpose of this element of the Act is to try to ensure that those on whom the community rely for their employment and welfare establish their own continuity arrangements and are therefore better prepared to cope with an emergency.

Carlisle has demonstrated how an unexpected natural disaster can disrupt a community. It has shown clearly the need for a co-ordinated response from the key responders and how their continuity arrangements need to be improved. The community in Carlisle has been praised for the way in which it came together to deal with the emergency. Using this spirit and the power of the Civil Contingencies Act communities in the UK can, through improved planning and co-ordination, make themselves more resilient to anything that nature, or man, may throw at them.

John Sharp
Policy and Development Director
Continuity Forum

The Continuity Forum is committed to building the resilience of organisations internationally, regardless of size or sector, through education and the promotion of best practice in Business Continuity Management and its related disciplines. The Forum is dedicated to aiding the growth and the development of the Continuity sector and appropriate standards. www.continuityforum.org

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