Cyclone Phailin heralds the winds of change

It was as if the news media was so starved from a lack of Hurricane activity in the Atlantic that when Cyclone Phailin quickly intensified from a Category 1 to a 4 in just over 24 hours, the internet exploded at the prospect of dramatic news coverage. Never mind that Super Typhoons Utor and Usagi in the Pacific caused widespread damage earlier this year to little domestic fanfare. 

What captured everyone's attention is that Cyclone Phailin underwent explosive intensification, leaving little time for Indian Authorities to alert the densely populated coast where Phailin was due to strike. With memories of the 'Himalayan Tsunami' that killed thousands in June still fresh on everyone's minds, the prospect of a Category 4 Cyclone hitting the coast seemed impossible. Couple this with the fact that the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center was calling into question the reports the IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) was issuing, claiming they were downplaying the speed and the intensity of the storms potential impacts, and it looked as if a major humanitarian crisis were about to unfold before our eyes.

photo credit: Luke Villapaz 

In a bold move, the State government of Odisha publicized their intent to make Cyclone Phailin a 'zero casualty' event and conducted the mass evacuation of all citizens within 5km of the coast. Local leaders went through towns and villages aggressively moving close to 1 million individuals and families out of harms way to the network of shelters built after the 1999 Cyclone that killed 10,000.

The outcome is that the number of deaths reported are at 14 and expected to climb but not by much, major thoroughfares were cleared of debris within 24 hours, train service has been restored, and the power to much of the impacted states will begin to be restored on Monday. 

While damage assessments are ongoing and the true scope of Phailin's impacts are still being calculated, it would appear that India has managed to take lessons learned from the past and apply them to a current crisis and actually have it pay dividends. India has just proved to the world that investing in disaster preparedness is a worthwhile proposition. Even in the face of governmental turnover, political infighting, a massive geographic area in which to implement the plan, and over a decade to let disaster amnesia sink in, the rapid evacuation of close to a million people and what appears to be the speedy restoration of access and infrastructure point to the fact that India got it right.

As reports emerge about what recovery will look like, it'll be interesting to read how the increase in mobile technology aided in the delivery of critical information that helped expedite evacuations.

It also raises the question, while we're still less than a decade out from Katrina making landfall, how would we fare if faced with another Katrina-like storm hitting the Gulf Coast? Would we rise to the occasion, learning from the past or are we doomed to make the same mistakes again and again?

When the lights go out in the city...

Something doesn't seem quite right...

We recently passed a hallmark in the world of disaster, the 10 year anniversary of the largest blackout in United States History, the day parts of 8 states including some of Canada went dark affecting 50 million people thanks to the dangerous combination of power lines and overgrown tree branches. While not a natural disaster in the traditional sense, its impacts were very similar in economic losses and personal hardship, especially if you've been in New York City during a humid August.

While tough to comprehend, the largest US blackout doesn't hold a candle to the 620 Million people who were left without power in India in July 2012. However, whether it's 50 or 500 million who go without, its loss can be a big deal as it impacts everyone more or less in the same way. While having the lights go out isn't the end of the world, it's something that power companies take seriously and hope to avoid at all costs.

As part of renewed interest in the subject there have been numerous articles citing the problems with our grid and the fact that it's a target for terrorist attacks. However, in the midst of all the doom and gloom the NYTimes ran an article on an exercise to take place that will test the vulnerabilities of our grid in an effort to anticipate and mitigate as many issues as possible. Put on by NERC, The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, the exercise has the alphabet soup of the energy world interested and hopes to come away with new perspectives on the biggest challenge that their industry faces--more info can be seen here.

So What Are the Options
In reading through the available articles there seems to be a push for upgrading the US grid to a Nationwide smart grid; after all, if GE can do it for the appliances in our home why can't it be done for our nation's power? The benefits of this expensive upgrade seem to be a step in the right direction with better control over routing, enhanced sensing equipment, and the biggest seller in my opinion, easier integration of renewable power. While upgrades of this nature don't happen overnight and aren't cheap, what can be done in the meantime?

Homeland Security Newswire published an article about new technology that converts natural gas to electricity and could be a commercialized solution to the need for greater distribution and less reliance on our aging power grid infrastructure. While it's still too early to go out and buy this new technology, if you're bored with your traditional generators, hold on tight because "the promise is this: generate your own electricity with a system nearly impervious to hurricanes, thunderstorms, cyberattacks, derechos, and similar dangers, while simultaneously helping the environment." For more information on this go to powerserg.com.

Regardless of the cause, blackouts are little thought about events that have the potential to impact large numbers of people...as you put your kits together, make sure that you're ready if the lights go out.

Monsoon Season

The Indian state of Uttarakhand is working through a complex crisis caused by monsoonal rains. The seasonal weather pattern is something that the region has had to adjust to, however this year the rains came two weeks early and dropped an unprecedented amount of precipitation. The flooding and subsequent landslides have caused 6,000 people to be declared missing and now presumed dead and impacted millions, the magnitude of this event is so great that its has been dubbed the 'Himalayan tsunami.'

Photos courtesy of: prafulla.net

The event happened over a month ago and still the struggles of getting relief supplies into the cities and villages at the base of the Himalaya's remains challenging. For more information on the latest relief efforts and updates I recommend:

http://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2013-000070-ind
http://www.trust.org/spotlight/India's-deadly-Himalayan-floods/

Given the access issues and the scope of this event, it is unclear to me whether there is a need for voluntary resources at this time. I have begun looking into this and if/when I hear more, I'll post what I find out.

In the same vein in terms of weather related phenomenon, the US also has a Monsoon season that provides much, if not all of the precipitation to the Southwest, usually without the detrimental impact on infrastructure. Here is more information on the Monsoon Rains the Southwest experiences according to FEMA:

Given that the silent disaster impacting food prices and our water supply is the ongoing drought we're facing in the US, any precipitation in the areas on the drought map below would be welcome relief.

It's unfortunate that one has to dig to learn about the challenges communities across the globe face given that many of the factors that create their strife are replicated in our own backyards. One of binds that tie us together as a global community is how we face adversity and hardship caused by the natural course of events on earth. It is my sincere hope that aid reaches those who need it in Uttarakhand and that recovery can be swift and efficient.