Tropical Storms and Tornadoes: Cyclone Nargis, 2008 Flashcards
1
Q
What happened? (4)
A
- Worst ever natural disaster in Burma.
- Initially Nargis was forecast to strike Bangladesh or SE India as it was moving NW, but instead the cyclone moved ashore in the densely populated, rice producing Irrawaddy of Southern Burma.
- It peaked and hit Burma on 2nd May 2008, at category 4, winds of at least 105mph.
- Shallow continental shelf and funnel shape of delta helped to intensify the storm, so built up rapidly when it reached Burma.
2
Q
Background facts on Burma? (5)
A
- Lack of development due to constrained progress towards democracy and economic reform.
- Spends least percentage of GDP on health care of any country in the world.
- Poor human rights.
- Conflict, forced confiscation of land, violence and discrimination have resulted in up to 1 million people being internally displaced.
- Increased number of attacks on ethnic minorities, reports of soldiers ‘mortaring villages, raping women and torturing and executing people’.
3
Q
What are the SHORT TERM impacts of the cyclone? (6)
A
- 146,000 deaths approx
- 1.5 million affected
- Flattened thousands of buildings, ripped power lines, uprooted trees, disrupted water supplies.
- Burmese state television declared 5 regions with a combined popn. of 24 million, were disaster zones.
- Red Cross managed to distribute water purification tablets and mosquito nets.
- 9th May 2008, UN had to halt aid flights as it was being ‘confiscated’ as it reached Burma, leaving the UN ‘no choice’ but to stop.
- Two ships which contained 38 tonnes of high-energy biscuits were enough food to feed 95,000 people - a tiny fraction of estimated 1.5 million survivors.
- Burma’s authority however refused to give access to specialist relief workers and aid.
4
Q
What are the LONG TERM impacts of the cyclone?
A
- Still unsure of total deaths seven years on.
- Charity been set up where schools for less than £6,00 built in villages to educate children and bring people to villages to re-build.
- 1 year on - families live in bamboo shacks and tarpooling rather than huts.
- Takes 1 week to build a new home.
- Lack of clean water still.
- Psychological scars - people still unhappy, lost loved ones, unable to re-build homes and livelihoods.
- $10 billion damage costs
- 100% of rice crops destroyed - main livelihood, jobs, trade, business in Burma destroyed.
5
Q
What are the 4 management strategies that are set up now ready for another disaster?
A
- Cyclone shelters
- ‘Cash to work’ scheme
- YMCA training
- CBDRR Project
6
Q
What is the cyclone shelter strategy?
A
- To modify the vulnerability - put in place before.
- Made of concrete, different levels to escape from flooding, storage area, used as schools/local centre in meantime, have sanitation facilities.
- Can hold up to 1,000 people.
- Designed to keep people safe from cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes.
- Connected with waterways and roadways so relief supplies can be delivered and/or speedy evacuation.
- Will help in Burma as hazards are reoccurring, 11 storms in 60 years in Burma.
- HOWEVER they are expensive…
7
Q
What is the ‘Cash to Work’ scheme strategy?
A
- To modify the loss - put in place after event.
- People lost livelihoods, so are now struggling with income.
- Local people choose something in their village that needs to be worked on, then locals work on this project and are paid for it.
- In BURMA: a village needed better roads for children to walk to school on, rather than through snake infested paddy fields. - so local people worked for $2 a day on moving mud to create a road for the children to walk along.
8
Q
What is the YMCA Training strategy?
A
- Disaster risk reduction activities by YMCA in local communities to mitigate impacts of hazards.
- Young people are trained so they can raise awareness amongst their peers, families and communities.
- Training includes basic first aid, making sand bags for flood protection of homes.
9
Q
What is the CBDRR Project strategy?
A
- Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction - set up a project to enhance basic disaster preparedness of cyclone affected communities.
- Objectives: train volunteers in safe re-building approaches and techniques to build shelters.
- Results in BURMA: 320 carpenters from 50 villages trained, 34 demonstration shelters built, 60 people in 20 villages trained to form shelter construction communities, 11,100 households given guidelines on how to build safe shelters.
10
Q
When did the cyclone hit Burma?
A
2nd May 2008
11
Q
What category was it when it hit Burma?
A
4
12
Q
How many deaths were there?
A
146,000
13
Q
How many people were affected?
A
1.5 million
14
Q
How many regions with how many people in were declared disaster zones?
A
5 regions with a combined population of 24 million people.
15
Q
When did the UN have to half aid?
A
9th May
