During my
conversation today with Xiaoli I realised that the centralised decision making
structure for typhoon response is very good organised in China. This top down
structure has limited actors which are involved in decision making.
All
important information about flood control and drought relief are collected in
the Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters of the different Provinces,
Cities and Counties. In these Headquarters decisions concerning evacuations are
made per region. This information will be sent to the involved NGO’s and
governmental officials in the areas of impact. Only via the NGO’s or
governmental officials citizens and local officials are reached. This is a
really clear structure, in which every actor knows his responsibility and job. Due
to this system, I think decisions can be made quick and clearly.
In the Netherlands,
evacuations from the past showed us that the coordination between different
actors is still from a low level. Involved authorities don’t know their
responsibilities and are intervening in others fields of knowledge. Moreover,
there are too much of them. This resulted already in the output of different
messages, which made the citizens doubtful about the decisions to take during
times of crisis. I think the centralised decision making structure of China
can prevent us from a lot of coordination problems during emergencies. For us,
we really need to consider implementing such a system in the future.
I was also
really wondering how emergency instances exactly know where the disabled people
are in the in typhoon vulnerable areas. Xiaoli told me that for the rural areas
( the town and the village levels ) they are depicting local town/village
officials to take care of them. They know where the disabled people are in the
area, so if it’s necessary, they can be picked up by them. Moreover, in the
urban areas ( city or county levels ) community members/leaders are told from
higher levels to look for the disabled.
Before the
interview today, which was conducted in a small village in Cangnan County,
I didn’t know how the shelters exactly were looking. Moreover, how do the people
who take shelter communicate with outside. After today I know that the shelter
which I visited is really modern and is used for different purposes ( as a
multifunctional building ). Moreover, there are computers and televisions
inside to inform the people with necessary important information. Also, in these
kinds of important
vital infrastructures, they have their own electric generators. These generators
will be used when there is no electricity any more in the area of impact. I
think they already prepared well for this kind of important buildings.
One point
surprised me during my interview. It was mentioned that the people in China have no
insurances against losses as a consequence of natural disasters, such as
typhoons. I really thought that the government was taking compensating measures
for this. Especially in a Country which is so vulnerable for extreme events. I
know that they even have insurances against floods in Belgium, a Country which is far less vulnerable
for natural disaster than China.
That’s why I think the government has to start providing insurances against
these kind of losses.
