A Save Situation

Natural Disaster Response Plan

A natural disaster is a damaging event caused by natural processes of Earth,
such as an earthquake. Natural disasters cause damage to the environment, as
well as injuries and death.
One of the strategies that communities use to help reduce harm is to create a
natural disaster response plan. These plans are created before a disaster has
even happened. A disaster plan includes different ways to prevent a disaster
from happening. It also identifies what people should do if there is a disaster.
What to consider
Disaster response planners need to consider what their actions should be before,
during and after disasters. They have to consider these questions in their
planning:
o Prevention: What can be done to help prevent the disaster from taking
place?
o Mitigation: What can be done to reduce the effects of the disasters?
o Preparedness: What preparations can be made before a disaster
happens so everyone can work effectively to improve conditions?
o Response: What can be done during the disaster to deal with problems?
o Recovery: What can be done to get the community back to normal?
Instructions: Your group has been appointed to the team of the Natural Disaster
Response Unit. Each group has been assigned a city to prepare a plan for. Each
city has a unique set of natural events that occur on a regular basis. There are
cities that share similarities with your assigned city. You will use these cities (and
other cities if you choose) as models for how to prepare a plan and follow
through with that plan.
Your natural disaster response plan should include:
o In-depth research questions
o Information about the environmental processes/natural disasters (e.g.
earthquakes, drought, tornadoes, etc.)
o Research of cities that have similar environmental processes for
comparison. Think about plans that similar cities have in place. What
works or does not work? How do they respond to challenges and
opportunities presented by the physical environment?
o How do these natural events impact human activities that change the
physical environment (e.g. social, political, environmental, and economic
impact). Think: what impact did this earthquake have on this city? How did
affect people, their homes, schools, businesses? In what ways did the
damage caused by the natural event affect the natural environment?

o A good copy that includes all five points of disaster responses are
addressed (e.g. prevention, mitigation, etc.). When creating your plan, use
evidence to justify your plans (e.g. I chose this plan for recovery because
city X and city Y use a similar system and it works OR here is how and
why I changed city Xs plan, etc.)
o Construct a map showing how the natural event affected the city that you
used for comparison (e.g. what areas of the city are/have been affected by
a flood/earthquake/tornado/etc.)
o Bibliography
You will choose one fictional city from the list below. Your group will then find a
real city/community or communities that may deal with similar circumstances.
San Fransokyo A coastal city on the Pacific Ocean. This location is situated
on a fault line so it is prone to earthquakes. The earthquakes also make them
vulnerable to tsunamis.
New Orklahoma A city that is located near the unstable climate of the Gulf of
Mexico. With such an unstable climate, they are subject to hurricanes and
tornadoes.
Mumkarta A Southeast Asian city. This area is susceptible to flooding,
landslides and monsoons. The flooding causes landslides, which is usually the
result of the monsoons.
Melbai A city in the southwestern hemisphere. The heat and lack of constant
rain make it a volatile area that is exposed to sever drought and dust storms.
Newfoundlowna A Canadian city that is vulnerable to sever blizzards in the
winter and extreme heat waves in the summer.
List of some cities with similar environmental processes to start
researching from:
o New Orleans, USA hurricanes, floods
o Oklahoma, USA tornadoes
o Tokyo, Japan earthquakes, tsunami
o San Francisco, USA - earthquakes
o Mumbai, India droughts, monsoons, landslides, flooding
o Jakarta, Indonesia landslides, flooding, monsoons, earthquakes
o Melbourne, Australia droughts, dust storms, heat waves
o Kelowna, B.C., Canada heat waves
o Newfoundland, Canada blizzards, snowfall

You can prepare your Natural Disaster Response Plan in the following ways:
An informational/instructional video response plan, a brochure, an information
response plan document, a response poster that outlines a plan and response to
the 5 areas

Dividing up the work:

o Each group member focuses on one of the disaster responses
o Prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery
o Discuss how it relates to both natural events (e.g. response to
earthquake and tsunami)
o How does a similar city respond to similar natural events
o The rest can be divided up accordingly:
o Create maps of cities to show areas affected by natural events
ONE PERSON
o Research the natural events (e.g. provide information about
earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc) TWO PEOPLE (one
event each)
o How do these natural events impact human activity and change the
natural environment - TWO PEOPLE (one event each)

Describe
response plans
(Prevention,
mitigation,
preparedness,
response,
recovery)
Description of how
similar cities
responds to natural
events

Create maps
showing areas
affected by natural
events
Research natural
events (e.g.
tornadoes,
hurricanes,
droughts, etc.)
Natural events
impact on human
activities

Bibliography

LEVEL 1

LEVEL 2

LEVEL 3

LEVEL 4

Limited
information
about
response
plan with
little or no
evidence

Some
information
about
response plan
with limited
evidence

Clear
information
about
response plan
with evidence
from similar
cities

Extensive
information about
response plan with
detailed evidence
from similar cities

An
awareness
of similar
responses

Moderate
understanding
of similar
responses

Basic map of
city. No
specific
details.

Maps with
some
elements and
details of
community
land use

Firm
understanding
of how similar
cities have
responded
Two maps that
show location,
community
land use,
some map
elements

Partial
understanding
of natural
events

Gives a
thoughtful
description of
natural events

Partial
understanding
of impacts of
natural events

Gives a
thoughtful
description of
impact of
natural events

Displays thorough
explanation of
impact of natural
events

Lists all
sources

Lists all sources

alphabetically with
specific websites
and addresses

Provides
little or no
knowledge
of natural
events
Provides
little or no
knowledge
of impacts of
natural
events
No
bibliography

Limited
bibliography

High degree of
understanding of
other cities have
responded to similar
natural events
Two detailed maps
that show location,
community land
use, all map
elements

Shows thorough
explanation of
natural events