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The ground shook. Stones creaked
and buildings crumbled. The
earthquake in Nepal earlier this year
was a natural disaster, but also a
very human one with 9,000 dead
and 23,000 injured. Hundreds of
thousands were immediately homeless
and whole villages flattened.
As you would expect, there was a huge
and immediate disaster relief response
from around the world. Emergency
teams scrambled and planes were
readied. But quickly the picture
changed and a few more mundane
logistics challenges emerged.
One was the capacity of the Kathmandu
airport. Planes couldn’t be turned round
quickly enough and the tarmac became
a logjam, with relief supplies and teams
held back until they could get in. It got
worse on the 3rd of May when new
cracks appeared in the runway and
heavier aircraft could not land.
The steep and mountainous country
was also at risk from aftershocks
and landslides. Flat land was at a
premium, as much was immediately
taken by people fleeing their
damaged and dangerous homes.
Just because you could fly your
relief operation in to the congested
airport to help the ravaged country,
doesn’t mean you could easily find
a suitable place to base yourselves.
Nevertheless, disaster relief
agencies around the world are
learning. Some of the lessons from
earlier earthquakes in Haiti and
Indonesia we put to good use in the
Nepalese relief.
Another learning experience came in
the shape of the 2011 earthquake in
Christchurch, New Zealand. Although
there was extensive damage, many
people stayed in their homes in the city.
And it turns out that after the search
and rescue teams have appeared, after
water food and shelter, what is one of
the next most important things needed?
Toilets.
No sniggering at the back please. The
city’s sewerage systems was, in the
local colloquial language, ‘munted’. It
couldn’t take the strain, so to speak.
Portaloos were quickly rushed from
every corner of New Zealand, but still
there were nowhere near enough for
the dethroned Cantabrians.
ebbed, the national disaster response
organisation started thinking how they
would do the job better in the future.
Sure, once the city was flush with new
plumbing the temporary toilets were
stored around the country for future
use. But they, and the chemicals they
use, do degrade over time so
there is no guarantee there
will be a seat for everyone
next time around.
The answer, they think, is
composting toilets. All you
need is a flat pack box type
structure, which can be home-
made or knocked up quickly in
hundreds of local workshops
from MDF, with a couple of
spare loo seats and buckets.
These can even be stored in
every shed as part of a family’s
disaster kit (Kiwis are quite
aware of risks in a geologically unstable
country and many are prepared). Add
a bit of sawdust or dry leaves and the
resulting waste is of a much lesser
volume and easier to manage.
Trials have been carried out with
volunteer families in the capital city of
Wellington and organisations are so
pleased with the results that designs
and instructions are available online. So
next time there is a disaster, we could
be in for more immediate relief.
Disaster Logistics:
Nothing to go on
Nigel Parry takes an
oblique look at some
of the challenges.
An international procurement exercise,
quaintly named Operation Thunderbox,
hurried like a dysentery victim and
chemical toilets were flown in. But this
dumped another logistics challenge on
the emergency management response
team; how to organise and collect the
resulting chemical waste?
This was achieved, although not
without the odd stink being raised by
the relieved residents. However as
the immediate impact of the quake
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Logistics Business Magazine | November 2015
DISASTER LOGISTICS