The Road to Resilience

Washington, DCOctober 9, 2013

Gerald E. Galloway, Jr., PE, PhDWater Policy Collaborative, University of Maryland

ScienceSOCIAL

COMMUNITY RESILIENCEAT THE KOSHLAND SCIENCE MUSEUM

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"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore”

21st Century 20th CenturyResilience?OZ?

The 21st Century Population Explosion Pressures for Development Crumbling Infrastructure Climate Change Volatile, Uncertain, Complex,

Ambiguous National and World Situations

Disasters!

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BBC

Deaths: 200,0002004

Indian Ocean Tsunami

2005Katrina

2008Tropical, Cyclone NargisDeaths: 138,00

Three years laterCedar Rapids 2008

gnarlyweather.blogpot.com

Texas2011

2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami 15,845 deaths, 3,380 missing$325 Billion (World Bank)

Mississippi and Missouri Rivers2011

2011 - Thailand Floods - $45 Billion

SANDY!29-30 October 2012

Dispersion of New Orleans Residents after Katrina

Developing Resilience to Address Risks is a

Big Part of the Solution to Disasters

Or Is It?

Resilience The ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from or more successfully adapt to actual or potential adverse events.

The ability to prepare for and adapt to changing conditions and withstand and recover rapidly from disruptions

Torrens Resilience Institute

The Problem: The Need for a Resilient Nation

• Beyond the unquantifiable costs of injury and loss of life from disasters, economic damages from natural disasters in the United States continue to grow

• No person or place is immune from disasters or disaster-related losses.

• Communities and the nation face difficult fiscal, social, cultural, and environmental choices about the best ways to ensure security and quality of life against natural and human-induced disasters.

Photo: Joplin, MO after the May 22, 2011 tornadoSource: Charlie Ridel/AP Photo

• Disaster losses could be reduced through increased attention to national resilience

• A proactive approach that builds resilience will be more effective at reducing losses of life, property, and economic productivity than current approach

• We can builds upon the rich, existing body of technical, scientific, and practical knowledge

Where are We Now?

Photo: Gulfport, MS after Hurricane Katrina in 2005Source: NOAA

Understanding, Managing, and Reducing Disaster Risks

• Risk management involves a range of interacting parties: federal, state, local government; home- and business owners; emergency managers; construction industry; insurers; markets; and others.

• A variety of tools and approaches exist:

Structural (construction-related): e.g., levees, dams, floodways, disaster-resistant construction, “smart” building, and well-enforced building codes

Nonstructural (non-construction-related): e.g., natural defenses, risk mapping, zoning ordinances, economic incentives, hazard forecasting/warning, insurance, and catastrophe bonds

Social and Organizational: e.g. Community health systems; public-private partnerships, etc.

Reducing risk requires a disciplined process of identifying risk, developing and implementing a strategy to deal with that risk, and keeping that strategy up to date.

PolicyIt is the policy of the United States to strengthen the security and resilience of its critical infrastructure against both physical and cyber threats.

The Federal Government shall also engage with international partners to strengthen the security and resilience of domestic critical infrastructure and critical infrastructure located outside of the United States on which the Nation depends.

U.S. efforts shall address the security and resilience of critical infrastructure in an integrated, holistic manner to reflect this infrastructure's interconnectedness and interdependency.

*********************************************************************************************************Resilience includes the ability to withstand and recover from deliberate attacks, accidents, or naturally occurring threats or incidents.

February 12 2013

Resilience: the ability to prepare for and adapt to changing conditions and withstand and recover rapidly from disruptions.

Five Big Questions 1. What is resilience? Describe it to your

grandmother/mayor.2. Why do we need it – PR? Programs?3. Who is/should be in charge of making resilience

real?4. How do you make it work? What are barriers

and catalysts to stopping/starting/running effort?

5. What is your role in moving us to a resilient nation?

1. What is resilience? Describe it to your grandmother/mayor.

2. Why do we need it – PR? Programs? The changing world –are threats greater? What does risk really mean and how is it

different from hazard? How do you get communities to play in the

risk game? Identify their exposure? What are impacts of urbanization?

3. Who is/should be in charge of making resilience real? Top down? Bottoms up? Role of individual? What drives your personal

resilience? Where does business fit it in? Is business willing to

share information and resources? What kind of stakeholder coalitions can be developed

and who would oppose them? Does collaborative problem solving really work?

Where do communities need guidance? Can you trust communities to do the right thing?

4. How do you make it work? What are barriers and catalysts to stopping/starting/running effort?

Barriers – what are they and how do we get rid of them? Do you know of any specific barriers?

Catalysts – what makes resilience work? How do you know it is working? Metrics,

scorecards? With what data?

5. What is your role in moving us to a resilient nation?

How does a federal agency/business /individual promote resilience? Can you trust your agency/business/neighbor to self –assess?

• What are the three most important actions that can be taken to move the Nation down the resilience path