Protecting Schools and Hospitals from Natural Hazards
Evidence from past events in the East Asia and Pacific Region demonstrates that such critical infrastructure as health and educational facilities is heavily exposed to natural disasters. In Myanmar in 2008, Cyclone Nargis damaged or destroyed nearl...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2010/12/13317126/protecting-schools-hospitals-natural-hazards http://hdl.handle.net/10986/10120 |
| Summary: | Evidence from past events in the East
Asia and Pacific Region demonstrates that such critical
infrastructure as health and educational facilities is
heavily exposed to natural disasters. In Myanmar in 2008,
Cyclone Nargis damaged or destroyed nearly 75 percent of the
health facilities and more than half schools in the area
affected3. Super Typhoon Durian hit the Philippines in 2006
and damaged more than half of the schools in five different
cities, costing US$20 million. In this scenario, there is a
growing necessity of preventing natural hazards from having
such a devastating impact on critical infrastructure.
Enhancing the resilience of schools and hospitals to natural
disasters is a responsibility of all authorities and
stakeholders involved and a priority for the Disaster Risk
Management (DRM) agenda. Not only would lives and property
be saved, but more effective emergency management will be
enabled. In fact, schools and hospitals can serve as
community shelters during a disaster or as a place to
coordinate post disaster activities. Considering the
critical role of schools and hospitals, priority should be
placed on identifying and reducing the weaknesses of
existing facilities and on improving the building standards
for new construction. While damage and losses associated
with extreme events may exceed a country's gross
domestic product (GDP), the implementation of mitigation
measures aimed at improving the resilience of existing
facilities provides a cost-effective preventive solution,
generally limited to 4 percent of the initial investment cost. |
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