Responding to Japan’s Earthquake/Tsunami – Planning for Disaster Resiliency
Message from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Chairman
All of you undoubtedly are concerned about the devastation caused by the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck northern Japan last Friday. The two disasters caused significant loss of life, billions of dollars of economic damage, and significantly compromised several nuclear power plants.
While response and recovery efforts are under way, IEDC would like to encourage members of the economic development community to take three actions now:
Consider donating to response efforts. While you should do your own research and donate to the aid organization(s) that you find most appropriate, the following groups already have manpower on the ground and are seeking financial support for their relief activities:
Save the Children Federation, Inc
CNN provides some guidelines to consider when seeking to assist victims in Japan.
If your community has a sister city in Japan, contacts and relationships developed through that program may be a good way to learn about specific recovery needs and the best way to respond. You can find out whether your community has a sister city relationship with a Japanese community through Sister Cities International’s website.
Start a conversation – if it’s not occurring already – about disaster preparedness in your own community. No place is immune from natural or manmade disasters and their subsequent toll on human lives, infrastructure and the economy. After the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, authorities in Japan developed a more reliable warning network, improved infrastructure, re-evaluated building codes, and strengthened disaster preparedness efforts among citizens, businesses and government. As a result, Japan is better prepared for its current challenges than it would have been otherwise.
Learn from the experiences of disaster-impacted U.S. communities. Hurricane Katrina revealed vulnerabilities in terms of how governments prepare, respond and recover from disasters. IEDC has been capturing some of the lessons learned at RestoreYourEconomy.org, a website designed to help economic development professionals learn more about disaster preparedness and economic recovery planning.
Recent events – from winter storms to floods, and from the Gulf oil spill to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan – show that it’s never too soon for communities to prepare for effective disaster response and plan to protect their economic assets.
Sincerely,
Denny Coleman, CEcD, FM
Chairman, International Economic Development Council
President & CEO, Saint Louis County Economic Council
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***Note – See article in Governing Magazine which describes how U.S. cities fall in comparison to Japanese cities in terms of disaster preparedness.