Hello everyone, and welcome to today’s meeting, where we will discuss the importance of community resilience. In modern society, the effects of both manmade and natural disasters have become widespread, far-reaching, and frequent. Preserving prosperity, security, and safety in the community has become a challenge. The nation’s traditional risk management approach greatly depends on the government’s efforts. However, changing reality in modern society is that all government levels have been affected in terms of efforts to improve the nation’s resilience. Floods are one of the deadly hazards affecting different parts of the United States. Floods can be caused by multiple factors, which include dam failures, ice jams, tidal surges, rising rivers, and sudden accumulation of rain. Flood management needs government and collective efforts from different stakeholders, hence the whole community approach.
Flood, one of the expected hazards in the United States, requires collective efforts from residents, government, non-profit organizations, and the general public. According to (Ghanbari et al., 2021), the recent rash of torrential rainstorms across the United States has cast a bright spotlight on the server problems intensifying flooding events. Provided continued climate change, flooding events may increase in the United States. This means that proactive measures must be implemented to mitigate the flooding problem. In the case of flooding, there are various typical emergence responses and recovery protocols. One response is the flood cleanup response activity whereby gasoline and diesel-powered pumps and generators are used to release carbon monoxide, thus keeping dirt and harmful chemicals outdoors. Wearing high rubber boots with insulation clothing is another flooding response technique. However, this approach is not all-hazard because it is only specific to flooding events. The flood cleanup technique is not an all-hazard approach because it is not applicable in a broad spectrum of emergencies.
Based on the Whole Community approach, there are multiple ways in which floods can be prevented and mitigated to make the United States a more resilient community. Public education is one of the mitigation approaches that must be implemented. According to (Williams, 2016), public education ensures that all relevant stakeholders in the community are informed of the response and preventive measures of the flood. This means that members of the public will be aware of various ways of mitigating the impact of flooding events. This public education on flooding mitigation can be done through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Creating a sponge city is another flood mitigation strategy whereby water can behold, clean, and drain naturally. In addition, community self-assessment tools should be developed to evaluate the extent of preparedness in case of flooding events. For instance, developing the Community Resilience Index help evaluates people’s ability to mitigate the impacts of flooding events. Lastly, building and maintaining partnerships between government agencies and multinational organizations is necessary. Through this partnership, there will be ease of resource mobilization for flood mitigation programs.
In conclusion, flooding is a deadly hazard in different parts of the United States. Government efforts against flooding events may not be enough hence the need for whole community approaches. This means all the relevant stakeholders in the community will be involved in formulating and implementing strategies and programs focused on flood prevention. Thanks, everyone, for your time.
References
Ghanbari, M., Arabi, M., Kao, S. C., Obeysekera, J., & Sweet, W. (2021). Climate Change and Changes in Compound Coastal‐Riverine Flooding Hazard Along the US Coasts. Earth’s Future, 9(5), e2021EF002055.
Williams, M. A. (2016). A Whole Community Approach to Emergency Management for the United States Virgin Islands. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, PO Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106.
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