Risk reduction involves the prioritization and implementation of structural and non-structural mitigation measures. The structural measures can include physical works, including the strengthening and retrofitting of key infrastructure as well as the execution of coastal protection and watershed reconstitution. Emphasizing public awareness and educating the local population is a form of non-structural mitigation, as it empowers individuals to carry out their own measures to strengthen their resilience to adverse natural events. The government can also adopt institutional measures to mitigate the effects of natural events. Building codes can be developed and, equally important, enforced by government agencies. In addition, with the data collected from risk assessments, the government can implement intelligent land use planning to prevent individuals from settling in high risk areas and also recover populated high-risk areas and provide alternative uses for them. Improving the capacity to respond immediately before, and after adverse natural events, would dramatically lower the social and human costs of natural disasters. Focusing efforts on, but not exclusively to, the technical expertise of emergency response agencies through information dissemination, training, and the purchase of early warning systems and emergency equipment would empower these institutions to take a more proactive role in emergency management. Early warning systems would allow them to better predict the onset of natural events and the adoption of emergency response protocols would lead to organized and efficient responses immediately following an event. With highly functioning emergency agencies, thousands of lives may be saved annually. |
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