At
the World Trade Center, the resources most needed were heavy equipment and
masks against toxicity. These took longer to locate and get to the disaster
area, but they were available.
In some foreign countries I have visited, even if equipment is available its
use is likely to be controlled by officials who have their hands out for a payoff.
It is depressing to see how corruption prevents rescue and recovery in those
countries. Langewiesche reports in his article that corruption did not enter
the picture in the 9/11 disaster until late in the recovery operation.
The fact is that in the United States the supply of resources after a disaster
has seldom been a problem. Usually more goods are available than can be used.
This is true even if no new supplies enter the disaster area for some days.
Conclusion: There should be some way for outsiders to find
out what kind of contributions and supplies are needed to prevent clogging
the system.
Myth: There will be a shortage of personnel during a disaster
For the first few days at the World Trade Center site, there were too many volunteers
to be absorbed in the rescue and recovery operation. Until some organization
was made in their attack on the massive mountain of steel and cement, little
progress was made. The initial bucket brigades were ineffective. In studying
other disasters, I found what happens is that without organization each rescue
group tends to go over the same territory that another group has covered, in
some cases actually putting debris back from where it had just been moved.
Since post-traumatic-stress reactions have become so highly publicized, mental
health workers flood into disaster areas to provide counseling. Some are well
prepared and others are not, but the desire to help on the scene is quite strong.
The fact is that the site of a disaster is often flooded with many kinds of volunteers
offering their services, and the problem becomes one of finding useful tasks
for them.
Conclusion: It might be necessary to have a special team at
the site to deal with the numbers of people who want to be involved in the
rescue and search efforts. As at the World Trade Center, it might be necessary
to turn volunteers away.
Myth: Each agency needs to have a good disaster plan and stick to it
The "stick to it" is what makes this a myth. It seems that having a
good disaster plan and rehearsing its implementation is desirable. Prepared people
will respond more effectively to a variety of crisis situations.
On the other hand, what the WTC attacks demonstrated was that so much that happens
is unexpected and that trying to follow the instructions in a 1,500-page plan
gets in the way of innovative responses. Although there must be structure and
organization, there must also be freedom to innovate.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been praised for his response to
the crisis, part of which was to scrap the organization charts and to work around
the city Office of Emergency Management.
As Langewiesche points out, "The problems that had to be solved were largely
unprecedented. Action and invention were required on every level, often with
no need or possibility of asking permission. As a result, within the vital new
culture that grew up at the Trade Center site even the lowliest laborers and
firemen were given power."
