88660 Issue # 5 – May 2014 From Mountains to Valleys: An Alternative Approach to Emergency Evacuation Strategies in Haiti “Working with academic institutions has been an enriching of emergencies, but ninety percent of these buildings are schools. As experience, and the time invested to deepen our understanding of such, they are not optimal because the hurricane and rainy seasons in evacuation systems has been well worth it. The National System for Haiti overlap with the school year, thus causing disruptions in school Disaster Risk Management (SNGRD) is now in a position to deploy attendance when required as emergency shelters. innovative approaches that take into account the local culture in the development and construction of emergency shelters. ” The challenge therefore remains to design evacuation strategies across —Yolène Vaval Surena, Civil Protection Agency (DPC) different scales, with different elements—from shelter facilities to open spaces to access systems—that assume a flexible and comprehensive Challenge approach to the complex nature of risks in Haiti, and consider the Each time a hurricane or heavy rain strikes, the citizens of Haiti make environmental, temporal, social, economic and cultural dimensions. choices on how to best protect their families, secure their belongings and manage the damages and losses often caused in the aftermath. This Intervention decision-making process provides a micro-level snapshot of disaster- To develop this multi-scalar and multi-dimensional strategy to evacuation preparedness, but it also reveals the ongoing and complex dialogues from and emergency sheltering, the Government of Haiti, in partnership with institutions to individuals, and among municipal institutions and national the World Bank’s Disaster Risk Management and Urban Development agencies, namely the Civil Protection Agency (DPC). Their efforts focus team (LCSDU), collaborated with the Massachusetts Institute of on better understanding disaster risk in Haiti in order to develop and Technology (MIT), Leibniz University of Hanover and the Harvard implement evacuation strategies that mitigate the impacts, and expedite Graduate School of Design to better understand existing practices to the recovery of Haitians in the wake of a natural hazard event. cope with risk and inform an innovative, institutional approach to emergency evacuation systems. A three-stage approach was developed Haiti ranks as one of the countries with the highest exposure to multiple to design a series of hypothetical prototypes and conceive alternative natural hazards1 in the world, with 96% of Haitians currently living at evacuation strategies applicable to, and derived from various contexts risk. Of the 10 million people living in Haiti, two thirds live below the across Haiti. These stages include: poverty line, and as a result, lack the capacity or resources to cope with the impacts of natural hazards. These numbers underscore the dire Stage I: Strategic Design Research & Case-Study Analysis need for comprehensive evacuation strategies that adequately defend Stage II: Pilot Conceptualization & Implementation Methodologies communities against natural hazards, including increasing climate- Stage III: Results & Recommendations for Scalability related events such as heavy rains, hurricanes, floods, and landslides. Emergency shelters are a critical component of evacuation strategies Stage I: Strategic Design Research & Case-Study Analysis and need to take into account the challenges faced by individuals and Stage I of the innovative process focused on deepening the understanding families forced to vacate their homes and leave behind their livelihoods of the range of risks in Haiti, including the urban nature of disasters and for indefinite periods of time. the current evacuation practices employed during emergency situations. An extensive field study was conducted to i) assess and characterize In recent years, the government of Haiti made progress in reducing the existing vulnerabilities of the Haitian landscape; ii) uncover the overarching loss of life associated with weather events by improving early warning political and economic dynamics of the country and local livelihoods; iii) systems. The government also provided training to decentralized understand the cultural and organizational factors that influence decisions networks of local community volunteer members, known as Municipal at the community level, including Civil Protection Committees (Comités Communaux de Protection Civile – temporal dimensions such as onset CCPC), to mobilize before, during and immediately after a disaster event. of rainy season, harvest time, or start Yet, evacuation strategies remain a challenge in a country that lacks an of the school-year; and iv) observe effective range of sheltering alternatives and resilient infrastructure and interpret existing practices that (roads, bridges, shelters) to ensure communities’ access to evacuation correspond to risk and emergency routes and essential services in emergency situations. situations. This research and analysis Observations from extensive field highlighted these main findings: Previous attempts to improve the evacuation systems in Haiti failed research and analysis. 2 to recognize the unique geographic, socio-economic, financial and n Evacuation strategies differ significantly based on the geographical capacity constraints of Haiti. For example, 1,400 buildings in Haiti landscape, community settlements and hazard type; were identified as evacuation sites to provide secure shelter in the event n Spatial, environmental, social, cultural, political and temporal factors www.worldbank.org/lcrdrm/insights insightsinDRM A Practitioner’s Perspective on Disaster Risk Management in Latin America & the Caribbean Vulnerability Scenarios Coastal Areas Plateau–Valley Mountainous Areas A. Settlement Type Vertical, densely populated Peripheries, growing density Farmlands, dispersed density Flash floods, high speed winds, Flash floods, high speed winds, cholera, High speed winds, landslides, torrential B. Hazards sea level rise drought downpours On-site; to higher ground; collective On-site; to higher ground; collective and C. Potential Evacuation Strategies On-site manner distributed manner D. Potential Evacuation Sites & Annex Types School, market, wharf School, market, road School/church, mill, road compound risk at the ground level. The most effective emergency stra- Outcomes tegies and their related shelter facilities consider and leverage these The government of Haiti is transforming the concept of an emergency dimensions to mitigate socio-economic losses, and allow people and shelter from a basic, standalone building – to a component of a broader their livelihoods to be significantly less affected by recurrent hazards; evacuation system that entails geographic, temporal, cultural and socio- n Interconnectivity between production and consumption sites is key economic factors, vital for decision-making in emergency situations. This to enhance resilience and provide access to evacuation routes. new, and alternative thinking dramatically expands the vision of evacuation strategies to increase capacities of people to reduce loss of life, injuries, Stage II: Pilot Conceptualization & Implementation property damage, and productivity loss, and improve connectivity to the Based on the analytical work of Stage I, the design team incorporated mul- transportation network immediately after a natural hazard event. tiple layers of risk and local information to conceive topographically-based evacuation sites and strategies based on the three different vulnerability The Haitian Civil Protection Agency and national authorities are taking scenarios in Haiti (see table above). ownership of this initiative and plan to use the project’s prototypes and experience from the nine pilot evacuation parks to upgrade and To test the validity of the new approach, nine pilot sites and nine commu- expand the emergency sheltering and evacuation landscape across nities will be targeted. Nine evacuation parks that include shelter facili- Haiti. The new approach to evacuation strategies is expected to be more ties and support infrastructures will be constructed by the Government of regionally-adapted, infrastructurally-integrated and culturally-oriented Haiti by the end of 2014, based on vulnerability scenarios and evacuation communities to use the new facilities and ensure future investments are strategies (see table, lines C/D). more effective and sustainable. It is also expected that the new approach The pilot evacuation designs are will trigger changes in policy, and practices in emergency response and inspired by the prototypes3 and sustainable recovery by donors and the DRM community as a whole. informed by local emergency Thus, this pilot initiative seeks to demonstrate a positive impact to response practices, livelihood show how social dimensions and local knowledge can be leveraged to strategies and accessibility is- save lives, mitigate socio-economic loss, and bring value to change how sues. Research conducted during practitioners address emergency shelters. Stage I also supported the devel- opment of design standards and Although social engagement and spatial recommendations in this project Design prototypes of evacuation shelters based on vulnerability scenarios. specifications for the new pilot are specific to evacuation strategies in Haiti, some of the key factors evacuation shelters. are common to and derived from other developing countries across the tropical and subtropical regions. Similar characteristics such as the During Stage II, after the construction of each pilot, the technical team will institutional context (financial and capacity constraints, decentralized observe and assess the pilot evacuation sites, shelters and systems across responses to risk, and reliance on community preparedness) are Haiti. Over the course of one year, they will continue to test the minimum common. This approach is innovative due to the concept of a spatial requirements and basic guidelines developed during Stage I, which vary and ecological model that couples environmental and economic risks according to geographic location, regional factors, population densities, that are relevant to a number of low-income countries, highly exposed to and existing local practices, capacities and available resources. Each pilot extreme climate dynamics and changes. Countries such as in Africa (e.g. will be evaluated overall on the new approach to evacuation strategies to Malawi, Mozambique, or Madagascar) may benefit from new knowledge, fulfill the three main objectives: security, shelter and livelihoods. design, and experience in the field of disaster risk management and urban development. “The dormitory of Madames Saras4 is not just a dormitory, it also served as a shelter”. —Marie Julienne Joseph, President of AFODEF/ Font Batisse, Commune d’ Arcahaie. Endnotes 1 According to the World Bank’s Natural Disaster Hotspot Study, 2005. Stage III: Results & Recommendations to Scale-up 2 Images showcase observations and findings of field research. http://www.photosnack. Stage III will provide final recommendations for emergency shelter com/FE7975B8B7A/pt98y955 strategies in Haiti based on the results and assessment of the nine 3 Based on the prototypes developed, a specific landscape architectural design strategy will be conceived for each of the nine evacuation parks, and their shelter facilities. pilot sites. The Civil Protection Agency, through national investments, http://www.photosnack.com/my-slideshows/details/pt90bf00?jsalbum=1 is expected to scale-up this pilot emergency site initiative to improve 4 Madames Saras are women who run market systems, cooperatives and socio-economic emergency evacuation systems throughout the country. networks built around the marketplace. Contacts Michel Matera – Sr. DRM Specialist, Disaster Risk Management and Urban Development, Latin America and the Caribbean (mmatera@worldbank.org) Sergio Dell’Anna – DRM Specialist, Disaster Risk Management and Urban Development, Latin America and the Caribbean (sdellanna@worldbank.org)