Duty and Responsibility of Civil Engineers Following Natural Disasters. ASCE Ohio Valley Student Conference: Technical Paper.

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1 Duty and Responsibility of Civil Engineers Following Natural Disasters ASCE Ohio Valley Student Conference: Technical Paper by Jeffie Chang Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA March 1, 2014

2 In the aftermath of natural disasters, often the initial reaction of the general public is to cast blame on the parties who failed to build and design sufficient structures that would have prevented the extensive damage. The public often questions the responsibility of the engineers and whether or not the engineers fulfilled their duties. Such was the case for Hurricane Katrina and the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan. But as victims of natural disasters, blame and responsibility become a secondary concern. Obtaining the basic necessities, such as food, clean water, and shelter, takes the highest priority. Survival becomes the primary concern. Civil engineers must hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public, as stated in the First Fundamental Canon of the ASCE Code of Ethics. Consequently, civil engineers have three major responsibilities following a natural disaster. Immediately after a natural disaster, civil engineers are responsible for providing the basic necessities for survivors. Once these basic needs of the survivors are met, civil engineers then have the responsibility to restore the public s confidence in the engineering profession. The final duty of civil engineers is to prevent the catastrophic effects due to natural disasters from repeating in the future. On August 29 th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, becoming one of the deadliest and costliest hurricanes in US history. It was estimated that the storm left 1,833 dead and $81 billion in total property damage (Knabb, Rhome, Brown 2005). The levee system surrounding the city was designed to protect the city from storm surges; however, lack of maintenance degraded the levees to below design standards. As a result, the levees toppled, causing uncontrollable flooding. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) published a report in June 2007, stating that the failure of the levees was the worst engineering disaster in U.S. history (Marcuson, 2007). The flooding from Hurricane Katrina also caused extensive damage to bridges and roads, hindering external relief efforts. Once the initial storm subsided, the flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina proved to be even more of a challenge for civil engineers. Similar in magnitude and devastation to Hurricane Katrina was the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck Japan, resulting in a tsunami with an ocean wave height estimated at 128 ft. Although the tsunami was originally estimated between 10 ft. and

3 20 ft., in reality, the tsunami was recorded to be 49 ft. in Fukushima, easily breaching the 18 ft. tsunami wall that surrounded the city (Acton and Hibbs 2012). The unexpectedly high storm surges were the main cause of the high death toll, since many people believed they were in high enough ground to be safe. The tsunami washed away bridges, inundated roads and houses, and caused a nuclear meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. After the waves subsided, 15,884 were left dead, with 2,636 missing, and resulted in $235 billion in total property damage (Kim 2011). The civil engineer s most important duty in the aftermath of a natural disaster is to provide the basic necessities for the victims. Immediately after natural disasters, the primary concern of survivors is to obtain food, clean drinking water, and shelter. Due to the flooded roads in New Orleans and severed highway bridges in Japan, food and clean water were often airlifted into the affected areas. Consequently, civil engineers were responsible for repairing damaged infrastructure and designing temporary structures to aid relief efforts. Equally important as providing access to food and water, maintaining the psychological health of victims is essential after natural disasters. Due to the extensive damage in infrastructure in New Orleans that resulted in limited access to provisions, disaster sociology became a significant issue in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Disaster sociology, as outlined by the Disaster Research Center in the University of Delaware, describes the phenomenon in which myths of widespread looting and assault creates paranoia in survivors, and subsequently hinders relief efforts (Barsky, Trainor, Torres 2006). Although the stories of looting and rioting were exaggerated, there were several cases of disaster sociological events that would not have occurred if the basic needs of the victims were met or if the infrastructure was reestablished more promptly. Outbreaks of violence often disrupted relief efforts, which prompted the arrival of the National Guard. Additionally, several race-related shootings were reported, especially after much of the law enforcement in New Orleans abandoned the city. Fueled by paranoia, vigilantes took up arms and scoured the streets, victimizing African-American men. 11 African- American men were shot, and in every one of these cases, the shooter was white (Thompson 2008). These race-related killings directly stemmed from the paranoia and suspicion in a classic case of disaster sociology. In contrast, Japanese civil unrest following the tsunami was diminished due to the swift

4 cleanup and efficient repair of the damaged infrastructure. While there were isolated reports of looting, the disaster sociology was not nearly as prevalent as New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Once survivors of natural disasters obtain food, clean water, and shelter, they no longer have motivation to loot and riot. It is the responsibility of the civil engineers to provide the survivors access to these basic amenities by repairing the infrastructure. Once civil engineers have met the survivors basic needs, civil engineers are then responsible for restoring the public s confidence in the engineering profession. After the initial onslaught of Hurricane Katrina, the civil engineers in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were faced with the dilemma of pumping the floodwater out of New Orleans. A combination of pump stations and sandbags airlifted into affected areas by the Army Corps was used to drain the water from the city. By September 15, 2005, the flooding in the city was reduced from 80% to 40% (US Army Corps of Engineers 2005). Once the floodwall breaches were closed, the Army Corps evaluated the damage to the levees and prioritized its repair and redesign in preparation for potential storms in the remainder of the hurricane season. On September 21, 2005, Hurricane Rita made landfall in the Mississippi Valley. Even though storm surges from Hurricane Rita flowed over the temporarily repaired levees in New Orleans, the structures remained intact. As the public sees successfully designed floodwalls that protect the city, people build confidence in the civil engineers who built these structures. In turn, people also regain faith in the infrastructure and the entire civil engineering industry. Equally important as repairing civil infrastructure after a natural disaster is providing continued support for the victims. In the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, engineers continuously helped the victims even after repairing the roadways that providing people with their basic amenities. As a result, the continued support of the engineers and aid workers shortened the recovery time after the natural disaster. In terms of tourism alone, Japanese tourism in the affected areas recovered in approximately nine months after the tsunami (World Travel & Tourism Council 2012). In contrast, tourism in New Orleans did not recover until five years after Hurricane Katrina, largely due to lack of governmental support to rebuild the infrastructures necessary for tourism (Perry 2010). Comparing the post-disaster recovery between Hurricane Katrina and the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, it is clear that civil

5 engineers have the duty to continue to rebuild after a natural disaster in order to restore public confidence in not only the infrastructure but also the civil engineering profession. After the civil engineers have restored public confidence in the industry, the final responsibility of the civil engineer after a natural disaster is to prevent the catastrophic results from repeating in natural disasters in the future. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, civil engineers in Louisiana evaluated state building codes, and adopted stricter codes in design, construction, and maintenance. Higher wind and flood requirements have been included in Louisiana building codes after Hurricane Katrina (Edwards 2010). Even though the state has inadequate funding to inspect and regulate the new building codes, the buildings built to the stricter codes will not be as damaged in subsequent hurricanes as buildings built to the old codes. In Japan, the main concern after the tsunami was the nuclear meltdown and associated fallout at Fukushima Daiichi. In response to public concern over nuclear safety, experts and engineers convinced policy makers in Japan to adopt the rigorous International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safety Plan. The IAEA Safety Plan outlines regulations, procedures, and emergency response that drastically decrease the probability of a nuclear meltdown (Braun 2011). While the stabilization of Fukushima Daiichi is ongoing even today, the IAEA Safety Plan recommended by the engineers protects the public by preventing the devastating effects of a nuclear meltdown caused by a natural disaster. Civil engineers have three main responsibilities following the events of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. Immediately after the natural disaster, the civil engineer must meet the basic needs of the victims by providing food, clean water, and shelter. Once the situation of survivors has stabilized, civil engineers are responsible for reestablishing public confidence in the civil engineering profession. Lastly, civil engineers have the duty to prevent the catastrophic effects of natural disasters from repeating in the future. Often as civil engineers, we find ourselves behind a desk immersed in calculations of skyscrapers or water-treatment plants. We have the tendency of becoming lost in the technicality of engineering and removed from the people for who we design. Ultimately, the most important duty and responsibility of civil engineers is never forgetting the people we serve.

6 REFERENCES Knabb, Richard D., Rhome, Jamie R., Brown, Daniel P. (2005). Tropical Cyclone Report, Hurricane Katrina. National Hurricane Center, < (Feb. 28, 2014). Marcuson, William F. III. (2007) Re: New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, and the Soul of the Profession. American Society of Civil Engineers, < (Feb. 28, 2014). Acton, James M. and Hibbs, Mark. (2012). Why Fukushima Was Preventable. The Carnegie Papers, < (Feb. 28, 2014). Kim, Victoria. (2011). Japan damage could reach $235 billion, World Bank estimates. Los Angeles Times, < ,0, story#axzz2ugt3veEG> (Feb. 28, 2014). Barsky, Lauren, Trainor, Joseph, Torres, Manuel. (2006) Disaster Realities in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: Revisiting the Looting Myth. Disaster Research center, University of Delaware (Feb. 28, 2014). Thompson, A.C. (2008) Katrina s Hidden Race War. The Nation < (Feb. 28, 2014). (2005). Inundation cut from 40 to 80 percent: Corps marks halfway point in unwatering mission. US Army Corps of Engineers (Feb. 28, 2014). (2012). The Tohoku Pacific Earthquake and Tsunami, Impact on Japanese Tourism. World Travel & Tourism Council. < (Feb. 28, 2014). Perry, Stephen. (2010). Perry: New Orleans Tourism Stronger Than Before. CNBC, < (Feb. 28, 2014). Edwards, Wanda. (2010). State Building Codes Remain Inadequate Five Years After Hurricane Katrina Hit. The National Underwriter Company, < (Feb. 28, 2014). Braun, Matthias. (2011). The Fukushima Daiichi Incident. Areva, < (Feb. 28, 2014).

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