Flooding and its Health Impact: A Case Study of 2013 Flood in Southern Alberta
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Flooding and its Health Impact: A Case Study of 2013 Flood in Southern Alberta
Introduction
Flooding is a natural disaster that increases health issues that affect a specific population. The World Health Organization recognizes that flooding can lead to infectious diseases like water- or vector-borne diseases. Some examples of water-borne diseases that result from flooding include typhoid fever, cholera, leptospirosis, and hepatitis. The most common vector-borne diseases include malaria, dengue hemorrhagic fever, and yellow fever, among others. In other instances, flooding leads to a rise in mental health issues due to the loss of relatives and property. Governments engage various stakeholders and institutions like the public health sector to manage to flood effectively. Some of the crucial phases of disaster management include preparedness, risk assessment, response, and recovery. The 2013 flood in Southern Alberta is a crucial case-study since it was one of Canada’s most expensive natural disasters. These floods had adverse impacts on the communities that live in regions like Banff and Calgary. The 2013 flood in Southern Alberta caused five deaths and displaced thousands of Canadian residents. The rising water caused approximately $6 billion in damages. Although the 2013 flood in Southern Alberta did not claim many human lives, its destruction scale provides insights that the Canadian government can use to manage future natural disasters and prevent possible negative health impacts.
Analysis
The 2013 flood in Southern Alberta as a Natural Disaster
The 2013 flood in Southern Alberta became a natural disaster since Canada lacked the most appropriate response infrastructure. The 2013 floods in Southern Alberta created a sudden and substantial need for mental health services and Canada (Lalani & Drolet, 2019). This statement implies that the Canadian government lacked the proper infrastructure to respond to the extensive floods. The results included the mass destruction of property. Inadequate interventions like a lack of information that can help people make effective decisions and planning before a flooding disaster escalate the scale of destruction (van Kessel, Gibbs, & MacDougall, 2014). From a practical perspective, such challenges made the 2013 flood in Southern Alberta, one of Canada’s most expensive natural disasters. The residents in the affected areas failed to make the necessary preparations in response to the disaster. Hence, the absence of adequate response structure made the 2013 flood in Southern Alberta a natural disaster.
The Impacts
The 2013 floods in Southern Alberta had detrimental impacts on the residents’ physical, social, mental health, and overall well-being in the affected areas. A study that interviewed people engaged in the post-flood recovery revealed that mental health and well-being of the children and teenagers living in rural communities were significant challenges (Lalani & Drolet, 2019). This statement implies that most of the affected citizens experienced trauma due to the scale of the problem. Besides, the situation affected their living conditions due to the destruction of homes and other infrastructures in the affected areas. The loss and grief that resulted from the floods made a significant contribution to the deterioration of mental health (Fulton & Drolet, 2018). This statement implies that most people experienced mental challenges due to the extensive and destructive floods in Southern Alberta. The public health workers focused on providing the necessary mental support to the patients. The floods displaced thousands of families from their original homelands (Fulton & Drolet, 2018). In this case, the floods led to the erosion of the social ties among the affected communities. Some of the residents relocated to other regions in the country permanently. These facts reveal that the residents in the affected areas experienced significant challenges as they dealt with the aftermath of the natural disaster. Therefore, the 2013 floods in Southern Alberta had a detrimental impact on the residents’ lives in the region.
Analysis of Four Emergency Management Phase
Preparedness
The Canadian government relies on effective communication strategies to reduce damage during the 2013 floods in Southern Alberta. Research findings from studies that focused on previous disasters in Canada revealed that various stakeholders took an active part in preparing the communities to respond to natural disasters (Lindell, 2013). This statement implies that the government focused on disseminating information to the residents of the areas that faced the possible risk of flooding. The relevant stakeholders and authorities relied on social media platforms to disseminate information to the citizens (Olteanu, Vieweg, & Castillo, 2015). This statement implies that the local authorities actively ensured that people received adequate information concerning the disaster. Such strategies helped to reduce the number of deaths recorded during the disaster. Timely access to adequate and accurate information concerning the floods significantly contributed to the evacuation process (Olteanu, Vieweg, & Castillo, 2015). The majority of the residents took the necessary measures to prevent possible loss of life. However, the policies put in place were not adequate to prevent possible destruction of property. Therefore, Canada’s relevant authorities relied on effective communication strategies to sensitize the communities about the possible disaster.
Risk Assessment
The Canadian administration did not engage in effective Risk assessment strategies. For instance, the country lacked funding for long-term post-disaster recovery plans (Fulton & Drolet, 2018). From a practical perspective, the strategy significantly contributed to the level of damage experienced during the disaster. Besides, the local authorities lacked the required capacity to mitigate the level of damage realized during the disaster. The public health sector and emergency departments lacked effective strategies that residents could use to present complaints or make other necessary communications (Fulton & Drolet, 2018). From a critical point of view, the public health sector failed to take the necessary measure to address the underlying challenges. In this case, there existed a significant gap in the effectiveness of strategies taken by the relevant authorities in managing the disaster. Public-health decision-making process relied on limited information (Fulton & Drolet, 2018). This statement implies that the decisions taken to protect the residents’ health needs were inadequate to ensure that people remained safe. Although the public health department took the appropriate measure, the level of effectiveness was inadequate. The issues escalated the experience levels of the health issues experienced after the floods. Therefore, Canadian administrations failed to engage in inadequate risk assessment strategies.
Response
Various stakeholders took an active part in responding to the 2013 flood disaster in Southern Alberta. For example, the public health sector took an active part in assessing the residents’ impact in the affected areas (Sahni et al., 2016). The public health sector focused on emerging health issues and the possible mitigation measures taken. Besides, this department established effective policies that would promote the overall well-being of the residents. Some of the concepts examined during the response stage included possible ways to enhance psychosocial recovery among the affected people (Haney & Gray‐Scholz, 2019). The health sector’s relevant stakeholders took an active part in examining the impact on the mental health that people in the region experienced. Besides, they focused on establishing long-term strategies to help the country respond to various disasters in the future management department played a significant role in responding to the 2013 flood disaster. Disaster researchers analyzed the disruption to victims’ ontological security, relying on routines and landmarks (Haney & Gray‐Scholz, 2019). In this case, the disaster management department engaged in operations that would lead to long-term solutions in protecting the landmarks and other structures in flood-prone areas. Therefore, various Canadian stakeholders engaged in studying the extent of the damage and establishing sustainable measures to manage the n.
Recovery
The Canadian administration took various strategies to enhance the recovery from the 2013 flooding disaster. For instance, the Conference Board of Canada’s independent reviewed the overall performance of Calgary’s Recovery Operations Center (Bowerman, 2017). The strategy was adequate in identifying the significant challenges that affected the overall level of responding to catastrophic natural disasters. The review’s findings led to recommendations that people would use to enhance safety and their overall levels of well-being. One of the proposals included the inclusion of the community actors and external stakeholders in responding to future disasters (Pomeroy, Stewart, & Whitfield, 2015). The strategy can help people to achieve better response rates to future disasters. Besides, the approach enhanced the recovery rate from the losses and health challenges experienced by the affected residents. Other recovery strategies taken in Canada included the stabilization and intermediate and long-term rescue operations (Pomeroy, Stewart, & Whitfield, 2015). From a practical perspective, the Canadian administration engaged in activities that would allow the citizens to recover from the health challenges experienced. Besides, these approaches were instrumental in ensuring the reconstruction of the affected areas and their economic recoveries. Hence, Canada engaged in various strategies to enhance the residents’ health and economic recovery in the affected areas.
New Insights and Innovative Strategies
The case study of the 2013 floods in Southern Alberta leads to various lessons that countries can adopt in dealing with natural disasters. The government engaged various stakeholders to ensure a quick rebuilding of the destroyed infrastructure (Herald & Nenshi, 2013). The collaborative strategy helped the residents to resume their ordinary lives after the disaster. Besides, the public health sector took an active part in controlling water and vector-borne diseases. The rapid response to the issues flood disaster prevents a wide spread of diseases like Malaria (Herald & Nenshi, 2013). In this case, other countries can embrace a similar strategy to protect citizens’ health needs. The collaborative strategy equipped the citizens with the necessary skills to cope with various natural disasters. Therefore, rapid and collaborative response strategies are insights that other countries can draw from the 2013 floods in Southern Alberta.
Countries can learn effective ways of managing disasters from the 2013 floods in Southern Alberta. The 2013 flood disaster in Canada occurred in a location that had a dense transportation network (Patrick, 2017). This statement implies that the Trans-Canada highway and many railway corridors suffered a significant level of damage. The challenge resulted from poor planning and failure to use innovative construction strategies. The floodway corridor resulted in the indigenous communities’ adverse health impacts (Townshend, Awosoga, Kulig, & Fan, 2014). In this case, the Canadian government failed to establish effective strategies to protect the Aboriginals’ interests. Such impacts led to unique insights where countries have to rely on innovative strategies to address various natural disasters. Governments have the mandate to adopt effective planning strategies that can lead to accurate predictions of natural disasters. Besides, governments can take necessary and timely precautionary measures to prevent the extent of damage experienced during a natural disaster. Therefore, countries can draw insights from the 2013 flood disaster in Canada to engage in effective planning and prevention of extensive damages experienced from natural disasters.
Adopting an innovative framework for emergency planning is a unique solution adopted from Canada’s 2013 flood disaster. The Canadian government adopted strategies that enhanced the disaster recovery rate (Montesanti, Thurston, Turner, & Medicine Traveler, 2019). The major drawback of the strategy was a failure to use adequate information to develop the framework. Other governments can adopt insights from this strategy to ensure that they take the necessary measures in managing various natural disasters. Therefore, Canada’s 2013 flood disaster revealed the importance of applying innovative solutions in dealing with health issues that result from natural disasters.
Conclusion
The 2013 flood in Southern Alberta did not claim many human lives since the Canadian government adopted adequate and effective management strategies. However, the destruction scale provides insights that the Canadian and other governments can use to manage future natural disasters and prevent possible negative health impacts. The analysis focused on crucial disaster management phases, which include preparedness, risk assessment, response, and recovery. Some of the valuable lessons gained from the disaster include the importance of engaging in various stakeholders to ensure a quick rebuilding of the destroyed infrastructure and using effective planning and prevention of extensive damages experienced from natural disasters. Finally, the disaster reveals the importance of applying innovative solutions in dealing with health issues that result from natural disasters. Other governments can adopt insights from this strategy to ensure that they take the necessary measures in managing various natural disasters.
References
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