• Rethinking Emergency Response
  

  The Ma administration was widely criticized for its handling of the Typhoon Morakot response and rescue effort, causing a sharp drop in the president’s performance rating. The government is now trying to revamp its policy-making and execution procedures to improve coordination and efficiency, but it is not yet entirely clear what the new organization chart will look like.   
  By Jane Rickards
  
  

• Who Does What in Emergency Response
  

  By Jane Rickards
  
  

• Tzu Chi Famous for its Rapid Action

  By Jane Rickards
   
  

• The Chemical Industry Asks for Attention

  By Don Shapiro
  
  

Rethinking Emergency Response

The Ma administration was widely criticized for its handling of the Typhoon Morakot response and rescue effort, causing a sharp drop in the president’s performance rating. The government is now trying to revamp its policy-making and execution procedures to improve coordination and efficiency, but it is not yet entirely clear what the new organization chart will look like.     

For Taipei residents huddling indoors after a last-minute typhoon warning from the city government, Typhoon Morakot seemed no worse than a bad summer storm.

But by the time the storm had left Taiwan, nearly 700 people were dead and more than 70 were still missing. Lashing the island with gusts of wind and torrential rain from August 7 to 9, the typhoon was particularly devastating for the island’s south, where almost 500 people were buried alive by mud and rocks in a landslide in the Kaohsiung County town of Shiaolin. By August 27, according to a report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, over 6,000 people were displaced from their homes and forced to live in emergency shelters.

Rainfall also set new records, with Alishan in the central mountains accumulating close to 3 meters of rain in just four days, more than the island’s yearly average of 2.5 meters. Floods engulfed 144 of the island’s 319 townships, creating damage in the tens of billions of New Taiwan Dollars to buildings and agriculture.

Amid a perception that government was too slow to snap into action, the Ma Ying-jeou administration’s public approval rating sank. Some pundits referred to Morakot as “Ma’s Katrina,” alluding to the 2005 hurricane that disillusioned many Americans about the competence of the Bush administration. 

Taiwan is vulnerable to natural calamities. The island lies atop a seismic zone, and is also situated directly along the path taken by many of the typhoons that form in the western Pacific and sweep toward the Asian continent. However, many experts blame over-development for the increasing devastation that natural disasters like Typhoon Morakot seem to be causing. Chu Wen-sen, CEO of the consulting firm of Environmental and Infrastructural Technologies, says Taiwan undoubtedly has previously experienced disasters on the magnitude of Morakot, but death tolls were lower as the island was less developed and not so densely populated.

Only 30% of Taiwan’s 36,000 square kilometers is flatlands, home to most of the island’s 23 million people. Another 31% consists of steep mountains and the rest is hilly terrain. Spokesman Her Rey-sheng of the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, known for its work in disaster rescue and relief, notes that the ecology of Taiwan’s mountainous areas has been severely damaged over the past few decades. The felling of trees to make way for housing or agriculture (especially for shallow-rooted betel nut trees) loosens mountainous soil, causing erosion and setting the conditions for severe landslides. The construction of tunnels does the same, Her says. Tzu Chi is now trying to discourage people from living in these vulnerable areas.

Global warming may also be contributing to the increased severity of typhoons, other experts say. Temperatures on the island are rising and it has been going through more dry spells followed by extreme and concentrated rainfall. Taiwan was actually in the midst of a drought when Morakot hit.

But regardless of the cause of the problem, officials in Taipei at first clearly underestimated the lethal storm’s impact and were slow to respond. Although the local media broke the story of the mass deaths at Shiaolin almost immediately, the government was unable to confirm it until four days later, after the storm had passed. And astonishingly, in the first few days the government declined aid from abroad in the belief that it was unneeded.

“It seemed obvious to most observers,” wrote Alan Romberg, an analyst with the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington, D.C., that the fault for the decision to refuse assistance “lay primarily with inadequate interagency coordination and emergency planning.” This lack of coordination was a problem both among ministries and between the central and local governments. The watchdog Control Yuan has already censured the Cabinet for its tardy response, as well as the Kaohsiung County government for failing to be on alert for landslides and to issue evacuation orders. Several township governments were also censured for failing to carry out evacuation drills.

Since natural disasters are bound to recur, what is the government doing now to be better prepared the next time the situation arises?

The major focus has been on reorganization within government to bring better coordination and greater efficiency to the process of emergency response. Two organizations will be merged, another “upgraded,” and a new one created [See the accompanying box for a guide to the various agencies affected]. But some critics are still wondering whether the result will provide the necessary degree of command and control. 

So far the key reform measure has been a draft amendment to the Disaster Prevention and Response Act, which was submitted to the Legislative Yuan in late November and passed its first reading on December 24. According to Chou Kuo-hsiang, a section chief with the Disaster Management Department under the Ministry of the Interior’s National Fire Agency (NFA), the revision would create a new Cabinet-level Office of Disaster Prevention and Protection (ODPP), with responsibility for coordinating and integrating information from the various ministries and assisting the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) with decision-making. It would also require every city, county, town, and township to establish a Disaster Prevention Council.

Currently, the overall direction for most emergency response is handled by the Executive Yuan’s National Disaster Prevention and Protection Commission. When a disaster strikes or is known to be imminent, the commission creates a Central Emergency Operations Center commanded by a cabinet minister selected by the Premier (it is often the Minister of the Interior who takes command after a major earthquake, for example). The Center’s orders are chiefly executed by the NFA, which takes charge of organizing the rescue work. Chou notes that Taiwan has 10,000 fire-fighters – double or triple that number if volunteers and part-timers are included.

Sharing knowledge

Staff members of the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR) say they have found that while each government agency may have abundant information on a particular aspect of an emergency – for example, the Water Resources Agency about flooding or the Council of Agriculture on the impact on farmers – there has been no easy way for them to quickly share their knowledge and integrate it to form a bigger picture of the overall predicament. “During Morakot, we found that information exchange was not so efficient and smooth,” says Li Wei-sen, the NCDR deputy executive secretary

The new supra-ministerial office, in the planning stages, is likely to be staffed by 50 people, half civil servants and half government-appointed experts. When a natural disaster occurs, it will join the Central Emergency Operations Center to jointly direct the overall emergency response – although various ministries, including National Defense, will continue to execute the actual rescue operations. At other times, the ODPP will concentrate on natural disaster preparedness, including disaster risk evaluation.

In addition, the amendment would replace the NFA with an upgraded Disaster Prevention and Response Agency that would have broader responsibilities and more manpower – 457 staff rather than the current 310 – while remaining under the Minister of the Interior.

Even after passage of the proposed legislation, Taiwan will still not concentrate powers equivalent to those of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within a single government agency, instead dividing them between the ODPP and the upgraded NFA. That decision has been the subject of some criticism. In an op-ed column published by the Taipei Times, for example, Shu Chin-chiang, a former advisory committee member of the National Security Council, called on Interior Minister Jiang Yi-Huah to “shake off the Ministry’s arrogance” and accept the FEMA model by merging the future NFA with the new Cabinet-level ODPP. “That would combine policy-making and execution into one office, which is the only way to avoid the problem of too many people pulling in too many directions.” That suggestion does not seem to have gained much support, however.  

NCDR Director Chen Liang-chun expresses confidence that the amended legislation will be enacted by the end of the current legislative session. Final passage, however, will be only the first step in putting a new emergency response system in place. A new organization law will also need to be drafted to establish the upgraded version of the NFA. Chou says he expects this draft to be sent to the legislature in February.

Meanwhile, notes Director Chen, the NCDR is looking for ways to bring together more information from the various government ministries to help it conduct more finely-tuned simulations of disaster scenarios. The goal is to improve the simulations by aiming them at more specific locations, and that will require the input of much more demographic data and other details.

Knowing the population breakdown in a particular area by age, gender, and occupation, for example, will help to identify the location of the most vulnerable people and to determine who should be evacuated first. But Chu, an expert in computational hydrodynamics, cautions that simulations are limited in what they can contribute, since the margin of error is high. “Our current knowledge is capable of predicting the areas that will be affected by a storm of Morakot’s scale, but not the extent of the damage,” he says.

Expanding the platform

Before Typhoon Morakot, the NCDR had launched a platform for the rapid exchange of data between various agencies – including the Central Weather Bureau, Water Resources Agency, and Soil and Water Conservation Bureau – and the NCDR. Soon the Ministry of Interior’s National Geographic Information System, which compiles digitalized data relating to geography, topography, land use, demographics, and critical infrastructure, will be added to the system. The National Science Council has offered to take part in the project by bringing more sophisticated and innovative methodologies to the platform.

The new ODPP will also use the information-sharing platform, reports Sophia Lee, an NCDR assistant research fellow, and it is hoped that even more government ministries will eventually take part. The Ministry of Transportations and Communications is one such candidate, for example, as disasters frequently impact infrastructure such as highways and railways.

Another new development was Cabinet approval on October 8 of a draft National Land Planning Act, which has been sent to the legislature for review. David Chang, president of the non-governmental Institute of Environment and Resources, says the amended law would protect hazard-prone areas, such as low-lying terraces along rivers and deeply sloped mountainous regions, from over-development. “It’s a very systematic way to plan the entire land use of Taiwan,” he says.

The act will divide all land into four categories: zones for land conservation, marine resources, urban and rural development, and agricultural development. The central government will be mainly responsible for the land conservation and marine resources zones, and local governments for the other two.  

Despite support from many quarters, the bill is also mired in controversy and is unlikely to be enacted very quickly. Aboriginal tribes, for example, are objecting that the law would override the Indigenous People’s Basic Act regarding land ownership claims. And even if the act is passed, it would just be the beginning of an extended process before implementation could start; the Ministry of the Interior would have two years to draft a national land-use plan, after which county and city governments would take another several years to finalize their land-use plans. Eventually violators of the law would reportedly face up to seven years in prison or NT$5 million (US$154,000) in fines – up to NT$10 million if the improper land use results in a calamity.

In the meantime, the continued improper land use infuriates environmental experts.

“Sometimes, when you look at aerial or satellite photos and see river valleys and their topography, you’ve got to tell yourself ‘we’re crazy to develop there,’” says Chu, a former University of Washington professor who specializes in water resources engineering. Chu is adamant that aboriginal land rights and indigenous people’s wish to live in their traditional homelands must be respected, even if those mountain areas are potentially hazardous, and they should not be forced to move by the government.

But recognizing the burden on taxpayers if the government constantly has to foot the bill for reconstruction after a natural disaster, Chu maintains that “the money should be paid by the instigators of development.” He suggests that the government require businesses and homes in vulnerable areas to take out disaster insurance to cover later reconstruction or medical bills if needed. The owners of hot-spring mountain resorts, for example, could adjust their rates by enough to pay the insurance premiums.

In the case of Typhoon Morakot, the legislature appropriated an NT$120 billion (US$3.7 billion) special budget for reconstruction, of which the NFA received around NT$1.6 billion (US$49 million). Of that amount, it plans to spend NT$466 million (US$14.4 million) over four years to help local governments buy rescue vehicles, boats, and evacuation equipment. A further NT$162 million (US$5 million) over the same period will go to helping local governments set up shelters and rescue points. Old equipment, such as marine satellite phones, is also being replaced, Chou reports.

Upgrading technology

Another key area that the government is focusing on to improve emergency response is technology upgrading. In a six-year project due to start in 2010, for example, the Central Weather Bureau plans to spend NT$1.9 billion (US$57.6 million) to improve its hazardous weather monitoring and forecasting systems. The program, announced August 28, will enable the CWB to issue forecasts for 300 separate townships, rather than just 22 counties and cities as at present. The township weather forecasts will be updated every three hours, compared with the current 12-hour interval. In addition, typhoons will be tracked for a week, instead of just five days.

River monitoring is also essential, said NCDR Deputy Director Hsu Ming-hsi at an APEC workshop on disaster risk reduction recently held in Taipei. He noted that the Danshuei River Flood Forecasting System can provide river forecasting for Taipei six hours in advance. “This system should be implemented in other river systems on the island,” he said. The government also has plans for four pilot projects in river basin management, including projects for the Jhuoshuei and Gaoping Rivers.

The Council of Agriculture will also acquire some new technology. It plans to spend around NT$200 million (US$6.2 million) next year to buy synthetic-aperture radar equipment to enable its Forestry Bureau and other government departments to take aerial images even through heavy clouds, to facilitate high-resolution aerial mapping.

Considering the risk of landslides and flooding that may arise from the apparent increase in extreme rainfall conditions, NCDR Director Chen notes that the government also needs to improve its early-warning rainfall system and set lower rainfall-alert thresholds. A revised threshold was used during Typhoon Parma, which came after Morakot, and led to the military evacuating 8,000 residents.

Perhaps two of the most important areas in emergency preparedness are building a sound channel of communication between the government and the people, and the holding of evacuation drills for local communities. In his presentation to the APEC workshop, Hsu pointed to the need for local-level discussions, workshops, and lectures across the island on disaster preparedness, as well as the identification of potential risks and mapping of evacuation routes.

He noted that Shiaolin residents for various reasons did not expect a major landslide and as a result did not evacuate. In contrast, he said, no casualties were reported in Yushan Village in Nanhua Township, as villagers – alerted by the flow of debris – left the area in time. The NFA plans to spend around NT$49 million (US$1.5 million) of its special budget on conducting its own public education programs and evacuation drills, and a further NT$150.8 million (US$4.65 million) to help local governments do the same. “We will put a lot of effort into community-based disaster reduction training,” Li says.

The government also needs to communicate the presence of disaster risks to the media in a more effective and timely fashion, experts say. Tim Berge, general manager of ICRT radio, suggests that the government could be faster and more comprehensive in offering information, particularly on island-wide developments. During Typhoon Morakot, Berge said, ICRT was initially caught off guard because the weather in Taipei made it seem as if the storm had passed. “It’s impossible for us to be everywhere and the government has a better idea of what goes on around the island.” Berge notes that in emergency situations, power and telephone lines are often knocked out, leaving radio as the only reliable source of English-language information.

The CWB drew praise from interviewees for the accuracy of its forecasting, but Berge and others fault it for using too much jargon, failing to communicate in a way that is readily understood by the public and the media. For example, he says, the CWB gives rainfall measurements in millimeters. A depth of 1,000 millimeters is a meter, Berge notes. “That’s above my waist. They should put it in a context that people understand.”

Liu Chung-ming, director of the Global Change Research Center at National Taiwan University, agrees. He says the average person is often very distracted when casually listening to the news or a weather report and does not focus on details. Information must be presented in a forceful way that can shock people into realizing they are in danger.

Role of the military

Among the other topics discussed since Typhoon Morakot is what role the military should play in disaster response. A total of 134,792 military personnel were deployed in August in the wake of the super-typhoon, and the draft legislation before the Legislative Yuan calls for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) to take a more proactive role during future natural disasters. Under current law, local governments can ask the military for help if their own resources are inadequate. But under the amended act, the military would be authorized to assess the situation on its own and launch rescue missions where it sees the need. MND is expected to make disaster management one of the major policy focuses in its next defense white paper.

NTU’s Liu has criticized the use of the military during natural disasters, saying soldiers are not sufficiently trained to carry out rescue and relief work. He cited media reports that servicemen sniffed the ground to try to locate dead bodies buried in landslides. The task, Liu says, should have been done using proper equipment.

Alexander Huang, professor of strategic studies at Tamkang University, says Taiwan’s military in fact has a long tradition of helping out at times of natural disasters. He recalls soldiers coming to the rescue of flood victims in the 1960s when he was growing up.

But now the challenge has grown, he notes, both because of the increased severity of the disasters and because of plans to downsize Taiwan’s armed forces from the current level of 275,000 to 210,500. The aim is to limit conscripts to 16 weeks of basic training, while creating a more professional fighting force. As a result, active-duty manpower will probably be insufficient to support disaster operations, he says, but the task could be turned over to reservists.

Huang suggests that reserve units train with volunteer policemen and volunteer fire-fighters, and if future mobilizations are based on their home registration, they would be familiar with the local area where the disaster occurred. He also stresses the importance of including disaster-relief training in the curriculum for all levels of military education.

Yet another theme in critiques of the Morakot situation is the often poor construction of Taiwan’s bridges (Chu refers to them as a “disgrace”), which in many cases are vital for access to otherwise isolated communities. Media reports said 34 bridges were knocked out during the typhoon. Chu says the design of most of these bridges called for numerous piers spread just a short distance apart, making them especially vulnerable to heavy floods that carry mud, boulders, and debris (including whole trees), bashing at the piers with enormous force. The two-kilometer Shuangyuan Bridge in Kaohsiung County was an example of this phenomenon, with the flooding Kaoping River washing away a lengthy section after breaking many of its piers. Loss of the bridge requires travelers to make a 28-kilometer detour, and replacing it will cost the government NT$3.5 billion (US$108 million).

Chu says suspension bridges are better for severe storms; with their cables in the air, they don’t need to resist the rushing flood waters and accumulated debris. The NFA’s Chou, for his part, recommends bridges with steel frameworks and a few widely-set piers. He points to the red Guandu Bridge over the Danshuei River as a good example.

Better seismic safety

If there is a bright side to Taiwan’s disaster management, it may be that better building construction has made for greater safety during earthquakes. In the past, Taiwan used the American Uniform Building Code, says the NCDR’s Li. But after the severe September 21 earthquake in 1999, which measured 7.3 on the Richter scale and killed more than 2,400 people, building codes were modified to better suit the island’s seismic conditions. Although a number of buildings collapsed in that tragedy, inquiries showed that the problem was not with the building codes but with construction companies illegally failing to comply with the regulations.  

“Building standards are improving,” says NTU’s Liu. He notes that when a moderately strong earthquake (measuring 6 on the Richter scale) recently struck Nantou, the epicenter of the 1999 earthquake, no deaths or major structural damage occurred.

NGOs are credited with leading the way in introducing improved construction methods. After the 1999 catastrophe, Tzu Chi built 51 earthquake-proof schools in central Taiwan using steel reinforced concrete, Her says, and that method has since become more and more common in Taiwan.

Taipei and other cities still have a considerable stock of old buildings, constructed to accommodate migrants from the countryside in the 1960s and 1970s. The NCDR’s Li says it is hard to upgrade these old apartment blocks, as the residents must all agree to a redesign. In both Taiwan and Japan, which faces a similar situation, an incentive system is needed to encourage residents to reach a consensus to redesign their building with better seismic protection, he says.

The sad moral from improved earthquake protection, concludes NTU’s Liu, is that Taiwan has to experience a devastating natural disaster before it learns to manage it. “Every time we suffer and every time we learn a lesson,” Liu says.

Who Does What in Emergency Response

The Current Set-up

• National Disaster Prevention and Response Council

Headed by the premier, this is the highest-level disaster-management entity. It sets nationwide disaster protection and prevention guidelines, among other policy-making duties.

• National Disaster Prevention and Protection Commission (NDPPC)

Chaired by the vice-premier, it has the ultimate operational authority. It summons the Central Emergency Operations Center to take charge when a major disaster strikes or is imminent.

• National Fire Agency (NFA)

The NFA, under the Ministry of the Interior, executes the orders of the NDPPC or Central Emergency Operations Center. Originally responsible for fire prevention and fire-fighting, disaster rescue, and emergency medical services, its scope was expanded after the massive 1999 earthquake to include a Disaster Management Department.

• National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR)

Operating under the jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan, NDPPC, and National Science Council, it serves as technical consultants to the Cabinet on disaster preparedness and management. Established in 2003, it also conducts research on potential disasters and their socio-economic impact.

Proposed Changes

The National Disaster Prevention and Protection Commission (NDPPC) will be merged with its more senior National Disaster Prevention and Response Council to reduce the levels of administrative hierarchy.

A new Office of Disaster Prevention and Protection, still in the planning stage, will become the main agency in charge of coordination during a disaster as well as disaster risk reduction. It will be a supra-ministerial agency coordinating other ministries. During a disaster, it will join the Central Emergency Operations Center to jointly take charge of disaster response.

The National Fire Agency will be upgraded, expanded, and renamed the Disaster Prevention and Response Agency. It will still be under the Ministry of Interior.

By Jane Rickards

Tzu Chi Famous for its Rapid Action

Although the central government may be slow to respond to natural disasters, that has never been said of Taiwan’s charitable non-government organizations. “They are doing a very good job,” says David Chang, president of the Institute of Environment and Resources.

The altruism, people-to-people connections, and ability to listen to and communicate quickly and effectively with local communities gives these organizations an enormous edge in performing disaster relief, experts say.

The Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation – which since its founding in 1966 by Buddhist nun Cheng Yen has become one of the most effective aid agencies in the region – was able to mobilize 150,000 volunteers across Taiwan after Typhoon Morakot struck. That was more than the number of military personnel deployed in the disaster effort. Tzu Chi volunteers across the island provided 40,000 blankets as well as clothing and water. They also pitched in to clean up the affected towns and villages to help prevent the spread of disease.

On August 9, the second day after the typhoon hit, when reports of flooding were first emerging, the foundation was able to deliver 700,000 hot lunch boxes to survivors in Kaohsiung and Pingtung Counties. It drew on supplies of dried foods that it keeps stored in warehouses in Hualien and Taipei, ready for emergencies. Tzu Chi volunteers have even invented some emergency relief products, such as Tzu Chi brand instant rice – simply add water to make a fast but tasty meal.

Although it has fewer than 800 salaried staff, the foundation can call on some two million volunteers worldwide, says spokesman Her Rey-sheng. It was able to use its global network of around 10 million donors to raise funds quickly for Morakot relief. 

In 1999, excellent links with local communities enabled Tzu Chi volunteers to be on the spot in disaster areas immediately after that September’s destructive quake. “We communicate very quickly and the telephone is very important,” Her says.

A proactive attitude among the volunteers is a key to the foundation’s success. Her relates the story of a volunteer driving in Tainan when he saw an ambulance. He turned around to follow the ambulance until it came to a bus crash, then called up other volunteers, who came to lend a hand.

Her says he would like to see greater cooperation between NGOs and the central government for the sake of expanding disaster relief efforts. “So far I don’t see much cooperation, but if the government could provide us with helicopters or boats, we could deliver relief more efficiently for survivors,” he says. He notes that the foundation has its own boats and other equipment, but they were insufficient for the extensive relief operations needed in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot.

Citing an example of cooperation at the local level, Her says the foundation built nearly 1,000 houses – powered by state-of-the-art solar energy systems – on land provided by the Kao-hsiung County government for those displaced from devastated regions around Namahsia. It also built a church, activities center, and an agricultural center to train community members in improved farming techniques.

Her notes that some indigenous people are unwilling to relocate from risky areas for fear of losing their land and houses in the mountains, as they are unable to produce a deed proving ownership. He encourages the government  to provide more flexibility about the administrative requirements in property registration.

By Jane Rickards

The Chemical Industry Asks for Attention

This month’s commemoration of the catastrophe 25 years ago at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India was a reminder that natural disasters are not the only type of emergency that may arise. The foreign-invested chemical industry in Taiwan has been highly conscious of the need for proper procedures and rigorous planning and training in the interest of preventing serious industrial accidents. To set standards and exchange information on best practices, the multinational producers together with the leading domestic companies 12 years ago joined together to establish the Taiwan Responsible Care Association.

While the industry has expressed gratitude for increased government efforts to support accident prevention and emergency response in recent years, it has also raised concern that the resources and responsibilities are spread over too many agencies. The potential benefit of centralizing those efforts in one specialized organization has frequently been taken up by AmCham’s Chemical Manufacturers Committee (CMC) in its report in the annual Taiwan White Paper. In this year’s position paper, the Committee proposed the idea of “streamlining the national chemical management system by integrating the various chemical control divisions belonging to the Council of Labor Affairs, Environmental Protection Administration and its Emergency Response Information Center (ERIC), Department of Health, and the National Fire Agency.”

With the government now planning to upgrade the National Fire Agency to broaden its portfolio in disaster prevention and emergency response, the chemical manufacturers are hoping that serious thought will be given as to how chemical-plant or chemical-transport accident prevention and response can best be treated within the new structure. “Perhaps the time has come for this problem to get more attention, but given the nature of bureaucratic inertia, there’s no assurance that will happen,” says Bowei Lee, chairman of the Lee Chang Yung Chemical Co. and a member of the CMC steering committee. “Because some top-down pressure will probably be needed for anything to happen, the best scenario would be if Premier Wu Den-yih personally takes up this issue.”

— By Don Shapiro