Tsunami

Padang is a small city of about 900, 000 people. The capital of the province of West Sumatra, this city’s heartbeat lies in the government offices, small businesses, and universities that proliferate the area. The history of the city is vast, with traditional culture, early immigrants, Dutch traders and industrialization all playing major parts in making Padang what it is today. Despite significant natural resources including rice, cocoa, fish and palm oil, the area has a terminal climate of economic uncertainty, in no small part due to the threat of disaster.
Major earthquakes have occurred in 2009, 2007 and 2005 impacting the area. As well, the famous tsunami of 2004, which hit too close for comfort as much of Padang is actually below sea level. This risk steers business, tourism and workers to other areas. It is understandable when looking at the risks. Seismologists continually warn of a major ground shift along one of two ocean fault lines, causing severe shaking and tsunami. When, not if, this occurs, the tsunami wave will reach up to four kilometers inland, inundating the city’s narrow streets with the force of a tidal wave. Most people in the waves path will have little warning of the incoming threat and will crowd streets with motorbikes and cars, causing impenetrable traffic jams in the city’s core areas, as they try to make it to high ground. When the tsunami hits the coast, most of the city’s infrastructure will be paralyzed. Major hospitals, government buildings, electricity and water infrastructure and major roads will all be left inoperable. Potentially, the same fate will await the airport. Then begins the emergency response phase. With government and international agencies struggling to offer services under chaotic circumstances. The devastation will be extreme.
To try to avoid this destiny, the populace prays to Allah while the government uses meager resources to prepare its citizens and international agencies attempt to support this preparedness with funds, expertise and expectations. A mishmash of programs, strategic visions and ways forward ensues, with ideas of huge vertical evacuation towers built to withstand the force of the tsunami or of moving the entire city further inland. As grand as some visions may be, a strong force prepares communities with emergency training, disaster awareness campaigns, planning and networking relationships that will prove vital when the impact occurs. Disaster risk reduction, a combination of mitigation and preparedness, focuses on adaptation and readiness. The hope is that these programs will arm people with the best possible skills and knowledge to survive the inevitable.
Rest assured though, that human beings are a resilient species and will surely bounce back from the next disaster as they have from the previous disasters throughout history.