Prince William Sound council produces guidebook to disaster recovery

RCAC officials couldn’t find a single book on responding to man-made disasters, so they produced their own handbook

by The Associated Press

The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council’s efforts to help communities deal with Exxon Valdez oil spill has prompted it to produce what it thinks is the first “how-to” guide on preparing for man-made disasters.

“Coping with Technological Disasters: A User Friendly Guidebook,” is a compendium of lessons the sound’s communities have learned in the decade since the spill.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and other government agencies have published books on responding to natural disasters, but the RCAC couldn’t find a single book on responding to man-made disasters, according to Lisa Ka’aihue, a project manager for the RCAC.

“That was part of the reason we felt so compelled to do it,” she said.

The RCAC was formed after the spill as an independent organization to be a watchdog over the Valdez Marine Terminal and oil tanker traffic. Federal law requires the oil industry to fund the group.

Since the spill, RCAC has spent more than $200,000 hiring sociologists and doing surveys, outreach programs and publishing public service announcements in an effort to help sound communities better understand the aftermath of a man-made disaster. That work was shaped into the 50-page guidebook that the RCAC hopes to distribute to other Alaska communities.

Man-made disasters tend to have a more profound emotional impact on people, sociologists who study disasters have discovered.

Natural disasters normally conform to a pattern that includes a warning, threat, impact, rescue, inventory, remedy, recovery and rehabilitation, the guidebook explains. With natural disasters, there is federal, state and local agency help. People pull together to get life back to normal.

Technological disasters skip the warning and threat stages and go straight to the impact stage. Then communities become trapped at the impact stage with few resources to deal with the next stages. With technological disasters, volunteer organizations are reluctant to step in because usually a large multinational corporation is responsible and is viewed as having the resources to cover costs.

One of the biggest differences is that technological disasters often lack emotional closure, the guidebook explains.

The environment may be harmed and it is often difficult to measure the damage. And, that damage may linger for years.

The guidebook offers practical advice, such as how local governments should set up response teams and which issues must be addressed. It also provides copies of public service announcements to help a community better understand what is going on.