Mitigating consequences

NATURAL DISASTERS CAN lay waste to large areas in a short time. However, they can also create new problems that can damage the environment in the longer term.

The major flooding in Mexico in late 2007 affected 60 percent of the state of Tab as co. The majority of buildings was partly or fully waterlogged, and after the wa­ters had receded it was clear that the water damage was extensive. People returned to their homes and cleared them out. Furniture, building equipment, hazardous waste, electronics and other waste was all thrown out onto the street and taken to the dump without being sorted.

After the flooding, the authori­ties had problems with the large amount of hazardous waste that was discarded along with house­hold waste.

"When the waste has already been taken to the dump, it's hard to instigate good waste manage­ment," says Ingrid Hastad, an environment and waste consultant who specialises in waste manage­ment in disaster situations.

WHEN THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES in Tabasco asked for help from Sweden to improve their capac­ity to prevent similar waste crises in the future, the SRSA called in several consultants, including Ingrid Hastad.

"There are a lot of organisations that offer immediate aid after a disaster, but there are fewer that work to prevent and mitigate the consequences of a disaster. That's why this project was so interest­ing," explains Ingrid Hastad.

"Our aim was to investigate what the authorities had already done, and what sort of planning and preparedness they had in place for similar situations in the future. One example is ensuring that hazardous waste is not mixed with other disaster waste. We also looked at how to avoid flooding in the future. In Tabasco and the neighbouring state of Chiapas, for example, there had been a lot of deforestation, and there was not enough vegetation to absorb large amounts of rainwater.

In poor countries, it is common for people to survive by search­ing for reusable items on rubbish dumps. In Mexico they are known as pepenadores.

"YOU COULD SEE THEM all over the place, wherever there was waste ­around the bin bags on the street, in bins, skips and on dumps. The situation brings up a lot of ethical issues. On one hand, these people are being exposed to major health risks. On the other hand, safer waste management would deny them their source of income."

In order to develop the capacity for good disaster waste manage­ment, it is important that the authorities work together. In Tabasco, the civil defence force has overall responsibility for dis­aster preparedness. However, it is difficult to establish a good system for emergency situations if the standard waste management sys­tem doesn't work.

"If the waste management sys­tem doesn't work smoothly under normal conditions, the chances of it working in a disaster situa­tion are not high", explains Ingrid Hastad.

"There are a lot of organisations that offer immediate aid after a disaster, but there are fewer that work to prevent and mitigate the consequences of a disaster:'