1.7. Need for Structural Measures and Preparedness

But the most important finding is that structural measures; engineering measures are important, but not enough that is for sure, you can build dikes, bridges, dams but you can make a lot of things like that structural measures, but they are very necessary for infrastructure development to protect and mitigate disasters.

This chunk emphasizes that while structural measures such as dikes, bridges, and dams are crucial for disaster mitigation and infrastructure development, they alone cannot ensure community resilience. This is because these engineering solutions cannot fully counteract the power of nature, especially in the face of extreme natural disasters.

Imagine building a large dam to prevent flooding. While the dam is a strong protective measure, if heavy rains exceed the dam's capacity, flooding can still occur. This illustrates that while we can create strong barriers against nature, we still need to remain vigilant and prepared for the unexpected.

But still it is sure that by structural measures, you cannot simply make communities resilient, nature is more powerful than you. So, if you are ever exploiting the nature, if you are exploit, if you are living where you should not live, then structural measures is not enough.

This section points out that structural measures cannot make communities fully resilient to disasters. It highlights the importance of not over-relying on these structures, especially if human activities exploit natural landscapes or risk situations. Even with proper engineering, if communities are situated in high-risk areas, they remain vulnerable.

Think of a coastal city that builds seawalls to protect against storm surges. If people continue to develop homes right on the seashore, the seawalls might protect them in some storms, but during extreme weather events, these barriers can be overwhelmed, and the dangers continue to loom large.

What do we need to do then? we need to make people, increase people's risk awareness, we need to promote preparedness, small thing that if there is a big disaster, is the tsunami you have to evacuate, no other option, people who are living near the coastal side, they have to evacuate when there is a disaster, but people always do not like that.

This portion stresses the necessity of increasing public awareness about risks and disaster preparedness. It specifically mentions the importance of evacuation in the face of imminent threats, such as tsunamis, highlighting that people need to be aware that staying put is not an option when safety is at stake.

Consider a fire drill at school. Just like students practice how to leave the building calmly and safely during a fire alarm, communities should regularly engage in disaster preparedness drills so that everyone knows what to do when real emergencies hit, such as evacuating during a tsunami.

So, what is happening is that we need to focus on preparedness, to promote preparedness and risk governance to the people. So, in order to do that, we have many kind of small countermeasures, not a very big issue like we can promote, we can motivate people to buy flood insurance or we can ask people to evacuate during emergency.

This segment highlights the need for community-based preparedness initiatives. It suggests that rather than relying only on large-scale structural projects, stakeholders can implement smaller strategies that engage individuals in proactive measures. Encouraging actions such as purchasing flood insurance and following evacuation procedures are critical components of a comprehensive preparedness strategy.

Imagine a neighborhood that organizes regular meetings about disaster preparedness, where they inform residents about flood insurance options and the importance of evacuating during emergencies. Just like a community coming together for a potluck, they can share resources and knowledge, making everyone safer as a result.

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