Emergency Shelters in a Disaster Zone

Disasters can strike anywhere and at anytime.management committees can't take the risk of
The non-predictable nature of disaster results infurther destruction and the loss of lives. In
poor and often times non-existent emergencyearthquake prone areas, affected people are
measures to deal with emergencies. The situationsometimes taken to emergency shelters that are
is especially worse in poor and developingsituated away from the affected areas as roads
countries where emergency managementand other infrastructure is badly damaged in most
infrastructure is virtually non-existent. However, incases.
developed countries, there are ample facilities toEmergency shelters for areas affected by wild
deal with any emergency.fires are relatively smaller as compared to other
There are many types of disasters. In fact, thedisaster zones. The area that comes under fire is
complexity of disasters is a big factor inusually much smaller as compared to an area
determining the response to any event and theaffected by floods or earthquakes.
time, which require energy and financial sources toTornadoes and windstorms also do not affect
cater them. Following are some of the mostlarge swathes of a region and only impact a small
common type of disasters.o Floodsoarea. Tornadoes, in specific, only cause damage
Earthquakeso Fireo Tornadoes and other climaticwhere the wind funnel touches the ground.
disasterso Chemical or nuclear explosion orHowever, emergency shelters for tornadoes, are
disasterthe most common ones and almost every house
Floods constitute the most common type ofin a tornado-prone area has a small emergency
disaster and there have been a number ofshelter located in the basement of the house.
measures that are undertaken to avoid anyNuclear or chemical disasters affect a large area
massive damage. The first line of defense againstand are one of the most dangerous situations.
a flood is a speedy evacuation of those trappedNuclear explosion or any leakage or disaster in a
in their homes and businesses, to higher grounds.nuclear facility can damage thousands of square
This evacuation is also accompanied by theirkilometers of area. As the region of impact is
shifting to emergency shelters. These emergencyhigher, so are the disaster management
shelters are special facility centres where everymeasures. Emergency shelters for nuclear
possible treatment as well as accommodationradiation are present in some major metropolitan
facility is extended to the affected. They areareas where people can take refuge to avoid
generally established in government buildings withexposure to dangerous radiations. However,
large rooms and halls to house as many people asseepage in a nuclear or chemical plant might result
possible.in evacuation of the whole population to safe
Similarly, in the case of an earthquake,places. They would most probably be placed in
emergency shelters are established in tents andespecially designed emergency shelters where a
earthquake-proof buildings. That is because anycomplete decontamination exercise would be
other tremor can destroy a building and disastercarried out.