- From: Don Cameron <rural.life@gmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2007 07:13:33 +1000
- To: <paola.dimaio@gmail.com>, "'Gavin Treadgold'" <gt@kestrel.co.nz>
- Cc: "'W3C Disaster Management Ontology List'" <public-disaster-management-ont@w3.org>
> I think I explained how I feel about disasters, disasters are > emergencies that were not managed properly - I guess that's > personal Paola if the intent of this group is to seek and accept globally recognized terms of reference you might consider the following: The United Nations and most other recognized Disaster Management organizations define disaster as: "A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. (UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction) A disaster is defined and 'declared' when local resources are overwhelmed; when more resources are required than those immediately available. A disaster simply defines the point of escalation where outside help is required. 911 was a disaster for the city of New York within minutes of occurrence. You cannot lay blame on local responders for this disaster by suggesting they failed to manage properly. The suggestion inherent in your personal interpretation would probably be deemed insulting by many people within the disaster management community. Don
Received on Saturday, 23 June 2007 21:13:34 UTC