 Philip J Burden GIS Business Manager Khatib & Alami CEC Dubai UAE Introduction The last twelve months has seen numerous well-publicized catastrophic natural disasters occur throughout the world, including the tsunami of Asia, several hurricanes of the USA, and the earthquakes of Pakistan/India. What each of these events has in common aside from the extent of loss of life, livelihood and materials, was the lack of preparedness of authorities to react to each event. Now that the events have passed and communities are back on the road to recovery, many observers are commenting on what could have been done better. There is an old saying of being “wiser after the event” which seems particularly true when such extreme events occur. This paper describes an approach to being better prepared to handle devastating events, and where GIS technology has a role to play. What is Disaster Planning The term disaster is used to describe an event with results in much human and/or property damage. Disaster planning is all about having in place a comprehensive disaster plan that ensures a rapid response when an extreme event occurs. Disaster plans describe how organizations should deal with a disaster. With such plans in place and a coordinated approach to handling an extreme event, these plans can help to reduce the amount of human and property loss. Types of Disasters Disasters can be categorized in two forms, either natural or man-made. Natural disasters are natural processes or phenomena occurring in the biosphere that may constitute a damaging event. They can be classified as earthquakes, volcanic activity, mass movement (landslides, rock falls, avalanches), floods and mudflows, storms (hailstorms, blizzard, rain, wind, tropical cyclones, storm surges), drought, desertification, heat waves, sand or dust storms, fire. Man-made disasters are man-induced phenomena that may constitute a damaging event. They can be classified terrorism, war, and engineering faults.
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