I am a world traveler. As such, the way natural disasters by different International Organizations and Nation States may be managed differently and could occur while out of the country like the floods of Angra dos Reis in Brazil (CNN, 1) last year or the way it is afflicting Rio de Janeiro, this year (Queiroz, 1).
My family lives in active volcano territory and I live in an area with frequent hurricanes. On my 21st birthday, Mt. St. Helens blew up, spreading ash throughout eastern WA, causing flooding along the rivers, halting highway traffic, causing the deaths of a dozen people who refused to leave the area when the state closed the area, and stopping flights. When I worked at Boeing, we had volcano drills to cover equipment such as aircraft engines, machinery and the like.
The FAA regulates US airspace, the EU European airspace and various other international organizations play a role. The International Civil Aviation Organization regulates and sets the standards for worldwide aviation economic activity under the UN’s Economic and Social Council (Pease, 18). Multinational Corporations dealing with the aviation industry may be affected by natural disasters that affect worldwide airspace, such as Aircraft Manufacturers like Boeing, subcontractors like Honeywell and Airport Management operations like the Port of Seattle or companies that provide equipment to the airport like Raytheon.
Within the nation-states where the disaster occurs, the disaster may be responded to in different ways. In the case of the recent flooding in Brazil, Brazil’s President toured the area and promised to deliver swift relief aid. The Brazilian Army was responsible for the rescue of families and delivery of aid including money, food, clothing and vaccines against tetanus and diphtheria and their Civil Defense Agency is involved(Queiroz, 1).
In the rains of 2012, one of Brazil’s power plants was affected but they maintained operations (CNN, 1).
When non-citizens are killed in a foreign country, the embassy, and Multinational Corporations dealing with emergency health airlift and insurance may be involved.
Nuclear power plants are subject to regulation by the nation-state and by the International Atomic Energy Agency under the UN’s General Assembly (Pease, 18). In really large disasters, the World Health Organization, under the UN’s Social and Economic Council may monitor the situation (Pease, 18).
International Nongovernmental Organizations like the Red Cross may also get involved, as they did in 2010’s flooding in Brazil. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also provided money from the IFRC Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (IFRC, 1) with donations to the organizations being provided by a worldwide membership. It is scary to note that repercussions and aid were still being offered over 4 months later. Other NGOs like Doctors without Borders, the Catholic Church and other ministries may be involved in aid (Pease, 35) especially if epidemics occur or spread as in the case recently reported for Haiti or if many people are displaced. But not all countries allow outside NGO help, like in the case of Cyclone Nargis in 2008,(Pease, 34).
[1] Sergio Queiroz, “Brazil rains kill more than 600 as epidemic feared”, Reuters, Jan 15, 2011
[2] CNN,”Death toll in Brazil rains hits 60”, CNN, January 2, 2010
[3] IFRC, “Brazilian Red Cross responds to worst floods in 40 years”. April 9, 2010
[4] Kelly-Kate S. Pease, International Organizations, Pearson, 2010
My family lives in active volcano territory and I live in an area with frequent hurricanes. On my 21st birthday, Mt. St. Helens blew up, spreading ash throughout eastern WA, causing flooding along the rivers, halting highway traffic, causing the deaths of a dozen people who refused to leave the area when the state closed the area, and stopping flights. When I worked at Boeing, we had volcano drills to cover equipment such as aircraft engines, machinery and the like.
The FAA regulates US airspace, the EU European airspace and various other international organizations play a role. The International Civil Aviation Organization regulates and sets the standards for worldwide aviation economic activity under the UN’s Economic and Social Council (Pease, 18). Multinational Corporations dealing with the aviation industry may be affected by natural disasters that affect worldwide airspace, such as Aircraft Manufacturers like Boeing, subcontractors like Honeywell and Airport Management operations like the Port of Seattle or companies that provide equipment to the airport like Raytheon.
Within the nation-states where the disaster occurs, the disaster may be responded to in different ways. In the case of the recent flooding in Brazil, Brazil’s President toured the area and promised to deliver swift relief aid. The Brazilian Army was responsible for the rescue of families and delivery of aid including money, food, clothing and vaccines against tetanus and diphtheria and their Civil Defense Agency is involved(Queiroz, 1).
In the rains of 2012, one of Brazil’s power plants was affected but they maintained operations (CNN, 1).
When non-citizens are killed in a foreign country, the embassy, and Multinational Corporations dealing with emergency health airlift and insurance may be involved.
Nuclear power plants are subject to regulation by the nation-state and by the International Atomic Energy Agency under the UN’s General Assembly (Pease, 18). In really large disasters, the World Health Organization, under the UN’s Social and Economic Council may monitor the situation (Pease, 18).
International Nongovernmental Organizations like the Red Cross may also get involved, as they did in 2010’s flooding in Brazil. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also provided money from the IFRC Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (IFRC, 1) with donations to the organizations being provided by a worldwide membership. It is scary to note that repercussions and aid were still being offered over 4 months later. Other NGOs like Doctors without Borders, the Catholic Church and other ministries may be involved in aid (Pease, 35) especially if epidemics occur or spread as in the case recently reported for Haiti or if many people are displaced. But not all countries allow outside NGO help, like in the case of Cyclone Nargis in 2008,(Pease, 34).
[1] Sergio Queiroz, “Brazil rains kill more than 600 as epidemic feared”, Reuters, Jan 15, 2011
[2] CNN,”Death toll in Brazil rains hits 60”, CNN, January 2, 2010
[3] IFRC, “Brazilian Red Cross responds to worst floods in 40 years”. April 9, 2010
[4] Kelly-Kate S. Pease, International Organizations, Pearson, 2010
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