Proper preparation: essential for entities involved in disaster relief
The litany of actors activated during disaster relief creates solutions, but also challenges. Natural disasters force entities from completely different spheres of operation – public vs. private, local vs federal, for-profit vs NGOs – into a single theater.
As hundreds, or sometimes thousands, of relief personnel congregate on the affected area, they themselves can generate increased risk for the local population unless they’ve properly planned their arrival. Take an example from 1998 when clothing donated for the victims of Hurricane Mitch littered the runway in haphazardly placed bales, impeding the landing of further aircraft carrying essential supplies.
It’s in this vacuum of coordination that the modular building industry hopes to make a difference. Although the modular building industry is just one more actor in the disaster relief effort, it can play a disproportionate role in the mitigation of risks and the generation of recovery.
Aries takes its role in saving lives seriously and attempts to become a lubricant for all the moving parts activated during emergencies.
The most vulnerable
The most vulnerable group in a post disaster area are those confined to special care facilities: hospitals, nursing homes, and residences of people with chronic diseases. As stated in a recent study into hurricane relief, “Growing numbers of persons have chronic diseases and use sophisticated pharmaceutical and mechanical support that is dependent on electricity. Chronically ill patients are particularly vulnerable to disruptions in basic utilities, which highlights the need for these patients, their communities, and their providers to have contingency plans during and after disasters”
Aries aids the most vulnerable in two key areas:
- Relocatable medical facilities
Having worked with relocatable portable buildings during Hurricane Harvey, Aries can work with medical establishments to plan emergency portable buildings, customizable, to be moved on-demand during disasters.
- Aries Residential Suites
These “homes away from home” can save lives by mitigating some of the most common threats in a post-disaster area. These threats include heat-related deaths and fatalities caused by improper use of electric generators, causing electrocution or carbon monoxide poisoning. In shelters, “some elderly evacuees reportedly won’t drink a sufficient amount of water because they don’t want to use dirty toilets.”¹ In others, the stress levels have been linked with causing heart attacks and strokes.² Finally, in the confined conditions of shelters, epidemics can cause deaths in vulnerable populations.
Portable, air-conditioned, leased domiciles provide families immediate safety from heat-induced dehydration or stroke. Furthermore, Aries residences come equipped with their own electric generators, mitigating the risk of using faulty generators. Nursing homes, in particular, can use portable suites for temporary evacuation or long-term residency during recovery. Residential suites include cafeterias, laundry facilities, recreation centers, and the staff to maintain all of it, including security staff.
First responders
Aries can provide housing complexes for first responders to rest during emergency response situations, and also provide portable offices for planning and coordination. These offices, similar to the ones used on construction sites, can supply a level of tranquility and stability to workers on the ground during disaster relief.
The portable office’s, along with portable storage containers, facilitate tasks associated with disaster relief as dictated by the National Response Framework (NRF). Below are just a few of the NRF’s imperatives for which portable offices can be useful:
- NGO’s must train, manage, and coordinate volunteers and donated goods.
- Entities must supply physical, visible locations for victims to look for assistance and supplies.
- Nonprofits should provide health, medical, mental health, and behavioral health resources.
- Local governments should provide direction for response activities.
- Emergency directors should coordinate damage assessments during an incident.
Recovery post-disaster
Businesses:
Aries offers portable building, portable storage, and mobile office solutions to local businesses so they can address the response needs of employees, infrastructure, and facilities. Additional benefits include protecting information and maintaining the continuity of business operations. They also need to collaborate with emergency management personnel to determine what assistance may be required and how they can provide needed support., For example, they can contribute to communication and information-sharing efforts during incidents.
Schools:
Normalcy returns to families with the commencement of school activities for their children. Aries offers, and has offered, portable classrooms, modular cafeteria pods, and even modular libraries.
Communities:
Local communities face an uphill battle after a disaster. Many deaths are associated with residents clearing debris or rebuilding. Contaminated water also impedes some people from accessing safe drinking water and causes illnesses.
Aries offers every option possible in the face of emergency housing or building needs:
- Design/build engineering
- In-house manufacturing
- In-house transportation arm
- Construction services and general construction
- Civil work
- Land development
- Capital and finance leasing
Logistics contracting including:
- Food service and cleaning
- Security and transportation services
- Laundry and tailoring services
- Waste management
- Vector control
- Labor support and supply
- Tailor-made maintenance contracts
- Power transmission and design including generators
- Water storage, pumping, and sewer treatment
- Consulting
As you can see, Aries understands that our industry has a special role to fulfill in disaster relief. Our list of products matches many of the most essential relief and recovery needs in post-disaster communities. We hope to give first responders, government agencies, hospitals, and all involved the same level of confidence we generate in our day-to-day activities.
About Aries:
Aries has a history of providing emergency modular buildings for disaster relief, including the devastating Canadian wildfire of May 2016 and recent flooding in Louisiana resulting from long periods of torrential downpours in August 2016. With the experience and expertise of the Aries’ workforce, exceptional and fast service is guaranteed. For more information, or quotes on how we can provide Hurricane Irma Relief, contact Aries Building Systems at 877-721-4363 or visit our devoted international emergency relief page on our website: https://ariesbuildings.com/international-emergency-relief/
Additional resources to help you mitigate flooding and storm damage:
- https://www.fema.gov/hurricane-irma
- https://www.fema.gov/hurricane-harvey
- http://www.iaqa.org/consumer-resources/storm-damage-resources/
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1 https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2019/03/23/editorials/indirect-deaths-disasters/#.XT9pXZNKhsM
