Comments on: Managers and (Disaster) Planning

By: Johanna Rothman

Johanna Rothman — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 20:08:36 +0000

Deepak, thank you for the data. I’m amazed.

By: Deepak Surti

Deepak Surti — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 04:57:52 +0000

However I was surprised by this statistic::Bombay (aka Mumbai , India) was hit by 37 inches rain on Jul 27. Comparing it with hurricane Katrina::
inches of rain in new orleans due to hurricane katrina… 18
inches of rain in mumbai (July 27th)…. 37.1
population of new orleans… 484,674
population of mumbai…. 12,622,500
deaths in new orleans within 48 hours of katrina…100
deaths in mumbai within 48hours of rain.. 37.
number of people to be evacuated in new orleans… entire city
number of people evacuated in mumbai…10,000
Cases of shooting and violence in new
orleans…Countless
Cases of shooting and violence in mumbai.. NONE
Time taken for US army to reach new orleans…48hours [THIS IS TERRIBLE]
Time taken for Indian army and navy to reach mumbai…12hours
status 48hours later…new orleans is still waiting for relief, army and electricty
status 48hours later..mumbai is back on its feet and is business is as usual
I think Bombay planners were way more efficient. as esther says risks were identified. But one group went ahead and made sure the resources were also available to handle them effectively.

By: Esther

Esther — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 01:58:49 +0000

Johanna –
I’ve been following the Katrina events, too — as much as I can up north where the radio reception is thin.
From what I’ve heard, many of the risks — even the catastrophic ones — were identified. Some of them have been known for years.
But money wasn’t allocated to mitigate the risk. Or only enogh money was allocated to take half measures.
On a corporate level, I see more comapnies making serious investments to mitigate IT related risk and make contingency plans.
But on projects, I more often see risk management viewed as “nay-saying and negativity”.
Esther

By: Walter Underwood

Walter Underwood — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 01:49:28 +0000

Being without power for “maybe a week” is expected, not “unlikely”. I lived in Baton Rouge when Hurricane Betsy came through, and we were without telephone for seven days and without power for ten. Our area was lightly damaged, mostly downed trees and holes in roofs from limbs.
It is normal to need to repair a lot of the city grid, because of fallen trees and poles. You bring in crews from other cities and states. Right now in New Orleans, there isn’t any way to house those crews, so it will take even longer.