Cyclone Relief Demands Climate Change Response

Andrew Irwin is from the Micronesian Center for Sustainable Transport at the University of the South Pacific

Tropical Cyclone Yasa was the second category 5 cyclone to make landfall in Fiji in recorded history

The disastrous ramifications of climate change are brought back into horrifying detail for a nation which still has not fully recovered from the loss and damage of Category 5 TC Winston in 2016. Facing two massive storms in less than five years after a century witnessing nothing of similar magnitude should illustrate the growing intensity and frequency of climatological events as we exit the Holocene and enter a more volatile, less predictable, Anthropocene.

Destruction

The destruction wrought across the nation, particularly in the

Northern and Eastern Divisions brings the need for disaster response into stark relief.

Given the centralisation of Government services and private sector capacity in the central division.

The relatively low impact of TC Yasa on the greater Suva area means the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), in coordination with international aid efforts, has an overwhelming amount of work to undertake to provide relief to the devastated communities across Vanua Levu and the impacted outer islands. In this instance, even before activities such as damage, loss, and needs assessments take place, it is readily apparent the material needs to provide disaster relief to affected communities has outstripped the immediate logistics capacity to arrange the necessary shipments and fully distribute emergency aid packages within the three days following TC Yasa.

Distribution

Distribution of medical supplies, food rations, emergency shelter and latrines, and potable water become increasingly pressing to prevent further harm as hygiene and sanitation limitations exacerbate suffering associated with injuries, trauma, and other risk factors which increase vulnerability and exposure to secondary threats.

Climate change

While “building back better” is a fundamental principle of improving resilience to climate change, resource-constrained nations such as Fiji are barely able to catch a breath between natural disaster events of increasing frequency and strength.

Additionally, Fiji needs to consider the ramifications of the next largescale threat having a more direct impact on the capital of Suva. Seeing the horrifying scope of the damage to the entirety of Vanua Levu, writ large across the Northern and Eastern Divisions, under the current centralised governance, economic, and logistical paradigm, a similar event striking the greater Suva area would be absolutely catastrophic to Fiji.

None of the administrative mechanisms in place would enable a sufficient response to support the capital in crisis.

This potential (eventual) scenario necessitates a move towards decentralising and mobilizing disaster response capacity across every Division of Fiji.

During the Pacific Islands Transport Forum & Expo in 2018, MCST had the opportunity to welcome the team from Sea Mercy, which has been running “Sea Bridge” programmes in the region over previous years.

The rationale of the programme hinges upon the two required principles for rapid response – decentralisation and mobilisation of assets.

Through positioning and coordinating a fleet of healthcare and logistics professionals on vessels continuously on the move to provide regular support services to outer island communities, broadening support with initiatives such as those being built by Sea Mercy.

Ensuring existing capacity to respond to disasters is already in place through maritime-based mobile clinics and resource centres, disaster preparedness will be elevated at a national level, not just in the NDMO office in Suva, but through distributed support to rural provincial areas on a continuous rotating basis.

Coordination body

Additionally, with a coordinating body to guide and direct the logistical and cargo capacity of the tens of thousands of tonnes of under-utilised space on recreational vessels, fleets at necessary scale may be mobilised with much greater haste to address the immediate needs in the first 72 hours following hazard events.

We are early in the cyclone season, and given the hurricanes faced in the Atlantic earlier in 2020, it is unlikely TC Yasa will be the only threat to the people of Fiji in the coming months.

It is also unfortunately unlikely we will go another five years without a category 5 cyclone making landfall here.

Given this reality, it is incumbent upon Fiji to make preparations domestically and, at an international level, to demand a responsible, considered response to address the loss and damages and forthcoming challenges of protecting the population from further threats.

We can build back better, if we adamantly – ceaselessly – make an unyielding demand for the tools to fix the situation from those nations and cultures who broke us out of the Holocene in the first place.