When Cyclone Nargis hit Burma on 2 May, the 112-knot winds knocked out power and communication lines and caused widespread destruction reminiscent of the catastrophic tropical cyclone that struck the Indian coastal state of Orissa in 1999. The Burmese authorities – if they cared about their people at all – would have done well to learn from Orissa. The cyclone there left unprecedented devastation in its wake. It compelled the state, the Government and NGOs to put in place a new approach, looking not just at relief but at what can be done before a disaster strikes.
Today, village women in Orissa have been trained to respond to natural disasters. Working via self-help groups, they can build houses for those left homeless, run community kitchens, organize medical relief, administer first aid and rescue drowning people. When major floods struck the region in 2006, the women’s timely response illustrated their well-honed emergency management skills. As the flood warnings arrived, ‘we hastened to the community health centre,’ explains Nayani Mohanty, one of the women trained in first aid, ‘and requested the doctor to release sufficient paracetamol, diarrhoea medicine and oral rehydration salts to the local grassroots health worker. Then from her we distributed these among vulnerable families.’ Another trained group fanned out to their respective villages to inform every household about when and how to evacuate.
