NEPAL EARTHQUAKE: LESSONS FROM IMMEDIATE INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

1. NEPAL EARTHQUAKE: LESSONS FROM IMMEDIATE INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

2. NEPAL EARTHQUAKE – UNIQUE FEATURES AFFECTING INTERNATIONAL DEPLOYMENT • Location and access issues: air, road • Kathmandu airfield – one runway, 5 parking bays only • Simultaneous evacuation of tourists from Nepal. Airlines kept functioning from Kathmandu. 43,000 Indian tourists alone. • Media frenzy (especially Western) drove response • Massive, quick Indian response

3. INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE - INDIA Massive, quick Indian response. In first 96 hours India flew in 30 C-17, C-130 sorties with: • 16 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) USAR teams (5 teams within 6 hours). • 2 Army Field Hospitals, 18 Army Medical teams • 18 Army Engineer Teams • 340 tons of relief material • 8 MI-17 helicopters and 5 ALH helicopters to Kathmandu and Pokhara airfields.

7. NEPAL – OVERALL COORDINATION STRUCTURE Base of Ops (UCC) USAR Coord Cell ( UCC) in Base of Operations of USAR teams in airport, not in OSOCC

8. INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE- LESSONS • Disproportionate international response, media driven, not needs driven • Geopolitics Matters • Speed of response is critical • Heavily dependent on the Military, need greater humanitarian –military interaction between disasters • Control of incoming international assistance is essential. Procedures have to be thought through before the disaster • Logistics matters greatly. Kathmandu airfield bottleneck • International assistance concentrated in the Kathmandu valley i.e. easily accessible to the media. • International community operates in a humanitarian bubble, local Govt must integrate them. Lack of co-location of coordination centres. • Disaster Preparedness works to a degree

9. IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS EVERYTHING IS POLITICAL !