BRIEF INCIDENT REPORT
Between April 13 and 14, 2016, the western and south-western provinces of Iran were swept by heavy rains accompanied by lightning and thunder. The weather was unprecedented in this season of the year and resulted in flash floods throughout 23 provinces of Iran. Among these, 3 provinces, including Ilam, Khuzestan, and Lorestan, were damaged seriously from flooding. In Ilam province alone, this flood killed 4, injured 9, and affected 66,532 people. Power and water supplies were knocked out, and thunderstorms damaged telecommunication towers in some towns and villages. Also, the flood destroyed agriculture land and products, buildings, and roads in its way. In total, according to the initial assessments, this flash flood had cost counties and villages an estimated USD 86 million throughout Iran.
This study attempts to review the response functions during a disaster and compare them with the measures taken during this flood in the most damaged province, Ilam, as shown below.
Warning and Event Confirmation
The Iran Meteorological Organization (IMO) did not succeed in timely predicting the past few natural disasters, such as the Tehran dust storm in 2014 or the Golestan flash floods in 2001 and 2002.Reference Fatemi, Ardalan and Moslehi1, Reference Ardalan, Holakouie Naieni and Kabir2 But, fortunately, the government’s weather forecasts operated quickly during the April 2016 flash floods. The IMO cautioned about the occurrence of a flood in the western and south-western provinces 7 days before. So, the authorities in the western and south-western provinces had 1 week to prepare and respond to this event. The provincial Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) confirmed the occurrence of the flood in each affected region and announced the news to the county.
Keeping the IMO warnings in mind, the shift work program was adjusted. The entire staff was on call for the emergency situation.
Joint Rapid Assessment
Rapid assessment in the first few days following a disaster is most important to establish the priorities and assess the immediate needs of the affected community.3 This was done in the case of the recent disaster in Iran.Reference Babaei, Moslehi and Ardalan4 A rapid health assessment team was sent to flooded areas to evaluate the loss, assess the health needs of the affected people, and plan for delivering health care. This team involved experts in different fields, such as environmental health, communicable diseases, EOC, and technical health deputies of damaged counties.
Establishing Incident Command Posts
EOCs were activated at the national, regional, and local levels according to IMO warnings about heavy rains, storms, and flooding in Ministry of Health (MOH), provinces, and counties exposed to the flood hazard. The EOCs of affected counties established Incident Command Posts (ICPs) in the affected locations to provide a timely and effective response. On-scene incident command functions were performed.5 Individual commanders were selected for ICPs to perform the on-scene incident command functions. They maintained constant contact with the incident commander in each ICS.
Codifying the Incident Action Plan
An Incident Action Plan (IAP) is a dynamic program that expresses the objectives and necessary tactics for the management of disasters and emergencies.3 Also, the IAP answers 3 questions: what actions should be taken, who should take action, and when the measures should be implemented in response to disasters and emergencies.Reference Ardalan, Moradian and Saberinia6 It can be revised according to the needs and operational field sources. The type of action in an IAP will be based on the recognized functions in an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP).
The IAP was codified before the flood for different governmental sectors and revised during the event according to the reports of rapid assessments.
Command and Control
Incident Command System (ICS) is an organizational structure that comprises of a series of management positions in order of authority to aid in the management of resources and capacities during incidents.Reference Ciotton7
This structure includes the incident commander, command staff, and general staff. The incident commander is responsible for the overall leadership of the event. The command staff has a safety officer, a liaison officer, and a public information officer.Reference Smith and Kuldau8 The ICS was activated during the first hours of the flood occurrence, and the incident commander was the health deputy, the highest authority of health in the Ilam province. Also, experienced experts joined ICS from MOH in the next 2 days. One of the observed weaknesses in the established ICS was the lack of a safety officer during the recent floods.
Safety and Security of Personnel
As mentioned above, the safety officer was not among the command staff of ICS. Safety and security of the first or secondary responders and even their families are very important in disasters.Reference Ciotton7 The safety officer is responsible for monitoring and assessing safety hazards or unsafe conditions and developing precautionary measures for ensuring the safety of personnel during such incidents.5 This issue was usually ignored in the response phase during the past disasters and so was it in this case. It is necessary to remember that the health and safety of personnel/operational teams is priority while delivering services to the affected population.
Logistics
Logistics and maintaining it at an acceptable level is vital to continue the services to the affected people. In this case, different ministries and organizations, such as MOH, Water and Sewage Organization, Iranian Red Crescent (IRC), Ministry of Power (MOP), and Department of Agriculture (DOA), supported the needs of people in the flooded regions. For instance, the MOH sent the first loading of vaccines, supplementary medicines, and antiseptics to the affected regions within 24 h after the occurrence of the event. Also, the IRC supplied the other nonfood necessities, such as tents, blankets, and clothes during the first 12 h after the floods.
Public Communication and Information Management
Information management plays an important role in the response phase. It is also one of the greatest challenges that emergency managers and authorities encounter.Reference Barrantes and Rodriguez9, Reference Deen10 The tools available include satellite phones, radios, conventional telephone systems, computers, and other devices, all linked by redundant systems. Many offices have network-based systems for organizing requests and information.Reference Ciotton7 Therefore, the national government should invest heavily in better ways so that operational teams can communicate with each other and senior levels during activation. The virtual networks were active during this flood, and many messages were transferred in this way between the operational teams. But, the formal communication system was by means of telephone or paper reporting from the field.
Mass media played a key part in public communication in the affected regions. Important warnings and precautionary measures for protecting people against the flood were repeated many times by the media. People were asked to evacuate from areas that were at a higher risk of flooding.
Also, the other mechanisms for the information management process and mobilization of the required resources are as follows: (1) preparing the situation reports in flooded regions according to a joint rapid assessment; (2) timely distribution and effective transfer of information to decision-making organizations, service providers, and communities at different levels; (3) collecting, organizing, and storing reports and other technical and scientifically relevant information related to disasters and emergencies; and (4) applying the results of reports that analyze, assess, estimate flood losses, and lessons learned into a publication.
CONCLUSION
Establishing an Early Warning System (EWS) for floods in a systematic way can be very effective in mitigating the losses caused by floods.Reference Cools, Innocenti and O’Brien11 Timely and correct public communication should be one of the strategies of mass media in the time of natural disasters. Coordinating among responsible organizations is vital during the response phase to have a good performance in Iran. Studies predict that global warming and climate change will increase both the number and intensity of floods in coming years. Therefore, managing and mitigating the flood hazard with community-based activities should be on the agenda of all relevant organizations.
Acknowledgments
We thank the manager and colleagues from Ilam University of Medical Sciences who provided us data access and for their comments that greatly improved the manuscript.
