Footnote:
Middle East and North Africa
West Bank and Gaza
English
en_US
Description:
Winter storm Alexa, which hit the West Bank and Gaza from December 11 to 14, 2013, was one of the strongest storms to arrive in five decades. Coordination during the emergency highlighted the inadequacy of the region's disaster preparedness plans - neither the West Bank nor Gaza had a disaster risk management (DRM) framework or policies in place. The report lays the groundwork for implementing a longer-term DRM framework within the West Bank and Gaza, and for international partners' assistance in doing so. It estimates the physical damages and economic losses in the water and sanitation, transport, energy, housing, and agriculture sectors because they endured most of the storm's impacts. Furthermore, the report explores ways to strengthen emergency management capacity, improve coordination between central and local governments, and establish a decentralized decision-support system. One of the major findings of the report was that agriculture and livestock was the most affected sector, accounting for 65 percent of the total damages and losses. Given the increased frequency of extreme weather events, and the increased economy shocks that follows, the assessment strongly recommends developing and adopting a DRM policy, which would comprise of both a legal framework and risk reduction activities across sectors. The assessment is organized into four sections: (i) an introduction that includes an overview of disaster facts and an assessment methodology; (ii) economic and social impacts; (iii) damage and losses and impact on human development, broken down into sectors; and (iv) recovery and needs, broken down into sectors. There are also two appendixes, one on "Participants in the Rapid Assessment," and the other on "Existing DRM Initiatives in West Bank and Gaza." Included are also maps, photographs from a spacecraft, tables, and charts