Did the response activities build on lessons learned from past flood disasters?
There is general consensus that disaster relief was handled better for the 1998 flood than for the severe flooding ten years before in 1988. One crude indicator of this is the much lower fatality rate (1,376 in 1998 compared to about 6,000 in 1988). There are some interesting comparisons to the findings of an ODI evaluation of the 1988 flood relief: • the 1988 report noted the housing interventions varied widely in design, cost, etc. This is still the case in 1998. • the 1988 report found the response was very top-down and there was little community-level participation. This appears to be less of an issue in 1998. • the 1988 report criticised the continuity and effectiveness of local coordination efforts. In 1998, DEC agencies were quite positive about the adequacy of communications, preparedness, and government-NGO cooperation. Effectiveness Agencies that implemented effective relief and rehabilitation activities demonstrated the following competencies: • effective disaster preparedne
