Emergency Management in Taiwan: Learning from Experiences

1. Emergency Management in Taiwan:Learning from Experiences Yi-En Tso Ph.D. student Department of Public Administration University of North Texas Denton, Texas

2. Overview • 1. Main hazards and vulnerabilities. • 2. History. • 3. Laws and organizations. • 4. Activities. • 5. Lessons. • 6. Conclusion.

3. Main hazards and vulnerabilities in Taiwan • Typhoon: 3.6 typhoons and US $667 million economy losses a year. • Earthquake: September 21, 1999, the Chi-Chi earthquake killed more than 2,400 people in the midnight.

4. Main hazards and vulnerabilities in Taiwan • Failures within public policy and government actions: inappropriate design, lack of building codes, and low-efficiency in implementing zoning policies.

5. Major disasters history • Chi-Chi Earthquake (September, 1999): 7.6 on the Richter scale, 2,400 people killed, 8,700 injured, 600,000 people left homeless, 14 billion USD damage. • Typhoon Nari (September, 2001): 104 people killed, 84 million USD agricultural losses, business and traffic in Taipei City were paralyzed more than a month.

6. Laws and organizations • Disaster Prevention and Response Act (DPRA): Promulgated in 2000 and amended in 2010, is the first disaster management related foundational law in Taiwan. • Four governmental levels: the Central, Municipality, County, and Township.

8. Activities • Structural and non-structural Mitigation activities. • Cross-border cooperation mechanism: Northern Taiwan Development Commission. • Cooperate with private sector and civil society.

9. Lessons learned • Financial asymmetry limits the efficiency of EM in local level. • Vague segregations of duties between agencies result in chaos and problems about unity of command. • Private sector and civil society have become powerful actors in Taiwanese EM network.

10. Conclusion • “No money, no gain” • “Adversity spurs vitality, while comfort breeds sloth” (Mencius, 372 – 289 BCE)

11. Thank you! Yi-En Tso Yi-entso@my.unt.edu