Natural disasters have stroke and their consequences are unimaginable. Lives have been lost, property destroyed, dreams shuttered, bodily injuries inflicted among all these happen regardless of race, economic status, gender, level of education among other characteristics. For this reason, there is need for all the stakeholders to have basic and advanced skills on how to save lives especially before, during and after hazards strike. Various ways have been developed to help people learn necessary skills when it comes to saving lives. One such approach is through disaster simulation game from United Nation (UN) and International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).
In the game chosen, the hazard is floods. The area of interest is close to a mountainous area with the population of 470 people who are greatly dependent on service industry and energy production. The mission of the game is to save the biggest number of people, buildings as well as livelihoods from flood. The choices available are to upgrade housing as well as use a variety of defenses. The best option should be chosen in order to save most lives and properties.
One of the options is to engage in tree planting along the coastline. This will help block the flooding water from hitting the residential area. This is important since it will provide residents with a long-term solution to the recurrent problem. Another strategy that will help in blocking the flooding waters from hitting the area of interest is to construct dykes or walls to physically prevent water from entering the area of interest.
In line with these two ideas, construction of check valves might be vital in preventing water from entering homes. It is evident that when flood waters meet the building on their way, serious damages are likely to happen, for instance electric shocks among others. Since it is evident that the region is prone to floods, it is vital to inform all of the residents to place water heaters, sockets, electric panels as well as furnace slightly higher than normal. This will help in ensuring that issues related to electic shocks do not arise.
More importantly, building more physical structure to house individuals who will be displaced is quite important. However, this should be constructed in high altitude areas where flooding cannot reach. In my opinion, all the available mitigation and preparedness strategies are adequate. This rests on the idea that if they are carefully chosen and applied, all lives can be saved and all property protected from damages associated with flooding. For instance, constructing barriers will prevent or reduce the amount of water that can reach the area; construction of new houses will provide adequate accommodation to displaced people among others. If I was to upgrade the game, I will propose that we have aerial evacuation.
There are a number of advantages associated with this game. Players are provided with alternatives just like in real life situation, being bound by the time help individuals learn the art of making right decisions at the shortest time possible. This in real life application will go a long way in saving hundreds of lives as well as millions of properties. Additionally, it is worth mentioning that the game seems to be informative in helping the player understand how to get prepared for natural calamities. Importantly, it depicts how certain obvious and simple actions are effective in saving lives and properties. It is the combination of simple steps such as having drainage, construction of additional housing units, constructions of barriers and drainage systems among others that contribute to flood mitigation not only during the game but also in real life situations.
After playing the game, it is my opinion that the game is suitable for people of all age groups who are concerned with saving lives and property. However, the best audience will be children, adults and flood mitigation teams. For the first group, the game will nurture an instinct of flood preparedness and quick response with the best alternatives, adults will benefits since they will learn small tricks on how to prevent foods while flood mitigation team can learn how to respond to flooding quickly by adopting the least costly approaches while saving more lives.
