Assessment of effectiveness of emergency response time during landslide event in Malaysia

Abstract

The number of landslide disaster is increasing in Malaysia, and its impact is significant to livelihoods, socio-economic, physical and environmental assets of people and businesses. Historically, as recorded by Malaysia Public Work Department, a total of 440 landslides in Malaysia for the period 1973 to 2007, while more landslides are not properly reported and recorded. Emergency Response Planning (ERP) with right decision at the 'initial stage' of an emergency plays a major role in reducing disaster impact. Response from the rescue team was varied subjected to underlying risk, hill-slope geomorphological processes and characteristics of each landslide. Many ERP elements should be considered, e.g. data on specialised equipment and organisations must be updated. This paper provides a better insight into the effective emergency response preparedness in Malaysia. This study investigates the level of preparedness of the rescue team and the community towards landslide-prone area. Analysis of emergency response time based on the Malaysia Civil Defence Force (MCDF) experienced recorded from the classical and recent landslide in Hulu Kelang Selangor. The landslide was caused by multiple internal and external factors, which mainly induced by inadequate design of retaining structures and slopes. So far, 28 historical landslide events were reported in the Hulu Kelang area from 1990 to 2011 with 21 cases of them were triggered by rainfall. The results are promising concerning emergency response time and its effectiveness. This study also addresses the issues and challenges of disaster preparedness and awareness carried out by relevant stakeholders especially in the context of landslide emergency response. Several best practices of the effective emergency response are critically reviewed and presented. As a conclusion, this study shows that an effective emergency response preparedness is crucial for supporting an effective early warning system coupled to enhanced public awareness and preparedness with structured training programs.