Nargis and Haiyan: The Politics of Natural Disaster Management in Myanmar and the Philippines

This paper examines the impact of two of the gravest natural disasters in contemporary Asian history: Cyclone Nargis, which devastated parts of Myanmar in May 2008, and Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines in November 2013. It addresses the role played by greatly divergent governance structures, noting that governance failures led to the exacerbation of the disasters in both cases. The paper explores the links between the national government as the primary duty-bearer for good governance and natural disaster risk management, examining institutions, infrastructures, education and budgetary allocations in each country; seeking the underlying causes of inefficient disaster management. This includes the extent to which each government fell short in its response even though each country is regularly exposed to typhoons and tropical storms. In each case the findings are that the national resilience and government preparedness efforts to reduce the impact of natural disasters were insufficient, and that the authorities, either through lack of capacity or lack of will, experienced reaction shortcomings. The final section contains lessons learned and policy prescriptions in order to enhance resilience in the face of future natural disasters in Asia.