First name:
Andrea
Last name:
White
Class Year:
2013
Advisor:
Amity Doolittle
Essay Abstract:
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) have high potential for significant destruction and devastating impacts on communities in the Himalayan nation of Bhutan. Bhutan currently lacks a comprehensive disaster plan, and strategizing management techniques is a necessity for beginning creation of such a plan. I conclude that community-‐based management techniques are most appropriate for strategizing disaster management for a Bhutanese GLOF, based on analysis of a historical account of a Bhutanese GLOF from 1994, Bhutan’s public health infrastructure and policy, and study of current community-‐based systems in Bhutan. In addition, I complete a vulnerability analysis of political, economic, natural, and public health vulnerabilities to a GLOF event, and make recommendations for the Royal Government of Bhutan to plan for and strengthen resilience capacity for a GLOF in Bhutan.