An Emergency Relief Shelter Response Framework for Flash Floods in Saudi Arabia

Flash floods often have a devastating impact on the people left in their wake in Saudi Arabia (SA). They do not always affect people simply for a short period; rather, their general welfare and way of life can be disrupted after the event has occurred. Emergency relief shelters (ERS) are used to provide places of protection, privacy, security and well-being for people to live in when they have left their usual accommodation as a consequence of flash floods. ERS not only provide a quick and short-term response for the victims, but they also help them to recuperate from the injury and the trauma of a calamity, and give them a base from which they can begin the process of rehabilitation. A review of the literature indicates that the performance and provision of ERS for victims of flash flooding in SA are not currently as effective as they should be. A general lack of sufficient consideration with regard to a range of matters such as delays and unappropriated ERS responses has been identified as a source of poor performance contributing to an unacceptable standard. In particular, the published guidance available in SA for the response to flash flood situations has been found to be too generic to be of much practical use. This thesis develops an ERS response framework that helps to provide more focused guidance for flash flood situation in SA. Key features of the proposed framework are that it is an interactive tool that can be used on site and also that it can be developed and improved by being updated to capture good responses of ERS used in previous flash flood situations. The principal aim of the framework is to provide better guidance than that currently available to those who make decisions such as aid relief agency staff who are present at the flash flood site and whose role it is to provide help to those needing it with the minimum of delay. In doing so, it is hoped to maximise fitness for purpose, provide good value for money, improve life quality and save time.