The Ancient Roots of Emergency Management & Disaster Response
As members of modern society, we have come to rely upon our government to provide aid when disaster strikes. This expectation extends beyond an event’s immediate aftermath as we look to our leaders to deliver ongoing support for long-term recovery and prudent reforms to reduce our vulnerability moving forward. Although the sophistication of government response (and its attendant bureaucracy) is a rather recent development, the very concept of disaster response, hazard mitigation, and emergency management as components of a larger social contract can be seen throughout history.
Flood Control in Mesopotamia
For the Sumerians who lived in Mesopotamia, the floodplain they inhabited between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was a ticking timebomb. Regular and often devastating floods impacted the communities in the region so much that they devised a method to alleviate the damage.
Rivers that are prone to flooding also experience significant changes in depth, which will naturally carve out higher banks that function as natural levees. The Sumerians took note of the natural flood protection and used this observation to inspire their own flood control projects.
At first, they simply built their homes on the elevated ground of the embankments as well as artificial mounds, but as flooding continued, they learned that was not enough protection. With each passing year and every devastating flood, the Sumerian approach to flood control became more advanced. Over time, they created the first known system of flood barriers, which covered thousands of miles and were used in combination with dams, canals, and floodgates to manage the flow of water.
By observing their natural surroundings and a process of trial and error, the Sumerians devised an effective system to manage the natural hazards surrounding them so the society could grow and flourish.
Illustration of buildings and settlements in ancient Mesopotamia
The Indigenous American Approach to Forest Management
Each spring and summer in the US and Canada, we watch as wildfires burn thousands of acres, destroy neighborhoods and towns, introduce noxious chemicals that poison the surrounding environment, and envelope the air in a haze for thousands of miles downwind. Ironically, it is actually a lack of fire (combined with drier conditions caused by climate change) that has created this perpetual vulnerability.
For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples throughout the American west as well as Native Hawaiians used fire to manage the land in a practice called “cultural burning.” These controlled fires helped maintain balance within the forests by reducing the overall biomass and instigating new growth amongst several plant species. In fact, these tribes did such a good job in California that the original Spanish settlers described the land as a “well-tended garden.”
Misguided land management practices throughout the 20th century eliminated controlled burns and focused on total fire suppression, creating an overabundance of fuel for wildfires. A 2022 study by UC Berkeley found that the Klamath Mountains region forest biomass is double what it once was. A similar Sierra Nevada study published the same year estimated a 6x—7x increase in tree density over the previous 100 years.
It's nearly impossible to return to this previous land management approach – mainly due to urbanization and timber farming – however, in smaller areas that have reintroduced cultural burning, such as Yosemite’s Illilouette Creek Basin, researchers have seen promising results. More than looking to the past or simply “fighting fire with fire,” the takeaway should be a more holistic approach to land management and wildfire control.
A view of the thick forest in Yosemite Valley, California
Disaster Response in Rome: From Fire Brigades to Government Relief
While many older civilizations had what we could call plans for hazard mitigation, it is the Romans we can look to for a true disaster response program led by a centralized government. This more organized approach to disaster response would begin with a simple fire brigade.
After a particularly devastating fire in 6 CE, Emperor Augustus established the first permanent fire brigade in Rome. Previously, fire brigades were organized for personal use by rich citizens – the first and most infamous of which was created by Marcus Crassus for the purpose of expanding his real estate portfolio by negotiating the purchase of properties while they burned.
It was Augustus, however, who would use this fire brigade idea for the common good. Officially known as the Cohortes Vigilum (cohorts of watchmen), they were affectionately called the “little bucket fellows” and were so effective that similar brigades were soon established in other Roman cities.
Unfortunately, the little bucket fellows would be unable to stop the great fire in 64 CE that destroyed Rome. As local officials failed to get the blaze under control, Emperor Nero stepped in to coordinate the response with members of his own household. When the inferno was finally extinguished, Nero housed refugees in public buildings as well as his own estate, raised funds for the survivors, and orchestrated debris removal.
More importantly, Nero introduced critical building reforms after the disaster to ensure it wasn’t repeated, requiring buildings to be constructed with ground floors of stone and no common walls. This coordinated response from the Roman empire would serve as the blueprint for future disasters, including the most famous calamity in Roman history: the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
Just 15 years after the great fire, in 79 CE, Mt. Vesuvius destroyed the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum with a cataclysmic eruption of lava and ash. At this point, the Emperor Titus had only been in power a few months, but he orchestrated the response similarly to his predecessor, Nero. He personally donated to a fund for the survivors, provided additional monetary assistance from the state treasury and even traveled to the area to survey the damage (believed to be the first recorded instance of a government official visiting a disaster site).
In many ways, the Roman Empire exemplified the type of coordinated response modern citizens have come to expect from their governments in times of crisis. Not just during fires or volcanic eruptions, we also have evidence of Roman response following earthquakes and tsunamis, as well as during plagues, which would inform how Europeans handled the greatest public health emergency in the Middle Ages: the Black Death.
Illustration of ancient Roman ruins and landscape in the background and a crowd of people in the foreground
Public Health Response During the Black Death
The Black Death, and the way the crisis was managed across Europe, demonstrates disaster response at the local level. This is because the government structure at the time simply wasn’t as strong or well-coordinated as the days of Roman power. However, on a more granular level, there’s much to learn from the way different cities, towns, and villages reacted.
One such city imposed the first-ever quarantine during the 14th century. In what is now known as Dubrovnik, Croatia, city officials took the drastic measure of forcing visitors to isolate themselves on one of the many islands just off the coast for 40 days prior to entering the walled city. The reason for this approach was simple – Dubrovnik was a merchant city and couldn’t afford to close its doors and wait for the pestilence to burn out. They had to stay open for business.
Quarantine proved to be effective at reducing the spread of disease, and over the next 300 years, Dubrovnik expanded upon the idea by constructing Lazarettos, which were buildings that housed visitors during their 40-day quarantine period.
Not all areas chose to isolate visitors. Some simply closed the gates and tried to ride out the pandemic behind city walls. Others chose to try to fight infection by improving sanitation with a focus on garbage and sewage management, water purification, and food inspection. The Black Death also inspired the establishment of hospitals, as well as an early use of masks to ward off disease (based on the misconception the plague was caused by “bad air”).
In many ways, European society nearly collapsed due to the Black Death, but when the public health crisis finally subsided, a rebirth happened. This proved that, even in the face of unprecedented disasters, society can weather the storm and come out stronger on the other side.
A photo showing the walled city of Dubrovnik, Croatia
No culture or society is completely immune to disaster. Regardless of the steps taken to prepare for calamities or mitigate hazards, ultimately an event will occur that devastates a community or region. When that happens, we will look to our neighbors for help, but we will also expect assistance from our government, just as our predecessors have for thousands of years.