LEARN7 - Mission 7: Local crisis

Braunschweig is the city I'm currently living in. It is a small and peaceful town which haven't had any unexpected incidents since I moved here. Since the weather is generally pretty stable in Braunschweig I can only think of 2 crisis which might occur: Sudden discovery of bombs from WW2 and breakout of an unexpected pandemic. I did experience the first crisis at first hand whereas the second one could happen in the future.

Discovery of bombs from WW2
During WW2 Braunschweig was attacked by Allied aircraft in 42 bombing raids. The attack on the night of 14/15 October 1944 marked the high point of the destruction. The air raid caused a huge firestorm because of which Braunschweig burnt continuously for two and a half days. Moreover, the attack destroyed more than 90% of Braunschweig's mediaeval city centre. It is therefore not uncommon for construction workers to find bombing leftovers from WW2. Not all of them are dangerous and need to be removed. But there are a few bombs which got dropped but never exploded. They can become a real threat to neighbouring residents for noone knows when and if they will explode and how much damage they will cause.

Until now residents had been warned beforehand and left their homes in time before experts started to examine the bombing leftovers. But what would happen if the bomb had to be removed right after it was discovered. There would be no time telling the residents to leave their homes. This is when the Ushahidi platform would come in handy. It could spread the word about the location of the bomb and the time needed for it to be removed. The information could be transmitted to a local radio or tv station informing the people about the bomb and telling them to leave their homes.

Breakout of a pandemic
Since natural disasters seem to be unlikely to occur in Braunschweig, another possible crisis remains: The sudden breakout of a pandemic. In order to keep the damage of a pandemic as little as possible, it is important to inform the residents of the dangers as early as possible. It is also necessary to give them proper instructions of what to do next. This could stop them from panicking and making things worse. Spreading the word about the pandemic and giving further instructions could be done using the Ushahidi platform.