Originally Posted By: Bingley
I feel like if we go deeper into this topic, the discussion will be unsuitable for this forum. But I started wondering, how do we know when a (seeming) delay is due to the size of the disaster? What are the administrative decisions/commands that must be given to set the effort in motion? How do the relief organizations (the military, for example) get ready to go and help?

You wont know whether a delay is due the size of the disaster. One could use a common sense approach though. Even in relatively small disasters the emergency response units need some time to assess the situation and decide on a course of action. When the scale is larger the required time for assessing the situation is bound to not satisfy the victims. YouŽll probably never hear people affected by a disaster say "I wish they had responded slower".
Now add some difficulties in the logistics, depleted supplies and resources grounded for maintenance and it will slow down the effort even more. The deployable assets are not the only limited resource. Maintenance crews have limited capacity as well.
The amount of media coverage may well be connected to the difficulties to actually reach the area. It may not really reflect the effort that is put into the response.
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