Pictures of the Future Spring 2006
Infrastructures – Disaster Relief
First Aid for the Infrastructure
The year 2005 was marked by numerous natural disasters—the tsunami in Asia, hurricanes in the U.S. and the earthquake in Pakistan being just three examples of the destructive force of nature. According to the International Red Cross, 145 million people were affected by these catastrophes, which left millions homeless and devastated entire infrastructures. To mitigate the effects of such tragic occurrences, Siemens provides aid through its international Caring Hands program. For example, regional offices in the affected regions make donations with funds that are collected from Siemens employees around the world and then matched by the company. Almost 5 mill. € was collected for the victims of the tsunami, and a sum of $3 million was donated to the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. Siemens also provides technical equipment, which is indispensable as an interim solution in areas where the infrastructure has collapsed completely. After all, a damaged water supply system can be just as dangerous as the disaster itself.
Sebastian Webel
Tsunami in Southeast Asia
On December 26, 2004, a series of tsunamis devastated large parts of southeast Asia, killing more than 220,000 people. Just hours after this disaster, Siemens employees in Indonesia were already at work repairing damaged communications equipment. In Thailand, the Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group installed six mobile water treatment units supplied by its Australian subsidiary Memcor, which specializes in water filters, while in India Siemens distributed medicine, clothing and household appliances. "All of the regions hit by the tsunami needed this type of assistance," says Patrick de Royer who coordinated at Siemens Corporate Development Strategy the aid activities in the affected countries. "But we had to decide which of the various types of technical support we could deliver most effectively to which region." The top priority was placed on geographical proximity to ensure that help would come rapidly. Memcor, for example, has long been active in the water purification sector in Australia, which meant that it was able to put its expertise to work quickly in nearby Thailand. "In Indonesia, on the other hand," says de Royer, "we're the leader in communications systems, which is why it made sense for us to repair the damaged telecommunications facilities in that country."
Hurricanes in the South of the U.S.
It's not often that the U.S. gets hit by as many hurricanes as it did in 2005. Katrina was of course the most damaging of the storms, killing more than 1,000 people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Tens of thousands were left homeless, and large segments of the infrastructure were destroyed. Many power plants were flooded as well. But it's precisely the power supply that is critical for helping people in such situations—and for getting devastated economic sectors back on their feet. "That's why the power plants needed to get back online as quickly as possible," says William Mertes, managing director of General Industry in the Water Technologies unit of Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services. "However, doing that first required clean water, as many plants need steam to generate electricity." The problem was that Katrina had also wrecked the water supply system and polluted the water with tons of mud and garbage. "This mixture would have damaged the plants," explains Mertes. Siemens therefore supplied water treatment units to the devastated areas. "This enabled us to clean up to 2,500 l of water per minute at each plant," Mertes continues. "Industrial companies were able to start up operations again, and the region slowly began to recover." Other Siemens Groups also provided rapid assistance. Building Technologies, for example, delivered generators to hospitals, while Medical Solutions provided portable X-ray machines to help treat hurricane victims being sheltered in the Houston Astrodome, one of the main refugee centers. High-speed radio networks were also supplied to link the X-ray units with hospitals, where doctors were able to analyze the X-ray images. And Communications provided telephones that used the Internet and a satellite connection, because most of the conventional telephone lines had been destroyed by the hurricane.