Winter storm Alexa, which hit theWest Bank and Gaza from December 11 to 14, 2013, was one ofthe strongest storms to arrive in five decades.Coordination during the emergency highlighted the inadequacyof the region's disaster preparedness plans - neitherthe West Bank nor Gaza had a disaster risk management (DRM)framework or policies in place.The report lays thegroundwork for implementing a longer-term DRM frameworkwithin the West Bank and Gaza, and for internationalpartners' assistance in doing so.It estimates thephysical damages and economic losses in the water andsanitation, transport, energy, housing, and agriculturesectors because they endured most of the storm'simpacts.Furthermore, the report explores ways tostrengthen emergency management capacity, improvecoordination between central and local governments, andestablish a decentralized decision-support system.One ofthe major findings of the report was that agriculture andlivestock was the most affected sector, accounting for 65percent of the total damages and losses.Given theincreased frequency of extreme weather events, and theincreased economy shocks that follows, the assessmentstrongly recommends developing and adopting a DRM policy,which would comprise of both a legal framework and riskreduction activities across sectors.The assessment isorganized into four sections: (i) an introduction thatincludes an overview of disaster facts and an assessmentmethodology; (ii) economic and social impacts; (iii) damageand losses and impact on human development, broken down intosectors; and (iv) recovery and needs, broken down intosectors.There are also two appendixes, one on"Participants in the Rapid Assessment," and theother on "Existing DRM Initiatives in West Bank andGaza."Included are also maps, photographs from aspacecraft, tables, and charts.
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