Hazards Case Studies

• Australian Black Summer

  • Lowest rainfall ever recorded ~ driest Spring in 120 years
  • Very high temperatures
  • Drought created a readily available fuel source
  • Fires caused thunderstorms
  • 57% of population affected
  • 54 deaths, 5000 buildings burnt
  • 400 mega tonnes of CO2 were released
  • US, NZ and Canada sent fire fighters but delayed due to COVID
  • WWF helped to restore wildlife after 1 billion animals were killed
  • AU Gov have now put restrictions on materials used for houses to be more heat resistant
• Canada Alberta Fires

  • 12 month long drought caused by little snow
  • High temperatures meant that vegetation was dry
  • Strong winds helped to spread the fire
  • Water supplies were contaminated
  • 90,000 were evacuated and 2400 homes destroyed
  • Insurance companies estimated $9 billion damage
  • Several mega tonnes of CO2
  • The mining industry was temporarily closed
  • South Africa sent 300 firefighters
  • The Gov provided $1250 per evacuated adult and some landlords offered incentives ~ they also looked a mitigation strategy but failed due to budget cuts
• Typhoon Haiyan

  • Category 5
  • 6300 people died
  • 40,000 houses destroyed and 14 million affected
  • 30,000 fishing boats destroyed
  • 5m storm surge meant 90% of the city was destroyed
  • Looting and violence broke out in Tacloban
  • 1200 evacuation centres were set up and The WHO and UN provided vaccines for measles and polio. The Philippines Red Cross had previously prepared food packages
  • “Cash-4-work” and ”no build zone” ~ only 1% of zone complete after 6 years
• Hurricane Katrina

  • Category 5 (meaning levees failed)
  • Roughly 1800 deaths
  • 1 million homes were destroyed and 300,000 flooded
  • 5m storm surge caused widespread flooding and 3 million were left without electricity
  • 80% of New Orleans flooded and after land grabbing occured and houses were replaced with casinos
  • Flooding caused oil spills in 44 facilities
  • The US gave $50 billion in aid
• Haiti

  • 2010 earthquake rating 7 on Richter Scale
  • Conservative plate margin
  • 230,000 lives lost and 180,000 houses damaged
  • City became lawless after destruction of prisons
  • 1200 evacuation centres were set up
  • UK provided bottled water, USA with rescue services, UN with police and Red Cross who set up temporary hospitals, and the World Bank who have $100 million
  • Farming was encourages to be more self sufficient and houses have been rebuilt in more secure locations
• Indian Ocean

  • 9 on the Richter Scale at a Convergent plate margin
  • 300,000 lives lost
  • Vegetation and top-soil removed up to 800m inland
  • Widespread homelessness - 1/2 million in shelters
  • Australia helped control air traffic
  • 160 aid organisations helped with responses ~ in the long term the UN helped to set up a tsunami warning system
  • Gov helped large scale reconstruction and used hazard mapping to identify areas of high risk
• Mount Etna

  • Collision plate margin a composite cone with basaltic lava
  • Roughly 75% of agriculture jobs were lost ~ the government tried to rebuild but overall lost £6 million
  • Catania airport was closed for several hours due to ash and tephra fall and 1000 had to flee their homes
  • Emergency workers dug channels to redirect lava
• Tonga

  • 2022 volcano and tsunami
  • Convergent plate boundary and submarine volcano
  • 84% of the population were affected
  • 3 deaths and 100 houses destroyed
  • Tsunami caused oil spills and 2 drownings
  • No internet for 5 days
  • 10cm layer of ash and ash cloud
  • Locals were forced to clear runways - took 4 days
  • Aid was contactless due to COVID
  • After 5 weeks they rebuilt the submarine fibre optic cables to connect to rest of world