Natural Hazards

• Feb 1999 European Avalanches

  • 6ft of snow fell over a few days in Chamonix Valley
  • Low temps = more compacted snow
  • Commercial ski zone - at bottom of steep mountains
  • More avalanches in future as temp increases
• Hurricane Katrina - USA - August 2005

  PHYSICAL FACTORS:

  • Ocean storm surge = 6m
  • Max winds. = 175mph
  • Air pressure dropped to 918mb
  • City below sea level

  KEY IMPACTS:

  • Substandard levee design & maintenance
  • 80% of city flooded - up to 4m
  • 1mil+ relocated - prejudices in shelters
  • 1800 deaths - those that didn’t evacuate
  • $100bn cost
  • 600k evacuated
• Hurricane Katrina - Management

  RESPONSES:

  • Federal help - slow to arrive
  • Red Cross set up 275 shelters across 9 states
  • served 137k meals in 24hrs
  • Superdome for shelter

  EVALUATION:

  • Hurricane tracKed
  • No levee upkeep
  • Lack of private transport - 56% single mothers
  • Lowest incomes suffered the most
  • Children’s education - 90% = no school for 1yr
• Cyclone Nargis - Burma - May 2008


  PHYSICAL FACTORS:

  • Winds up to 165kmph for 3mins
  • Land in Irrawaddy delta is very low lying - <5m
  • 7.6m Storm surge

  HUMAN FACTORS:

  • 146k dead unnecessarily
  • Irrawaddy home to 7mil of 53mil population
  • Densely populated
  • No warning provided - India tried
• Cyclone Nargis - Impacts & Responses

  IMPACTS:

  • $10mil damage - 1.5 mil affected
  • 7/15 towns lost 955 of housing
  • Agri loss - fertile delta = Burma’s ‘rice bowl’

  RESPONSES:

  • Delayed due to politics - denied aid and refused to issue visas
  • 4 days to accept from India - 2 planes & 2 ships & 50 medics
  • Aid limited to food medicine & finances - no media
  • 1 week = only 10% received aid - 2 weeks = 25%
  • Tried to make aid look like it was from the military
  • Referendum still happened - delayed 14 days in worst areas
• Tornado Moore - Oklahoma - May 2013


  PHYSICAL FACTORS:

  • Spun out of severe thunderstorm system that generated 60 tornadoes
  • Flooding across great plains
  • 17 mile path - 39 minutes

  HUMAN FACTORS:

  • Warnings issued - 12 mins prior - not enough
  • Radar indications detected
  • NWS forecasting risk
  • Regular emergency exercises - mass phone calls - 36 sirens
• Tornado Moore - Impacts & Responses

  PRIMARY IMPACTS:

  • 24 dead, 212 injured - 7 killed in elementary school
  • 1150 homes damaged
  • $2bn in damage

  SECONDARY IMPACTS:

  • Insurance claims = $1bn+

  SHORT-TERM RESPONSES:

  • Urban search & rescue teams deployed
  • Convoy of hope charity - 640 volunteers - 4k hours

  LONG-TERM RESPONSES:

  • Bank created partnership w/ private firms to address community needs
  • Community centre recovery centre
  • May 2014 - 310 households surveyed - $8.7mil in aid still needed
• Aleuthian Trench

  • In the ring of fire - Volcanoes form - 80+ named
  • Convergent plate boundary between Pacific plate & N.American plate - 45* subduction angle
  • Depth of 7620m in areas - 7.6km
  • 80-160km wide
  • 2900km from Gulf of Alaska
  • rate of closure = 7.5cm/year
• Mt Etna - Sicily - Stratovolcano

  • 3.3km high - 25% of population live on its slopes
  • Major eruptions every 3-5yrs - Med fault
  • Lava comes out of side vents
  • Continuously erupting - last in August 2023
  • 1981 eruptions similar to 1928
• Mt Etna. - Monitoring & Management


  MONITORING:

  • NIGV - uses remote sensors to gather data on activity
  • connected to centre in Catania
  • Regular observations - define warning levels
  • Satellites - remote sensing techniques
  • Monitoring of SO2 plume flux by COSPEC
  • Infra-red monitoring - FTIR

  MANAGEMENT:

  • 1991-93 —> Barriers (concrete & earth) - destroyed by lava
  • Block flow - drop concrete blocks at source
  • Explosives to disrupt lava tube systems
  • 2002-03 —> Dams of soil & rock to protect tourist areas
  • Army to block & divert flows
  • Assistance of $8mil from Italy gov
  • Tax breaks for locals
• Whakaari - White Islands - NZ - Volcano - 2019

  • December 9th
  • 22 dead - 47 touring at time
  • Tourists visit Island - 90 mins by boat - crater walks
  • Stratovolcano - destructive boundary - most of volcano is submerged
  • White island due to continuous steam eruptions - no lava - lots of ash

  PREPARATION:

  • 2013&2016 eruptions
  • Tourists told of the risk - signed waiver but risk downplayed
  • Safety kit - Respirator & Hard hat
• Nyiragongo - DRC - May 2021 - Volcano

  • Eruption in 2002 - 250 dead
  • 2021 - 32 dead
  • 450k evacuated
  • 17 villages destroyed
  • Temp shelters in 6 camps - rainfall destroyed
  • Charities collected money - gov couldn’t afford
  • Takes time - heightens impacts
• Heimay - Iceland - 1973

  • Save livelihoods - harbour couldn’t be blocked
  • Used pipeline of seawater to cool & harden lava flow to save harbour
• Grindavik - Iceland volcano - 2023

  • Town evacuated - SW Iceland
  • Large cracks in tarmac
  • 5mins to grab & go
  • Sulphur dioxide released - monitor of magma - thermal mapping
  • Earth embankments to lava diversion channels to protect geothermal power plant
• Tohoku - Japan - March 2011

  EARTHQUAKE:

  • 200km off coast dropped by 0.6m
  • 8.9 magnitude
  • Epicentre - depth = 30km
  • Death toll = 22,000ppl

  PRIMARY IMPACTS:

  • 70 bridges & 29 railways destroyed
  • 130k buildings destroyed
  • 265 died - 2500 missing
  • shfted Earth on its axis 10–25cm
  • 1.5mil w/o water & 4.4mil w/o electricity

  SECONDARY IMPACTS:

  • Tsunami impacts - 14300 dead
  • Nuclear power plant shutdown - 3 meltdowns
  • Waterborne diseases
  • 340k homeless
  • $2.5bn lost in trade
  • $235bn cost
  • Airport shutdown
• Tohoku - 2011 - Responses

  • Computer - automated warning sent out - 20min warning
  • Evacuations - 20km around nuclear plant
  • Motorways repaired in 6 days
  • $1bn received in aid
  • 50k rescuers
  • 80% railways running within 6 months
  • 5yrs later - 60k still in temporary homes
  • 2008 drill - preparation
• New Zealand - Earthquake - Feb 2011

  • Christchurch - 6.3 magnitude
  • 185 dead
  • city = 80% rubble

  Preparaction due to 1931 quake - 4K would’ve died

  WELLINGTON -

  • built on reclaimed land above wellington fault
  • If quake occurs - soil = liquefaction - structures fall
  • Cut off for 4 months - few roads into city
  • Ready with helicopters for supplies
• Haiti - January 2010 - Earthquake

  • 7 magnitude - 25km west of Port au Prince
  • shallow depth - increased energy
  • 230k dead
  • 300k injured
  • 1mil homeless
  • 250k homes collapsed
  • Nov 2010 - cholera outbreaks
  • UK donated £20mil
  • USA sent 10,000 troops
  • 1mil+ in temp shelters 1yr on
  • Port needed rebuilding - aid delivered not distributed
• Taiwan earthquake - April 2024

  • 7.4 magnitude
  • Hualien - only 1 dead due to building collapse
  • epicentre = 30km south
  • Preparation due to 1999 Chi Chi earthquake - 2400 dead
  • Fast responders
  • Public awareness
  • Construction scams
  • Now have to reach certain standards— identify those that need updates
  • Early warning system
  • sensors = 2-8 second lead time - glitches
  • Seismic retrofitting - add building reinforcements