lessons learned from past notable disasters the caribbean part 1: floods and landslides walter hays,...

LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS

THE CARIBBEANPART 1: FLOODS AND LANDSLIDES

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna,

Virginia, USA

NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED DISASTERS IN THE CARIBBEAN BASINDISASTERS IN THE CARIBBEAN BASIN

NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED DISASTERS IN THE CARIBBEAN BASINDISASTERS IN THE CARIBBEAN BASIN

FLOODS

WINDSTORMS

EARTHQUAKES

VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRAD-ATION

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

HIGH BENEFIT/COST PROGRAMS FOR BECOMING DISASTER RESILIENT

HIGH BENEFIT/COST PROGRAMS FOR BECOMING DISASTER RESILIENT

GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIESAND COMMUNITIES

GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIESAND COMMUNITIES

NOTE: SEVERE WINDSTORMS WILL BE COVERED IN PART 2;

EARTHQUAKES IN PART 3, and VOLCANOES IN PART 4

Flooding and Landslides: Associated With Persistent Rain and Severe Windstorms

Planet Earth’s atmospheric-hydrospheric-lithospheric interactions create situations favor-able for SEVERE WINDSTORMS, FLOODING, and LANDSLIDES.

THE CARIBBEAN BASIN

The Caribbean: long referred to as the West

Indies, includes more than 7,000 islands; of these, 13

are independent island countries

CARIBBEAN ISLANDS

• Aruba, Barbados, Bahamas, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Saint Croix, and Antigua

CARIBBEAN ISLANDS

• Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, ,Dominica, Montserrat, Saba, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, Saint Thomas, Saint John, Tortola, Grenada, Saint Vincent, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Trinidad and Tobago

THE SEVERE WINDSTORM HAZARDS

(WHICH INCLUDE FLOODS AND LANDSLIDES)

ARE POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS

HAZARDS OF A SEVERE WINDSTORM (AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)

• WIND FIELD

• FLOODING FROM STORM SURGE

• FLOODING FROM HEAVY PRECIPITATION

• LANDSLIDES (MUDFLOWS)

• COSTAL EROSION

• TORNADOES (SOMETIMES)

WIND PENETRATING BUILDING ENVELOPE

SEVERE WINDSTORMS

SEVERE WINDSTORMS

UPLIFT OF ROOF SYSTEM

FLYING DEBRIS

STORM SURGE

IRREGULARITIES IN ELEVATION AND PLAN

SITING PROBLEMS

FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

“DISASTER LABORATORIES”

“DISASTER LABORATORIES”

Flooding, the most common natural hazard, is “the silent killer” and “annual barrier to

development” in the Caribbean

LOSS OF FUNCTION OF STRUCTURES IN FLOODPLAIN

FLOODSFLOODS

INUNDATION

INTERACTION WITH HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

STRUCTURAL/CONTENTS DAMAGE FROM WATER

WATER BORNE DISEASES (HEALTH PROBLEMS)

EROSION AND MUDFLOWS

CONTAMINATION OF GROUND WATER

CAUSES OF RISK

CAUSES OF RISK

CASE HISTORIESCASE HISTORIES

SITING AND BUILDING ON UNSTABLE SLOPES

LANDSLIDESLANDSLIDES

SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE TO FALLS

SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE TO TOPPLES

SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE TO SPREADS

SOIL AND ROCK SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLOWS

PRECIPITATION THAT TRIGGERS SLOPE FAILURE SHAKING

GROUND SHAKING THAT TRIGGERS SLOPE FAILURE

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

CASE HISTORIESCASE HISTORIES

ELEMENTS OF RISK AND DISASTER

HAZARDSHAZARDSHAZARDSHAZARDS

ELEMENTS OF FLOOD & ELEMENTS OF FLOOD & LANDSLIDE RISK LANDSLIDE RISK

ELEMENTS OF FLOOD & ELEMENTS OF FLOOD & LANDSLIDE RISK LANDSLIDE RISK

EXPOSUREEXPOSUREEXPOSUREEXPOSURE

VULNERABILITYVULNERABILITYVULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY LOCATIONLOCATIONLOCATIONLOCATION

RISKRISKRISKRISK

A DISASTER CAN HAPPENWHEN THE

POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS OF A FLOOD OR LANDSLIDE

INTERACT WITH A CARIBBEAN NATION’S COMMUNITIES

A DISASTER CAN HAPPENWHEN THE

POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS OF A FLOOD OR LANDSLIDE

INTERACT WITH A CARIBBEAN NATION’S COMMUNITIES

A DISASTER is ---

--- the set of failures that overwhelm the capability of a community to respond without external help when three continuums: 1) people, 2) community (i.e., a set of habitats, livelihoods, and social constructs), and 3) complex events (e.g., windstorms, floods,…) intersect at a point in space and time.

Disasters are caused by single- or multiple-event natural hazards that, (for various reasons), cause

extreme levels of mortality, morbidity, homelessness,

joblessness, economic losses, or environmental impacts.

THE REASONS ARE . . .

• When it does happen, the functions of the community’s buildings and infrastructure will be LOST because they are UNPROTECTED with the appropriate measures, codes and standards.


• The community is UN-PREPARED for what will likely happen, not to mention the low-probability of occurrence—high-probability of adverse consequences event.


• The community has NO DISASTER PLANNING SCENARIO or WARNING SYSTEM in place as a strategic framework for early threat identification and coordinated local, national, regional, and international countermeasures.


• The community LACKS THE CAPACITY TO RESPOND in a timely and effective manner to the full spectrum of expected and unexpected emergency situations.


• The community is INEFFICIENT during recovery and reconstruction because it HAS NOT LEARNED from either the current experience or the cumulative prior experiences.

THE MAY 2004 RAIN- FLOOD-LANDSLIDE

EVENT IN THE CARIBBEAN

AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT PROLONGED RAINFALL

CAN DO

LOCATION

• The May 2004 Caribbean floods took place mainly in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and in Northern Puerto Rico from May 18, 2004 to May 25, 2004.

LOCATION

CAUSE

• The floods were caused by over two weeks of persistent rain in the Caribbean, with over 10 inches (25 cm) of rain falling in Haiti and in the Dominican Republic.

• The “killer” landslides occurred on the rain-saturated slopes.

IMPACTS

• The floods caused considerable damage in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, with over 1,300 homes being destroyed;

• 2,000 people were killed by drowning and landslides triggered by the flooding.

IMAGES OF PAST FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES IN THE

CARIBBEAN

NOTE: SOME OF THE POOREST OF THE POOR HAVE BEEN ADVERSELY IMPACTED

HYRRICANE SANDY KILLS 41 IN CARIBBEAN: OCT 2012

HAITI: AFTER HURRICANE SANDY; OCTOBER 2012

HAITI: FLOODING AFTER HURRICANE TOMAS; 2010

HAITI: 2004

JAMAICA: AFTER HURRICANE SANDY; OCTOBER 2012

JAMAICA

SAINT LUCIA

SAINT LUCIA: LANDSLIDE

SAINT LUCIA: SEARCH AND RESCUE

SANTO DOMINGO

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

THE ALTERNATIVE TO A FLOOD DISASTER

OR A LANDSLIDE DISASTER

ISDISASTER RESILIENCE

THE ALTERNATIVE TO A FLOOD DISASTER

OR A LANDSLIDE DISASTER

ISDISASTER RESILIENCE

CARIBBEAN CARIBBEAN NATION’S NATION’S

COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIES

CARIBBEAN CARIBBEAN NATION’S NATION’S

COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIES

DATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATIONDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATION

HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS

• FLOOD/LANDSLIDE HAZARDS•INVENTORY•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

DISASTER RESILIENCEDISASTER RESILIENCE

•PREPAREDNESS•PROTECTION•FORECASTS/SCENARIOS•EMERGENCY RESPONSE•RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION

POLICY OPTIONSPOLICY OPTIONS

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

FLOODS & LAND-SLIDES

PREPAREDNESS FOR ALL THE LIKELY HAZARDS IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE


FLOODS & LAND-SLIDES TECHNOLOGIES THAT FACILITATE THREAT IDENTI-FICATION AND EARLY WARNING IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE


FLOODS & LAND-SLIDES

TIMELY EMERGENCY RESPONSE IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

FLOODS AND LANDSLIDES IN THE CARIBBEAN ARE INEVITABLE

FLOODS AND LANDSLIDES IN THE CARIBBEAN ARE INEVITABLE

• ---SO, DON’T WAIT FOR ANOTHER REMINDER OF THE IMPORTANCE OF BECOMING DISASTER RESILIENT.

STRATEGIC COLLABORATION (i.e., WORKING TOGETHER

FOR A COMMON GOAL) TO MOVE TOWARDS

DISASTER RESILIENCE

STRATEGIC COLLABORATION (i.e., WORKING TOGETHER

FOR A COMMON GOAL) TO MOVE TOWARDS

DISASTER RESILIENCE

STRATEGIES FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE


• PURPOSE

• MONITORING FOR FORECASTS, THREAT IDENTIFICATION, WARNING, AND EVACUATION

• PURPOSE

• MONITORING FOR FORECASTS, THREAT IDENTIFICATION, WARNING, AND EVACUATION

• TECHNIQIE

• DOPPLER RADAR; SATTELITES; INTL SPACE STATION; STRAIN METER ARRAYS; FORECAST MODELS

• TECHNIQIE

• DOPPLER RADAR; SATTELITES; INTL SPACE STATION; STRAIN METER ARRAYS; FORECAST MODELS

WARNING: SEPT. 3, 2012

A FORECAST: JUNE 25, 2010



• PURPOSE

• LAND USE CONTROL

• COMMUNITY FLOOD PROTECTION

• LANDSLIDE PREVENTION

• PURPOSE

• LAND USE CONTROL

• COMMUNITY FLOOD PROTECTION

• LANDSLIDE PREVENTION

• TECHNIQIE

• FLOOD AND SLOPE ZONE MANAGE-MENT

• SANDBAGGING, DIKES, LEVEES, AND DAMS

• TECHNIQIE

• FLOOD AND SLOPE ZONE MANAGE-MENT

• SANDBAGGING, DIKES, LEVEES, AND DAMS

LANDSLIDE PREVENTION



• PURPOSE

• TEMPORARY SHELTER

• INSURANCE and (SELF-INSURANCE)

• PURPOSE

• TEMPORARY SHELTER

• INSURANCE and (SELF-INSURANCE)

• TECHNIQIE

• SAFE HAVENS FOR EVACUEES

• FACILITATE RECOVERY

• TECHNIQIE

• SAFE HAVENS FOR EVACUEES

• FACILITATE RECOVERY

lessons learned from past notable disasters the caribbean part 1: floods and landslides walter hays,...

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