LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS

TURKEYPART 1: FLOODS

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna,

Virginia, USA 

TURKEY

NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED DISASTERS IN TURKEYDISASTERS IN TURKEY

NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED DISASTERS IN TURKEYDISASTERS IN TURKEY

FLOODS

WINDSTORMS

EARTHQUAKES

WILDFIRES

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

HIGH BENEFIT/COST FROM BECOMING DISASTER NRESILIENT

HIGH BENEFIT/COST FROM BECOMING DISASTER NRESILIENT

GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIESAND COMMUNITIES

GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIESAND COMMUNITIES

Natural Phenomena that Cause Disasters

Planet Earth’s atmospheric-hydrospheric-lithospheric interactions create situ-ations favorable for FLOODS

ELEMENTS OF RISK AND DISASTER

HAZARDSHAZARDSHAZARDSHAZARDS

ELEMENTS OF FLOODS ELEMENTS OF FLOODS ELEMENTS OF FLOODS ELEMENTS OF FLOODS

EXPOSUREEXPOSUREEXPOSUREEXPOSURE

VULNERABILITYVULNERABILITYVULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY LOCATIONLOCATIONLOCATIONLOCATION

RISKRISKRISKRISK

FLOOD HAZARDS

ARE POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS

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

A DISASTER CAN HAPPENWHEN THE

POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS OF A FLOOD INTERACT WITH

TURKEY’S COMMUNITIES

A DISASTER CAN HAPPENWHEN THE

POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS OF A FLOOD INTERACT WITH

TURKEY’S COMMUNITIES

FLASH FLOODS HIT ISTHANBUL, TURKEY: SEPTEMBER 9, 2009

Losses exceed $100 million

RECORD RAINFALL CAUSES FLASH FLOODS

• The heaviest rains in eight decades caused flash floods in Turkey.

• At least 31 people were killed.

FLOODING IN OTHER PARTS OF TURKEY

• Flooding occurred also in the western cities of Canakkale, Balikesir, Aydin, Izmir, Antalya and Bursa.

ISTHANBUL

RAIN CLOUDS

ISTHANBOL IS VULNERABLE TO FLOODING BECAUSE OF THE

“DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD” OF INADEQUATE URBAN PLANNING

AND RAPID URBANIZATION

URBANIZATION

•

• In Istanbul, water tried to find a way to move over and under the ground as usual, but couldn’t because the ground is now covered with concrete and buildings as a result of ongoing urbanization.

IMPACTS

IMPACTS: HOMES IN ISTHANBUL

IMPACTS

IMPACTS

IMPACTS

Waves of muddy waters carrying cars, trees and debris crashed into homes and buildings on Wednesday (Sept 9) as people were getting up to break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

IMPACTS

IMPACTS

IMPACTS

IMPACTS

IMPACTS

IMPACTS

IMPACTS

IMPACTS

IMPACTS

A RESCUE

EVACUATION STRATEGIES

• Turkish military used helicopters and tanks to evacuate people trapped by the rapidly rising water.

HELICOPTER RESCUE

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., floods, earthquakes,…) 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 codes and standards.

THE REASONS ARE . . .

• 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 REASONS ARE . . .

• 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 REASONS ARE . . .

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

THE REASONS ARE . . .

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

THE ALTERNATIVE TO A FLOOD DISASTER IS

FLOOD DISASTER RESILIENCE

THE ALTERNATIVE TO A FLOOD DISASTER IS

FLOOD DISASTER RESILIENCE

TURKEY’S TURKEY’S COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIES

TURKEY’S TURKEY’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 HAZARDS•INVENTORY•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION

FLOOD RISK FLOOD RISK

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

FLOOD DISASTER FLOOD DISASTER RESILIENCERESILIENCE

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

POLICY OPTIONSPOLICY OPTIONS

KNOW THE FLOOD HISTORY AND IDENTIFY

THE COMMUNITY’S FLOOD PRONE AREAS

KNOW THE FLOOD HISTORY AND IDENTIFY

THE COMMUNITY’S FLOOD PRONE AREAS

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL FLOODS

PREPAREDNESS FOR ALL OF THE LIKELY HAZARDS AND RISKS IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL FLOODS

PROTECTION OF BUILDINGS AND INFRASTRUCTURE AGAINST LOSS OF FUNCTION IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL FLOODS TECHNOLOGIES THAT FACILITATE THREAT IDENTI-FICATION AND EARLY WARNING ARE ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL FLOODS

TIMELY EMERGENCY RESPONSE IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

FLOODS IN TURKEY ARE INEVITABLEFLOODS IN TURKEY ARE INEVITABLE

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

STRATEGIC COLLABORATION (I.E., WORKING TOGETHER ON A

COMMON GOAL)

FOR BECOMING FLOOD DISASTER RESILIENT

STRATEGIC COLLABORATION (I.E., WORKING TOGETHER ON A

COMMON GOAL)

FOR BECOMING FLOOD DISASTER RESILIENT