LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS

TURKEYPART 2: STORMS

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

STORMS

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 and hydrospheric interactions create Storms

ELEMENTS OF RISK AND DISASTER

TURKEY IS AT RISK FROM INFREQUENT STORMS

THAT CAN STRIKE SUDDENLY WITH LITTLE

OR NO WARNING, . . .

NOT THE SEVERE SEASONAL

WINDSTORMS, WHICH REQUIRE WARMER WATER

HAZARDSHAZARDSHAZARDSHAZARDS

ELEMENTS OF RISK FOR ELEMENTS OF RISK FOR STORMS STORMS

ELEMENTS OF RISK FOR ELEMENTS OF RISK FOR STORMS STORMS

EXPOSUREEXPOSUREEXPOSUREEXPOSURE

VULNERABILITYVULNERABILITYVULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY LOCATIONLOCATIONLOCATIONLOCATION

RISKRISKRISKRISK

A STORM’S HAZARDS

ARE THE POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS

HIGH VELOCITY WIND

STORMSSTORMS

TURBULENT OCEAN WAVES

RECORD RAINFALL

RECORD SNOW FALL

WATER, GAS, AND POWER OUTABES

ISOLATION

FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

“DISASTER LABORATORIES”

“DISASTER LABORATORIES”

A DISASTER CAN HAPPENWHEN THE

POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS OF A STORM INTERACT WITH

TURKEY’S COMMUNITIES

A DISASTER CAN HAPPENWHEN THE

POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS OF A STORM INTERACT WITH

TURKEY’S COMMUNITIES

SPRING STORM HITS TURKEY

APRIL 18, 2012

LOCATION MAP

ISTANBUL

IMPACTS

• Severe weather conditions took a grip over much of western Turkey and stopped daily life in Istanbul.

• In Istanbul, bridges were closed and buildings collapsed as the wind reached speeds of 100 kph (60 mph).

.

IMPACTS

• All sea transportation was canceled in Istanbul due to the high seas.

• Turkish Airlines cancelled 43 international and domestic flights due to the high winds.

HIGH WINDS CREATE WAVES

IMPACTS

• Lanes on the Bosphorus Bridge were closed down after a truck tipped over and drivers were unable to hold on to their steering wheels.

BRIDGE AND HIGHWAY CLOSED AFTER TRUCK OVERTURNED

WINTER STORM HITS TURKEY

JANUARY 25, 2010

IMPACTS

• A fierce, overnight snowstorm caused power, gas and water outages in Istanbul.

• In Turkey's western region near the Greek and Bulgarian borders, villages were isolated when major roads were blocked by heavy snow.

WINTER STORM HITS TURKEY

DECEMBER 10, 2001

IMPACTS

• The diverse physical phenomena generated by the storm: flooding, high winds, and blizzard conditions sank two ships in the Black Sea, isolated villages, and killed four people..

RESCUE

• Rescue workers on Monday gave up the search for a missing crew member from a Cambodian-flagged ship which sank in the Black Sea 65 km (33 mi) north of Istanbul.

• All the other members of the 18-man crew were rescued by a passing Russian ship.

RESCUE

• All eight crew members on board another ship which sank, the Turkish freighter, “Kalkavan, were rescued on Sunday.

IMPACTS

• Three hundred villages in the north-west were cut off by snows and vehicles were stuck on roads.

• 500 people were evacuated in Icel province amid fears of flooding.

IMPACTS

• The region had four times the average monthly rainfall, which inundated farm land

FARM LAND INUNDATED

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., storms, 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 DISASTER IS

DISASTER RESILIENCE

THE ALTERNATIVE TO A DISASTER IS

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

• STORM HAZARDS•INVENTORY•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION

Storm RISK Storm RISK

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

STORM DISASTER STORM DISASTER RESILIENCERESILIENCE

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

POLICY OPTIONSPOLICY OPTIONS

IDENTIFY THE COMMUNITY’S HIGH RISK AREAS IN VIEW OF THE

REGIONAL STORM HISTORY

IDENTIFY THE COMMUNITY’S HIGH RISK AREAS IN VIEW OF THE

REGIONAL STORM HISTORY

REMEMBER: STORMS IN TURKEY ARE INEVITABLE

REMEMBER: STORMS IN TURKEY ARE INEVITABLE

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

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

COMMON GOAL)

IS THE KEY TO BECOMING STORM DISASTER RESILIENT

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

COMMON GOAL)

IS THE KEY TO BECOMING STORM DISASTER RESILIENT

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL STORMS

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

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL STORMS

PROTECTION AGAINST LOSS OF FUNCTION IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

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

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL STORMS

TIMELY EMERGENCY RESPONSE IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE