Enhancing resilience to coastal flooding from severe storms in the USA: international lessons

Abstract. Recent events in the USA have highlighted a lack of resilience in the coastal population to coastal flooding, especially amongst disadvantaged and isolated communities. Some low-income countries, such as Cuba and Bangladesh, have made significant progress towards transformed societies that are more resilient to the impacts of cyclones and coastal flooding. To understand how this has come about, a systematic review of the peer-reviewed and grey literature related to resilience of communities to coastal flooding was undertaken in both countries. In both Cuba and Bangladesh the trust between national and local authorities, community leaders and civil society is high. As a consequence evacuation warnings are generally followed and communities are well prepared. As a result over the past 25 years in Bangladesh the number of deaths directly related to cyclones and coastal flooding has decreased, despite an increase of almost 50 % in the number of people exposed to these hazards. In Cuba, over the course of eight hurricanes between 2003 and 2011, the normalized number of deaths related to cyclones and coastal floods was an order of magnitude less than in the USA. In low-income countries, warning systems and effective shelter/evacuation systems, combined with high levels of disaster risk-reduction education and social cohesion, coupled with trust between government authorities and vulnerable communities can help to increase resilience to coastal hazards and tropical cyclones. In the USA, transferable lessons include improving communication and the awareness of the risk posed by coastal surges, mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into the education system and building trusted community networks to help isolated and disadvantaged communities, and improve community resilience.

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Enhancing resilience to coastal flooding from severe storms in the USA: International lessons

10.5194/nhess-2016-363 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Darren M. Lumbroso ◽

Natalie R. Suckall ◽

Robert J. Nicholls ◽

Kathleen D. White

Keyword(s):

Risk Reduction ◽

Low Income ◽

Disaster Risk Reduction ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Coastal Flooding ◽

Disaster Risk ◽

Coastal Hazards ◽

Low Income Countries ◽

The Usa ◽

Order Of Magnitude

Abstract. Recent events in the USA have highlighted a lack of resilience in the coastal population to coastal flooding, especially amongst disadvantaged and isolated communities. Some low income countries, such as Cuba and Bangladesh, have made significant progress towards transformed societies that are more resilient to the impacts of cyclones and coastal flooding. To understand how this has come about a systematic review of the peer-reviewed and grey literature related to resilience of communities to coastal flooding was undertaken in both countries. In both Cuba and Bangladesh the trust between national and local authorities, community leaders and civil society is high. As a consequence evacuation warnings are generally followed and communities are well prepared. As a result over the past 25 years in Bangladesh the number of deaths directly related to cyclones and coastal flooding has decreased, despite an increase of almost 50 % in the number of people exposed to these hazards. In Cuba, over the course of eight hurricanes between 2003 and 2011, the normalised number of deaths related to cyclones and coastal floods was an order of magnitude less than in the USA. In low-income countries, warning systems and effective shelter/evacuation systems, combined with high levels of disaster risk reduction education and social cohesion, coupled with trust between government authorities and vulnerable communities can help to increase resilience to coastal hazards and tropical cyclones. In the USA, transferable lessons include improving communication and the awareness of the risk posed by coastal surges, mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into the education system and building trusted community networks to help isolated and disadvantaged communities, and improve community's resilience.

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Setting an Agenda for Entrepreneurial Governments: A Global Baseline Assessment of Disaster Risk Reduction Investment

International Journal of Disaster Management ◽

10.24815/ijdm.v3i1.17533 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jonatan A. Lassa ◽

Fakatava Paunga

Keyword(s):

Risk Reduction ◽

Low Income ◽

Disaster Risk Reduction ◽

Warning System ◽

Disaster Risk ◽

Low Income Countries ◽

Baseline Assessment ◽

Social Investment ◽

Financial Investment ◽

The World

Disaster risk reduction imperative must be seen as investment that will generate dividends. Under the auspice of the Sendai Framework for disaster risk reduction governments around the world and the international community are urged to develop strategies to reduce mortality and disaster losses, amongst these strategies is an investment in disaster risk reduction. This research aims to develop a baseline of the scale of investment in disaster risk reduction worldwide. A total of 222 countries and territories is being included in this study to assess their level of investment in disaster risk reduction. We define disaster risk reduction investment as an aggregation of three variables, namely financial investment, social investment and early warning system investment. The study generated index to indicate the respective countries degree of disaster risk reduction investment. The findings show that that investment in disaster risk reduction remains higher in OECD countries compared to middle and low-income countries. Insights from our research suggests that the concept of entrepreneurial government is needed in order to be more ambitious in tigering, facilitating and initiating investment in disaster risk reduction.

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Multiple-hazards and their interactions in urban low-to-middle income countries: a case study from Nairobi

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-16053 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Bruce D. Malamud ◽

Emmah Mwangi ◽

Joel Gill ◽

Ekbal Hussain ◽

Faith Taylor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Reduction ◽

Natural Hazards ◽

Disaster Risk Reduction ◽

Natural Hazard ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

Disaster Risk ◽

Soil Subsidence ◽

Ground Collapse

<p>Global policy frameworks, such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, increasingly advocate for multi-hazard approaches across different spatial scales. However, management approaches on the ground are still informed by siloed approaches based on one single natural hazard (e.g. flood, earthquake, snowstorm). However, locations are rarely subjected to a single natural hazard but rather prone to more than one. These different hazards and their interactions (e.g. one natural hazard triggering or increasing the probability of one or more natural hazards), together with exposure and vulnerability, shape the disaster landscape of a given region and associated disaster impact. &#160;Here, as part of the UK GCRF funded research grant &#8220;Tomorrow&#8217;s Cities&#8221; we first map out the single natural hazardscape for Nairobi using evidence collected through peer-reviewed literature, grey literature, social media and newspapers. We find the following hazard groups and hazard types present in Nairobi: (i) geophysical (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides), (ii) hydrological (floods and droughts), (iii) shallow earth processes (regional subsidence, ground collapse, soil subsidence, ground heave), (iv) atmospheric hazards (storm, hail, lightning, extreme heat, extreme cold), (v) biophysical (urban fires), and vi) space hazards (geomatic storms, and impact events). The breadth of single natural hazards that can potentially impact Nairobi is much larger than normally considered by individual hazard managers that work in Nairobi. We then use a global hazard matrix to identify possible hazard interactions, focusing on the following interaction mechanisms: (i) hazard triggering secondary hazard, (ii) hazards amplifying the possibility of the secondary hazard occurring.&#160; We identify 67 possible interactions, as well as some of the interaction cascade typologies that are typical for Nairobi (e.g. a storm triggers and increases the probability of a flood which in turn increases the probability of a flood). Our results indicate a breadth of natural hazards and their interactions in Nairobi, and emphasise a need for a multi-hazard approach to disaster risk reduction.</p>

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Regional Interaction Frameworks to Support Multi-Hazard Approaches to Disaster Risk Reduction (With an Application to Guatemala)

10.5194/nhess-2018-363 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Joel C. Gill ◽

Bruce D. Malamud ◽

Edy Manolo Barillas ◽

Alex Guerra Noriega

Keyword(s):

Risk Reduction ◽

Natural Hazards ◽

Disaster Risk Reduction ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Interdisciplinary Approach ◽

Disaster Risk ◽

Matrix Form ◽

Spatial Extent ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Regional Interaction

Abstract. Here we present an interdisciplinary approach to developing comprehensive, systematic and evidenced regional interaction frameworks to support multi-hazard approaches to disaster risk reduction. We apply this approach in Guatemala, developing regional interaction frameworks for national and sub-national (Southern Highlands) spatial extents. The regional interaction frameworks are constructed and populated using five evidence types: (i) publications and reports (internationally accessible) (93 peer-review and 76 grey literature sources); (ii) publications and reports (locally accessible civil protection bulletins) (267 bulletins from 11 June 2010 to 15 October 2010); (iii) field observations; (iv) stakeholder interviews (19 semi-structured interviews) (v) stakeholder workshop results (16 participants). These five evidence types were synthesised to determine an appropriate natural hazards classification scheme for Guatemala, with 6 natural hazard groups, 19 hazard types, and 37 hazard sub-types. For a national spatial extent in Guatemala, we proceed to construct and populate a regional interaction framework (matrix form), identifying 50 possible interactions between 19 hazard types. For a sub-national spatial extent (Southern Highlands of Guatemala), we construct and populate a regional interaction framework (matrix form), identifying 114 possible interactions between 33 hazard sub-types relevant in the Southern Highlands. We also use this evidence to explore networks of multi-hazard interactions and anthropogenic processes that can trigger natural hazards. We present this information through accessible visualisations to improve understanding of multi-hazard interactions in Guatemala. We believe that our regional interaction frameworks approach to multi-hazards is scalable, working at global to local scales with differing resolutions of information. Our approach can be replicated in other geographical settings, with regional interaction frameworks helping to enhance cross-institutional dialogue on hazard interactions, and their likelihood and potential impacts.

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Considerations and principles for conducting a participatory capacity and vulnerability analysis (PCVA) for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment ◽

10.1108/ijdrbe-05-2020-0043 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Iftekhar Ahmed

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Risk Reduction ◽

Climate Change Adaptation ◽

Low Income ◽

Disaster Risk Reduction ◽

Disaster Risk ◽

Vulnerability Analysis ◽

Participatory Development ◽

Content Type ◽

Wide Range

Purpose While there are many such toolkits on community-based participatory methods, the key considerations and principles of conducting a participatory capacity and vulnerability analysis (PCVA) are less covered, yet they are central to the effective conduct of a PCVA, the reason why this paper focuses on such issues. Design/methodology/approach This paper is derived from a toolkit that was produced for Oxfam Australia. Disasters and climate change are major drivers of poverty and significantly affect the communities that development programs of Oxfam Australia aim to assist. Recognising the importance of building its organisational capacity to address these risks, Oxfam Australia initiated and commissioned the production of a PCVA toolkit to support disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation programs; the production of the toolkit was led by the author. The methodology of producing the toolkit consisted of discussions with experts and a review of similar toolkits. Findings Details of the PCVA process and how to conduct one in a community setting are provided including PCVA concepts, briefing, logistics and management and principles of working with communities. Importantly, the different stages of conducting a PCVA are explained, and some selected tools are presented as illustrative examples. In conclusion, the importance of the PCVA considerations and principles are reaffirmed vis-à-vis the sensitivity and soft skills required in a low-income developing country setting. Originality/value The participatory development approach, which the toolkit follows, has been widely advocated for the past few decades and most non-governmental organisations involved in community development espouse this approach. Consequently, a wide range of participatory development toolkits have been developed, many of which relate to disasters and climate change. The PCVA toolkit discussed in this paper draws on the repertoire of toolkits already available and used over a long time. Nonetheless, effort was given to assembling a range of tools that were most suitable for the purpose of this particular PCVA toolkit. Instead of focussing on the tools, which are available from the freely downloadable toolkit and available in the public domain, in this paper, the PCVA process and its main principles are explained, and the key considerations to carry out an effective PCVA is discussed. Perhaps even more than the actual tools, these considerations and an understanding of the PCVA principles are significant because they underpin the utilisation of the toolkit.

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Governance in the Sendai: a way ahead?

Disaster Prevention and Management An International Journal ◽

10.1108/dpm-08-2017-0190 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 278-291 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Emmanuel Raju ◽

Karen da Costa

Keyword(s):

Risk Management ◽

Risk Reduction ◽

Disaster Risk Reduction ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Disaster Risk ◽

Disaster Risk Management ◽

Content Type ◽

Sendai Framework

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify how governance and accountability have been addressed in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 2015-2030. Design/methodology/approach The research is mainly based on the analysis of the SFDRR; scientific literature, particularly recent publications covering the SFDRR. The paper also takes into account grey literature. Findings The SFDRR does address issues of governance and accountability in disasters. However, more needs to be done to translate it into practice – particularly with regard to accountability. Originality/value The paper covers a topic that has not attracted considerable academic attention, despite the fact that the need to address accountability in disaster risk management, notably in DRR, has been generally acknowledged. By addressing governance and accountability in the most recent international DRR framework the paper adds value to the literature.

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The cost of heat waves and droughts for global crop production

10.1101/188151 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Zia Mehrabi ◽

Navin Ramankutty

Keyword(s):

Soviet Union ◽

Risk Reduction ◽

Former Soviet Union ◽

Disaster Risk Reduction ◽

Crop Production ◽

Heat Waves ◽

Disaster Risk ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

The Usa ◽

Cumulative Production

AbstractHeat waves and droughts are a key risk to global crop production and quantifying the extent of this risk is essential for insurance assessment and disaster risk reduction. Here we estimate the cumulative production losses of six major commodity groups under both extreme heat and drought events, across 131 countries, over the time period of 1961-2014. Our results show substantial variation in national disaster risks that have hitherto gone unrecognised in regional and global average estimates. The most severe losses are represented by cereal losses in Angola (4.1%), Botswana (5.7%), USA (4.4%) and Australia (4.4%), oilcrop losses in Paraguay (5.5%), pulse losses in Angola (4.7%) and Nigeria (4.8%), and root and tuber losses in Thailand (3.2%). In monetary terms we estimate the global production loss over this period to be $237 billion US Dollars (2004-2006 baseline). The nations that incurred the largest financial hits were the USA ($116 billion), the former Soviet Union ($37 billion), India ($28 billion), China ($10.7 billion) and Australia ($8.5 billion USD). Our analysis closes an important gap in our understanding of the impacts of extreme weather events on global crop production and provides the basis for country relevant disaster risk reduction.

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