Seismic Vulnerability of Primary Response Agencies in The Himalayan Province of Uttarakhand in India

Seismic vulnerability assessment of nearly 67%, 60%, and 18% of buildings of the first responders (Fire and Emergency Service, Police, and local administration, respectively) in the Himalayan province of Uttarakhand in India suggests 14.12% collapse, and 67.19% damage, and put to disuse immediately after an earthquake. This is to seriously limit emergency response capability of the state, and enhance sufferings and trauma of the affected community. US$ 95.27 is estimated as the cost of seismic safety of emergency response infrastructure, and this is to save building contents worth US$ 10.00 million. Prioritised demolition and reconstruction of Grade 5 buildings, detailed vulnerability assessment and phased retrofitting of Grade 4 and Grade 3 buildings, effective and strict compliance of building bye-laws, stringent punitive measures for lapses in lifeline buildings, mechanism for routine vulnerability assessment, and corrective maintenance are recommended for ensuring smooth and uninterrupted functioning of the emergency response agencies in the aftermath of an earthquake.

Development of flood vulnerability curves for Sri Lankan hospitals

Purpose The government-led public healthcare services in Sri Lanka became a major strength in managing the COVID-19 comparatively well. However, natural hazards are a major threat to this healthcare system, as they cause severe damages, especially to curative healthcare infrastructures such as hospitals. Floods have been the major contributor to the economic loss of the Sri Lankan healthcare system. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a proper flood risk assessment framework for Sri Lankan hospitals. Design/methodology/approach This research study has attempted to develop a flood vulnerability assessment tool for hospitals using the concept of Depth Damage Functions (DDFs). Flood vulnerability curves have been developed for identified critical units of hospitals considering the damage caused to building contents which are predominantly expensive medical equipment. The damage caused only by wetting was considered in generating vulnerability curves. Structured interviews were conducted with government officials in the healthcare sector to gather details on the cost and damages of medical equipment. Pilot studies were carried out in two hospitals identified as located in flood-prone areas and have previous experiences of flooding, to acquire data regarding building contents of the critical units. Findings The developed vulnerability curves indicate that no major damage would occur to building contents in critical units (other than the labor room) until the inundation depth reaches a value of 0.6–0.9 m (varies for each type of unit). It is also noteworthy that after a certain range in the inundation depth, the damage increases drastically, and building contents would incur total damage if the inundation depth passes a value of 1.2–1.5 m. Originality/value This study explains the initial phase of developing a flood vulnerability assessment framework for Sri Lankan hospitals. Not many studies had been carried out to assess the vulnerability of hospitals specifically for floods using vulnerability curves. The study recommends a zoning system with pre-defined vulnerability levels for critical units during a flood, which can be associated with evacuation planning as well. Further studies must be carried out to verify this system for hospitals in Sri Lanka.

Modeling Direct Economic Loss of Residential Building Contents Induced by River Flood and Storm Surge: A Case Study on Typhoon Rammasun in Haikou City of China

<p>Typhoon often brings heavy rainfall, floods and storm surges to estuaries and may cause devastating disaster loss, especially in the downstream coastal urban areas, so a timely modeling of disaster loss is of great importance to emergency management. However, the complexity of interaction between river flood and storm surge imposes great challenges to the simulation of coastal flood in urban cities. At the same time, the local characteristics of building contents such as their types, values and vulnerabilities in different cities may also vary greatly. Haikou city, located in Hainan Island of China, was flooded due to the cascading effects of the upstream flood from Nandu River basin and the strong storm surge caused by strong winds of typhoon Rammasun during July 18 to 20, 2014.</p><p>In this study, firstly, the water from Nandu River was simulated with hydrological model and one-dimensional hydraulic model, and the coastal storm surge was modeled with a numerical surge model. The outputs of these models were used as the boundary conditions of two-dimensional hydraulic model, coupled with SWMM to reflect urban surface flow. Based on the above models, the maximum flood depth in Haikou city were derived. The inundation depth of Nandu River Estuary and riverside area is about 4 meters, while it of urban areas is relatively shallow. Secondly, the boundary of all the buildings in Haikou city and their geographic distribution were collected, and the values of contents were estimated building by building based on questionnaire survey data. Finally, based on the vulnerability curves developed in the past study, the direct economic loss of residential building contents were estimated. The results can provide a firm basis for the prediction of future loss before TC landing.</p>

Development of Generalized Fragility Functions for Seismically Induced Content Disruption

This paper reports on the evaluation of the response of unanchored building contents in two separate shaking experiments, with the goal of developing simplified seismic fragility functions to be used for content disruption. The content response was evaluated collectively, by defining qualitative categorical ratings of overall content disruption based on observation of specific behaviors, such as sliding, toppling, rolling, or falling. Next, these disruption ratings were correlated to demand parameters, such as peak floor acceleration and peak floor velocity. Fragility functions were developed by combining two alternative implementations of the bounding demand data method. Among the demand parameters evaluated, peak floor velocity is shown to be a consistent indicator of disruption when comparing results from the two independent data sets. Vertical acceleration is shown to also influence the demand intensities that trigger disruption.