Time needed to evacuate the Netherlands in the event of large-scale flooding: strategies and consequences

On 30 May 2008, the Government of the Netherlands informed the national parliament about the effectiveness of preventive evacuation of coastal and river areas in case of flooding. Analysis of a case study showed that it is impossible to evacuate coastal areas preventively within a 48-hour time span preceding a worst credible scenario flood caused by a storm surge. This fact illustrates the need for alternative evacuation strategies, such as vertical evacuation (evacuating to safe havens, inside the flood zone) or shelter-in-place (hiding), to reduce loss of life and the impact of the evacuation. This paper defines these strategies and demonstrates, by returning to the case study used by the Dutch government, that they require different measures, methods of approach, and crisis management processes. In addition, it addresses the need for flexible and scalable preparation so that after detecting and understanding the threat, authorities and citizens can make decisions about different evacuation strategies.     

Emergency and institutional crisis in Peru during El Nino 1982-1983

From December 1982 through July 1983, Peru was plagued by disastrous consequences of El Nino/Southern Oscillation phenomenon. While the northern part of the country was devastated by torrential rains and floods, central Andean Peru endured landslides and flash floods, the southern Altiplano suffered a severe drought. Hazard preparedness was nonexistent, and official disaster relief uncoordinated and slow in coming. Administrative inefficiency magnified the stress upon the populations under disaster conditions. Provisions of disaster training from specialized international organizations is recommended as a preventive measure and as a policy to improve catastrophe-coping abilities in developing nations.     

The great Australian drought: 1982-1983*

The development of drought over eastern Australia from April 1982 to February 1983 is described. National wheat production for the 1982-1983 season was 63 per cent of the average for the previous five years, while for New South Wales and Victoria production was 29 and 16 per cent respectively. Production of other grains was similarly reduced. Net value of rural production was reduced from over $4,000 million to $2,300 million nationally, the percentage reduction being much larger in drought-affected States. Methods of assessing drought severity are discussed and it is concluded that the 1982-1983 drought must be regarded as one of the most severe in the last 100 years. Impact of drought is also discussed, including that on wheat production and sheep and cattle populations since 1885. It is suggested that the limits of grain growing areas, and of sheep and cattle populations, beyond which environmental degradation may occur, have been exceeded during that period. The view is expressed that more attention should be given to the development of strategies to ameliorate drought impacts.     

地震活动与黄河下游大堤潜在危险性的探讨

黄河下游为一条地上悬河,存在着严重的地震危险性,未来强震会引起大堤失稳开裂,造成特大水灾。本文研究了黄河下游菏泽和滨州地区断裂及地震活动特征,对比历史上地震发生对黄河大堤的影响,认为黄河东明——粱山段和滨州段将是黄河下游具潜在危险的地段,并提出了防御措施,这对减轻或避免黄河下游地区因地震活动而引起的水灾具有重要意义。     

Injury prevention in natural disasters. A theoretical framework

A theoretical framework for conceptualizing injury patterns in natural disasters is described. In this conceptual framework, natural disasters are divided chronologically into predisaster, disaster and postdisaster phases. Within each phase, four factors (human, engineering/technological, physical environmental and socioeconomic) are identified that play an important role in the causation of injury. By combining these phases and factors into a three by four matrix, one may begin to identify points in the natural history or evolution of a disaster that may be amenable to therapeutic or preventive intervention. The application of this proposed three-phase matrix model to a disaster will permit researchers to reduce a large, complex problem into more manageable, conceptually simpler parts. It may also be of value to disaster planners by suggesting preventive and mitigation measures, as well as aiding in the setting of priorities so that scarce resources can be allocated to achieve maximum reduction of injuries.     

The use of cluster sampling to determine aid needs in Grozny, Chechnya in 1995

War broke out in Chechnya in November 1994 following a three-year economic blockade. It caused widespread destruction in the capital Grozny. In April 1995 Medical Relief International--or Merlin, a British medical non-governmental organisation (NGO)--began a programme to provide medical supplies, support health centres, control communicable disease and promote preventive health-care in Grozny. In July 1995 the agency undertook a city-wide needs assessment using a modification of the cluster sampling technique developed by the Expanded Programme on Immunisation. This showed that most people had enough drinking-water, food and fuel but that provision of medical care was inadequate. The survey allowed Merlin to redirect resources earmarked for a clean water programme towards health education and improving primary health-care services. It also showed that rapid assessment by a statistically satisfactory method is both possible and useful in such a situation.     

近42年成都地区雷暴的气候统计特征

利用成都地区5个测站1959—2000年的雷暴观测资料，通过数理统计和小波分析，研究了成都地区雷暴的气候特征。结果显示：成都地区年雷暴日数较多，年际变化较大，年雷暴日数有减小的变化趋势，每10a雷暴日数减少近4d；成都地区的雷暴有很强的季节性特点，集中出现在4—9月的5个月中，而夏季6，7，8三个月占7成以上；成都地区雷暴初日普遍在4月中旬，终日普遍在10月中旬，雷暴初／终日年际间差异很大。从小波分析结果看，成都、金堂、双流和蒲江4站近42a年来雷暴日数在1982年以前有12a左右的震荡周期，1982年以后表现为6a左右的周期；都江堰的年雷暴日数分布特征和其他4个测站有较大不同，主要表现为15a的震荡周期。     

1997年5月7日益阳罕见雷击灾害分析

通过调查益阳市赫山区羊角乡小河口村发生的特大罕见雷击灾害，翔实记述了雷击出现引起的特异现象及灾害，科学地分析了雷击发生的天气形势和地理环境条件及其原因．并提出了预防雷击的措施。     

灾害保险在灾害防御中的作用：以江苏省自然灾害为例

本文以江苏省的自然灾害为例,阐述了灾害保险在减轻自然灾害损失中的作用,提出在经济发达地区,灾害保险应作为灾害防御对策中的重要方面。     

Beyond the community: integrating local and scientific knowledge in the formal development approval process in Jamaica

Community-based disaster risk management methods routinely include capture of local knowledge which is used to inform community-level risk reduction programmes and development plans. In Jamaica, development planning at the national level has relied historically on scientific knowledge, usually to the exclusion of local knowledge. However, community disaster risk management plans reviewed for this paper show that communities have very clear ideas on the threat posed by hazards, resources at risk from the hazards and ways of reducing the risk. Communities also appreciate the value of cultural and historical sites and are willing to sacrifice development in order to protect and preserve these sites. Such knowledge is valuable for informing risk-sensitive development planning, and should be captured within the formal development approval system. A model is proposed in which community and scientific knowledge can be integrated into the formal development approval process at the national level. The model includes integrating community representatives in technical committee reviews, capturing local knowledge through community consultations and subjecting community knowledge to validation prior to its use. Successful implementation of this model should result in more accurate field assessments for risk-sensitive development planning as local knowledge provides current, site-specific information. Better risk-sensitive development planning will ultimately lead to reduced exposure to hazards and reduction in losses from the impact of hazards for Jamaica.     

Then and now: A 30-year journey from the ‘leading edge’

A fledgling disaster management organization in 1984, Jamaica's Office of Disaster Preparedness (ODP) hosted the pioneering international disaster mitigation conference to share information and to contemplate how vulnerability to disasters from natural hazards could be reduced. Over the period 1979–2009, the overall focus of the agency was response, given the plethora of extreme events, and the priority of the Government of Jamaica. The organization was associated with several efforts at disaster mitigation, but the need for building the agency's capacity to lead national efforts to integrate mitigation planning into development did not seem to gain traction among the policy makers. Growing losses since 2004, the evidence of climate change and the need for adaptation, and the regional and international disaster risk management agenda have brought attention to the need for review and development of Jamaica's disaster risk management capacity. This paper examines highlights of the 30-year journey of disaster management in Jamaica, and highlights proposals for strengthening the national framework and the organizational structure of ODPEM.     

Entitlements and the Wollo Famine of 1982–1985

The traglic recent events in Ethiopia and other parts of Africa have again foccussed attention on the different anaytical approaches to the problems iof famine. Perhaps the most important analytical contribution to this field has been Sen's "entitlements approach." One of the case studies Sen used to articulate this approach was of the 1972–1973 famine in Wollo Province, Ethiopia. This article provides a provisional assessment of the famine process in the Wollo during 1982–1985 to set against the analysis by Sen of the earlier famine. Some striking contrasts are revealed.     

自然灾害防治工程的理论及应用

中国是世界上自然灾害最严重的国家之一。从自然灾害防治的工程措施这一角度探讨了其理论基础,主要包括灾害地理学、灾害经济学、灾害生态学和灾害工程学。根据自然灾害防治工程的性质将其分为地质工程、水利工程、生态工程和海洋工程,并就每种类型的工程例举了一个典型的案例。     

上海城市风暴潮灾害及其预测

风暴潮是上海地区最主要的自然灾害之一。其特点一是大的风暴潮灾害都是由于台风影响造成的；二是重灾区主要发生在沿杭州湾、长江口地区和市区；三是随首防潮设施防御能力提高而减轻，随地面下沉面加重；四是随着长江口、黄浦江潮位的不断抬高，黄浦江中上游地区潮灾加重。因而，预测可能最高潮位，因害设防，对于防灾减灾具有实践意义。     

Desert Locusts in Africa: a Disaster?

Migrating locusts, especially the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), have been feared in Africa for thousands of years as famine-inducing pests. Instead of simply waiting for outbreaks to occur, attempts are being made to take preventive action against these pests. Since the breeding areas of the desert locust are distributed across the entire Sahel region, the Arabian peninsula, Pakistan and India, a gigantic logistical and organizational effort is required. Every year, millions of dollars are spent on these preventive control measures, which are still unable to prevent locust plagues completely. The outbreaks in 1987/88 and 1993/94 are the most recent examples. Exactly how large potential disasters caused by gigantic locust swarms may be and whether the effort and expense involved in preventing them pays off economically has never been systematically investigated. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) project, 'Integrated Biological Control of Grasshoppers and Locusts', has attempted to assess, on the basis of the available data, what the costs and potential benefits are and to identify the difficulties involved in developing an effective strategy.     

面板砂砾石坝异常状态渗流计算及稳定分析

运用非饱和土渗流与强度理论,把渗流计算的水力条件用于边坡稳定分析之中,对沟后面板砂砾石坝进行了渗流场分析与边坡稳定计算,得到一些新的结论,可补充以前相关的研究结果。计算结果表明:坝料填筑分离造成的渗透各向异性尽管使浸润线升高,但是由于水平排水能力的提高反而使坝体的孔隙水压力总体上降低,从而也就提高了边坡的抗滑稳定安全性;当顶部面板与坝体脱开并导致异常状态渗流时,坝体顶部有一饱和区并且渗流出逸点很高,但坝体中部仍未饱和,异常状态渗流增加的孔隙水压力有限,对坝坡的抗滑稳定影响也很小,因此,按照最高浸润线的位置确定孔隙水压力进行抗滑稳定计算会导致错误的结果;坝顶异常状态渗流增加的孔隙水压力并不会导致下游坝坡滑动失稳,而坝体顶部渗透破坏会导致局部坍塌,最终发生溃坝事故。     

Emergency centers in Israel: A small community organizes to cope with war related crises*

This paper focuses on community-wide emergencies caused by war-related events in Lebanon at the beginning of June 1982. Mobilization for the "Peace for Galilee" campaign began on Friday, 4th June. Overnight, families were disrupted, husbands and sons were in danger, and within 24 hours there were notifications of casualities and deaths. Families in crisis became a widespread phenomenon. In Herzlia, as in many other communities, a new service - the Emergency Center - emerged under the auspices of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Municipality. The authors describe this process of getting organized, the populations served, how the Center was staffed, the role of citizen volunteers, and the types of interventions used to help vulnerable families as well as soldiers home on leave. Stress is placed on the unique type of short-term co-operation achieved between social workers of the local Department of Social Welfare, the staff of the Department of Community Services (especially its Volunteer Bureau), the local liason officer of the Israel Defence Force, the municipal government, and public-spirited volunteers. Mention is made of conditions which made possible the activation of such a service within hours, of the Center's capacity to serve all segments of the population, and of how it was deactivated within a few weeks when the emergency ended. On the basis of lessons learned from this experience, the paper ends with a number of specific recommendations. The authors hope that such innovative forms of crisis-intervention will become part of the helping technology widely available at the community level in future years.     

Stimulating flood damage mitigation through insurance: an assessment of the French CatNat system

Flood risk has increased in France in the last 20 years and is projected to increase further in the future due to climate change and increase in exposure. Since 1982, France has had a natural disasters insurance system (‘CatNat’) in place that covers flood damage. This insurance system has been combined with what are called ‘Risk Prevention Plans’ (PPRs) in order to stimulate the undertaking of flood risk mitigation measures by communities and households. However, these schemes do not provide optimal incentives for flood damage reduction. This is confirmed by the results from a survey about flood preparedness of 885 households who live in flood-prone areas in France, which are presented in this paper. Moreover, this study provides suggestions for improvement, which are assessed on their potential economic, social and political implications. Among these suggestions are increasing the effectiveness of PPRs and increasing the incentives to apply and implement PPRs; improving the monitoring of the implementation of damage mitigation measures; and the possibility to differentiate premiums and deductibles according to flood risk.     

Insurance and flood risk reduction in Ghana: do insurers penalise homeowners who take precautionary measures?

Today, many advocate insurance as a tool for coping with natural disasters. Beyond providing prompt financial relief to victims of disasters, insurance can also incentivise individuals to invest in preventive measures if insurers reward such efforts with reduced premiums. However, insurers might be unable to reward investments in precautionary measures with lower premiums if they are ill-informed about individual-level risks. Here, we explore how Ghanaian home insurers respond to investments in flood risk reduction by asking them to quote premiums for four identical buildings; two had investments in flood risk reduction, while the other two had none. We find that insurers did not reward investments in risk reduction, with some charging higher premiums for elevated buildings, suggesting they have interpreted such preventive measures as a sign of high flood risk. This failure to reward investments in precautionary measures may discourage insured homeowners from investing in risk reduction.     

A building education programme in North Yemen

In December 1982 the central highlands of the Yemen Arab Republic suffered an earthquake that caused extensive damage to traditional buildings in the area. In the aftermath of the relief effort for victims of the disaster, a project was set up to provide local builders with simple information about the means of strengthening homes. This education programme has now been running for almost three years. This report describes the activities of the project, and assesses some of the issues that emerge from this kind of education work, and the methods that have been used.