part 3 hurricanes learning from global disaster laboratories 2014

LEARNING FROM GLOBAL DISASTER LABORATORIES

PART 3: HURRICANES

TRACKS OF MORE THAN 1325 HURRICANE DISASTER LABORATORIES FOR LEARNING

• EACH HURRICANE TEACHES IMPORTANT TECHNICAL AND POLITICAL LESSONS ABOUT HURRICANE DISASTER RESILIENCE.

COMMUNITY

DATA BASES AND INFORMATION

• SEVERE WINDSTORMS

• INVENTORY• VULNERABILITY• LOCATION

RISK ASSESSMENT

RISKACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

HURRICANE DISASTERR RESILIENCE

• PREPAREDNESS• PROTECTIONS• EARLY WARNING• EMERGENCY RESPONSE• RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION

POLICY OPTIONS

Wind profile

Storm Hazards:- Wind pressure- Surge- Rain- Flood- Waves- Salt water- Missiles- Tornadoes

Ocean

Gradient Wind

NATIONS THAT NEED TO BECOME HURRICANE DISASTER RESILIENT• CANADA• USA• MEXICO• CENTRAL AMERICA NATIONS• JAIMAICA AND WEST INDIES• CARIBBEAN BASIN NATIONS

WE CONTINUE TO OPERATE WITH A FLAWED PREMISE:

KNOWLEDGE FROM HURRICANE DISASTERS, WHICH OCCUR

ANNUALLY IN THE ATLANTIC AND EASTERN PACIFIC BASINS,

IS ENOUGH TO MAKE ANY NATION SUSCEPTIBLE TO HURRICANES

ADOPT AND IMPLEMENT POLICIES THAT WILL FACILITATE ITS

DISASTER RESILIENCE

FACT: IT USUALLY TAKES MULTIPLE HURRICANE

DISASTERS BEFORE A STRICKEN NATION WILL ADOPT AND

IMPLEMENT POLICIES THAT MOVE IT TOWARDS HURRICANE

DISASTER RESILIENCE

FACT: MOST UNAFFECTED NATIONS DON’T EVEN TRY TO LEARN ANYTHING NEW

FROM ANOTHER NATION’S HURRICANE DISASTERS AND

CERTAINLY DON’T CONSIDER THEM TO BE A BASIS FOR CHANGING

EXISTING POLICIES

WIND AND WATER PENETRATE BUILDING ENVELOPE

HURRICANES

UPLIFT OF ROOF SYSTEM

FLYING DEBRIS PENETRATES WINDOWS

STORM SURGE

HEAVY PRECIPITATION IN A SHORT TIME

FLASH FLOODING (MUDFLOWS)

LANDSLIDES (MUDFLOWS)

CAUSES OF RISK

GLOBALDISASTER

LABORATORIES

TYPICAL SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

• A community’s (worst case--the Capital) functions are shut down for a time

• Downed trees• Flooded streets• Power outages• Roofs ripped off


• Major roads blocked by debris• Bridges washed out or

impassible• Sea wall, levees, etc., damaged• Airport closed; planes

damaged on the runway• Landslides


• Region- and locale-specific damage to food crops and “money crops” (i.e., exportable goods)

EXAMPLES OF PAST HURRICANE DISASTER LABORATORIES THAT

TAUGHT MANY LESSONS

SOME OF THE “BAD” HURRICANES: 1989-2013

• Hugo Sept 1989• Andrew Aug

1992• Opal Oct 1995• Floyd Sept

1999

ANDREW: One of the most intense and the last of the three Category 5 hurricanes to make US landfall in the 20th century, Andrew had sustained winds of

165 mi/hr and caused catastrophic damage in Florida.

HURRICANE ANDREW: CAT 5; AUG 24, 1992

HURRICANE ANDREW: FLORIDA CITY, FL; AUG 25, 1992

SOME OF THE “BAD” HURRICANES: 1989-2013 (Continued)

• Mitch Nov 1998• Charley Aug

2004• Ivan Sept 2004• Dennis 2005 • Katrina Aug

2005

KATRINA: Nearly every levee in the Federal Protection System of New Orleans’ was breached,

eventually causing 80 percent of the city to be flooded, and 1,836

people to lose their lives. .

HURRICANE KATRINA: NEW ORLEANS; CAT 3, AUG 30, 2005

“BAD” HURRICANES: 1989-2013 (Continued)

• Rita Sept 2005• Stan Sept 2005• Wilma Oct 2005• NONE 2006

HURRICANE RITA: EVACUATION CENTER, SEPT 21, 2005

RITA: In addition to a record evacuation of over 1 million people that took evacuees to places like the First Baptist

Church in Tyler, TX, Rita’s winds, waves, and storm surge caused damage to the oil industry and

flooding in New Orleans again.

HURRICANE WILMA: NAPLES, FL; CAT 5, OCT 24, 2005

WILMA: A CAT 5 storm, Wilma was the most intense hurricane

ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, but it was a Category 3

when it made landfall in several places, causing devastation in the Yucatan Peninsula, Cuba,

and Florida.


• Dean 2007• Felix 2007• Noel, 2007

HURRICANE DEAN: CATEGORY 4 STORM ON AUGUST 18

HURRICANE DEAN: A CATEGORY 2-3 STORM ON AUGUST 17

• The eye of hurricane Dean, the first of the North Atlantic season, passed between the Caribbean islands: St. Lucia and Martinique, on Friday, August 17.

• The two islands, less than 80 km (50 mi) apart were, were struck with winds of 165 - 200 km per hour (100 - 125 mi per hour), storm surge, and heavy rain.


• Gustav Sept 2008

• Ike 2008• Paloma 2008• NONE 2009

GUSTAV: Gustav prompted the largest evacuation in USA

history-- 3 million people-- who fled the oncoming hurricane, after it had made landfall in Haiti and Cuba, crossed the

Gulf of Mexico, and made landfall again in Cocodrie, La.,

on Sept. 1, 2008.

HURRICANE GUSTAV: 3 MILLION EVACUATING LA, SEPT 1, 2008


• Igor 2010• Tomas 2010• Irene 2011• None 2012• Sandy 2013

SANDY: A $300 BILLION STORM; OCTOBER 24, 2012

Sandy, 2012’s ninth hurricane, became a huge storm with wind and rain bands reaching out 500 km or more from the

storm center, producing 15-50 cm of rain and flooding in Jamaica, Bermuda, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, New Jersey,

and New York

CAT I HURRICANE SANDY: OCTOBER 24

SUPER STORM SANDY: OCT. 29-30, 2012

SANDY: RAIN IN HAITI

SANDY: RAIN IN CUBA

NOW SUPER STORM SANDY; OCT. 29-30, 2013

NEW JERSEY: ATLANTIC CITY UNDER WATER

NEW JERSEY: OCEAN FRONT FLOODING

NEW JERSEY: STREETS FLOODED

FLOODING IN BROOKLYN, NY

$360 MILLION STORM SURGE, NEW HAVEN, CT: OCT. 30

LESSON: THE TIMING OF ANTICIPATORY ACTIONS IS VITAL

• The people who know: 1) what to expect (e.g., storm surge, high-velocity winds, rain, flash floods, and landslides,), 2) where and when it will happen, and 3) what they should (and should not) do to prepare will survive.

LESSON: TIMELY EARLY WARNING AND EVACUATION SAVES LIVES

• The people who have timely early warning in conjunction with a community evacuation plan that facilitates getting out of harm’s way from the risks associated with storm surge, high winds, flooding, and landslides will survive.

TRACKING THE STORM

THREE MAJOR FACTORS: GOOD COMMUNICATIONS

GOOD MESSAGINGSAFE HAVENS FOR

EVACUEES

“SAFE HAVENS” (I.E., EVACUATION CENTERS)

LESSON: WIND ENGINEERED BUILDINGS SAVE LIVES

• Buildings engineered to withstand the risks from a hurricane’s high velocity winds will maintain their function and protect occupants and users from death and injury.

THE HURRICANE SAFE ROOM IS A RECENT CONSTRUCTION

INNOVATION THAT SAVES LIVES

LESSON: EMERGENCY RESPONSE SAVES LIVES AND PROTECTS

• The timing of emergency response operations is vitally important for search and rescue and provision of emergency services to save lives and protect property.

LESSON: EMERGENCY MEDICAL PREPAREDNESS SAVES LIVES

• The local community’s capacity for emergency health care offsets the crisis caused by damaged hospitals and medical facilities, lack of clean drinking water, food, and medicine, and high levels of morbidity and mortality.

LESSON: THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ALWAYS PROVIDES AID

• The International Community provides millions to billions of dollars in relief to help “pick up the pieces, ” but this strategy is not enough by itself to ensure disaster resilience.

FACT:HURRICANE DISASTER

RESILIENCE POLICIES BASED ON LESSONS LEARNED FROM

PAST HURRICANE LABORATORIES ARE NEEDED BY

MANY NATIONS

PILLARS OF HURRICANE DISASTER RESILIENCE Preparedness

Adoption and Implementation of a Modern Wind Engineering Building Code

Time,y Early Warning and EvacuationTimely Emergency Response (including

Emergency Medical Services)Casualty insurance to underwrite losss

Cost-Effective Recovery

THE CHALLENGE:

POLICY CHANGES: CREATE, ADJUST, AND REALIGN PROGRAMS, PARTNERS AND PEOPLE UNTIL YOU HAVE CREATED THE KINDS OF TURNING POINTS NEEDED FOR MOVING TOWARDS HURRICANE RESILIENCE

CREATING TURNING POINTS FOR HURRICANE DISASTER

RESILIENCE

USING EDUCATIONAL SURGES CONTAINING THE PAST AND PRESENT LESSONS TO FOSTER AND ACCELERATE THE CREATION OF TURNING

POINTS

CREATING TURNING POINTS FOR HURRICANE DISASTER

RESILIENCE

INTEGRATION OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS WITH POLITICAL

SOLUTIONS FOR POLICIES ON PREPAREDNESS, PROTECTION, EARLY

WARNING, EMERGENCY RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY

part 3 hurricanes learning from global disaster laboratories 2014

Education