Knowledge from hurricane disasters which occur annually in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and Western Pacific should be enough to make any nation susceptible to hurricanes adopt and implement policies that will facilitate disaster resilience. 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. What is also needed is integration of scientific and technical solutions with political solutions for policies on preparedness, protection, early warning, emergency response, and recovery. Presentation Courtesy of Dr. Walter Hays, Global Alliance For Disaster Reduction

1. TWO HURRICANES HEADED
FOR HAWAII
August 7, 2014

2. HURRICANES ISELLE (center)
AND JULIO (right)

3. THEY ARE THE FIRST HURRICANES TO
HIT HAWAII IN 22 YEARS
Hurricane Iniki struck the island of Kauai on September
11, 1992 with peak intensity winds reaching 145 MPH

4. Hurricane Iniki Wind Damage
11 September 1992

5. FORECAST:
ISELLE PREDICTED TO MAKE
LANDFALL ON THURSDAY (7
August)
JULIO WILL PASS PASSED BY
THE ISLANDS TO THE NORTH
ON SUNDAY (10 August)

6. FOR EXTRA MEASURE
A Magnitude 4.5
EARTHQUAKE RATTLED THE
BIG ISLAND AS THE
HURRICANES APPROACHED
ON 7th AUGUST

7. POTENTIAL DISASTER
AGENTS AND RISK FROM
HURRICANES

8. POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS (AKA
HAZARDS) OF A HURRICANE
• WIND FIELD [CAT 1 (55 mph) TO CAT 5+
(155 mph or greater)]
• DEBRIS
• STORM SURGE/FLOODS
• HEAVY PRECIPITATION/FLOODS
• LANDSLIDES (MUDFLOWS)
• COSTAL EROSION

9. Debris Damage from Iniki

10. HAZARDS
ELEMENTS OF WINDSTORM
RISK
EXPOSURE
VULNERABILITY LOCATION
RISK

11. HIGH POTENTIAL LOSS EXPOSURES
IN A HURRICANE
Entire communities;
People, property, infra-
structure, business enterprise,
government centers, crops,
wildlife, and natural resources.

12. A DISASTER CAN HAPPEN
WHEN THE POTENTIAL
DISASTER AGENTS OF A
HURRICANE INTERACT
WITH A COMMUNITY’S
VULNERABLE ELEMENTS

13. WIND PENETRATING
BUILDING ENVELOPE
HURRICANE
UPLIFT OF ROOF SYSTEM
FLYING DEBRIS
STORM SURGE
IRREGULARITIES IN
ELEVATION AND PLAN
SITING PROBLEMS
FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES
CAUSES
OF
DAMAGE
“DISASTER
LABORATORIES”

14. 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. windstorms, floods)
intersect at a point in space and time.

15. 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.

16. THE REASONS ARE . . .
When it does happen, the functions
of the community’s buildings and
infrastructure can be LOST.

17. 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 type of events.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. THE ALTERNATIVE TO A
HURRICANE DISASTER IS
HURRICANE DISASTER
RESILIENCE

22. CHILE’S
COMMUNITIES
DATA BASES
AND INFORMATION
HAZARDS:
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
TSUNAMI RUN UP
AFTERSHOCKS
•WINDSTORM
HAZARDS
•PEOPLE & BLDGS.
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION
WINDSTORM RISK
RISK
ACCEPTABLE RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
GOAL: HURRICANE
DISASTER RESILIENCE
• PREPAREDNESS
•PROTECTION
•EARLY WARNING
•EMERGENCY RESPONSE
•RECOVERY and
RECONSTRUCTION
POLICY OPTIONS

23. TECHNOLOGIES FOR
MONITORING, FORECASTING,
WARNING, AND DISASTER
SCENARIOS ARE VITAL FOR
SURVIVAL IN A HURRICANE