REMEMBERING 2O10’S FLOODS Heavy rainfall sets records and causes flooding disasters around the...

REMEMBERING 2O10’S FLOODS

Heavy rainfall sets records and causes flooding disasters around

the world

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of

North Carolina, USA

2010

A YEAR OF “RECORD AND NEAR-RECORD” NATURAL

DISASTERS

FLOOD HAZARDS (AKA

POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)

• TOO MUCH WATER DISCHARGED WITHIN THE REGIONAL DRAINAGE SYSTEM TO BE ACCOMMODATED IN THE NORMAL WATER CYCLE

• EROSION

• SCOUR

• MUDFLOWS

LOSS OF FUNCTION OF STRUCTURES IN FLOODPLAIN

FLOODSFLOODS

INUNDATION

INTERACTION WITH HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

STRUCTURAL/CONTENTS DAMAGE FROM WATER

WATER BORNE DISEASES (HEALTH PROBLEMS)

EROSION AND MUDFLOWS

CONTAMINATION OF GROUND WATER

CAUSES OF RISK

CAUSES OF RISK

CASE HISTORIESCASE HISTORIES

COMMUNITYCOMMUNITYCOMMUNITYCOMMUNITYDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATIONDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATION

HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS

•HAZARD MAPS•INVENTORY•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION

RISK ASSESSMENTRISK ASSESSMENT

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

FLOOD DISASTER RISK FLOOD DISASTER RISK REDUCTIONREDUCTION

•PREVENTION/MITIGATION•PREPAREDNESS•EMERGENCY RESPONSE•RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION

POLICY OPTIONSPOLICY OPTIONS

2010’S “FLOOD LABORATORIES”2010’S “FLOOD LABORATORIES”

• PORTUGAL (MADEIRA)

• RUSSIA (SIBERIA, KAZAKHSTAN)

• USA (NORTH DAKOTA, MINNESOTA, TENNESSEE, CALIFORNIA, …)

• PORTUGAL (MADEIRA)

• RUSSIA (SIBERIA, KAZAKHSTAN)

• USA (NORTH DAKOTA, MINNESOTA, TENNESSEE, CALIFORNIA, …)

2010’S “FLOOD LABORATORIES”2010’S “FLOOD LABORATORIES”

• BRAZIL• POLAND, HUNGARY,

GERMANY, CZECH REPUBLIC, …

• CHINA—NORTH KOREA

• PAKISTAN• NEW SOUTH WALES

(AUSTRALIA)

• BRAZIL• POLAND, HUNGARY,

GERMANY, CZECH REPUBLIC, …

• CHINA—NORTH KOREA

• PAKISTAN• NEW SOUTH WALES

(AUSTRALIA)

IMPACTED NATIONS

• … Madeira (Portugal), Russia, USA (North Dakota, Minnesota, Tennessee), Brazil, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Czech Republic, China , Pakistan, North Korea, New South Wales, Australia, California, …

SOCIETAL IMPACTS DURING 2010

• Millions evacuated.

• Millions of homes inundated, left without power, damaged or destroyed.

• Landslides (Rock falls, Mudflows) triggered by heavy, prolonged rainfall.

• Lives and livelihoods of millions adversely affected.

• Millions at risk from water-borne diseases

SOCIETAL IMPACTS DURING 2010 (Continued)

• Homes and Infrastructure damaged or destroyed.

• Health care needs related to water-borne diseases increase sharply.

• $Tens of billions in insured and uninsured economic losses.

• Thousands killed in flood-related disasters

FLASH FLOODS TRIGGER MUDSLIDES IN THE MADEIRA ISLANDS,

PORTUGAL

AT LEAST 42 DEAD

FEBRUARY 20-21, 2010

LOCATION OF MADEIRA

WHAT HAPPENED?

The worst storm to hit Madeira since 1993 lashed the south of the

Atlantic Ocean island, including the capital, Funchal, Saturday,

turning some streets into torrents of mud, water and debris.

WHAT HAPPENED (continued)

The flash floods were so powerful they carved paths down

mountains and ripped through the city, churning under some bridges

and tearing others down.

FEBRUARY 21: FLASH FLOOD

FEBRUARY 21

FLOODS IN RUSSIA

SPRING RUNOFF AFTER A HARSH WINTER INCREASES FLOOD RISKS

ACROSS RUSSIA

MARCH 2010

LOCATION MAP SHOWING THE THREE GREAT SIBERIAN RIVERS

The Ob River, the country's fourth longest river and the longest estuary in the world, is a major river in western Siberia.

The Yenisei River, which drains a large portion of central Siberia, is the greatest river system flowing northward to the Arctic Ocean.

The Lena River is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean (the other two being the Ob River and the Yenisei river) is the 10th longest river in the world.

Weather reports warned of "catastrophic" flooding in Siberia, where river ice was up to several meters thick, and rivers flowing northward routinely surge with

melting water.

FLOODING IN SIBERIA

FLOODING IN KAZAKHSTAN

NORTH DAKOTA-MINNESOTA EXPERIENCE A NEAR-

RECORD FLOOD DISASTER AGAIN

2009’S RECORD FLOOD STAGE APPROACHED, BUT UNBROKEN

MARCH 15 - 30, 2010

REASONS FOR FLOODING

THE ANNUAL FLOODING THREAT TO FARGO, ND AND MOORHEAD, MN IS TRIGGERED BY:

1) The Spring melt and runoff , AFTER 2) A severe Winter.

1. Synchrony of river discharge with Spring runoff

2. Ice jams

3. Lake Agassiz, a glacial lake, is the floodplain of the Red River

4. A sharp decrease in river gradient makes the Fargo-Moorhead area act like a large lake.

2010: RAPID MELT AND RUNOFF

THE “SPIDER” WAS USED TO MAKE 5,000 SANDBAGS PER HOUR

HALSTAD, MN: 4 FT BELOW 2009’S RECORD OF 40.5 FT

FARGO, ND: THE RED RIVER CRESTS 4 FT BELOW RECORD ON MARCH 21

REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS PLAN A 10-YEAR, $1.3

BILLION FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT

A 60 KM (36-MILE) – LONG NEW RIVER CHANNEL IS EXPECTED

TO SOLVE THE RECURRING THREAT

FLOODS AND MUDSLIDES PARALYZE BRAZIL

WORST IN 50 YEARS

APRIL 7, 2010

RIO DE JANEIRO: WIDE SPREAD INUNDATION

10,000 homes, mostly in the slums where one-fifth of Rio's people live

in shacks that are vulnerable to heavy rains,

were also severely impacted by mudslides

RECORD FLOODING IN NASHVILLE, TN AREA

MAY 1-4, 2010

Flooding after 2 days of intense rain left the city of Nashville and the surrounding area with a record

33 cm (13 in) of water in two days.

The Cumberland River crested Monday afternoon, May 3rd, at 3 ½ m

above flood stage.

The flash floods caught the city off-guard, and thousands of residents

and tourists were forced to flee homes and hotels as the

Cumberland river rapidly spilled over its banks

CUMBERLAND RIVER FLOODS INDUSTRIAL PARK

INTERSTATE HIGHWAY I-24 FLOODED

TEMPORARY SCHOOL BUILDING FLOATS DOWN I-24

FAILURE OF RAILROAD BRIDGE

FLOODING AT OPRYLAND HOTEL

EVACUATION FROM OPRYLAND RESORT HOTEL

The Impacts:

150 roads impassableOpryland and other hotels

evacuatedBusiness interruption

Schools and universities closedFuel shortages

Water shortagesOver $1 billion economic loss

.

RIVERS BURST BANKS AND BREACH DAMS IN CENTRAL EUROPE AFTER WEEKS OF

RAIN

POLAND, HUNGARY, GERMANY, CZECH REPUBLIC, …

MAY – JUNE, 2010

The heaviest rains in over a decade forced thousands along rain

swollen rivers in Poland, Germany, and Hungary to evacuate from their

homes, breached dikes and sand bag dams, and caused damage to

homes, and infrastructure estimated at over $2.5 billion.

POLAND

POLAND AND VISTULA RIVER

VISTULA RIVER

INUNDATED VILLAGE

DIKE BREACHED NEAR VILLAGE OF SWINIARY

ODER RIVER: GERMANY

DANUBE RIVER: SOUTHERN GERMANY; JUNE 3

MASS EVACUATION

SAVING A HORSE

SAVING CATTLE: MAY 17

RAIN AND FLOODING FROM A SERIES OF STORMS

TESTS CHINA’S THREE GORGES DAM AGAIN

TEST 1: JUNE - JULY 2007

TEST 2: APRIL - JULY 2010

IMPACTS OF 2010’S FLOODS IN CHINA

• More than 1,400 people are believed to have been killed this year in unusually severe flooding in central and southern China.

IMPACTS OF 2010’S FLOODS IN CHINA

• An estimated 1.4 million homes were destroyed, 12 million people evacuated, and 87,600 sq km (22 million acres) of crops ruined.

CHINA’S GRANDEST PROJECT SINCE THE GREAT WALL

THREE GORGES DAM

• The Three Gorges Dam is located in Central China's Hubei Province, 600 miles southwest of Beijing.

• It replaced Brazil's Itaipu Dam as the world's largest hydroelectric and flood-control installation.

• After 13 years of work and 35 million cubic yards of concrete, the dam reached its full height of 190 m (606 ft) and width of 2,309 m (7,575 ft) across the Yangtze River on May 19, 2006.

2010

• The floods hit 13 provinces, including Guangdong, Sichuan and Zhejiang, damaging more than 140,000 homes and affecting more than 10 million people.

SWOLLEN RIVERS IN 2010

• Virtually all of the major rivers were swollen, while water levels in lakes along the mighty Yangtze River were higher than in 1998, when catastrophic flooding killed about 4,000 people.

YANGTZE RIVER FLOODS: JUNE 10

THREE GORGES DAM HAS PASSED TWO TESTS

NORTHWEST PAKISTAN (AND AFGHANISTAN) HIT BY FLASH FLOODS AFTER PROLONGED

MONSOON RAINS

JULY 28-AUGUST 22, 2010

[NOTE: Aug 12th is first day of Ramadan]

ONE-FIFTH OF PAKISTAN AFFECTED

2010’s Summer floods from monsoon rains were typical and

expected, but they were the worst in 80 years and set new records.

Monsoon rains swelled rivers and streams across Pakistan and set

flooding records in the province of KhyberPakhtunkhwa, parts of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir

region, and the eastern province of Punjab.

The United Nations announced Saturday, July 31, that they would

provide $10 million dollars for immediate emergency assistance

and would appeal for 460 million in international emergency assistance

for food, water, health care, and shelter.

The USA provided $60 million for immediate emergency assistance

along with Navy and Marine helicopters, rescue boats, water

filtration units, prefabricated steel bridges and thousands of packaged

meals, which Pakistani soldiers tossed from helicopters

LOSS OF INFRASTRUCTURE: HINDERED EVACUATION & EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE

The survival of some of the poorest of the poor living in the districts of Nowshera, Charsadda, Peshawar,

Swat, and Lower Dir became problematic because of the extent

and catastrophic nature of the floods.

Over 1,500 died (and probably many more) and more than 20 million were impacted as rains swelled rivers, inundated villages, and

triggered landslides, causing entire villages, roads, and bridges to be swept away, isolating thousands, and leaving 6 million homeless.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: INUNDATED

THOUSANDS OF MUD BRICK HOMES COLLAPSED

SOME LIVESTOCK WAS SAVED, BUT THOUSANDS DROWNED

EVACUATION: CARRYING SELECTED POSSESSIONS

The people complained that their government was not meeting the

urgent needs for adequate temporary shelters,

toilets, and clean drinking water in order to

avert a public health catastrophe.

PROTESTERS: NOWSHERA

TEMPORARY SHELTER

30,000 Pakistani troops used helicopters and other means to

rescue 28,000 people and to distribute water and food.

NOWSHERA: PAKISTANI ARMY DISTRIBUTING WATER

FOOD LINE IN PUNJAB PROVINCE: AUGUST 20

FLOODS STRIKE COMMUNITIES NEAR CHINA-

NORTH KOREA BORDER

AUGUST 20-22, 2010

Flooding forced the evacuation of 94,000 people in the north China

port city of Dandong, an area near the boundary with North Korea,

after heavy rains caused China’s Yalu River to breach its banks.

Near Sinuiju, the North Korean city opposite Dandong, flooding

swamped houses, public buildings and farmland in more than five

villages.

SINUIJU, NORTH KOREA: INUNDATION BY ANNOK (YALU ) RIVER

FLOODS END YEARS OF DROUGHT IN NEW SOUTH

WALES, AUSTRALIA

DECEMBER 10-20, 2010

45 FLOOD DISASTER ZONES

THE GREAT WINTER SOLSTICE STORM OF 2010

RAIN FALLING FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TO BAKERSFIELD

December 19-21, 2010

The Great Winter Solstice Storm of 2010 was one for the record books, a once in a hundred years event, marked by the most rainfall ever to fall in the month of December and the 4th heaviest daily rainfall (on Sunday) of all time.

PACIFIC STORMS CAUSED HEAVY RAIN FALL,

FLOODING, ROCKFALLS, AND MUD FLOWS IN

CALIFORNIA, NEVADA, AND UTAH

WINTER ARRIVED AT 3:38 PM ON TUESDAY, DEC. 21

• Historic rainfall brought much of California into a state of emergency with widespread flooding and mud flows that impacted many people just before Christmas.

A LUNAR ECLIPSE COINCIDENT WITH SOLSTICE: 1ST SINCE 1638

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DRENCHED WITH UP TO 20 CM

Los Angeles received one-fourth of its annual rainfall (nearly 10 cm (4 in )) in 3 days.

WINTER STORM HITS CA: DEC 20, 2010

ROCKSLIDE

A rockslide triggered by the prolonged heavy rainfall closed the Pacific Coast Highway in both directions at the Ventura-L.A. county line.

1 m (3 ft) OF WATER IN KERN CITY, CA: DEC 20, 2010

FLOODING CREATES CHAOS: DEC 20, 2010

  From Friday (17th) through midday on Monday (20th), Bakersfield was drenched with 3.79 in. of rain, which is 5 times the normal amount for an entire December and 58% of a normal year’s rainfall.

San Bernardino County, an inland region of Southern California east of Los Angeles was among the hardest-hit areas, with losses expected to exceed $10 million.

The flooding, mudslides, falling rocks, crested creeks and downed trees created havoc in the Bakersfield area and led to the declaration of a local emergency. 

In Highland. CA. people returned to their homes after evacuation to find their homes inundated with 2 m (several feet) of mud.

MUDSLIDES IN HIGHLAND, CA: DEC 24, 2010

DECEMBER 29: A new winter storm packing powerful winds, heavy rain and snow moved into California, bringing a renewed threat of flooding and mud flows to areas that are already saturated.