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THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES 

 The University of the West Indies Course Code ENGR 3001 2015 / /

DO NOT WRITE OR TYPE ON THE BACK OF THIS SHEET: USE ONE SIDE ONLY

EXAMINATIONS OF May 2015

Code and Name of Course: ENGR3001 Natural Hazards and Disaster Management in the Caribbean

Date and Time:  Duration: Three (3) Hours 

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES: This paper has 3 pages and 5 questions

ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS

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 The University of the West Indies Course Code ENGR 3001 2015 / /

Question 1

What is the difference between a natural hazard and a natural disaster?

(5 Marks)

The Caribbean Islands like most Small Island Developing States are highly vulnerable to natural hazards.Discuss the reasons for this high vulnerability.

(15 marks)

Question 2

What is a flood hazard map?

(4marks)

Describe how the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) can make such a map in its

operations.

(16 marks)

Question 3

(a) 

What do you understand by the term a 10 year flood?

(2 marks) 

(b) Recent studies on Climate Change predict that in the future, the severity of floods would intensity. If the

 peak flows of Caroni River are expected to increase by 30% by 2050 and the current statistics for the

Caroni River are 

Qaverage

 = 75m3/s 

The standard deviation of peak flow is 50 m3/s 

What would be the peak flow for a 50-yr flood in 2050?

Assume that the flows in the Caroni River follow a Gumbel Distribution, which is given by the

following equation:

Qt

= Qav

 + Kσ 

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Where:

Qt denotes the magnitude of the T-year flood event, K is the frequency factor, Q

 avand σ 

 

are the mean

and the standard deviation of the maximum instantaneous flows respectively 

The frequency factor K is expressed as

−+=

1lnln5772.0

6

T 

T K 

π  

 

(6 marks)

(c) Flood mitigation can take the form of structural measures or a non-structural measures.

Describe three each of these measures giving examples.

(12 marks)Question 4

(a)  What are the main goals of Disaster Management?

(4 marks)

(b) Describe the Disaster Management Cycle. Use a sketch to where possible.

(4 marks)

(c)  With reference to a hurricane list at least 3 activities that would be appropriate to the different elements

of the Disaster Management Cycle.

(12 marks) Question 5

(a) What organisations has the primary responsibility for disaster management in your island and in the

region?

(3 marks)

(b) The probability of Tobago experiencing Category Two hurricane is 1 in 10. What is the probability of

Tobago having six (6) Category Two  hurricanes in the next 20 years?

(9 marks)

(c)  Why are Natural Hazards and Disaster Management critical to sustainability?

(8 marks)

END OF EXAMINATION PAPER 

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 The University of the West Indies Course Code ENGR 3001 2015 / /