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WILDFIRES ON AUSTRALIA’S TASMANIA ISLAND BURN 128 HOMES AND FORCE
THOUSANDS TO FLEE
JANUARY 4, 2013
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna,
Virginia, USA
WILDFIRES ON TASMANIA: (TEMPERATURE REACHED 40 DEGREES C)
IMPACT IN TOWN OF DUNALLEY
• A SCHOOL AND A POLICE STATION WERE DESTROYED, ALONG WITH ONE-THIRD OF ALL BUILDINGS.
EVACUATION
• Further south on the Tasmania Peninsula east of Hobart, the capitol, as many as 2,000 people took refuge in the town of Nubeena overnight, while another 700 were sheltered at the nearby historic Port Arthur site.
• Others were ferried to safety.
OTHER WILDFIRES BURNING
• Bushfires are also burning in other parts of Australia, including South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
LABETOUCHE, AUSTRALlA: 93 KM (56 MILES) EAST OF MELBOURNE
IMPACT OF WILDFIRE: 2009
WILDFIRES REACH “CATASTROPHIC LEVEL” IN AUSTRALIA
JANUARY 8, 2013
High temperatures and extreme dryness caused 200 wildfires to
ignite and reach a “CATASTROPHIC LEVEL”
in New South Wales
RECORD TEMPERATURES
• Monday (Jan 7--Australia had its hottest day on record with a nationwide average of 40.33 degrees C (104.59 F).
• Tuesday was the third hottest day at 40.11 C (104.20 F).
• Four of Australia's hottest 10 days on record have been in 2013.
THE GOOD NEWS: Although people are missing, no
deaths reported in Tasmania or New South
Wales (as of January 8)
THE BAD NEWS
• The fires have been most devastating in Tasmania, where at least 128 homes have been destroyed since Friday and more than 80,000 hectares (198,000 acres) burned.
• Hundreds of people remain at two evacuation centers in the state's south.
SOUTH NEW WALES
FIGHTING THE FIRE FROM THE AIR
WILDLIFE IMPACTED
KEEPING A SURVIVOR OF THE FIRE ALIVE
BACKGROUND FOR UNDERSTANDING
AUSTRALIA’S WILDFIRES
AUSTRALIA’S WORST WILDFIRE OUTBREAK
The deadliest wildfires in Australia's history burned people in their homes and cars and wiped out entire
towns173 DEAD; 2000 HOMES
DESTROYED
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:WORST EVER WILDFIRES IN
AUSTRALIA’S HISTORY
400 FIRES BURNED FOR WEEKSIN VICTORIA STATE
FEBRUARY 2009
Natural Phenomena that Cause Disasters
Planet Earth’s atmospheric-lithospheric interactions create favorable conditions for:
Wildfires
SCIENCE OF WILDFIRES
WILDFIRES are conflagrations caused by
lightning discharges (or acts of man) in wilderness areas close enough to one or more urban
interfaces that they threaten people, property, infrastructure, and
business enterprise.
WILDFIRES are conflagrations caused by
lightning discharges (or acts of man) in wilderness areas close enough to one or more urban
interfaces that they threaten people, property, infrastructure, and
business enterprise.
WILDFIRE HAZARDS (AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)
• FIRE
• HOT GASES AND SMOKE
• HOT SPOTS
• BURNED OUT SLOPES (with increased susceptibility to insect infestation, erosion, and landslides)
WILDFIRE HAZARDS (AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)
• SUNDOWNER WINDS
• SANTA ANNA WINDS
• LOCAL CHANGES IN AIR QUALITY
• LOCAL CHANGES IN WEATHER
YOUR YOUR COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY
YOUR YOUR COMMUNITYCOMMUNITYDATA 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
•WILDFIRE HAZARDS •INVENTORY•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION
RISK ASSESSMENTRISK ASSESSMENT
RISK
ACCEPTABLE RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
RISK REDUCTION FOR RISK REDUCTION FOR WILDFIRESWILDFIRES
•PREVENTION/MITIGATION•PREPAREDNESS•EMERGENCY RESPONSE•RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION• EDUCATIONAL SURGE
POLICY OPTIONSPOLICY OPTIONS
LIGHTNING STRIKES
WILDFIRESWILDFIRES
MANMADE FIRES
PROXIMITY OF URBAN AREA TO THE WILDLAND FIRE
WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION (DAY/NIGHT CHANGES)
DRYNESS
HIGH TEMPERATURES
LOCAL FUEL SUPPLY
CAUSES OF FIRES
CAUSES OF FIRES
DISASTER LABORATORIES
DISASTER LABORATORIES
WILDFIRES CAN CAUSE HIGH-RISK SITUATIONS
People, property, infrastructure, business enterprise, government, natural resources, and the environment are at risk.
