GLOBAL VULNERABILITY REDUCTION (Part 2) A HIGH BENEFIT- TO- COST LEGACY TO LEAVE THE NEXT GENERATION ACCELERATING REDUCTION OF EVERY COMMUNITY’S VULNERABILITY TO NATURAL HAZARDS WILL BE THE KEY TO SURVIVAL FOR MILLIONS IN THE 21 ST CENTURY MAY 27, 2011 Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA

’S NATURAL HAZARDS HAVE EXPOSED THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY’S VULNERABILITIES FLOODS SEVERE WIND STORMS EARTHQUAKES DROUGHTS LANDSLIDES WILDFIRES VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS TECHNOLOGICAL HAZARDS CLIMATE CHANGE SPECIAL SITUATIONS LACK OF TECHNICAL AND POLITICAL CAPACITY OF COMMUNITY TO COPE FAILURE TO USE THE COMMUNITY’S KNOW- LEDGE AND EXPERIENCE COMMUNITY’S POLICIES INADEQUATE

2010 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: THE YEAR OF “RECORD AND NEAR-RECORD” NATURAL DISASTERS

2010 Earthquakes, Floods, Volcanic Eruptions, Severe Windstorms, Tsunamis, Landslides, Droughts, and Winter Storms WAVE AFTER WAVE OF NATURAL DISASTERS THAT KILLED OVER 260,000 AND CAUSED DIRECT ECONOMIC LOSSES OF AT LEAST $222 BILLION

2010 … And the Impacts of a Record Environmental Disasters in the Gulf of Mexico and China and Global Climate Change DIRECT ECONOMIC LOSSES ESTIMATED AT $50 BILLION and INDIRECT LOSSES AT ??

THE DEADLIEST DISASTERS OF 2010 January 12 th A M7.0 Earthquake in Haiti that killed 230,000, largely because of the inadequacy of the building code, leaving survivors stuck in tent cities battling a hurricane (Tomas), cholera outbreak, and health-care problems for the rest of 2010 and well into 2011.

HAITI’S DEATH TOLL REACHED AN ESTIMATED 230,OOO+

PARALYZING DISASTERS OF 2010 A rare volcanic eruption in Iceland that paralyzed air traffic in Europe for months—March 27.

IN 2010, EYJAFJOELL’S ASH PLUME SHUT DOWN EUROPE’S AIR TRAFFIC

PARALYZING DISASTERS OF 2010 A blanket of snow and a Nor’easter that paralyzed the Washington, D.C. area and eastern seaboard—February 6-7.

WEATHER SYSTEM OVER MID- ATLANTIC STATES: FEB 5-6, 2010

Impacts: Government offices closed, airports closed, universities and schools closed, interstate highways closed, metro service reduced or closed down, power outages.

RECORD OIL SPILL (LEAK) IN GULF OF MEXICO April 27---The explosion of British Petroleum’s Deep Water Horizon oil rig set into motion an environmental disaster and a huge cleanup operation costing billions of dollars.

DEEP WATER HORIZON: APRIL 22

HURRICANE TOMAS WAS THE LAST STORM OF THE 2010 SEASON

Tomas, as a CAT 2 storm, was the “the worst in Saint. Lucian history,” causing the loss of its entire banana crop, which along with tourism, is extremely important to Saint Lucia’s economy..

TOMAS: IMPACTS SAINT LUCIA

THE DEADLIEST DISASTERS OF 2010 Heat Wave that destroyed one-third of Russia’s wheat crop and a week of Wildfires that came close to the radioactive waste land –July 29

RUSSIA: 600 WILDFIRES BURNING IN 7 REGIONS

THE DEADLIEST DISASTERS OF 2010 Floods that inundated one- fifth of Pakistan –July 29

ONE-FIFTH OF PAKISTAN AFFECTED

ONE OF THE HARDEST HIT NATIONS IN INDONESIA In a 24-hour period in October, Indonesia suffered a deadly magnitude 7.7 earthquake, a tsunami that killed more than 500 people and a volcanic eruption that caused more than 390,000 people to leave habitats and livestock and flee to evacuation centers that had inadequate health care facilities----October 25-27

A M7.7 EARTHQUAKE, A 3 M-TSUNAMI- WAVE RUN UP, AND A LONG ERUPTION OF MOUNT MERAPI CAUSED LOSSES IN THE TENS OF MILLIONS, DISPLACED OVER 340,000, KILLING NEARLY 1,000, AND POTENTIALLY AFFECTING THE HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THOUSANDS,

The M7.7 earthquake generated a near-source tsunami with 3 m (10 ft) waves that struck within 5 minutes after the quake---so quickly that the regional tsunami warning system that was improved after the December 26, 2004 tsunami disaster, was ineffective..

70,000 EVACUATED AS ERUPTION CONTINUES: NOV 2

REALITY CHECK: We're now in La Nina (a period of Pacific ocean cooling), so we should be getting ready for a very cold winter in 2010 and 2011 and a violent, wet spring in 2011.

CLIMATE CHANGE CONTINUES TO BE BLAMED AS AN EXACERBATING FACTOR “Climate change creates “blocking episodes,” physical conditions that prevent humidity or heat from dispersing naturally, thereby creating long-lasting snow or rain storms, or prolonged hot, dry spells”---United Nations.

THE ULTIMATE REALITY CHECK OF 2010 Unless we devise and implement a realistic, new, dynamic strategy of capacity building, the next disaster may be upon us much faster than we can recover from the last one and we will all share in an unnecessary reduction in our quality of life.

2011 NEWS FLASH # 1 IT’S TIME TO STOP THE PERVASIVE INCREASE IN COMMUNITY VULNERABILITIES TO NATURAL HAZARDS NOW OCCURRING IN EVERY COUNTRY.

2011 NEWS FLASH # 2: EACH NEW GENERATION OF PROFESSIONALS HAS ACCESS TO MORE KNOWLEDGE AND BETTER TECHNOLOGY THAN THE GENERATION BEFORE IT DID, SO….THE GOAL OF STOP IS REALISTIC!

STOP INCREASING COMMUNITY VULNERABILITIES STOP INCREASING COMMUNITY VULNERABILITIES

GOAL: A GLOBAL SURGE TO ACCELERATE REDUCTION OF COMMUNITY VULNERABILITIES TO NATURAL HAZARDS FLOODS SEVERE WIND STORMS EARTHQUAKES DROUGHTS LANDSLIDES WILDFIRES VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS TECHNOLOGICAL HAZARDS CLIMATE CHANGE SPECIAL SITUATIONS INCREASE TECHNICAL AND POLITICL CAPACITY OF COMMUNITY TO COPE INCREASE OWNERSHIP AND USE OF KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE IMPLEMENT COMMUNITY POLICIES

… BY CHANGING POLICIES AND PRACTICES FROM REACTION TO ANTICIPATION … BY CHANGING POLICIES AND PRACTICES FROM REACTION TO ANTICIPATION

--- BY USING KNOWLEDGE TO DECREASE RISK --- BY USING KNOWLEDGE TO DECREASE RISK