TURNING 2011’S DISASTERS INTO EDUCATIONAL SURGES THAT WILL ADVANCE DISASTER RESILIENCE PART 4 (Continued) Dr. Walter Hays, Global Alliance For Disaster Reduction

HURRICANE IRENE (Continued)

AUG 27: FORECAST AFTER 7:30 AM LANDFALL IN OUTER BANKS, NC

THE NATURE OF IRENE’S CAPACITY TO CAUSE A DISASTER CHANGED FRON WIND TO WATER FLOODING BECAME THE CAUSE OF COMMUNITY DISASTERS AS IRENE CONTINUED TO THE NORTHEAST August 28, 2011

Cities in the northeast (e.g., New York City, Long Island, Philadelphia, Trenton, and others) had to face Irene’s storm surge, rain fall, and New Moon high tides

WHAT NORTHEAST CITIES FACED Storm surge (5-8 ft in NY City), and “new moon” tides (2-3 ft)—, flooding with potential for deaths, especially if people drive through standing water or get trapped in autos or buildings. Overflowing/encroaching rivers--

WHAT NORTHEAST CITIES FACED Rain (2 to 20 in) over a wide area from the eye—major flooding exacerbated by slow runoff Wind (40 + mph)—damage to trees, homes, buildings, and infrastructure

WHAT NORTHEAST CITIES FACED Beach erosion and mudslides-- irreversible loss due to permanent changes in the landscape. Tornadoes---no warning; deadly on the local level

FEMA WAS READY The Federal Emergency Management Agency had 18 disaster-response teams in place along the East Coast, with stockpiles of food, water and mobile communications equipment ready to go.

New York, Connecticut joined NC, VA, MD. DE and NJ in declaring a state of emergency

Hundreds of thousands told to evacuate in NC, MD, NJ, and VA.

AUG 26: EVACUATIONS BEGIN IN NEW JERSEY

New York City ordered hospitals, nursing homes in low-lying areas to evacuate.

AUG 28: FORECAST OF IRENE’S PATH

NEW YORK CITY AREA

AUG 28: IRENE APPROACHING NEW YORK CITY

AUGUST 28: NY LANDFALL Irene made landfall over New York’s Coney Island with winds of 100 kph (65 mph) before reaching New York City at 9 A.M., bringing a storm surge that sent 1 m (3 1/2-ft) of water into New York Harbor.

BAD NEWS Irene Became a Regional and Local Flooding Event With a Mix of Fresh and Salt Water

NEW YORK CITY: Heavy rainfall overflowed sewers, seawater lapped at sidewalks at the edges of the city, and water cascaded toward Wall Street, which had been fortified with sandbags.

AUG 28: FLOODING IN NEW YORK

AUG 28: WATER OVERTOPS THE BOARDWALK

AUG 28: FLOODING IN STATEN ISLAND

MAYOR BLOOMBURG CALLS FOR “RESTORE AND RECOVERY” TO START MONDAY, AUGUST 29 th A Ray of Hope for New York City, Which was Drenched, but still Operating

In upstate New York and Vermont, normally placid streams turned into raging torrents and rapidly moved tree limbs, cars, and parts of bridges down stream.

VERMONT’S FLOODING

VERMONT: FLOODING

WATERBURY, VT

PITTSFIELD, VT: COMMUNITY TURNED INTO AN ISLAND

WINOOSKI RIVER: WATERBURY, VT

VERMONT: ROADS WASHED OUT

VERMONT FLOODING

VERMONT: 3 OF THE ICONIC BRIDGES FAILED

VERMONT: FLOODING

Vermont's mountainous terrain amplified the effects of Irene's flooding by increasing the velocity of stream flow and increasing the runoff time.

VERMONT: Worst flooding in the state since 1927 Whole communities under water: businesses, homes, roads, bridges, rail systems, and crops Vermont’s Emergency Operations Center was under- water and had to be relocated.

IMPACTS IN VERMONT: In Vermont, “epic” flooding from Irene’s heavy rainfall left a number of towns in southern Vermont underwater

NEW JERSEY’S FLOODING

SPRING LAKE, NJ: BOARDWALK DESTROYED

AUGUST 28: IMPACTS IN NEW JERSEY Restoration of Trenton, the Capitol, Under Water, and Restoration of the Beaches are High-Priorities for New Jersey

ATLANTIC CANADA’S FLOODING

IRENE’S ARRIVAL IN ATLANTIC CANADA

QUEBEC: 3,500 homes in 20 municipalities were affected by the swollen Richelieu River and Lake Champlain in the flood zone between Montreal’s south shore and to the New York border.

OVERALL IMPACTS

OVERALL IMPACTS: The storm that marched up the East Coast on August 27 th had pounded the coast with torrential rains and fierce winds and was blamed for power outages involving more than 6 million homes and businesses.

OVERALL IMPACTS (continued): The storm caused an unprecedented shutdown of the transit systems in Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and New York; It left rail and airline service in the Northeast paralyzed, and hundreds of thousands of people without power.

OVERALL IMPACTS (continued): Government officials issued evacuation orders for about 3 million people along the Eastern Seaboard, ranging from 100,000 people in Delaware to a million people in New Jersey

Irene smashed power poles, ripped transmission wires and flooded electrical stations over the weekend, blacked out more than 7.4 million homes and businesses from South Carolina to Maine, and killed 44 people in 13 states

TOWARDS HURRICANE DISASTER RESILIENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS PROTECTION RESPONSE RECOVERY

STRICKEN COMMUNITY DATA BASES AND INFORMATION HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS HAZARD MAPS INVENTORY VULNERABILITY LOCATION RISK ASSESSMENT RISK ACCEPTABLE RISK UNACCEPTABLE RISK FOCUS ON FOUR CRITICAL AREAS BEST POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR: PREPAREDNESS PROTECTION RESPONSE & RECOVERY DISASTER RESILIENCE

1325 HURRICANES: DYNAMIC LABORATORIES FOR LEARNING EACH HURRICANE TEACHES IMPORTANT TECHNICAL AND POLITICAL LESSONS ABOUT BECOMING DISASTER RE- SILIENT.

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

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR COPING WITH TROPICAL STORMS AND HURRICANES

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR SEVERE WINDSTORMS REAL TIME FORECASTS OF PATH AND IMPACTS EVACUATION MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGIES (E.G., DOPPLER RADAR, WIND SPEEDS; PRESSURE, INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION) REAL TIME FORECASTS OF PATH AND IMPACTS EVACUATION MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGIES (E.G., DOPPLER RADAR, WIND SPEEDS; PRESSURE, INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION) DATABASES WIND ENGINEERING MAPS: STORM SURGE DISASTER SCENARIOS STORM CHASER PLANES/DRONES RISK MODELING (E.G., HAZUS, INSURANCE UNDERWRITING) DATABASES WIND ENGINEERING MAPS: STORM SURGE DISASTER SCENARIOS STORM CHASER PLANES/DRONES RISK MODELING (E.G., HAZUS, INSURANCE UNDERWRITING)

NATURAL HAZARDS FOR WHICH EVACUATION IS TYPICAL FLOODS HURRICANES TYPHOONS TSUNAMIS VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS WILDFIRES HIGH BENEFIT/COST FOR SAVING LIVES, BUT LOW BEMEFIT/COST FOR PROTECTING PROPERTY GOAL: MOVE PEOPLE OUT OF HARM’S WAY

POLICY ADOPTION RISK ASSESSMENT VULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY EXPOSUREEXPOSURE EVENTEVENT POLICY ASSESSMENT COSTCOST BENEFITBENEFIT CONSEQUENCESCONSEQUENCES TOWARDS HIRRICANE DISASTER RESILIENCE HURRI- CANES EXPECTED LOSS