1. Page 1 Harmonisation of Early Warning Alert Levels IGNITE Stage World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction Sendai, 15 March 2015 Olaf Neussner, arken consulting, Philippines

2. Page 2 Published by: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Registered offices Bonn and Eschborn, Germany Internet: www.giz.dewww.giz.de Author: Olaf Neussner Implemented by arken consulting Ackerstr. 11B 10115 Berlin Germany

3. Page 3 How many Storm Hazard Alert Levels has Myanmar? A. 9 B. 10 C. 11 D. 12

4. Page 4 This means to Bangladeshis: A. Storm categories 1, 2, 3. B. Alert, Warning, Disaster stage. C. Gale, Storm, Cyclone. D. No swimming; No small boats; No big ships allowed in the ocean.

5. Page 5 This means to Chinese: A. “All clear”, no more danger. B. Second alert stage. C. Stop outdoor collective activities. D. Wind gusts of scale 10 expected. The other alert stages.

6. Page 6 This means to the people of Hong Kong: A. The numbers in the storm categories refer to the Saffir Simpson Hurricane Scale. B. There are 10 signal levels in Hong Kong, but only 5 are displayed. C. Gale, Storm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Hurricane. D. 1, 3, 8, 9, 10 are taken from the Beaufort Wind Scale.

7. Page 7 Alert levels should be as simple as a traffic light......and universally understood.

8. Page 8 Alert levels should be the same for all hazards, because many different schemes are confusing. Flood: 3 levels Storm: 4 levels Tsunami, volcano: 5 levels (Philippines) Same number of levels (e.g. four)

9. Page 9 Alert levels should have the same colour scheme all over the world and it should reflect the most common usage of colours: Green: go, ok, no problem Yellow: attention, be alert Orange: warning, prepare for action Red: stop, danger, act But it can involve additional colours for “all clear”.

10. Page 10 Alert levels should have the same symbols everywhere. The ISO standards for tsunami danger zones, evacuation routes and centres could be an orientation.

11. Page 11 Illustration of a harmonized alert level system

12. Page 12 A project implemented by GIZ and arken consulting