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This article highlights the global natural hazard continuum of floods in 2014, including causes, patterns, and notable flood events such as the mudslide in Washington, Tsunami in Chile, and Typhoon Hagupit in the Philippines. It also explores the impact of floods on structures, health, erosion, and groundwater contamination.
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NOTABLE EVENTS AND DISASTERS OF 2014HIGHLIGHTS OF FLOODS Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, USA
2014: FLOODS ARE A GLOBAL NATURAL HAZARD CONTINUUM • FLOODS • SEVERE WINDSTORMS • EARTHQUAKES • DROUGHTS • VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS • ETC.
FLOODS • Floods occur somewhere in the world 10,000 times or more each year.
FLOOD-INDUCED LANDSLIDES • Many of the global flood occurrences also trigger landslides, mudslides, mudflows, and rock falls.
FLOODS • Floods, which can be either slow onset or rapid onset events (i.e., flash floods), occur when a locale can not process the amount of water that it is receiving in a normal manner.
FLOODS occur when water accumulates too rapidly to be processed in the locale from: a) natural events such as rainfall and snow melt, b) storm surge and heavy rain from hurricanes and typhoons, and c) tsunami waves
THE “PINEAPPLE EXPRESS” FLOODS • Pineapple Expressis a non-technical, meteorological term for an “atmospheric river” of moisture from the waters adjacent to the Hawaiian Islands that extend to any location along the Pacific coast of North America.
CAUSES OF RISK LOSS OF FUNCTION OF STRUCTURES IN FLOODPLAIN INUNDATION INTERACTION WITH HAZARDOUS MATERIALS STRUCTURAL/CONTENTS DAMAGE FROM WATER FLOODS WATER BORNE DISEASES (HEALTH PROBLEMS) CASE HISTORIES EROSION AND MUDFLOWS CONTAMINATION OF GROUND WATER
CAUSES OF DAMAGE WIND PENETRATING BUILDING ENVELOPE UPLIFT OF ROOF SYSTEM FLYING DEBRIS STORM SURGE SEVERE WINDSTORMS IRREGULARITIES IN ELEVATION AND PLAN “DISASTER LABORATORIES” SITING PROBLEMS FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES
CAUSES OF DAMAGE HIGH VELOCITY IMPACT OF INCOMING WAVES INLAND DISTANCE OF WAVE RUNUP VERTICAL HEIGHT OF WAVE RUNUP INADEQUATE RESISTANCE OF BUILDINGS TSUNAMIS FLOODING “DISASTER LABORATORIES” INADEQUATE HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL EVACUATION PROXIMITY TO SOURCE OF TSUNAMI
NOTE:INUNDATION BECOMES A POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENT WHEN IT a) TRIGGERS LANDSLIDES, b) INTERACTS WITH A COMMUNITY’S BUILDINGS, CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, CROPS, AND c) CREATES A FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES
2014: EXAMPLES OF NOTABLE FLOOD EVENTS FLOOD EVENTS Flood-induced Mudslide in Washington After the Iquique, Chile Tsunami After Typhoon Hagupit in The Philippines The “Pineapple Express” in California
FLOOD-INDUCED MUDSLIDE IN WASHINGTON STATE, USA SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2014
THE 2014 MUDSLIDE • The slide, which occurred on Saturday morning, was triggered by heavy rainfall and reported to be about 25 m (80 feet) deep in some parts.
THE 2014 MUDSLIDE • Officials described the mudslide as "a big wall of mud and debris” that blocked about a mile of State Route 530 near the town of Oso, about 55 miles north of Seattle.
PRIOR PREPAREDNESS ACTIVITIES • In 2006 after a smaller landslide occurred on the north fork of the Stillaguamish River, millions of dollars were spent on regional mitigation measures.
PRIOR PREPAREDNESS ACTIVITIES • In 2010, a report commissioned by the county in order to be in compliance with federal regulations identified the hillside that collapsed Saturday outside of the community of Oso as particularly susceptible.
THE DILEMNA FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS • The debris pile was about a square mile (2 1/2 square kilometers) and 30 to 80 feet (9 to 25 meters) deep in places, with a surface that includes quicksand-like muck, rain-slickened mud, and ice. • The terrain was difficult to navigate on foot and very treacherous when heavy equipment was brought in.
THE DILEMNA FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS • To make matters worse, the debris pile includes other hazards such as fallen trees, propane and septic tanks, twisted vehicles, and countless pieces of shattered homes
--- AND CONTINUING RAINFALL INCREASED THE LIKELIHOOD OF FLASH FLOODS AND ADDITIONAL MUDSLIDES
176 MISSING14 DEAD AS OF TUESDAY, MARCH 25
Specialized teams and high-tech equipment — including technology to locate cellphone pings under the wreckage — were deployed
Due to the dangerous environment, as bodies were being discovered underneath the rubble, they are being flown out together in groups each afternoon instead of one at a time in helicopters.
TSUNAMI WAVE RUN UP IN IQUIQUE, CHILE APRIL 1, 2014
Typhoon Hagupit made a painfully slow landfall at 11 kph (7 mph) in the Philippines on Saturday, lashing the island of Samar with 200 kph (125 mph) winds and unloading at least 40 cm (16 in) of rain over coastal areas.
Typhoon Hagupit, known locally asTyphoon Ruby, first landed at Eastern Samar on Saturday and moved slowly across the country, bringing heavy rains and strong winds
At least 21 people in the Philippines were killed before Typhoon Hagupit weakened into a tropical storm Monday. The storm forced more than one million people out of their homes and into shelters.
THE “PINEAPPLE EXPRESS” IN CALIFORNIA DECEMBER 11-14, 2014
A weather system fueled by the "Pineapple Express," a long, narrow atmospheric plume that continuously piped moisture from Hawaii into the western United States, started delivering heavy rainfall to the San Francisco area and the entire state on Wednesday.
BEYOND 2014: Communities throughout the world know why it is urgent for their stakeholders to continue working on becoming FLOOD and FLOOD-INDUCED LANDSLIDE DISASTER RESILIENT
Each community knows that it is only a matter of time until the inevitable flood event e occurs that can expose its physical and social vulnerabilities