Transcript Nat Disasters - Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Natural Disasters
 Natural disasters by far account for the
greatest loss of life and the greatest amount
of property damage than any other type of
event.
 The United States is becoming more
vulnerable to natural hazards mostly because
of changes in population and national wealth
density--more people and infrastructure have
become concentrated in disaster-prone
areas.
Worst Earthquake
 July 28, 1976 - The world's most devastating
quake of the 20th century (magnitude 7.8) hit
the sleeping city of Tangshan, in northeast
China.
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The official death toll was 242,000.
Some unofficial estimates put the actual
number of dead as high as 655,000.
Worst Volcano
 May 8, 1902 - Mt. Pelee erupted on the
Caribbean island of Martinique, destroying
the capital city of St. Pierre. Up to 40,000
were killed.
Worst Flood
 July-August 1931 - Massive flooding of
China's Yangtze River led to more than three
million deaths from drowning, disease and
starvation.
Worst Pandemic
 1918-1919 - An epidemic of "Spanish Flu"
spread around the world. At least 20 million
died, although some estimates put the final
toll at 50 million.
 It is estimated that between 20 per cent and
40 per cent of the entire world's population
got sick.
Worst US Flood
 1889
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May 31, Johnstown, Pa.: collapse of South
Fork Dam left more than 2,200 dead.
Worst US Hurricane
 1900
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Sept. 8, Galveston, Tex.: an estimated
6,000–8,000 dead, mostly from devastation
due to tidal surge.
Worst US Tornado
 1925
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March 18, Mo., Ill., and Ind.: great “Tri-State
Tornado”; 689 dead; over 2,000 injured.
Property damage estimated at $16.5 million.
Worst US Earthquake
 1906
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April 18, San Francisco: earthquake
accompanied by fire razed more than 4 sq mi;
estimates range from 700 to 3,000 dead or
missing.
Natural Disasters
 Natural hazards are more predictable than
any other hazard.
 Although may not know exactly when a
natural disaster will occur, precisely where
they will strike, or how severe they will be,
past experience can be used to identify areas
that are most vulnerable to certain types of
natural disasters.
Natural Disasters
 The largest single category of repetitive
threats results from weather or geological
events that can affect any area of the country.
 Their impact can be localized or widespread,
predictable or unpredictable; resulting
damage can range from minimal to major.
Natural Disasters
 Depending on the severity of the incident,
they can have a long-term impact on the
infrastructure (roads, bridges, and utilities) of
any given location.
 Threats involving landslide, tornado, tsunami,
volcano, wildlife, thunderstorm, and winter
storm.
Natural Disaster Planning
 Specifically, the following steps are involved in the process:
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Writing a management policy
Organizing a planning committee
Identifying perils or threats and assessing vulnerability to
these hazards
Assessing the availability and capabilities of public
emergency services, company personnel, and equipment
resources
Deciding the level of response capability based upon local
needs and regulatory requirements
Organizing the emergency response team
Writing the plan
Training personnel
Testing the plan
Earthquakes
 An earthquake is a wave-like movement of the earth's
surface.
 The earth's crust and upper part of the mantle are
consistently pushing and moving against one another
along what are known as fault lines.
 When rock masses slip along a fault, the energy of
an earthquake is released in seismic waves.
 An earthquake also can be produced by volcanic
eruptions. Earthquakes can be extremely violent.
Interstate highway collapse in 1989 San Francisco Earthquake
where 41 motorists were killed.
Richter Scale
 Richter scale, invented by Charles F. Richter in 1934.
 The damage caused by an earthquake depends on
its severity or intensity.
 The most widely known indicator of severity, the
Richter scale, measures the energy released
 A change of one full point in the Richter scale
represents a difference factor of about 30 in energy
released.
 Thus, an earthquake of magnitude 7 is roughly 30
times as powerful – in terms of energy released – as
one of magnitude 6.
Richter Scale
Richter
Magnitudes
Earthquake Effects
Less than 3.5
Generally not felt, but recorded.
3.5-5.4
Often felt, but rarely causes damage.
Under 6.0
At most slight damage to well-designed buildings.
Can cause major damage to poorly constructed
buildings over small regions.
6.1-6.9
Can be destructive in areas up to about 100 kilometers
across where people live.
7.0-7.9
Major earthquake. Can cause serious damage over
larger areas.
8 or greater
Great earthquake. Can cause serious damage in
areas several hundred kilometers across.
Modified Mercalli (MM) Intensity
scale
 Another scale is the Mercalli scale.
 Invented by Giuseppe Mercalli in 1902
 Today, geologists use what is known as the
Modified Mercalli (MM) Intensity scale to
measure the intensity of ground shaking at a
particular site.
Signs and Warnings
 Earthquakes usually occur without warning.
 Earthquake monitoring is conducted by the
U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, and
universities throughout the United States.
 However, the exact time and place an
earthquake will occur still cannot be precisely.
Earthquake Risk Maps
 Though quakes usually strike without
warning, scientists have produced risk maps
that show areas where an earthquake is likely
to occur.
 Other clues to the probability of a quake
come from studying faults, measuring the tilt
of the earth's crust, watching changes in the
water levels of wells, and even observing the
behavior of animals.
Immediate Dangers
 The actual movement of the ground is seldom the direct
cause of death or injury.
 Earthquake-related casualties are commonly caused by:
 partial or total building collapse, including toppling
chimneys or walls, falling ceiling plaster, light fixtures, and
pictures;
 flying glass from broken windows and skylights (this
danger may be greater from windows in high-rise
structures):
 overturned bookcases, fixtures, and other large furniture
and appliances;
 fires from broken chimneys and broken gas lines:
 fallen power lines; and
 an inappropriate or drastic human reaction caused by
fear.
Secondary Emergencies
 Fires caused by earthquakes are particularly
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dangerous.
Water mains may be broken and fire-fighting
equipment may be unable to reach the fire.
Broken gas lines often are a major cause of
earthquake-related fires.
Damage to buildings, utility lines, bridges, or dams.
Water supplies can become contaminated by
seepage around broken water mains.
Damage to roadways and to other means of
transportation may create food and other resource
shortages if transportation is interrupted.
Advanced National Seismic
System Network
 The Advanced National Seismic System
Network will be a nationwide network of at
least 7000 shaking measurement systems,
both on the ground and in buildings.
Advanced National Seismic System
Network
 Provide emergency response personnel
with real-time earthquake information.
 Provide engineers with information about
building and site response.
 Provide scientists with high-quality data to
understand earthquake
processes and solid earth structure and
dynamics.
Seismic Probability Maps
U.S. Geological Survey
 Hazard maps are available from the US
Geological Survey
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http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/hazmaps/
products_data/images/nshm_us02.gif
Floods
 Floods can be slow or fast rising.
 They are sometimes seasonal, as when
winter or spring rains and melting snow fill
river basins with too much water too quickly.
 Flash floods are usually the result of
extremely heavy rain or snow and are
sudden.
1993 Mississippi Flood
 The 1993 midwest flood was one of the most
significant and damaging natural disasters
ever to hit the United States.
 Damages totaled $15 billion, 50 people died,
hundreds of levees failed, and thousands of
people were evacuated, some for months.
Comparison Photos of the Mississippi,
1993
Mississippi and Missouri River Basin,
1993
Flood Experiences
 On the average, each year more than
300,000 people are driven from their homes
by floods, 200 flood-related fatalities occur,
and $2 billion in total flood damages are
sustained.
 The worst recorded flood in terms of loss of
lives was the 1889 flood in Johnstown,
Pennsylvania, which resulted in the loss of
more than 2,200 lives.
FEMA Map Services
 Special flood hazard areas for some 18,000
communities are identified on a Flood Hazard
Boundary Map or a Flood Insurance Rate
Map issued by FEMA.
 Many maps provide base flood elevations.
Floodways
 FEMA also provides many communities with
data to help them designate floodways.
 The floodway is that part of the stream
channel, plus any adjacent floodplain land,
that must be reserved in order to allow the
discharge of the base flood ("100-year flood")
without increasing flood heights.
National Flood Insurance Program
 Every community participating in the National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP) is required to maintain a
repository for their flood maps.
 The NFIP is a Federal program enabling property
owners to purchase flood insurance.
 FEMA administers the NFIP in communities
throughout the United States.
 Communities in the NFIP must require new buildings
in the special flood hazard area to be constructed so
that the lowest floor will be located at or above the
base flood elevation.
Signs and Warnings
 A flood may be build in areas near streams
and rivers
 Monitor radio for flood forecasts
 Flash floods occur swiftly.
 Flood warnings are issued by the National
Weather Service.
 Local police, the sheriff, the highway patrol,
the county flood control district office, and
other local agencies may also supply flood
warnings.
Signs and Warnings
 A flash flood watch is issued when flash
flooding is possible within the designated
watch area: be alert
 A flash flood warning is issued when a flash
flood has been reported or is imminent: take
necessary precautions
 A flood warning is issued as an advance
notice that a flood is imminent or is in
progress at a certain location or in a certain
river basin.
Immediate Dangers
 The immediate danger from flash floods is
from the strength of the water current as it
surges through an area, carrying debris and
causing injuries and drowning
 Floods can interrupt power, disable fuel
sources, and make roads impassable. People
may be stranded in their homes, or be unable
to reach their homes.
Long Term Dangers
 Long-term dangers include the outbreak of
disease, widespread animal death, broken
sewage lines and widespread water supply
pollution broken gas lines, downed power
lines, and fires.
 Large-scale flooding can disrupt a community
for a long time while utilities are restored,
debris is cleared, and property is repaired.
Preparedness
 Stockpile emergency building materials such
as sandbags, plywood, plastic sheeting, and
lumber.
 Develop an evacuation and preparedness
plan.
 If in a flash flood area, have several alternate
routes to ensure rapid evacuation.
 Maintain emergency supplies such as a first
aid kit, portable radio,
 Store drinking water in jugs and bottles.
Prevention
 Avoid building in a floodplains
 Implement flood prevention strategies into
building designs and equipment designs
Mitigation
 FEMA'S The Mitigation Division manages the
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and a
range of programs designed to reduce future losses
to homes, businesses, schools, public buildings and
critical facilities from floods, earthquakes, tornadoes
and other natural disasters.
 Mitigation includes such activities as:
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Complying with or exceeding NFIP floodplain
management regulations.
Adopting zoning ordinances that steer development
away from areas subject to flooding, storm surge or
coastal erosion.
Response
 As flood waters rise, take these key precautions:
 Secure all outdoor items or store them inside on upper levels
 Move all valuable household possessions to upper levels away
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from rising floods.
Move cars, machinery, and all livestock to higher ground
Check emergency food and water supplies – keep them high
and dry.
Listen to radio announcements from emergency officials. If you
are told to evacuate, do so immediately.
Do not attempt to drive over a flooded road
In a flash flood warning, move immediately to high ground.
Because of the speed with which a flash flood travels, there is
no time to save any possessions or implement any
precautionary measures.
Recovery
 Have all drinking water tested by local health
authorities before using.
 Before entering a building, check for
structural damage; make sure it is not in
danger of collapsing.
 Check utilities
 Report broken utility lines to appropriate
authorities
 Keep in mind that floods can cause
landslides, mudflows, and power outages
Tornadoes
 Tornados are relatively short-lived local storms.
 They are composed of violently rotating columns of air that
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descend in the familiar funnel shape from thunderstorm cloud
systems.
The weather conditions that tend to generate tornados are
unseasonably warm and humid earth surface air, cold air at
middle atmospheric levels, and strong upper-level jet stream
winds.
Tornados can occur anywhere in the United States during any
month of the year.
The destruction path of a tornado averages about 250 yards in
width and 15 miles in length.
However, in extreme conditions, a tornado may travel more than
300 miles and leave a path of total destruction more than a mile
wide.
Tornados will travel up to sixty miles per hour, with wind speeds
approaching 400 miles per hour within the tornado's center.
SKYWARN Spotters Network
 To obtain critical weather information, the
National Weather Service of the U.S.
Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, and
cooperating organizations, have established
SKYWARN Spotter Networks
Greensburg, KS, June 4, 2007
 At 9:45 p.m. CDT on May 4, 2007, Greensburg was hit by an
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EF5 tornado.
The tornado was estimated to be 1.7 miles in width and traveled
for nearly 22 miles.
Ninety-five percent of the city was confirmed to be destroyed,
with the other five percent being severely damaged.
The National Weather Service estimated winds of the tornado to
reach 205 mph.
Twelve fatalities were attributed to the tornado, ten of them
residents of Greensburg.
Tornado sirens sounded in the city twenty minutes before the
tornado struck, and a tornado emergency was issued, which
undoubtedly saved many lives.
Greensburg, KS, June 4, 2007
Tornado Myths
 MYTH: Areas near rivers, lakes, and mountains are safe
from tornadoes.
FACT: No place is safe from tornadoes. In the late 1980's,
a tornado swept through Yellowstone National Park
leaving a path of destruction up and down a 10,000 ft.
mountain.
 MYTH: The low pressure with a tornado causes buildings
to "explode" as the tornado passes overhead.
FACT: Violent winds and debris slamming into buildings
cause most structural damage.
 MYTH: Windows should be opened before a tornado
approaches to equalize pressure and minimize damage.
FACT: Opening windows allows damaging winds to enter
the structure. Leave the windows alone; instead,
immediately go to a safe place.
Signs and Warnings
 Tornados develop during severe
thunderstorms and hurricanes.
 While not all thunderstorms and hurricanes
create tornados, the potential is there.
The Enhanced Fujita Scale
 The Fujita Scale is used to classify the intensity
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and damage from tornadoes.
Developed in 1971 by Tetsuya "Ted" Fujita
Through extensive research the Fujita Scale was
developed based on damage, not wind speeds
Storm researchers came up with the Enhanced
Fujita scale to better reflect a tornado’s strength.
The new Enhanced Fujita scale started use in
February 2007.
Tornado Watches and Warnings
 The National Severe Storms Forecast Center in
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Kansas City, Missouri, issues tornado watches.
Local National Weather Service offices issue tornado
warnings.
Local officials may sound sirens in a tornado warning.
A tornado watch indicates that conditions are right for
a tornado to develop and that the sky should be
watched.
A tornado warning indicates a tornado has been
sighted or is spotted on radar.
Warnings will give the location of the tornado and the
area immediately affected by the warning.
Immediate Dangers
 The immediate threat from tornados is danger
to life and damage to property from violently
whirling winds and debris hurled through the
air by winds.
Long-Term Dangers
 Long-term risks include the possibility of
building collapse, fallen trees and power
lines, broken gas lines, broken sewer and
water mains, and the outbreak of fires.
 Agricultural crops and industries may be
damaged or destroyed.
Preparedness
 The best preparation for a tornado is to
designate a safe place as a tornado shelter.
 Tornado shelters are safest if they are
underground.
 A basement away from windows offers the
best protection.
 If neither of these are available, plan to find
shelter under heavy furniture near an inside
wall on the ground floor.
 Get under solid furniture.
Prevention
 Follow relevant building code practices such
as the use of wind-resistant design.
Response
 Get to adequate shelter immediately
 Do not drive.
 If driving in a city and spot a tornado, get out of your
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car and go into a nearby building.
If driving in open country, drive at a right angle away
from the tornado's path if you can safely do so.
Do not try to outrun the storm.
If you cannot avoid the tornado, get out of your car.
Lie flat in the nearest depression, such as a ditch,
culvert, or ravine.
Protect your head, and stay low to the ground.
Recovery
 Communicating with employees, vendors and clients
 Recovering documents and electronic data
 Protecting equipment and physical resources
 Locating alternate physical facilities
 Finding alternate suppliers/ sources of raw materials
 Maintaining cash flow
 Addressing legal issues
 Processing insurance and medical claims.
Hurricane Preparedness
 Hurricane hazards come in many forms:
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storm surge
high winds
tornadoes
flooding
Storm Surge
 Storm surge is simply water that is pushed
toward the shore by the force of the winds
swirling around the storm. This advancing
surge combines with the normal tides to
create the hurricane storm tide, which can
increase the mean water level 15 feet or
more.
Storm Surge
 One tool used to evaluate the threat from
storm surge is the SLOSH model.
Hurricane Katrina
SLOSH Model
 SLOSH (Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from
Hurricanes) is a computerized model run by the
National Hurricane Center (NHC) to estimate storm
surge heights and winds resulting from historical,
hypothetical, or predicted hurricanes by taking into
account:
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Pressure
Size
Forward speed
Track
Winds
Hurricane Katrina
SLOSH Model
 The SLOSH model is generally accurate
within plus or minus 20 percent. For example,
if the model calculates a peak 10 foot storm
surge for the event, you can expect the
observed peak to range from 8 to 12 feet.
High Winds
 Hurricane intensity measured on the Saffir-
Simpson Scale
 The scale was developed in 1971 by civil
engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist
Bob Simpson, who at the time was director of
the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).
 Categories 1-5
 Based upon wind speeds
Hurricane Katrina
Estimating Potential Damage from
Disasters
 FEMA’s HAZUS-MH
 Potential loss estimates analyzed in HAZUS-MH
include:
 Physical damage to residential and commercial
buildings, schools, critical facilities, and
infrastructure;
 Economic loss, including lost jobs, business
interruptions, repair and reconstruction costs; and
 Social impacts, including estimates of shelter
requirements, displaced households, and
population exposed to scenario floods,
earthquakes and hurricanes.