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Extreme Natural Events (extreme + natural_event)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

THE ENVIRONMENTAL VULNERABILITY OF CARIBBEAN ISLAND NATIONS,

GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Issue 1 2007
Bryan J. Boruff
ABSTRACT. Within the hazards- and disaster-research community consensus exists as to factors that magnify or attenuate the effects of extreme natural events on local places. But less agreement and understanding exist concerning the methods or techniques for comparing hazard vulnerability within or between places, especially small-island developing states. Using two Caribbean nations, Saint Vincent and Barbados, as study sites, we asked which island has the greater level of hazard vulnerability, and why. Results indicate that, although neither island has a large portion of its population living in extremely hazardous locations, Barbados has many more residents in risk-prone areas. The methods used in this research provide valuable tools for local emergency managers in assessing vulnerability, especially through the delineation of highly vulnerable hot spots. They can also help donor organizations interested in vulnerability reduction on islands use their resources more efficiently. [source]

Trend estimation in extremes of synthetic North Sea surges

JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES C (APPLIED STATISTICS), Issue 4 2007
Adam Butler
Summary., Mechanistic models for complex atmospheric and hydrological processes are often used to simulate extreme natural events, usually to quantify the risks that are associated with these events. We use novel extreme value methods to analyse the statistical properties of output from a numerical storm surge model for the North Sea. The ,model data' constitute a reconstruction of the storm surge climate for the period 1955,2000 based on a high quality meteorological data set and constitute the only available source of information on surge elevations at offshore and unmonitored coastal locations over this period. Previous studies have used extreme value methods to analyse storm surge characteristics, but we can extend and improve on these analyses by using a local likelihood approach to provide a non-parametric description of temporal and spatial variations in the magnitude and frequency of storm surge events. [source]

Extreme versus quotidian: addressing temporal dichotomies in Philippine disaster management

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2008
Francisco G. Delfin Jr.
Abstract Brief narratives of two recent events in Luzon island,a flashflood in Angeles City and an eruption of Mayon volcano,underscore the disparity between natural hazards as amplifiers of everyday hardship for many Filipinos and the Philippine disaster management system's orientation towards extreme-event response. Three major factors contribute to this dichotomy. First, population dynamics combined with the lack of access to resources compels poor Filipinos to live and work in hazardous areas, discounting risk from extreme natural events to focus on daily needs. Second, the institutional setting of the country's disaster management within the military establishment makes it difficult, though not impossible, to focus and address the underlying causes of vulnerability. Third, existing modes of funding disaster expenditures are all biased towards immediate response rather than long-term risk-reduction. The implications of these findings to disaster management and research in the Philippines are identified. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Das Magnitude 8.8 Maule (Chile)-Erdbeben vom 27.

BAUTECHNIK, Issue 10 2010
Februar 2010, Ingenieuranalyse der Tsunamischäden, Teil
Das Maule (Chile)-Erdbeben vom 27. Februar 2010 gehört zu den stärksten, weltweit jemals registrierten Erdbeben. Das seismische Ereignis löste einen Tsunami aus, der durch mehrere Wellenfronten verheerende Schäden an der Küste Chiles verursachte. Ereignisspezifische Besonderheiten aus der überlagerung der Effekte aus Erdbeben und darauffolgenden Flutwellen (Tsunami) waren Motivation, im Rahmen einer Erkundungsmission der Ingenieurgruppe der Deutschen Task Force im betroffenen Gebiet die Bauwerksschäden aufzunehmen und ihre regionale Verteilung zu dokumentieren. Der Beitrag vermittelt einen Eindruck von den durch den Tsunami bedingten Schäden; es wird der Versuch unternommen, das Verhalten der typischen Bauweisen unter den zeitlich sequentiell auftretenden extremen Einwirkungen aufzuzeigen. Die Auswertungen schließen an die Ingenieuranalyse der Erdbebenschäden an, so dass auf die im vorangegangenen 1. Teil des Beitrags vom August 2010 [1] gegebene allgemeine übersicht zum Gebäudebestand in Chile und zur Typisierung der Bauweisen verwiesen werden kann. Die Schäden aus dem Tsunami konzentrieren sich auf die eher ländlichen und ohnehin weniger tauglichen traditionellen Bauweisen in den Küstenregionen. An den wesentlichen Wirkungsmechanismen eines Tsunami werden die Verletzbarkeit der Bauweisen und die Effizienz einfacher baulicher Schutzmaßnahmen herausgearbeitet. Wie gezeigt werden kann, tragen Schäden aus Treibgut erheblich zum Schadensbild bei. The Magnitude 8.8 Maule (Chile) earthquake of February 27, 2010 , Engineering analysis of tsunami damages. The Maule (Chile) February 27, 2010 earthquake is regarded as one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded world-wide. The seismic event triggered a tsunami which caused by several wave fronts serious damage alongside the coastal border. Event-specific characteristics from the overlay of the effects from earthquakes and following flood wave (Tsunami) were motivation to examine building damage and to document their regional distribution, in the context of a reconnaissance mission of the engineering group of the German Task Force for earthquakes. The paper provides an impression from the tsunami induced damage to the different building types under the impact of time-varying sequence of extreme natural events. First results of the studies in [1] are related to the engineering analysis of earthquake damage. Therefore it can be referred to the overview of the building stock and the predominant structural systems in Chile given there. Damage caused by the tsunami is concentrated on rural and often less resistant traditional buildings in coastal areas. The main loading and impact components induced by the tsunami are used to explain the vulnerability of building types and the efficiency of simple structural measures. As the damage cases demonstrate, debris in its general sense has contributed to the observed effects. [source]