Christian H. BARTHELT, Thomas R. LOSTER Munich Re Foundation, Germany, Federal Republic of

1. Early Warning and the Human Factor
People-centered warning systems and awareness are key
Christian H. Barthelt
Thomas R. Loster
Date

2. Early Warning and the Human Factor
People-centered warning systems and awareness are key
1. Munich Re Foundation – Basic Data
2. The Tonga RANET Warning System
3. Mozambique flood warning system

3. Munich Re Foundation
Basics
Going public 7 April 2005
Base capital € 50m
Annual project-budget € 1.5m
Projects 2012 12
Employees 6
Central goals
Turning knowledge into action
Serve people at risk
Improve living conditions
Munich Re Foundation Early Warning and the Human Factor: 28/08/2012 3
People-centered warning systems and awareness are key

4. Munich Re Foundation
Basics
Environmental
and
climate change
Water:
Resource Disaster
and prevention
risk factor
Our Topics
Population Urbanisation
development and
megacities
Poverty
Munich Re Foundation Early Warning and the Human Factor: 28/08/2012 4
People-centered warning systems and awareness are key

5. The Tonga RANET Warning System

6. The Tonga RANET Warning System
Staying connected during severe weather
Munich Re Foundation Early Warning and the Human Factor: 28/08/2012 6
People-centered warning systems and awareness are key

7. Munich Re Foundation Kurztitel der Präsentation mit maximal zwei Zeilen Text in Arial Regular 12/14 28/08/2012 7

8. The Tonga RANET Warning System
Staying connected during severe weather
Top: Leala Lonae from the village of
Poutasi, Samoa, lost relatives to the
massive tidal wave. A total of 170
people died in Samoa and Tonga.
Bottom: Helpers clear up the devastation
left behind by the tsunami. Niuatoputapu,
in the north of Tonga, and the more distant
Ha’apai group were among the islands hit.
Munich Re Foundation Early Warning and the Human Factor: 28/08/2012 8
People-centered warning systems and awareness are key

9. Mozambique flood warning system

10. Mozambique Flood Warning Project
Modules
Munich Re Foundation Munich Re Foundation
Kurztitel der Präsentation mit maximal zwei Zeilen Text in Arial Regular 12/14 28/08/201210 10

11. Munich Re Foundation Munich Re Foundation 11

12. Munich Re Foundation Kurztitel der Präsentation mit maximal zwei Zeilen Text in Arial Regular 12/14 28/08/2012 12

13. Mozambique
flood warning system
In 2011 additional disaster prevention
committees, monitoring, transmission
and receiver stations have been set up
along the rivers Chire and Zambesi.
Next steps:
relocate the analysis and forecasting
centre to the centre of the exposure
zone to facilitate the coordination.
The Chire system will be extended to the
upper reaches of the river, and thus to
hazard zones in Malawi.
In the long term, the system will be
expanded to encompass all of
Mozambique.
Munich Re Foundation 28/08/2012 13

14. Lessons learned
The work in Mozambique demonstrates that even the poorest of countries can adapt to
climate change.
Disaster Risk Management has to take into account the needs and ideas of the people
at risk.
The early warning systems have been accepted by the people of Mozambique,
because they were an integral part of the working process from the very beginning.
Ownership of the systems have subsequently been handed over to the authorities.
Seven local heads of district joined the early warning programme in 2011, a legislative
initiative is planned to raise flood warning to a higher political level.
Institutionalization is the key to long-term success.
Successful bottom-up approaches needed to complement top-down frameworks.
Munich Re Foundation Early Warning and the Human Factor: 28/08/2012 14
People-centered warning systems and awareness are key

15. Thank you
Visit our website at
www.munichre-foundation.org