Knowledge From Cyclone Disasters, Which Occur Annually In Parts Of The Pacific And Indian Oceans, Is Enough To Make Any Nation Susceptible To Cyclones Adopt And Implement Policies That Will Facilitate Its Disaster Resilience. The people who know: 1) what to expect (e.g., storm surge, high-velocity winds, rain, flash floods, and landslides,), 2) where and when it will happen, and 3) what they should (and should not) do to prepare will survive. Integration Of Scientific And Technical Solutions With Political Solutions For Policies On Preparedness, Protection, Early Warning, Emergency Response, And Recovery Presentation Courtesy of Dr. Walter Hays, Global Alliance For Disaster Reduction

1. LEARNING FROM GLOBAL
DISASTER LABORATORIES
PART 4: CYCLONES

2. FACT: SEVERAL NATIONS NEED TO
BE CYCLONE DISASTER RESILIENT
• INDIA, BANGLADESH, and
MYANMAR--- with some of the
world’s poorest of the poor
• AUSTRALIA

3. COMMUNITY
DATA BASES
AND INFORMATION
•SEVERE
WINDSTORMS
•INVENTORY
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION
RISK ASSESSMENT
RISK
ACCEPTABLE RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
CYCLONE DISASTER
RESILIENCE
•PREPAREDNESS
•PROTECTIONS
•EARLY WARNING
•EMERGENCY RESPONSE
•RECOVERY and
RECONSTRUCTION
POLICY OPTIONS
Wind profile
Storm Hazards:
-Wind pressure
-Surge
-Rain
-Flood
-Waves
-Salt water
-Missiles
-Tornadoes
Ocean
Gradient Wind

4. WIND AND WATER
PENETRATE BUILDING
ENVELOPE
CYCLONES
UPLIFT OF ROOF SYSTEM
FLYING DEBRIS PENETRATES
WINDOWS
STORM SURGE
HEAVY PRECIPITATION IN A
SHORT TIME
FLASH FLOODING
(MUDFLOWS)
LANDSLIDES (MUDFLOWS)
CAUSES
OF RISK
GLOBAL
DISASTER
LABORATORIES

5. PILLARS OF CYCLONE DISASTER
RESILIENCE
Preparedness
Adoption and Implementation of a Modern Wind
Engineering Building Code
Timely Early Warning and Evacuation
Timely Emergency Response (including
Emergency Medical Services)
Casualty insurance to underwrite losses
Cost-Effective Recovery

6. WE CONTINUE TO OPERATE WITH
A FLAWED PREMISE:
KNOWLEDGE FROM CYCLONE
DISASTERS, WHICH OCCUR
ANNUALLY IN PARTS OF THE
PACIFIC AND INDIAN OCEANS,
IS ENOUGH TO MAKE ANY NATION
SUSCEPTIBLE TO CYCLONES
ADOPT AND IMPLEMENT POLICIES
THAT WILL FACILITATE ITS
DISASTER RESILIENCE

7. FACT: IT USUALLY TAKES
MULTIPLE CYCLONE DISASTERS
BEFORE A STRICKEN NATION
WILL ADOPT AND IMPLEMENT
POLICIES THAT MOVE IT
TOWARDS CYCLONE DISASTER
RESILIENCE

8. TYPICAL SOCIOECONOMIC
IMPACTS
• A community’s (worst case--the
Capital) functions are shut down
for a time
• Downed trees
• Flooded streets
• Power outages
• Roofs ripped off

9. TYPICAL SOCIOECONOMIC
IMPACTS
• Major roads blocked by debris
• Bridges washed out or
impassible
• Sea wall, levees, etc., damaged
• Airport closed; planes
damaged on the runway
• Landslides

10. TYPICAL SOCIOECONOMIC
IMPACTS
• Region- and locale-specific
damage to food crops and
“money crops” (i.e., exportable
goods)

11. EXAMPLES OF PAST
CYCLONE DISASTERS

12. INDIA
CYCLONE PHALIN—One of
Many
OCTOBER 12, 2013

13. CYCLONE PHALIN”S IMPACT
AREA

14. AUSTRALIA
Cyclone TRACY: 1974
Cyclone LARRY: 2006
Cyclone HAMISH: 2009

15. AUSTRALIA

16. IMPACTS OF CYCLONE
TRACY
• Cyclone Tracy devastated
the city of Darwin in
Australia’s Northern
Territory from Christmas
Eve to Christmas Day, 1974.

17. IMPACTS OF TRACY
• Tracy killed 71 people, caused
AS837 million in damage (1974
dollars) and destroyed more
than 70 percent of Darwin's
buildings, including 80 percent
of the houses.

18. IMPACTS OF TRACY
• More than 30,000 of Darwin’s
47,000 inhabitants were
evacuated tom Adelaide,
Whvalla, Alice, Springs, and
Sydney.
• Many never returned to Darwin.

19. IMPACTS OF CYCLONE
LARRY
• Throughout Queensland, Cyclone
Larry resulted in A$1.5 billion ($1.1
billion USD) in damage, making
Larry,at that time the costliest
tropical cyclone to ever impact
Australia, surpassing 1974’s
Cyclone Tracy’s losses.

20. CYCLONE HAMISH’S IMPACTS
• Hamish, a CAT 4 storm with
290 kph (175 mph) winds,
disrupted coal exports and
slowed the tourist industry.
• A major oil spill occurred and
polluted the beaches.

21. CYCLONE NARGIS STRIKES
MYANMAR (BURMA)
MAY 2-8, 2008
INADEQUATE ADVANCE WARNING
MILITARY JUNTA SLOW TO ALLOW AID
INITIAL DEATH TOLL UNDER-
ESTIMATED; REACHED 140,000
THOUSANDS OF HOMES DESTROYED
ONE MILLION LEFT HOMELESS

23. PATH OF CYCLONE NARGIS:
MAY 2-3, 2008 :

24. A BAD TIME FOR CYCLONE
NARGIS
• NARGIS STRUCK JUST DAYS
BEFORE A REFERENDUM ON
A NEW CONSTITUTION.
• MYANMAR, ALSO KNOWN AS
BURMA, HAS BEEN UNDER
MILITARY RULE SINCE 1962.

25. BUDDHIST NEW YEAR: A BAD
TIME FOR A CYCLONE
• MANY PEOPLE ACROSS THE
GEOGRAPHIC REGION WERE IN
MYANAMAR CELEBRATING WATER
FESTIVAL AS PART OF THE
BUDDHIST NEW YEAR.
• THE INFLUX OF VISITORS INCREASED
LOSS OF LIFE AND EXACERBATED
THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE PHASE.

26. People were completely
unprepared for what
happened.

27. LESSON: THE TIMING OF
ANTICIPATORY ACTIONS IS VITAL
• The people who know: 1) what to
expect (e.g., storm surge, high-
velocity winds, rain, flash floods,
and landslides,), 2) where and
when it will happen, and 3) what
they should (and should not) do to
prepare will survive.

28. CYCLONE NARGIS WARNINGS
WERE INADEQUATE
• Advance warnings grossly
underestimated the arrival
time, the wind speeds, and
the storm surge.
• Storm surge and torrential
rain caused local flooding.

29. CYCLONE NARGIS FLOODED
YANGON, THE CAPITAL

30. CYCLONE NARGIS:
FLOODING IN YANGOON:

31. CYCLONE NARGIS:
• The storm's 120 mph winds
blew the roofs off hospitals,
downed trees, cut electricity
to 6.5 million in Yangoon,
the capital, and destroyed
90% of the housing in some
villages.

32. CYCLONE NARGIS: DOWNED
TREES IN YANGOON:

33. CYCLONE NARGIS: DOWNED
TREES:

34. CYCLONE NARGIS: DOWNED
POWER LINES IN YANGOON:

35. CYCLONE NARGIS: DAMAGED
CARS IN YANGOON

36. CYCLONE NARGIS: DEBRIS
IN YANGOON

37. BUDDHIST MONKS CLEARING
ROAD

38. USING A BUCKET OF WATER
FOR A SHOWER

39. SURVIVORS: TEMPORARY
HOUSING, MAY 10

40. TAKING SHELTER IN A
BUDDHIST TEMPLE

41. SURVIVORS: TEMPORARY
HOUSING, MAY 10

42. GENERAL THAN SHWE IN-
SPECTING TEMPORARY HOUSING,

43. SURVIVORS: FLOODED RICE
FIELDS, MAY 16

44. SURVIVORS: BOGALE, MAY 21

45. SURVIVORS: SETTING UP
ELECTRICAL GENERATOR, MAY 22

46. SURVIVORS: REBUILDING WITH
FEW MATERIALS, MAY 22

47. SURVIVORS: WAITING FOR FOOD
THAT WAS SLOW COMING, MAY 27

48. FOOD, BUT WITHOUT ANYONE TO
DISTRIBUTE IT, MAY 27

49. NEED FOR INTERNATIONAL
ASSISTANCE:
• THE INITIAL EMERGENCY
RESPONSE WAS SLOW, PARTLY
BECAUSE THE EXTENT OF THE
DISASTER WAS GROSSLY
UNDERESTIMATED.

50. DELAY IN RECEIVING
INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE:
• THE RULING MILITARY JUNTA
ASKED FOR INTERNATIONAL
ASSISTANCE, - - -
• ALTHOUGH, SEVERAL NATIONS
RESPONDED IMMEDIATELY, THE
RULING MILITARY JUNTA
WAITED 7 DAYS BEFORE
ALLOWING VERY LIMITED
ASSISTANCE TO BEGIN.

51. INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE:
• UN agencies such as UNICEF and
other organizations such as World
Food Program were working with
the America Red Cross and other
international NGO’s to determine
the extent of the needs and to help
meet them, as allowed by the ruling
military junta.

52. INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE
SLOWED:
• Australia, China, France,
Germany, Singapore, Indonesia,
USA, and others responded
immediately, but were denied
approval to start delivery of aid for
several days.

53. LESSONS FROM CYCLONE
NARGIS
AUGUST 6, 2008
BASED ON ARTICLE PREPARED BY
JOHN HOLMES
UNITED NATIONS UNDERSECRETARY
FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND
EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR

54. FACTS ABOUT CYCLONE
NARGIS
WORST CYCLONE IN MYANMAR’S
HISTORY
ONE OF THE WORST CYCLONE
DISASTER IN ASIA DURING PAST 15
YEARS
140,000 DEAD
2.4 MILLION SERIOUSLY AFFECTED

55. LESSONS FROM CYCLONE
NARGIS
First, no nation, rich or poor, can
go it alone when confronted by a
natural disaster of the
magnitude of a Cyclone Nargis.

56. LESSONS FROM CYCLONE
NARGIS
Second, we must stay focused
on the goal: assisting people in
crisis; .. helping vulnerable
people in need, not on the
politics.

57. LESSONS FROM CYCLONE
NARGIS
Third, Nargis showed us a new
model of humanitarian partnership,
adding the special position and
capabilities of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations to those of
the United Nations in working to
build trust with the government.

58. LESSONS FROM CYCLONE
NARGIS
Fourth, Nargis demonstrated once
again the importance of disaster
risk reduction and preparedness:
simple in concept, low-cost
measures such as local evacuation
plans, shelters, and community
early-warning systems.

59. LESSONS FROM CYCLONE
NARGIS
Fifth, Nargis demonstrated
the extraordinary
resilience of the Myanmar
people.