Towards an integrated management framework for emerging disaster risks in Japan

An integrated framework for disaster risk management is presented to cope with the risk of low-probability high-consequence (LPHC) disasters in urban communities. Since the 2000 Tokai flood in Japan, there has been a shift in the management strategy from disaster prevention with a presumed zero risk to disaster reduction with an acceptable risk. The framework consists of: (i) integration of a different categories of risk reduction options in terms of structural and nonstructural measures, regulation and market-oriented measures, (ii) strengthening of the capacity of local communities to make their own management choices for LPHC-type disaster risks, and (iii) promoting the participation of stakeholders throughout the entire cycle of risk management. The interdisciplinary framework is discussed with reference to lessons learned from two recent major flood disasters (the 2000 Tokai flood and the 2004 Niigata flood). To implement the goals of the integrated framework, a participatory platform for disaster risk communication called “Pafrics” has been developed. Preliminary results of the pilot study of participation and risk communication supported by Pafrics are presented.     

Taming global flood disasters. Lessons learned from Dutch experience

There is a growing international recognition that flood risk management in optima forma should be a programmed and flexible process of continuously improving management practices by active learning about the outcome of earlier and ongoing interventions and drivers of change. In the Netherlands, such a long-term, adaptive flood risk management strategy is now being implemented. This so-called second Delta Programme aims to identify and exploit opportunities and capitalize on short-term benefits and opportunistic synergies that arise from change and will require adaptive policymaking. It also requires the financial and institutional means to operate in a long-lasting way, which at the very least, means engaging stakeholders, gathering and disseminating results and adaptation of future plans. Transferring the Dutch approach to other countries is a major challenge that calls for fundamental changes in institutional arrangements at various levels and thus requires customized programmes for strategic institutional change. Recent examples of transfer will provide important lessons of how institutional change can successfully occur and will contribute insights for other countries that attempting to reform their flood risk management strategies. Continuous monitoring and evaluation and sharing international experiences will become crucial for the effective delivery and wider uptake of these new strategies around the globe.     

Synthetic impact response functions for flood vulnerability analysis and adaptation measures in coastal zones under changing climatic conditions: a case study in Gippsland coastal region,Australia

There is an increasing concern that the current management practices for many coastal regions are unsustainable. Very few countries have planned to deal with the exacerbation of environmental decline in the face of sea level rise. It is therefore necessary to assess socioeconomic and environmental impacts of sea level rises to better understand the vulnerability of coastal zones, as part of devising adaptive and integrated management principles. This paper presents a systematic approach by which relevant stakeholders can be actively engaged in prioritising flood impact issues and deriving information for quantification of impacts for adaptation measures and demonstrates the approach through implementation in the Gippsland coastal region. As outcomes of the project, we have identified key issues of concern for this region for flood impacts and constructed synthetic response functions for quantification of impacts of floods on some of the key issues in the region. The analysis also showed that stakeholders consider that some of the issues are not likely to be significantly affected by floods and thus may not require adaptation measures. The analysis did not provide high agreement on some issues. Different approaches are required to assess the importance of these issues and to establish impact response functions for them.     

Integrated methodology for flood risk assessment and application in urban communities of Pakistan

Flood disasters and its consequent damages are on the rise globally. Pakistan has been experiencing an increase in flood frequency and severity along with resultant damages in the past. In addition to the regular practices of loss and damage estimation, current focus is on risk assessment of hazard-prone communities. Risk measurement is complex as scholars engaged in disaster science and management use different quantitative models with diverse interpretations. This study tries to provide clarity in conceptualizing disaster risk and proposes a risk assessment methodology with constituent components such as hazard, vulnerability (exposure and sensitivity) and coping/adaptive capacity. Three communities from different urban centers in Pakistan have been selected based on high flood frequency and intensity. A primary survey was conducted in selected urban communities to capture data on a number of variables relating to flood hazard, vulnerability and capacity to compute flood risk index. Households were categorized into different risk levels, such as can manage risk, can survive and cope, and cannot cope. It was found that risk levels varied significantly across the households of the three communities. Metropolitan city was found to be highly vulnerable as compared to smaller cities due to weak capacity. Households living in medium town had devised coping mechanisms to manage risk. The proposed methodology is tested and found operational for risk assessment of flood-prone areas and communities irrespective of locations and countries.     

Weighted fuzzy kernel-clustering algorithm with adaptive differential evolution and its application on flood classification

Flood classification is the fundamental problem of flood risk analysis and plays an important role in flood disaster risk management. Considering the fact that flood classification is a problem of multi-attribute and multi-stage fuzzy synthetically evaluation, this paper mainly proposed the weighted fuzzy kernel-clustering algorithm (WFKCA) with adaptive differential evolution algorithm (ADE) to solve this problem. Firstly, WFKCA is detailed introduced, and then the differential evolution algorithm (DE) is applied for the fuzzy clustering, thus to obtain the better results. Taking into consideration the disadvantage of DE, ADE is present after the introduction of DE. Finally, the combination of WFKCA and ADE is applied for flood classification, and the results demonstrated the methodology is reasonable and reliable, thus provide a new effective approach for flood classification.     

Exploring the application of a flood risk management Serious Game platform

Based on the experience gained with SeCom2.0, we will explain the impact of game-based learning and provide an overview of the current use of Serious Games in teaching flood risk management in Germany. SeCom2.0 is a collaborative learning platform, which deals with a flood situation in Cologne. The use of Serious Games in flood risk management is still limited due to many factors. The article will give a deeper insight into the SeCom2.0 project, explaining the pedagogical design and the development. We will cover the pitfalls and possible suggestions for further development to facilitate wider use of such games by adapting the settings to local conditions. This article will also describe how a Serious Game can support lifelong learning for students and employees involved in flood risk management. The key components, design patterns and structure of or SeCom2.0 are described, along with ideas to implement selected topics in flood risk management in an engaging gaming environment.     

Who are the resident stakeholders in a flood project? A spatial analysis of resident stakeholders

The importance of public participation has been discussed and well understood for some time, and many people have moved beyond the development of ideas to putting them into practice. During the past few years, stakeholder theory, one of the most popular theories originating from the field of business management, has been attracting immense attention due to its utility in raising representativeness in government. For instance, Hemmati (Multi-stakeholder process for governance and sustainability: beyond deadlock and conflict. Earthscan, London, 2002) argued that multi-stakeholder processes (MSPs) might be effective methods toward generating better policy options under the current democratic paradigm. In real life, however, stakeholder theory often has not been appropriately adopted in the field of environmental management. Sometimes, planners, prompted by the difficulty of identifying stakes, have used the term “stakeholders” as roughly synonymous with “participants”, thus impairing the content of stakeholder theory. Different from previous work in the field of flood management, we propose an original approach, the spatial analysis of a flood project for resident stakeholders (SAFPRS), to identify resident stakeholders in a flood project, rather than merely improving the weakness of stakeholder identification. Hopefully, this approach might ameliorate the current situation in Taiwan, where some important stakeholders have been too easily excluded in the execution of flood projects.     

Integrating the effects of flood experience on risk perception with responses to changing climate risk

Flood management decision-makers face significant challenges as the climate changes. The perceptions of those affected by floods are critical to the successful implementation of adaptation responses; risk perceptions are affected by how information is communicated and, in turn, perceptions influence expectations on flood risk managers to respond. The links between flood experience, risk perception, and responses by individual households were examined in the Hutt Valley, New Zealand, through a household survey, a workshop and interviews with local government practitioners. Two propositions were tested: (1) that flood experience can influence flood risk perceptions; and (2) that flood experience can stimulate increased risk reduction and adaptation actions where changing climate risk is likely. Perceptions of responsibility for flood management were also examined. The study found that previous flood experience contributes to heightened perception of risk, increased preparedness of households, greater willingness to make household-level changes, greater communication with councils, and more advocacy for spatial planning to complement existing structural protection. Flood-affected households had a stronger preference for central government and communities having flood risk responsibilities, in addition to local government. Those who lacked experience were more likely to be normalised to their prior benign experiences and thus optimistic about flood consequences. These results suggest that harnessing positive aspects of experience and communication of changing risk through engagement strategies could help shift the focus from citizens’ expectation that governments will always provide protection, to a citizen–local government–central government dialogue about the changing character of flood risk and its implications, and build a ‘risk conscious’ society in which ‘sharing and bearing’ is considered desirable.     

Assessment of coastal communities’ vulnerability to floods using indicator-based approach: a case study of Greater Accra Metropolitan Area,Ghana

Coastal towns along the coast of Africa are among the most vulnerable to climate change impacts such as flooding and sea level rise. Yet, because coastal conditions in many parts of the region are poorly understood, knowledge on which population groups are at the most risk is less known, particularly in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) of Ghana, where the capital city Accra is located. Without adequate information about the risk levels and why, the implementation of locally appropriate adaptation plans may be less effective. This study enriches our understanding of the levels of flood risks along the coast of GAMA and contributes knowledge to improve understanding of place-specific adaptation plans. The study uses data from a 300-household survey, stakeholder meetings, and interviews with local community leaders to construct an integrated vulnerability index. The index includes seven components made up of: dwelling type; house and house environment; household socioeconomic characteristics; experience and perception of flood risk; household and community flood adaptation strategies; house location, and physical characteristics. Our findings show that exposure to floods, particularly from local flash floods is relatively high in all communities. However, significant differences in sensitivity and adaptive capacity of the communities were observed due to differences in location, socioeconomic characteristics, and perception of risks to flooding and sea level rise. The complexity of factors involved in the determination of local-level vulnerability requires that the implementation of adaptation strategies needs to involve cross-sectorial partnerships, involving local communities, in building a comprehensive multi-risk adaptation strategy.     

The missing link between flood risk awareness and preparedness: findings from case studies in an Alpine Region

The low risk awareness of the residents living in flood-prone areas is usually considered among the main causes of their low preparedness, which in turns generates inadequate response to natural disasters. In this paper, we challenge this assumption by reporting on the results of a sociological research in four communities exposed to flood risk in the Eastern Italian Alps. The research design included semi-structured interviews and focus groups with key local stakeholders and a standardized questionnaire submitted to 400 residents. Results revealed that residents felt both slightly worried about flood risk and slightly prepared to face an event. Considerable differences were found between the evaluations of individual subjects as opposed to overall communities. There was also a clear discrepancy between the actual adoption of household preparatory measures and the willingness to take self-protection actions. Overall, the risk awareness was significantly higher among those residents who had been personally affected by a flood in the past, were living in isolated (vs. urban) communities, in the most risky areas or had a lower level of trust in local authorities. The improvement of residents?? knowledge about their environment and the residual risk seemed to be crucial to increase risk awareness, and the same was true for the strengthening of local support networks to foster preparedness. The link between risk awareness and preparedness was not at all straightforward. Results revealed instead the complexity of residents?? perspectives, attitudes, behaviours and decisions about risk-related issues.     

Flood risk management,an approach to managing cross-border hazards

River flooding is a serious hazard in the UK with interest driven by recent widespread events. This paper reviews different approaches to flood risk management and the borders (physical, conceptual and organisational) that are involved. The paper showcases a multi-method approach to negotiating flood risk management interventions. We address three fundamental issues around flood risk management: differences and similarities between a variety of approaches; how different approaches work across borders between professionals, lay people, organisations and between different planning regimes; and, whether the science evidence base is adequate to support different types of flood risk management. We explore these issues through a case study on the River Tweed using Q methodology, community mapping and focus groups, participatory GIS, and interviews, which enabled co-production of knowledge around possible interventions to manage flooding. Our research demonstrated that excellent networks of practice exist to make decisions about flood risk management in the Scottish–English borders. Physical and organisational borders were continually traversed in practice. There was an overwhelming desire from professional flood managers and local communities for an alternative to simply structural methods of flood management. People were keen to make use of the ability of catchments to store water, even if land needed to be sacrificed to do so. There was no difference in the desire to embrace natural flood management approaches between people with different roles in flood management, expertise, training or based in different locations. Thus conceptual borders were also crossed effectively in practice.     

Rethinking flood risk communication

Flooding is a serious hazard across Europe, with over 200 major floods documented in the last two decades. Over this period, flood management has evolved, with a greater responsibility now placed on at-risk communities to understand their risk and take protective action to develop flood resilience. Consequently, communicating flood risk has become an increasingly central part of developing flood resilience. However, research suggests that current risk communications have not resulted in the intended increase in awareness, or behavioural change. This paper explores how current risk communications are used by those at risk, what information users desire and how best this should be presented. We explore these questions through a multi-method participatory experiment, working together with a competency group of local participants in the town of Corbridge, Northumberland, the UK. Our research demonstrates that current risk communications fail to meet user needs for information in the period before a flood event, leaving users unsure of what will happen, or how best to respond. We show that participants want information on when and how a flooding may occur (flood dynamics), so that they can understand their risk and feel in control of their decisions on how to respond. We also present four prototypes which translate these information needs into new approaches to communicating flood risk. Developed by the research participants, these proposals meet their information needs, increase their flood literacy and develop their response capacity. The findings of the research have implications for how we design and develop future flood communications, but also for how we envisage the role of flood communications in developing resilience at a community level.     

Evaluation of the real-time TRMM-based multi-satellite precipitation analysis for an operational flood prediction system in Nzoia Basin,Lake Victoria,Africa

Many researchers seek to take advantage of the recently available and virtually uninterrupted supply of satellite-based rainfall information as an alternative and supplement to the ground-based observations in order to implement a cost-effective flood prediction in many under-gauged regions around the world. Recently, NASA Applied Science Program has partnered with USAID and African-RCMRD to implement an operational water-hazard warning system, SERVIR-Africa. The ultimate goal of the project is to build up disaster management capacity in East Africa by providing local governmental officials and international aid organizations a practical decision-support tool in order to better assess emerging flood impacts and to quantify spatial extent of flood risk, as well as to respond to such flood emergencies more expediently. The objective of this article is to evaluate the applicability of integrating NASA’s standard satellite precipitation product with a flood prediction model for disaster management in Nzoia, sub-basin of Lake Victoria, Africa. This research first evaluated the TMPA real-time rainfall data against gauged rainfall data from the year 2002 through 2006. Then, the gridded Xinanjiang Model was calibrated to Nzoia basin for period of 1985–2006. Benchmark streamflow simulations were produced with the calibrated hydrological model using the rain gauge and observed streamflow data. Afterward, continuous discharge predictions forced by TMPA 3B42RT real-time data from 2002 through 2006 were simulated, and acceptable results were obtained in comparison with the benchmark performance according to the designated statistic indices such as bias ratio (20%) and NSCE (0.67). Moreover, it is identified that the flood prediction results were improved with systematically bias-corrected TMPA rainfall data with less bias (3.6%) and higher NSCE (0.71). Although the results justify to suggest to us that TMPA real-time data can be acceptably used to drive hydrological models for flood prediction purpose in Nzoia basin, continuous progress in space-borne rainfall estimation technology toward higher accuracy and higher spatial resolution is highly appreciated. Finally, it is also highly recommended that to increase flood forecasting lead time, more reliable and more accurate short- or medium-range quantitative precipitation forecasts is a must.     

Risk perception and hazard mitigation in the Yangtze River Delta region,China

The Yangtze River Delta region is an area highly vulnerable to flooding. As the population density is rising concomitantly with high economic growth, this region is becoming more vulnerable to natural hazards. We conducted a survey to investigate the individual risk perception of both the local authorities and the general community, analyze the current situation regarding risk management and identify problems in the current risk management scheme. Data were collected through questionnaires distributed to some members of the community and interviews with representatives of the local authorities. The primary findings are as follows: (1) risk and disaster multipliers perceived by lay people show the stigma effect of the Wenchuan earthquake; (2) the responses of college students illustrate that the stigma effect has less influence on people who have more knowledge about hazards; (3) differences exist in comparative groups (China and USA), which shows that the society and culture influence people’s perception of risk; and (4) economic activities have complicated flood risk management such as land shortage, ground subsidence and flood diversion. Accordingly, the following measures should be taken: (1) the government should improve the risk communication and education of lay people; (2) the government must also control unsuitable land use and balance economic development and risk management; (3) flood diversion areas should be compensated through special funds collected from other cities; and (4) local governments should provide more support for hazard mitigation.     

Use of documentary sources on past flood events for flood risk management and land planning

The knowledge of past catastrophic events can improve flood risk mitigation policy, with a better awareness against risk. As such historical information is usually available in Europe for the past five centuries, historians are able to understand how past society dealt with flood risk, and hydrologists can include information on past floods into an adapted probabilistic framework. In France, Flood Risk Mitigation Maps are based either on the largest historical known flood event or on the 100-year flood event if it is greater. Two actions can be suggested in terms of promoting the use of historical information for flood risk management: (1) the development of a regional flood data base, with both historical and current data, in order to get a good feedback on recent events and to improve the flood risk education and awareness; (2) the commitment to keep a persistent/perennial management of a reference network of hydrometeorological observations for climate change studies.     

Putting adaptive capacity into the context of people’s lives: a case study of two flood-prone communities in Puerto Rico

Recent developments in the vulnerability literature have contested the use of technical solutions as the sole adaptive strategies to reduce natural hazard impact; this literature emphasizes the need to attend to the wider everyday risks to which people are exposed and that aggravate hazard vulnerability. Using a case study of two flood-prone communities in Puerto Rico, this article supports and enhances that literature by placing floods within a wider context of other risks and determining how everyday risks influence people’s perceptions of and capacity to adapt to floods. Participatory methods are used to elicit the everyday risks that concern community members. The analysis reveals that participants perceive floods as one of their risks, but they see them as neither the most important nor most severe risk in their lives. Instead, they find other concerns—health conditions, family well-being, economic factors, and land tenure—more pressing. These competing risks limit adaptive capacity and increase vulnerability to natural hazards. The results suggest that addressing these multiple risks, mainstreaming flood management and adaptation into the wider context of people’s general well being, and increasing risk perception will strengthen adaptive capacity to present and future floods.     

The 1998 Flood on the Yangtze, China

This paper examines the main causes ofthe 1998 flood on the Yangtze and addresses a numberof issues related to the exploitation of naturalresources and counter-measures to the flood hazard.The records show that both the amount of precipitationover the catchment and the floodwater discharge fromthe upper basin did not exceed the historical maximum,but water levels in the middle basin were recordedmuch higher than the historical maximum. Humanactivities have greatly increased the risk of theflood hazard. Extensive reclamation of the lakes andfluvial islands in the middle basin has considerablyreduced the floodwater storage and drainage capacityof these natural landscapes of the Yangtze Basin.Deforestation in the catchment area has induced soilerosion, resulting in a large amount of sedimentdeposited in reservoirs whose storage capacity is thusreduced. Strengthening the flood defence to protectpeople living on the floodplain has raised the waterlevel during the flood. An integrated approach isneeded to produce a balanced management plan that canmeet the financial needs of local people in thecatchment area as well as reduce flood risk to theindustries and urban residents in the middle basin ofthe Yangtze.     

Alternative water management options to reduce vulnerability for climate change in the Netherlands

Urbanization, land subsidence and sea level rise will increase vulnerability of the urbanized low-lying areas in the western part of the Netherlands. In this article possibilities are explored to reduce vulnerability of these areas by implementing alternative water management options. Two main water management fields are distinguished, water supply and flood control. A four-component vulnerability framework is presented that includes threshold capacity, coping capacity, recovery capacity, and adaptive capacity. By using the vulnerability framework it is shown that current water supply and flood control strategies in the Netherlands focus on increasing threshold capacity by constructing higher and stronger dikes, improved water storage and delivery infrastructure. A complete vulnerability decreasing strategy requires measures that include all four capacities. Flood damage reduction, backup water supply systems and emergency plans are measures that can contribute to increasing coping capacity. Recovery capacity can be increased by multi-source water supply, insurance, or establishing disaster funds. Adaptive capacity can be developed by starting experiments with new modes of water supply and urbanization. Including all four components of the vulnerability framework enables better understanding of water and climate related vulnerability of urban areas and enables developing more complete water management strategies to reduce vulnerability.     

Flood risk perceptions and spatial multi-criteria analysis: an exploratory research for hazard mitigation

The conventional method of risk analysis (with risk as a product of probability and consequences) does not allow for a pluralistic approach that includes the various risk perceptions of stakeholders or lay people within a given social system. This article introduces a methodology that combines the virtues of three different methods: the quantifiable conventional approach to risk; the taxonomic analysis of perceived risk; and the analytical framework of a spatial multi-criteria analysis. This combination of methods is applied to the case study ‘Ebro Delta’ in Spain as part of the European sixth framework project ‘Floodsite’. First, a typology for flood hazards is developed based on individual and/or stakeholders’ judgements. Awareness, worry and preparedness are the three characteristics that typify a community to reflect various levels of ignorance, perceived security, perceived control or desired risk reduction. Applying ‘worry’ as the central characteristic, a trade-off is hypothesized between Worry and the benefits groups in society receive from a risky situation. Second, this trade-off is applied in Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis (SMCA). MCA is the vehicle that often accompanies participatory processes, where governmental bodies have to decide on issues in which local stakeholders have a say. By using risk perception-scores as weights in a standard MCA procedure a new decision framework for risk assessment is developed. Finally, the case of sea-level rise in the Ebro Delta in Spain serves as an illustration of the applied methodology. Risk perception information has been collected with help of an on-site survey. Risk perception enters the multi-criteria analysis as complementary weights for the criteria risk and benefit. The results of the survey are applied to a set of scenarios representing both sea-level rise and land subsidence for a time span of 50 years. Land use alternatives have been presented to stakeholders in order to provide the regional decision maker with societal preferences for handling risk. Even with limited resources a characteristic ‘risk profile’ could be drawn that enables the decision maker to develop a suitable land use policy.     

Risk assessment of flood disaster in Shanghai based on spatial–temporal characteristics analysis from 251 to 2000

As one of the top 20 cities exposed to flood disasters, Shanghai is particularly vulnerable because it is exposed to powerful floods and poorly prepared. However, it is unclear to understand the evolution process of floods and the variation of flood risk in Shanghai during the past 1,000 years. This paper analyzed the spatial–temporal characteristics of flood disaster and evaluated the integrated risk of flood disaster in Shanghai based on the historical flood data from 251 to 2000. The results show that flood disaster in Shanghai was divided into storm surge-induced flood, rainstorm-induced flood and overbank flood. Flood disaster in Shanghai presents rising trend with time and mainly occurs in summer and autumn. Moreover, the flood disaster is dominated by rainstorm-induced flood, especially after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Additionally, flood risk in different areas of Shanghai between the years 251–1949 and 1950–2000 changed significantly. Shanghai urban area, Jinshan District and Chongming County belong to increased flood risk area; Baoshan, Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, Fengxian, Pudong and Minhang District belong to decreased flood risk area. The integrated risk of flood disaster in Shanghai has presented spatial disparities evidently at present. Shanghai urban area is most likely to suffer flood disaster; Baoshan, Jiading and Minhang District have medium flood risk rank; and Jinshan, Songjiang, Fengxian, Pudong, Qingpu and Chongming County show low flood risk at present. The combined effect of urbanization, sea-level rise, land subsidence and the poor capacity of flood prevention facilities will give rise to the risk of flood in the next several decades. These results provide very important information for the local government to improve flood risk management.