Managing Hazards in Cities Flashcards
What tends to be the problem with urban areas and natural disasters?
- rapid population growth and inadequate planning
- ecological imbalance
- population density
- concentrated resources
- dependency on infrastructure and resources
inappropriate construction
What is the problem with rapid population growth?
It leads to inadequate planning because the government cannot keep up, so informal set ups created usually on high risk locations, like flood plains.
What is the problem with ecological imbalance?
Cities remove forested areas that hold water and they replace it with concrete, non-porous structures which means more flooding and disasters caused b/c there is no where for the water to go
What is the problem with population density?
It highly influences vulnerability and causes implications to high density areas for disaster response
What is the problem with concentrated resources?
It has costly impacts for disasters in urban areas
What is the problem with dependency on infrastructure and resources?
If we lost resources like water or hydro, we would not know what to do
What is the problem with inappropriate construction?
Poorly developed buildings have a higher risk of collapsing (i.e., tin cans in cement pillars)
What happened in the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami?
A 9.3 magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami that killed 250 000 people, including 2/3 of Banda Aceh’s population.
What was the original tsunami reconstruction plan?
A 2km buffer zone along vulnerable areas
Zone 1: natural barrier (forest & birms)
Zone 2: fishermen homes
Zone 3: more natural barriers`
Why didn’t the original tsunami reconstruction plan occur?
The survivors wanted to return to their homeland coastal areas, so evacuation centres were built & used as community centres in mean time as well as tsunami warning systems. Some relocation did occur. The decision was made to protect the people over the infrastructure/economic losses.
How do the tsunami early warning systems work?
Two kinds:
- Sirens will go off if a pressure change is detected by buoys in ocean, but they sometimes get caught in fishing nets or the mooring lines are broken by weather
- Computer model systems try to match the as closely as possible to occurring conditions to determine a tsunami or not
What can be learned from the way the government handled the aftermath of the Banda Aceh Tsunami?
- there are pros & cons to relocation and rebuilding onsite
- must consider the emotional/psychological recovery of the people
- reconstruction focus should be to live with the environment instead of against (i.e., green spaces meant to be flooded when storms occur)
What happened in Hurricane Katrina 2005?
80% of New Orleans flooded, so they wanted to turn the lower ninth ward into greenery space, but the people wanted to rebuild. Brad Pitt helped to rebuild houses with sustainable methods (i.e., solar panels, porous surfaces, floatable houses, etc.)
How does climate change amplify cities’ vulnerability?
Many cities are already vulnerable to hazards, but climate change will increase exposure to hazards (like coastal flooding & increased frequency of events)
Why is Canada experiencing more natural disasters now?
Due to population growth, urbanization, environmental degradation, urban sprawl, etc. (i.e., building on flood plains)
