Measures for Tropical Cyclones

Emergency Action
1. 1. Minimise injury & death. --Taking immediate action in response to situation of risks. / Govt issue weather warning and advisories to make prep to protect lives and properties.
2. 2. Govt evacuate people to cyclone prove places (Community cyclone shelter). -- Shelter built w strong concrete, raised above ground able to withstand the hazards. Built near homes (Reduced number of casualties in Bangladesh)
3. 3. Assistance from national govt & neighbouring countries often need to help repair damaged caused & to victims. -- NGOs such as Red cross, Oxfam, Save the Children send relief teams to countries struck by cyclones & provide them w basic necessities. E.g: Red cross provided aid to Typhoon Megi that hit Philippines in 2010.
Mitigation Measures
1. Prediction & Warning
  1. 1. Predicting tropical cyclones by analysing long term climate records. -- Establishes pattern of occurrence and severity damaged caused by past cyclones. May be able to predict. L: This only indicate frequency of tropical cyclone, not accurate.
  2. 2. Computer Modelling -- Allow prediction be made about cyclone's path as well as the likely areas that may be affected. L: Predicted paths may not be completely accurate bc predictions are base on weather info available ar particular point of time which may change rapidly.
  3. Example: Tropical cyclone Yasi, The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has three Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWC) provide a national tropical cyclone watch and warning service for the whole of Australia. Cairns Regional Council meets regularly with disaster management groups to prepare evacuation plans and maps of areas at risk from storm surges. They meet up w the local distiller team and they will update the local community with information leading up to and during an emergency.
  4. Success: There were no deaths /// Limitations: However, the cyclone warning system was inadequate and sending out only 4 warnings. There was also no system in place to warn the people that Tropical Cyclone Yasi had been upgraded to a Category 5 storm Thus, people who were not educated about preparedness measures chose to ignore the warnings and not evacuate from the affected areas. Surfers travelled to beaches because they wanted to surf on huge waves brought by cyclones, not knowing it was a cyclone.
2. Land Use Control
  1. Coastal Plain Management
    1. Areas along the coasts are vulnerable to storm surges and flooding caused by tropical cyclones.
    2. Developers may need to pay higher taxes to use the land along the coasts. This is to discourage development in these vulnerable areas. Instead, the land along the coasts can be used for recreational purposes such as parks. Protected zones where no development can take place can also be allocated. Protected zones serve as a barrier against storm surges and flooding.
    3. Coastal plain management is successful only when the authorities are able to enforce them. Effective implementation of land use controls requires much time and manpower. Moreover, developments such as buildings which are found along coastlines may have been around for a long time: hence, the residents may be reluctant to move out of these areas. The government needs to purchase the land in these areas in order to convert them into recreational areas and it may be very costly to do so.
  2. Floodplain Management
    1. A floodplain is a low-lying area that is near rivers or the coast. Floodplain management refers to a master plan to reduce the potential of flood damage.
    2. A master plan involves mapping the land use of an area and implementing measures to prevent floods. To ensure that new developments in floodplains are not prone to floods and reducing the potential of flood damage in already developed flood plains. The masterplan also included evacuation plans to ensure that people are able to leave a the drawing up of flooded area as quickly as possible.
  3. Regulates the use of land by placing restrictions on how land can be used.
  4. For example, in the tropical cyclone Yasi, there was a central business flood mitigation project carried out at an estimated cost of AU$26Million. The project included constructing giant pumps and large draining pipes designed to divert large amounts of water and prevent flooding in urban areas. The flooding was prevented in urban areas and damage to property was reduced.
  5. S: Flooding prevented in urban areas and damage to property reduced. /// L: In tropical cyclone Yasi, In some areas, the system was unable to cope with large amount of water from the heavy rainfall and storm surge.
3. Reduced Vulnerability of infrastructure
  1. P: Reduce the impacts of tropical cyclones through strengthening the infrastructure to withstand tropical cyclones. Reducing the vulnerability of infrastructure includes designing buildings that are resistant to wind and water damage, regular inspection of river embankments and coastal dikes for breaches due to erosion, and lowering utility lines underground.
  2. S: For houses built in the worst affected areas after the 1980s, less than 3% had badly damaged roofs. For houses built in the same areas before the 1980s, the number was more than 12%.:/// LIMITATION: However, there was failure to comply with the building codes and standards within all areas because it can be costly to modify homes to meet building codes and standards. There were poorly constructed houses in the area of the declining sugar cane industry. Buildings that were constructed in compliance with the building codes and standards were also damaged. This indicated that building codes and standards should be revised as these buildings were still unable to cope with tropical cyclones of great strength.
  3. 1. Buildings can be designed to be resistant to wind and water damage during tropical cyclones. /// 2. Protective barriers such as river embankments and coastal dikes need to be regularly inspected. /// 3. Utility lines such as power and telecommunication lines and water supply networks can be placed underground to avoid damage by strong winds and storm surges.
  4. For example during tropical Cyclone Yasi, the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) developed the Building Code of Australia which outlines the type of design, features or materials to be included in construction. Building codes reduce property damage from tropical cyclones, and prevent injury and death from such damages. Building standards in Queensland's cyclone prone regions were revised in the early 1980s.

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Measures for Tropical Cyclones

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	Created by Carolyn Kho over 9 years ago