Minor earthquake and tsunami

This morning we were awoken by an earthquake of magnitude 7.3, shindou 5- off the coast of Fukushima with some small aftershocks. Our phones immediately gave off tsunami warnings (1-3 meter). Several coastal towns have received evacuation warnings.

This map shows the locations and heights of tsunami waves in cm measured according to the JMA:

Pressure and Release (PAR) model, part 1

Along with now graduated Dr. Nasif Ahsan, I was invited to give a lecture to our new M.Sc. students as part of the course "Basic Concepts of Integrated Flood Risk management (IFRM)". This part of the course centers around the Pressure and Release (PAR) model, as developed by Ben Wisner, Piers Blaikie, Terry Cannon, and Ian Davis in their publication "At Risk: natural hazards, people’s vulnerability and disasters" (Routledge, London & NY, 2004). 

The concept behind the PAR model is that disasters occurs when societal vulnerability coincides with (natural) hazards.The only way to reduce risk is reduction of vulnerability, rather than the hazard itself. This concept is explained in the images below.

For the lecture we each focused on how the PAR model could be applied to our home countries, Bangladesh and the Netherlands. I added an interactive component in which the students developed their own version of the PAR model for floods in the Netherlands.

 

News in Japan - April

GEJET:

Court finds Miyagi City responsible for tsunami death of student

Haunting Photographs of Residents Returning to Daily Activities in the Fukushima Exclusion Zone

Court dismisses demand to halt Sendai reactors A Japanese high court has dismissed a request by residents to suspend operations of 2 nuclear reactors at the Sendai nuclear plant in southwestern Japan. The Miyazaki branch of the Fukuoka High Court gave its decision on Wednesday.

USA:

5 Dead in Houston as Flash Floods Leave Thousands Stranded and Without Power All five victims were found inside vehicles submerged in high floodwaters. “Houston residents should avoid travel at all costs today.”

Greenspoint Evacuees Grapple With Uncertainty of What Comes Next (USA)

Quake risk in parts of central U.S. as high as in fault-filled California 

Disaster plans often neglect historic preservation (USA) In Florida, for instance, they found that 23% of the sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places are located in a 100-year floodplain. Most communities have not integrated historic preservation into their disaster management plans. Their survey of state hazard mitigation plans found just 40 percent included a representative from historic preservation on the core planning team while 60 percent did not. "Many disaster mitigation plans make no mention of historic resources," Rumbach said. "As more and more communities bank on historic resources to benefit the local economy, this needs to be remedied." Economics aside, he said, many communities draw a sense of identity from these historic sites and can become unmoored when they are damaged or destroyed.

Increased flooding, accelerated sea-level rise in Miami over last decade, new study shows

Netherlands:

Dutch public works department reinforces coastline at Zandvoort (Dutch) 2.4 million cubic meters of sand are being applied to the coast of Zandvoort and Bloemendaal. This previously happened in 2004 and 2008. The sand is deposited 750 meters from the beach at a depth of five meters. Wind, waves and currents then gradually spread the sand towards the beach. The work takes place over a length of 7.5 kilometers along the coastline, without disrupting beach visitors.

Snow in North of Netherlands and Randstad (Dutch) including fierce hail storms, leading to serious traffic accidents.

News in Japan - March

GEJET:

Japan still coming to terms with 3.11

Five years on, Japan’s crisis response infrastructure still lacking

5 years after the earthquake still 2,561 people are missing and 15,894 people died (Japanese)

Fukushima 5 years later: 2011 disaster by the numbers

Court finds Miyagi City responsible for tsunami death of student

Japan marks 5 years since the 3/11 disaster The Reconstruction Agency says at least 3,407 people died in 10 prefectures due to health problems and other reasons related to their lives as evacuees. The agency adds that as of February 12th, more than 174,000 people were living in temporary, rental or other housing as evacuees.

The Fukushima cleanup will take generations The cleanup team is still struggling to halt the buildup of contaminated water, and the techniques and equipment needed to locate, extract, and dispose of the melted fuel have yet to be developed. Given these challenges, many experts are convinced that the decommissioning process will take far longer than the official 40-year timetable-perhaps as long as a century. Rainwater and groundwater have continued to pour into the damaged basements of Units 1-4, where it mixes with the highly radioactive cooling water already inside the buildings. The pillars of TEPCO's water management efforts to date are two systems for channeling groundwater away from the contaminated basements and releasing it into the ocean relatively free of radioactive contaminants. One, the groundwater bypass system, collects water in wells dug between the reactor buildings and the hills to the west. The water is pumped up from the wells, tested, and eventually released into the ocean. The other, called the subdrain system, uses wells dug around the perimeter of the reactor buildings. So far, TEPCO has discharged some 230,000 tons of water into the ocean using these two methods combined. Even so, groundwater continues to pour into the buildings' basements at the rate of about 150 tons a day.

Lessons from Fukushima An RJIF study of hospital responses to the disaster found medical care for the afflicted was only able to continue at significantly reduced capacity because kizuna — social solidarity built upon people-to-people bonds, social networks and personal contacts — swung into action to mobilise armies of volunteers in forming the core engine of recovery. It was the residents of Fukushima who heroically banded together to manage the crisis. ‘[I]t is an unfortunate reality that in 2011 Japan had to resort to kizuna, even during the initial phase of crisis management, due to inadequate centralised management…Japan must now look beyond kizuna and build a crisis response apparatus that doesn’t overly rely on the goodwill of the Japanese people’. The people of Japan deserve better than having to rely on kizuna next time round. ‘To date, the NRA has received safety review applications for a total of 25 of the 43 existing commercial reactors’, Koppenborg reports. Commercial interests now have to face up to the NRA’s new regulatory teeth. It appears unlikely that further applications will be made and not all of these 25 applications can count on being successful. But ‘if Japan is to meet its goal of generating 20–22 per cent of its power through nuclear energy by 2030 it needs to reopen 30 reactors’, says Koppenborg. Richard Samuels argues that ‘perhaps the most striking development in the weeks and months after the devastation was how champions of existing institutions, practices, preferences and ideas — even those that failed so spectacularly and so indisputably — rallied to define the lessons that would be drawn. Political entrepreneurs from every corner framed the catastrophe to justify, legitimate, fortify and sell their pre-existing preferences. Japanese politics became a competition for control of who would define the heroes and the villains of the tragedy — and for the power to determine what would come next. Five years on, the 3.11 master narrative is still under construction’. This mindset is a key obstacle in the political gridlock that blocks improved disaster preparedness and strengthening Japan’s crisis management system as well as a more wholehearted approach to renewable energy sources.

Japan’s 3.11 master narrative still under construction In short, few agreed on policy alternatives, but everyone insisted that 3.11 proved they had been right all along. So where are we five years later? Were civic activists who argued that systemic dysfunctions in Japan can now be fixed correct? Or was one parliamentarian right when he suggested that 3.11, as colossal as it was, may not have been big enough to stimulate substantive institutional change? The evidence is mixed. The popularity of the Abe administration notwithstanding, opinion polls in the years after 3.11 suggest that the public is disillusioned with government. In 2013 large majorities reported that they believed reconstruction funds were wasted. Trust in government increased for a time, but recent data show that it has fallen and is below the global average.

Japan:

Gov't plans to send 140,000 personnel to Tokyo in event of huge quake

LDP to tackle 'taboo' of expanding foreign labor force Japan's ruling party kicks off a debate this month on whether to expand the pool of foreign workers to cope with a graying, shrinking population, challenging a longstanding "taboo" on immigration. But rather than rely on immigration, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to focus on drawing more women and elderly into the workforce to fill the gaps, and has made raising Japan's rock-bottom birthrate a priority. The only way to ensure growth was to increase the size of the workforce, Kimura said in an interview, adding that monetary and fiscal policies were reaching the limit of their capacity to spur growth.

USA:

Single By Choice: Why Fewer American Women Are Married Than Ever Before When I say "the choice to not marry," that doesn't always translate into "I am a woman and I am deciding that I am not going to get married," or "I am rejecting marriage." The choice to not marry can also mean: "I would really like to marry or to fall in love or to meet someone, but I haven't met someone who I feel is going to improve on the life that I am building and making on my own." One of the most startling statistics is that today only 20 percent of Americans aged 18 to 29 are married, and that compares to 60 percent in 1960. The other figure that I find very startling, in part because it was so resilient for so long, is the median age of first marriage for women. From the time they started recording it — which was 1890 — until 1980, that median age of first marriage for women fluctuated only between 20 and 22. In 1990 it jumped to over 23, which is a huge jump from having been in that small range for so long. Today, for women, it is over 27. So if you're just looking at the sort of historical picture, there's this relatively flat line for almost 100 years and now there's not just a jump over that line, but way over that line.

Research will help policymakers plan for sea level rise (USA) A new study could help protect more than 13 million American homes that will be threatened by rising sea levels by the end of the century. It is the first major study to assess the risk from rising seas using year 2100 population forecasts for all 319 coastal counties in the continental US. Previous impact assessments use current population figures to assess long-term effects of coastal flooding.

Wetland enhancement in Midwest could help reduce catastrophic floods of the future (USA) New financial models and flood management policies may be needed to actually accomplish this. If just 1.5 percent of the land were used for wetlands, the peak flow of the overall watershed could be reduced by up to 17.5 percent.

Netherlands:

First overtopping threshold of flood relief channel along river Rhine at Nijmegen, the Netherlands

Other:

Future present (Future Earth)

Cyclone Winston: Death toll rises to 29 as clear-up begins

India caste unrest: Ten million without water in Delhi

A map of the most vulnerable places on the planet

Thousands of pieces of data demonstrate that sea levels, extreme phenomena are evolving independently

Salt marshes will persist despite rising seas, study predicts

Flooding alleviated by targeted tree planting and river restoration, scientists discover (UK)

Resetting the river template: the potential for climate-related extreme floods to transform river geomorphology and ecology

Hope in a Changing Climate - by John D. Liu (2009) (Movie)

The Forgotten Climate Solution

Philippines, UNDP to implement landmark program on climate action

When sea levels rise, damage costs rise even faster A team of scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) now provides a method to quantify monetary losses from coastal floods under sea-level rise. For the first time, the scientists show that the damage costs consistently increase at a higher rate than the sea-level rise itself.

Citizen science to prevent the effects of floods (Spain) Researchers from UPM are involved in the development of a mobile phone application that allows user to share information about floods and their effects aiming to help researchers.

The best way to protect us from climate change? Save our ecosystems There is now clear evidence that intact forests have a positive influence on both planetary climate and local weather regimes. Forests also provide shelter from extreme weather events, and are home to a host of other valuable ecosystems that are important to human populations as sources of food, medicine and timber. In Vietnam, 12,000 hectares of mangroves have been planted at a cost of US$1.1 million, but saving the US$7.3 million per year that would have been spent on maintaining dykes. In Louisiana, the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 led to an examination of how coastal salt marshes might have reduced some of the wave energy in the hurricane-associated storm surges. Data have now confirmed that salt marshes would have significantly reduced the impact of those surges, and stabilised the shoreline against further insult, at far less cost than engineered coastal defences. With this data in hand, discussions are now beginning around how to restore the Louisiana salt marshes to insulate against future extreme weather events.

Climate change is a potent element in the deadly brew of disaster risk Are we getting better at managing disasters, or are we actually reducing disaster risk? There is a significant difference between the two, and addressing that difference should have a profound impact on development.  at least 90% of disasters linked to natural hazards are climate related. Mortality is declining in many places because of better disaster management andmore effective use of early warning systems. But more needs to be done to reduce risk comprehensively, including by tackling the compounding factors of poverty and inequality, rapid and unplanned urbanisation, damage to eco-systems, and poor risk governance. More national disaster loss databases to guide investments should be established.

Paris prepares for possible deluge similar to 1910 Great Flood More than 100 years ago, the Seine River rose 8m above its usual level following months of high rainfall, causing the catastrophe known as the Great Flood of Paris. There were no deaths but it took around 35 days for the water to clear.

Each year there is a one in 100 chance that a flood of that scale will occur in Paris again. The exercise will be carried out as if the river levels are rising by 50cm each day, allowing 900 emergency personnel, 150 police officers and 40 emergency vehicles to practice the necessary steps they will have to take. The exercise will also test how almost 90 public and private institutions such as hospitals, energy firms and waste disposal companies cope with the situation. “The difference between 1910 [and now] is that at that time we didn’t have telephone lines, the subway or electrics running underground. Now... if you have water [underground], everything will [go] down". The flood could cover an area measuring 500sq/km and affect the 830,000 people who live in the zone. More than 430,000 homes would be exposed to water as well as 100,000 businesses. Rectifying the damage could cost the city up to £15.5 billion.

Speeding up accuracy of flood risk assessment (Australia) The new method tested by the research team is aimed at providing a highly accurate assessment at a much faster rate. The method (known as hybrid causative events, or HCE) relies on an algorithm that knocks out all of the unnecessary information used by the slower, continuous simulation approach -- such as long, dry periods without rainfall.  It might take another five years or so for this method to be available to industry.

Adaptation to increasing flood risk in Europe should aim to reduce impact Scientists investigated the benefits of four adaptation measures to reduce the increasing flood risk in Europe under state-of-the-art global warming projections under a high-end climate scenario. Adaptation measures include the rise of flood protections, reduction of the peak flows through water retention, reduction of vulnerability and relocation to safer areas. According to the study, adaptation efforts should favour measures targeted at reducing the impacts of floods, such as relocation and vulnerability reduction, rather than trying to avoid them. Reducing vulnerability includes early warning systems, dry and wet flood proofing, and floating buildings, among others. Conversely, adaptation plans only based on rising flood protections have the effect of reducing the frequency of small floods and exposing the society to less-frequent but catastrophic floods and potentially long recovery processes. 

Can improved agricultural practices help combat climate change? Did you know that over half of global non-carbon dioxide (non-CO2) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are accountable to agriculture?  

'Unprecedented' storms and floods are more common than we think (UK) They conclude that 21st-century flood events such as Storm Desmond are not exceptional or unprecedented in terms of their frequency or magnitude, and that flood frequency and flood risk forecasts would be improved by including data from flood deposits dating back hundreds of years. "Conventional methods of analysing river flow gauge records cannot answer these questions because upland catchments usually have no or very short records of water levels of around 30 or 40 years. In fact, recent careful scientific analysis of palaeoflood deposits (flood deposits dating back hundreds of years) in the UK uplands shows that 21st-century floods are not unprecedented in terms of both their frequency (they were more frequent before 1960) and magnitude (the biggest events occurred during the 17th–19th centuries)." Professor John Lewin from the University of Aberystwyth said: "What is needed, is far more resilience for already-developed floodplains, and much more serious insistence that future floodplain development should be virtually curtailed. Somewhere along the line floodplain development has been allowed by local authorities and the UK government to continue regardless."

Vulnerable people:

Survey reveals money, health fears of single Japanese women in nonstaff jobs

UN publishes stamps on gay rights (Dutch)

Factbox: The world's most expensive places to buy water

One-third of working women in Japan sexually harassed: study  The study, released Tuesday and the first of its kind, examined responses from more than 9,600 women employees, submitted by mail or online. The response rate was 18%. Of the respondents, 29% said they had suffered sexual harassment. The most common type of harassment was having their appearance or age become the focus of conversation, at 54%. The next most common was unwanted touching at 40%, followed by sexually related questions at 38%. Twenty-seven percent were asked out for meals and dates. 

Few women in higher management Netherlands (Dutch) Results from the report http://www.grantthornton.global/globalassets/wib_turning_promise_into_practice.pdf show that only 18% of positions in higher management are held by women in the Netherlands. Japan scores lowest of researched countries with 7%, and Russia highest with 45%.

Japan rejects U.N. panel view on 'comfort women' Japan rejected on Tuesday a U.N. panel's view that Tokyo should take into consideration the opinions of so-called comfort women in implementing a bilateral agreement reached with South Korea last year. "The (panel's) conclusion does not sufficiently reflect the Japanese government's explanation and is regrettable," Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters. The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women said Monday the agreement did not fully adopt a victim-centered approach to address the issue of women who were procured for Japan's wartime military brothels.

1 in 29 babies born in Japan in 2014 had non-Japanese parent The number of babies whose parents are both non-Japanese totaled about 15,000, compared with 20,000 who were born to Japanese and non-Japanese couples, according to the ministry data.

How People Learn to Become Resilient If you are lucky enough to never experience any sort of adversity, we won’t know how resilient you are. It’s only when you’re faced with obstacles, stress, and other environmental threats that resilience, or the lack of it, emerges: Do you succumb or do you surmount? Not all of the at-risk children reacted to stress in the same way. Two-thirds of them “developed serious learning or behavior problems by the age of ten, or had delinquency records, mental health problems, or teen-age pregnancies by the age of eighteen.” But the remaining third developed into “competent, confident, and caring young adults.” They had attained academic, domestic, and social success—and they were always ready to capitalize on new opportunities that arose. A resilient child might have a strong bond with a supportive caregiver, parent, teacher, or other mentor-like figure. But another, quite large set of elements was psychological, and had to do with how the children responded to the environment. The resilient children had what psychologists call an “internal locus of control”: they believed that they, and not their circumstances, affected their achievements. The resilient children saw themselves as the orchestrators of their own fates. In fact, on a scale that measured locus of control, they scored more than two standard deviations away from the standardization group. One of the central elements of resilience, Bonanno has found, is perception: Do you conceptualize an event as traumatic, or as an opportunity to learn and grow? “Events are not traumatic until we experience them as traumatic.” Werner found that resilient individuals were far more likely to report having sources of spiritual and religious support than those who weren’t. You can train people to better regulate their emotions, and the training seems to have lasting effects. Unfortunately, the opposite may also be true. “We can become less resilient, or less likely to be resilient,” Bonanno says. “We can create or exaggerate stressors very easily in our own minds. That’s the danger of the human condition.” 

First gender identity disorder doctors certified in Japan  The society eventually hopes to make the cost of hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery, which is currently fully shouldered by the patients, covered by national health insurance.

7th WWF day 6

7th World Water Forum in Daegu and Gyeongju, Korea - day 6

In the morning at 9:00 ICHARM organized the closing session of the Theme Water and Disasters. We had over 60 people turn up to the session, which launched the Implementation Roadmap with actions to be taken on this theme between now and the next WWF in Brazil, 2018. After our session, we checked up on the exhibition booth and placed the final documents online, which you can find here under 'documents'. The final closing ceremony was a massive event with over 700 people and many prizes awarded. 

7th WWF day 5

7th World Water Forum in Daegu and Gyeongju, Korea - day 5

We spent most of the morning meeting coordinating our concluding session on the last day of the forum. We still had to finalize the schedule, create handouts for the audience, and place as much materials online as possible. Luckily there was a little time left over to catch up with people from the Xiamen international water law department from China, before attending two sessions and being whisked away to a dinner with the typhoon committee. 

   

7th WWF day 4

7th World Water Forum in Daegu and Gyeongju, Korea - day 4

There was time to visit three sessions today in Daegu, on the topics of water justice, governance indicators, and monitoring risks.

7th WWF day 3

7th World Water Forum in Daegu and Gyeongju, Korea - day 3

After visiting a session at the EXCO, today was the one day I was able to visit the political process in Gyeongju, some 100 km East of Daegu. The WWF had organized hourly buses between these towns, and as we missed a returning connection to Daegu we had the opportunity to visit the HICO venue in Gyeongju.

7th WWF day 2

7th World Water Forum in Daegu and Gyeongju, Korea - day 2

I visited four events today, starting with the opening ceremony of the thematic sessions, followed by two thematic sessions on the human right of water and water policies, and finally a scientific session on climate change impact and vulnerability.

7th WWF day 1

7th World Water Forum in Daegu and Gyeongju, Korea - day 1

Today was the first day of the world water forum. We joined the opening ceremony on Daegu, at the exhibition center called EXCO. As it was quite crowded, there was a special room for VIP members to view the ceremony live, and another room for additional visitors to watch it on screens. In total, the secretariat reports there were over 3,000 people attending the opening ceremony. Security was heavy as President Park of Korea and many other heads of state were present in the building. As in Japan, Korea likes the use of mascots and we were treated abundantly with examples of traditional clothing, dances, sports, and many other cultural aspects.

News in Japan - March

GEJET
Four years on from the Tsunami
Rebuilding trust after the Fukushima disaster
Transfer of tainted Fukushima soil starts
Aftershocks continue 4 years after giant quake There were more than 8,100 aftershocks in the first year after the quake. This fell to about 1,600 by the second year, and about 1,000 by the third. 
Japan marks 4th anniversary of 3/11 disaster The government says nearly 230,000 people were still living in temporary housing as of February. It plans to build about 30,000 public housing units, but only 19 percent of them have been completed so far.
Public housing for Fukushima facing delays Fukushima Prefecture plans to build around 2,700 units for people affected by the earthquake and tsunami. 4,900 are planned for those affected by the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. But only 44 percent of the units for quake and tsunami victims were ready for occupancy at the end of February. Only 5 percent has been completed for the nuclear evacuees. Prefectural officials say they are having difficulty securing land to build the housing. They say there is also a shortage of construction workers amid the growth in reconstruction-related demands. The officials say it will take until 2018 or later to finish building all the units for the nuclear accident refugees.
The ongoing fallout from Japan’s nuclear meltdown Scientists are saying there is a 70 per cent chance that a magnitude 7.0 or higher quake will hit Tokyo by 2016 and a 98 per cent chance it will hit in the next 30 years. As reminder: Tokyo 'has 70% chance of powerful earthquake within four years' The earthquake research institute at Tokyo University said that in the worst case, a quake of magnitude 7 would hit the southern part of metropolitan Tokyo by 2016, while the chances of a similar disaster occurring within 30 years are as high as 98%. The government, by contrast, estimates the possibility of an earthquake that size striking the capital at 70% in the next three decades.

Japan

Shimizu Corp. unveils advanced earthquake lab

Netherlands

Dutch minister Schultz chair World Bank Advisory Board of Global Water Practice

Dutch government establishes response team to advise on water emergency situations

USA
Flood and drought risk to cities on rise even with no climate change (USA)

Other

India's "smart cities" would be stupid without disaster strategy

Youth-led disaster alerts protect Sri Lankan tsunami village

Flooding in Madagascar's capital kills 14, uproots thousands

Mekong Delta Plan Vietnam (WUR, Deltares) 

How rivers creep, flow to shape landscapes over time

Predicting the extent of flash flooding

Rapid coastal population growth may leave many exposed to sea-level rise

Ten-year review finds 87% of disasters climate-related
Aqueduct Global Flood Analyzer

Vulnerable people
Japanese women at a crossroads The number of married women in their 20s who think women should stay at home and focus on housework has risen from 35.7% in 2003 to 41.6% in 2013 Two thirds of them think mothers shouldn't be back at work until the children are three years old, and about the same percentage of women give up their jobs after having their first child.

WCDRR day 5

World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai - day 5

Today I attended the Exhibition building for the Public Works Research Institute exhibition of the Japanese government, as well as the Sendai Mediatheque where many NGOs and companies showcased their activities.

WCDRR day 4

World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai - day 4

Today I visited the AER TKP garden city building for a symposium with Japanese, Dutch and Italian experts on Disaster Risk Reduction. Many examples of infrastructure merging with local ecosystems and population demands were explained.

WCDRR day 3

World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai - day 3

In the middle of this conference I was able to visit 5 events on this day. The first was a technical session on the methods used in the Global Assessment Report 2015 at Tohoku university. The second and third took place at the International Center and covered financial aspects of disaster risk reduction. Another session there covered land use planning, while the last, at Tohoku university, was a very special session about the formation of a Delta Alliance, initiated by the Dutch government and attended by one of the Dutch princesses. 

WCDRR day 1

World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai - day 1

Arriving in Sendai today, I only had time to visit two sessions after registration.The first session was held in the main conference building and concerned the Hyogo Framework for Action priority 2 where ICHARM member Sawano-san was a panel member; the second was a symposium held across town in the AEX tower where GRIPS students presented their finding. Below are the lessons learned from these sessions.

News in Japan - December

GEJET:
Kindergarten to pay Y60 million over 3/11 tsunami deaths

Japan:
7 die, troops called in as heavy snow hits Japan

USA:
Desalination out of Desperation
Colorado River Delta greener after engineered pulse of water

Improving forecasts for rain-on-snow flooding (USA)

'Tipping points' for sea level rise-related flooding determined (USA)

Other:
Pakistan's women worst prepared in region for natural disasters - NGO
Typhoon-proof homes in Vietnam build hope for disaster-prone areas
Typhoon-hammered Philippines in 'fight for our survival'
Eat less meat, dairy to slow climate change, study says - TRFN
Eight challenges for science and society to shape a sustainable future
Thai, Myanmar villagers fear secretive Salween dam project
Philippine rescuers struggle to reach villages after typhoon "folded homes like paper"
"Whiplash" typhoon a cruel blow for already poverty-stricken central Philippines Nearly 13,000 houses were destroyed and more than 22,300 damaged on the eastern island of Samar after the storm hit on Saturday before making its slow journey across the country. The Red Cross said it had received reports of 35 deaths, but has confirmed only 22. "This house was destroyed during Yolanda," resident Pedro Mainiti told local TV, using the Philippine name for Typhoon Haiyan which struck last November, leaving more than 7,000 dead or missing. "I haven't recovered yet and here goes another storm." The government has so far only built 550 of the 205,000 promised permanent houses for Haiyan survivors, according to the rehabilitation agency.
French mayor Rene Marratier jailed for role in deadly flood The former mayor of a French seaside town has been sentenced to jail for four years for ignoring flood risks before a storm that killed 29 people. the court said that Marratier knew La Faute-sur-Mer, a west coast resort in the Pays de la Loire region, was at risk of flooding. However, he "deliberately hid" the risk so that he could benefit from the "cash-cow" of property development.
SPECIAL REPORT-In Jakarta, that sinking feeling is all too real
The Aftershocks Seven of Italy’s top scientists were convicted of manslaughter following a catastrophic quake. Has the country criminalized science? time-risk blindness
Aceh's unfinished recovery

Mudslides, flash floods kill at least 53 in Philippines

Dozens die as Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines battered by storms

Vulnerable people:
Poverty takes on a new look in today's Japan
Another low for Japan's gender gap, as only 15% of election candidates are female Only 169 of the 1,093 candidates from eight major parties were women - far short of the administration's stated goal of having 30 percent of public- and private-sector leadership positions filled with women by 2020. A 2014 report on the gender gap by the World Economic Forum said Japan has one of the worst levels of gender equality in the developed world, ranking it 104th of 142 countries assessed.

One in five develops mental disorder (Dutch)

More people live below the poverty line (Dutch)

Symposium "Policy studies on huge disasters"

Hosted at GRIPS, this symposium featured two keynote speeches by experts and a panel discussion with the following members:

• Mr. Tetsuro Ito (Guest Professor, The University of Tokyo, Former Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management)
• Mr. Takahito Iwata  (Director of Emergency Management Department, Shizuoka Prefectural Government)
• Mr. Hajime Kagiya   (General Manager of Secretariat to the Assembly, Itabashi Ward Tokyo, Lecturer of Hosei University)
• Prof. Keiko Tamura (Professor, Risk Management Office at Niigata University, Former member of Central Disaster Prevention Council)
• Prof. Haruo Hayashi (Keynote speech 1 “Huge disasters and Improvement of resilience”)(Professor and Director, Research Center for Disaster Reduction Systems, Disaster Prevention Research Institute Kyoto University)
• Prof. Naoshi Hirata (Keynote speech 2 “Generating mechanism of the huge earthquake disasters”) (Professor and Director, Earthquake Prediction Research Center at The University of Tokyo)

While the speeches were mainly technical and focused on the GEJET 2011 and predictions of similar future events in other areas of Japan, the panel discussion allowed for a small widening of topics, most importantly because it was possible to hand in questions to the panel members. There were simultaneous English-Japanese translations, so the following information may contain translation errors.

During the speeches the current predictions of a magnitude 8-9 earthquake in the Nankai trough (South East Japan) in the coming 30 years has 60-70% chance of occurring and showed over 300,000 deaths and a 30m tsunami in Shikoku. It is expected to cost 420 billion yen to reduce the estimated victims.

Tokyo still has a high probability of a magnitude 7+ earthquake. Here the main cause of death in projections is estimated to occur by electrical fires (70% of all projected deaths), meaning policies are focusing on how to stimulate private house owners to improve their houses as the government taxes are not sufficient to pay for all individual improvements. The fires are predicted to last 2 days as firefighters won't be able to reach all locations and electricity is thought to be out for one week. No police or ambulance can travel on the road for about a month due to obstructions. The Tokyo population is still increasing, not to births which are actually less than the amount of deaths, but due to immigration.

Equally interesting was the predictions of a magnitude 7-8 earthquake in Hokkaido and more northern island, which are Russian. Here it was mentioned that for some disputed islands, it is legally unclear who is responsible to save the inhabitants, though of course the Japanese government would make any effort to save those in need of rescue regardless of nationality.

During the panel discussion several topics were brushed. Mr. Iwata explained about Shizuoka, which already has many communities of 25% older adults where communities may lose their functions and become isolated during a disaster due to the mountainous area and easily blocked roads. It may even be that the area cannot receive relief. Should the communities aim at being fully self-resilient or be interdependent?

Residents who refused to evacuate when ordered to do so during the GEJET came in two categories, as explained by Prof. Tamura. The first wanted to claim damages, thought they understood the water level, and didn't acknowledge the tsunami. This could be addressed with by more education and adaptability. The second just couldn't pull themselves away from daily life, due to e.g. medication. This also requires more education during the normal routine, think about how you can be comfortable evacuating, and by keeping precious belonging nearby and ready to take with you.

Prof. Hirata commented on the possible eruption of mount Fuji, which was met with laughter. He said explosions are never sudden, there are several predicting phenomenon observed before eruptions. Some of those signs can be detected, and there are none right now. The magazine and press reports are without substance. During a magnitude 5 earthquake there were volcanic eruptions, so there will be a slightly higher chance for Fuji to erupt during a magnitude 9 earthquake. It could occur in the coming 50 years, a hazard map is available.
Mr. Iwata added that there is an evacuation plan coordinated between 3 prefectures which will be rehearsed next month and focuses on pyroclastic flow. One difficultly for the Nankai trough earthquake is that several eruptions are expected, roads will be damaged, and a small flow will already result in 200,000 evacuees, which is very difficult to manage.

Mr. Ito commented on local disaster drills. Always the same people visit the drills, but they would like to train specifically young mothers and students. There are not enough people to organize workshops on the community level. He also said that having a nice plan with pictures does not mean implementation is easy. For individuals, he recommends to make a disaster plan beforehand with your family based on the assumption that you are still alive and the shelters work. You should have water and food, and be fully prepared to protect yourself.

Mr. Ito also mentioned the relocation of (governmental functions of) Tokyo, which has been discussed many times and abandoned for various reasons. Can the ministries in Kasumigaseki survive? How can this, and the stock exchange, be maintained? Do the backup offices function? These questions remained unanswered.

All in all it was a highly educational discussion with comments from experts in all policy levels as well as from various parts of the country, each adding their valuable experiences.

News in Japan - August

GEJET:

NRA to study ways to deal with volcanic eruptions near nuclear reactors

No. of dead and missing from 2011 disaster stands at 21,586: The National Police Agency said Monday that the number of deaths and missing persons attributed to the March 11, 2011 disaster stands at 21,586—18,498 in the disaster itself and 3,088 persons who have since died as a result of stress or illness recognized as being related to the disaster. According to the NPA, the death toll in Miyagi stands at 9,538; in Iwate, it is 4,673, and in Fukushima, the death toll is 1,611. In other prefectures, Ibaraki had 24 deaths, Chiba 21, Tokyo seven, Tochigi and Kanagawa four each, Aomori three, Yamagata two, Gunma and Hokkaido one each—for a total of 15,889 dead. Currently, the remains of 90 victims remain unidentified. The NPA said 1,269 persons remain unaccounted for in Miyagi, 1,132 in Iwate, and 204 in Fukushima. Meanwhile, police and Maritime Safety Agency personnel on Monday conducted another search for missing tsunami victims in the three disaster-hit prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima, Fuji TV reported. Such searches have become common on the 11th day of each month, conducted at the request of families of the missing. No remains were found.

Japan:

Scientist predicts another major earthquake in Japan by 2017

3 drown after car caught in flash flood at campsite

Half a million advised to evacuate as heavy rain lashes Japan

Death toll Japan typhoon Halong risen (Dutch)

Organic food movement in Japan progressing slowly

Typhoon leaves up to 10 dead, dozens injured

At least 39 dead, 7 missing as landslides hit Hiroshima

It's necessary to take measures to prevent newcomers from living in dangerous areas by coordinating the designation of areas as caution zones and through urban planning. It's also important to keep residents informed of the risks of mudslides.

Netherlands:

"Large-scale dike reinforcement needed" (Dutch)

Nuisance from bad weather particularly in the East (Dutch)

USA:

Northern California earthquake is area's strongest in 25 years

Other:

7th GEWEX: Better understanding of clouds and human activities can improve global water cycle models

How should flood risk assessments be done in changing climate?

Deadly floods return to Serbia and Bosnia

Flood risk visualization software

A Global Inventory of Lakes Based on High-Resolution Satellite Imagery: Earth has 117 million fresh water lakes

Increase in reported flooding a result of higher exposure

'Just right' plant growth may make river deltas resilient

Vulnerable people:

Japan to host 'World Assembly for Women' next month

Happy consumers are better for the planet (Dutch)

Animal welfare in Japan improving

Filling water bottles mandatory for festivals in Amsterdam (Dutch)

News in Japan - April

GEJET:
Tsunami debris disposal completed on schedule in Miyagi, Iwate
Fukushima children start school in Nagano as part of special project

79 U.S. sailors sue TEPCO over radiation during Operation Tomodachi

Tsunami survival by the numbers

USA:
NASA radar watches over California's aging levees
Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge: A Comprehensive Strategy for Hoboken

Netherlands:
Increasing height of river levees necessary to prevent disaster (Dutch)

Other:
Climate impacts 'overwhelming' - UN

Water logging in the Coastal Plain of Zhejiang Province China

M8.2 - 95km NW of Iquique, Chile

M7.6 - 19km S of Iquique, Chile

French scientists are working on an acoustic earthquake shield

Vulnerable people:

Two detainees die at immigration center

Only 1 in 7 Japanese scientists are women: study

News in Japan - February

GEJET

1,415 sue builders of Fukushima nuclear plant

Nuclear regulator raps TEPCO over Fukushima radiation readings

TEPCO took months to release record strontium readings at Fukushima

TEPCO says 100 tons of tainted water leaked at Fukushima

After the Tsunami, at the 'Women’s River'

(UPDATED) (Now They Tell Us) Highly Radioactive Pieces Found in Naraha-Machi in June/July 2013 Came from #Fukushima I NPP, TEPCO Now Says

Tsunami debris disposal on schedule for Miyagi, Iwate

Gov't to lift evacuation order for Fukushima town on April 1

Post-tsunami deaths due to stress, illness outnumber disaster toll in Fukushima Data compiled by officials and police show that almost three years after the huge waves smashed ashore, 1,656 people living in Fukushima Prefecture have died from stress and other illnesses related to the disaster, compared with 1,607 who were killed in the initial calamity. “The biggest problem is the fact that people have been living in temporary conditions for so long,” Hiroyuki Harada, a Fukushima official dealing with victim assistance, told AFP. “People have gone through dramatic changes of their environment. As a result, people who would not have died are dying,” he said.

Japan
Evacuation plan prepared for Mt. Fuji eruption The evacuation plan calls for 750,000 people leaving their homes in 14 municipalities in Shizuoka and Yamanashi due to lava and pyroclastic flows, as indicated in March 2013. In addition, 470,000 people, mainly in Kanagawa, would need to evacuate because of volcanic ash in the air, according to the latest plan.
Snowstorm leaves 19 dead; 6,900 trapped in small communities
Heavy Snowfall in Kanto That Has Killed 15 So Far Is Clearly Not Disastrous Enough for Prime Minister Abe
Trying to protect themselves from a sudden heavy rain, thunder, tornado!" Disaster prevention awareness video
Disaster prevention is top priority, Tokyo governor assures IOC

USA
Los Angeles' vulnerability to future sea level rise projected

Other areas
Climate change threatens to cause trillions in damage to world's coastal regions if they do not adapt to sea-level rise
Flood waters 'could last for months'
UK Monthly water situation report Environmental Agency
UK storms: Mapping the floods
Extreme weather images in the media cause fear and disengagement with climate change
Flooding kills nearly 70 in Burundi
Outsmarting nature during disasters: Instead of winging it, planners need to think carefully about costs and benefits
Ant Brood Function as Life Preservers during Floods
Massive Open Online Course in Emergency Management

Vulnerable people
Cancer 'tidal wave' on horizon, warns WHO
64% think it's difficult to raise children in Japan

In U.S., 14% of Those Aged 24 to 34 Are Living With Parents

Resilience: A Lesson From Sochi

Netherlands ceases aid to Uganda due to anti gay law (Dutch)