Climate Extremes

Earthquakes

Floods

Climate Change

Volcanoes

Tsunamis
Indian Ocean Tsunami

Landslides

Disaster Studies & Management
Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment in Disaster Response


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Current & Recent Projects

The work of six of the Benfield Hazard Research Centre's current projects is summarised here. Further detail is provided later in this review.

REA Project: The Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment in Disasters project has developed a methodology to identify salient environmental impacts during disasters. The methodology covers a gap in impact assessment tools and contributes to improved effectiveness of disaster relief operations. The REA methodology was tested in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Indonesia and is complemented by a training module. The REA project is a collaborative BUHRC-CARE International effort with funding from OFDA/USAID, Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNEP/OCHA. Contact: C. Kelly at: 72734.2412@compuserve.com

Seasonal Weather Forecasts: The prediction of weather and extreme weather is ongoing in the BUHRC Meteorological Hazards & Seasonal Forecasting Group. This work includes long-range forecasting of UK and European temperature, precipitation, and storminess; tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic, NW Pacific and SW Pacific oceans; tropical cyclone numbers on the USA, Caribbean, Japan, and Queensland (Australia). Contact: Dr. Mark Saunders at: mas@mssl.ucl.ac.uk

Project RUNOUT: This recently completed European Union funded international study focused on large volume, long runout landslides. The study concentrates on developing a unifying physical model for large-landslide phenomena and designing strategies for optimizing monitoring networks and mitigating landslide risk. Active test sites for field studies were Tessina (Italy), Barranco de Tirajana, Gran Canaria (Spain), and Köfels (Austria). Studies at these sites were supported by new investigations at Vajont (Italy) and Bad Goisern (Austria). Contact: Dr. Chris Kilburn at: c.kilburn@ucl.ac.uk

Project CARIB: Funded by the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID), Project Carib aims to reduce vulnerability of small volcanic islands to future eruptions. In view of the continuing emergency on Montserrat, the project focuses here and on the neighbouring Caribbean islands of St. Vincent and Guadeloupe. The primary outcome of the project is a volcanic emergency manual, designed for use by - and to improve communication between - scientists, civil authorities, and the media, at times of volcanic crisis. Contact: Dr. Carmen Solana at: carmen.solana@port.ac.uk

Tsunami Risk: This study was undertaken jointly with Coventry University and funded through the TSUNAMI initiative by the UK Government and a consortium of insurance and reinsurance companies. The results of the study, including a risk atlas, an assessment of the tsunami generated by the 1964 Alaska earthquake, and a more thorough examination of the tsunami threat in the North Atlantic can be accessed via the front page of the BUHRC website. Contact: Dr. Simon Day at: sday@es.ucsc.edu

Project Volcalert: More than five million people live within sight of an active volcano in Europe. Although sophisticated techniques are available for monitoring volcanoes, short-term eruption forecasts are invariably empirical. This approach is plagued by large uncertainties and has only a restricted value when applying observations from one eruption to another. Such a situation creates confusion during a volcanic crisis and heightens the possibility of issuing false alarms. Vulnerable populations may thus lose confidence in decision-making bodies and refuse to respond during later emergencies when an eruption is truly imminent. Project Volcalert developed innovative models for quantifying eruption precursors, and used these models to develop practical forecasting techniques; and to communicate forecasts effectively to non-specialists. Contact: Dr. Chris Kilburn at: c.kilburn@ucl.ac.uk
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