Effectiveness of coral reefs for marine flood reduction

Karim, Faisal; Nandasena, N.A.K.

doi:10.1109/aset53988.2022.9734897

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 8 publications

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“…Niuatoputapu island nonetheless appears to benefit from the coral reef surrounding the island, which protected the villages from excessive run-up magnitudes on its northwest coast (Fritz et al 2011). Although not universally verified, tsunami amplitudes can be mitigated by the presence of healthy coral reefs (Fernando et al 2005;Ferrario et al 2014;Hardy and Young 1996;Harris et al 2018;Karim and Nandasena 2022;Kunkel et al 2006;Monismith et al 2015;Roger et al 2014). This unique ecological asset should be integrated in future risk management studies on Tonga.…”

Section: Case Study #2: 2009 Tsunamimentioning

confidence: 99%

A method for evaluating population and infrastructure exposed to natural hazards: tests and results for two recent Tonga tsunamis

Thomas

Roger

Gunnell

et al. 2023

Geoenviron Disasters

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Background Coastal communities are highly exposed to ocean- and -related hazards but often lack an accurate population and infrastructure database. On January 15, 2022 and for many days thereafter, the Kingdom of Tonga was cut off from the rest of the world by a destructive tsunami associated with the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption. This situation was made worse by COVID-19-related lockdowns and no precise idea of the magnitude and pattern of destruction incurred, confirming Tonga’s position as second out of 172 countries ranked by the World Risk Index 2018. The occurrence of such events in remote island communities highlights the need for (1) precisely knowing the distribution of buildings, and (2) evaluating what proportion of those would be vulnerable to a tsunami. Methods and Results A GIS-based dasymetric mapping method, previously tested in New Caledonia for assessing and calibrating population distribution at high resolution, is improved and implemented in less than a day to jointly map population clusters and critical elevation contours based on runup scenarios, and is tested against destruction patterns independently recorded in Tonga after the two recent tsunamis of 2009 and 2022. Results show that ~ 62% of the population of Tonga lives in well-defined clusters between sea level and the 15 m elevation contour. The patterns of vulnerability thus obtained for each island of the archipelago allow exposure and potential for cumulative damage to be ranked as a function of tsunami magnitude and source area. Conclusions By relying on low-cost tools and incomplete datasets for rapid implementation in the context of natural disasters, this approach works for all types of natural hazards, is easily transferable to other insular settings, can assist in guiding emergency rescue targets, and can help to elaborate future land-use planning priorities for disaster risk reduction purposes.

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Section: Case Study #2: 2009 Tsunamimentioning

confidence: 99%

A method for evaluating population and infrastructure exposed to natural hazards: tests and results for two recent Tonga tsunamis

Thomas

Roger

Gunnell

et al. 2023

Geoenviron Disasters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

A method for planning disaster risk management and calibrating disaster relief efforts: application to the 2009 and 2022 Tonga tsunamis

Thomas

Roger

Gunnell

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Coastal communities are highly exposed to ocean- and climate-related hazards but often lack an accurate population and infrastructure database. On January 15, 2022 and for many days thereafter, the Kingdom of Tonga was cut off from the rest of the world by a destructive tsunami associated with the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption. This situation was made worse by COVID-19-related lockdowns and no precise idea of the magnitude and pattern of destruction incurred. The occurrence of such events in remote island communities highlights the need for (1) precisely knowing the distribution of residential and public buildings, and (2) evaluating what proportion of those would be vulnerable to a tsunami. A GIS-based dasymetric mapping method, previously tested in New Caledonia for assessing and calibrating population distribution at high resolution, is improved and implemented in less than a day to jointly map population clusters and critical elevation contours based on runup scenarios, and is tested against destruction patterns independently recorded in Tonga after the two recent tsunamis of 2009 and 2022. Results show that 62% of the population of Tonga lives in well-defined clusters between sea level and the 15 m elevation contour. The patterns of vulnerability thus obtained for each island of the archipelago allow exposure and potential for cumulative damage to be ranked as a function of tsunami magnitude and source-area. By relying on low-cost tools and incomplete datasets for rapid implementation in the context of natural disasters, this approach works for all types of natural hazards, is easily transferable to other insular settings, can assist in guiding emergency rescue targets, and can help to elaborate future land-use planning priorities for disaster risk reduction purposes.

show abstract

Effectiveness of coral reefs for marine flood reduction

Cited by 2 publications

References 8 publications

A method for evaluating population and infrastructure exposed to natural hazards: tests and results for two recent Tonga tsunamis

A method for evaluating population and infrastructure exposed to natural hazards: tests and results for two recent Tonga tsunamis

A method for planning disaster risk management and calibrating disaster relief efforts: application to the 2009 and 2022 Tonga tsunamis

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