LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS

AUSTRALIAPART 4: WILDFIRES

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna,

Virginia, USA 

AUSTRALIA

NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED DISASTERS IN AUSTRALIADISASTERS IN AUSTRALIA

FLOODS

CYCLONES

EARTHQUAKES

WILDFIRES

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

HIGH BENEFIT/COST FOR SAVING LIVES, BUT LOW BEMEFIT/COST FOR PROTECTING PROPERTY

GOAL: MOVE PEOPLE OUT GOAL: MOVE PEOPLE OUT OF HARM’S WAYOF HARM’S WAY

A DISASTER is --- --- the set of failures that overwhelm the capability of a community to respond without external help  when three continuums: 1)  people, 2) community (i.e., a set of habitats, livelihoods, and social constructs), and 3) complex events (e.g., floods, wildfires, ...,) intersect at a point in space and time.

Disasters are caused by single- or multiple-event natural hazards that, (for various reasons), cause

extreme levels of mortality, morbidity, homelessness,

joblessness, economic losses, or environmental impacts.

Natural Phenomena that Cause Disasters

Planet Earth’s atmospheric-lithospheric interactions create situ-ations favorable for Wildfires (AKA BUSHFIRES)

WILDFIRES are conflagrations caused by

lightning discharges (or acts of man) in wilderness areas close enough to one or more urban

interfaces that they threaten people, property, infrastructure, and

business enterprise

WILDFIRE HAZARDS

SCIENCE OF WILDFIRES

WILDFIRE HAZARDS (AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)

• FIRE • HOT GASES AND SMOKE • HOT SPOTS• BURNED OUT SLOPES (with

increased susceptibility to insect infestation, erosion, and landslides)

WILDFIRE HAZARDS (AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)

• SUNDOWNER WINDS• LOCAL CHANGES IN AIR

QUALITY• LOCAL CHANGES IN WEATHER

LIGHTNING STRIKES

WILDFIRES (AKA BUSHFIRES)

MANMADE FIRES

PROXIMITY OF URBAN AREA TO THE WILDLAND FIRE

WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION (DAY/NIGHT DIFFERENCES)

DRYNESS

HIGH TEMPERATURES

LOCAL FUEL SUPPLY

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

DISASTER LABORATORIES

AUSTRALIA’S AUSTRALIA’S COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIES

DATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATION

HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS

•HAZARDS•INVENTORY AT RISK•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION

WILDFIRE RISK WILDFIRE RISK

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

WILDFIRE DISASTER WILDFIRE DISASTER RESILIENCERESILIENCE

•PREPAREDNESS•PROTECTION•EARLY WARNING•EMERGENCY RESPONSE•RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION

POLICY OPTIONSPOLICY OPTIONS

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL WILDFIRES PREPAREDNESFOR THE EXPECTED AND UNEXPEDTED IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL WILDFIRES TIMELY EMERGENCY RESPONSE IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

HIGH POTENTIAL LOSS EXPOSURES TO WILDFIRES

People, property, infrastructure, business enterprise, government centers, wildlife, and natural resources.

AUSTRALIA’S WORST WILDFIRE OUTBREAK

WORST WILDFIRES IN AUSTRALIA’S HISTORY

400 FIRES BURNED FOR WEEKSVICTORIA STATE FEBRUARY 2009

The deadliest wildfires in Australia's history burned people in their homes and cars and wiped out entire

towns173 DEAD; 2000 HOMES

DESTROYED

WILDFIRES: 2009

WILDFIRES ON AUSTRALIA’S TASMANIA ISLAND BURNED 100 HOMES AND FORCED THOUSANDS TO FLEE

JANUARY 4, 2013

WILDFIRES ON TASMANIA: (TEMPERATURE REACHED 40 DEGREES C)

OTHER WILDFIRES BURNED SIMULTANEOUSLY

• Bushfires were also burning in other parts of Australia, including South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

IMPACT IN TOWN OF DUNALLEY

• A SCHOOL AND A POLICE STATION WERE DESTROYED, ALONG WITH ONE-THIRD OF ALL BUILDINGS.

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL WILDFIRES EARLY WARN-

ING (THE ISS) AND EVACU-ATION ARE ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

WILDFIRES REACHED “CATASTROPHIC LEVEL” IN

AUSTRALIA

JANUARY 8, 2013

HIGH TEMPERATURES AND DRYNESS CAUSE

WILDFIRES TO REACH “CATASTROPHIC LEVEL”

EVACUATION

• Further south on the Tasman Peninsula east of Hobart, the capitol, as many as 2,000 people took refuge in the town of Nubeena overnight, while another 700 were sheltered at the nearby historic Port Arthur site.

• Others were ferried to safety.

LABETOUCHE, AUSTRALlA: 93 KM (56 MILES) EAST OF MELBOURNE

SOUTH NEW WALES

FIGHTING THE FIRE FROM THE AIR

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL WILDFIRES RECOVERY

AND RECON-STRUCTION USUALLY MEANS STARTING OVER.

WILDLIFE IMPACTED

KEEPING A SURVIVOR OF THE FIRE ALIVE