98 research outputs found
Post-flood damage data: requirements for disaster forensic investigation
Disaster forensic investigation analyses the unfolding of a disaster and attempts to identify its multiple causes of damage which can lead to (i) improved disaster prevention and management from lessons learnt, and (ii) more effective mitigation measures in the aftermath of a disaster. The way in which damage data are collected after a flood event as well as the types of collected data influences their usability within forensic investigations. In order to explore whether or not existing data can be used for disaster forensic analysis, the European Project IDEA (Improving Damage assessments to Enhance cost-benefit Analyses) is investigating existing gaps in damage information so as to identify possible paths towards improving data quality. This paper focuses in detail on a forensic analysis of the interlinked damage to economic activities and infrastructure in the Severn floods of 2007 in the UK. Besides investigating the usability of existing data, this research investigated: (i) the relative weight of direct and indirect costs to business and infrastructure companies; (ii) to what extent damage to infrastructure has impacted on indirect damage to businesses. Finally recommendations for improving the data for use in forensic investigation are offered
Ex post damage assessment: an Italian experience
In recent years, awareness of a need for more effective disaster data
collection, storage, and sharing of analyses has developed in many parts of
the world. In line with this advance, Italian local authorities have
expressed the need for enhanced methods and procedures for post-event damage
assessment in order to obtain data that can serve numerous purposes: to
create a reliable and consistent database on the basis of which damage models
can be defined or validated; and to supply a comprehensive scenario of
flooding impacts according to which priorities can be identified during the
emergency and recovery phase, and the compensation due to citizens from
insurers or local authorities can be established. This paper studies this
context, and describes ongoing activities in the Umbria and Sicily regions of
Italy intended to identifying new tools and procedures for flood damage data
surveys and storage in the aftermath of floods. In the first part of the
paper, the current procedures for data gathering in Italy are analysed. The
analysis shows that the available knowledge does not enable the definition or
validation of damage curves, as information is poor, fragmented, and
inconsistent. A new procedure for data collection and storage is therefore
proposed. The entire analysis was carried out at a local level for the
residential and commercial sectors only. The objective of the next steps for
the research in the short term will be (i) to extend the procedure to other
types of damage, and (ii) to make the procedure operational with the Italian
Civil Protection system. The long-term aim is to develop specific
depth–damage curves for Italian contexts
Comparing post-event and pre-event damage assessment: Information gaps and lessons learnt
Abstract. Post event damage and needs assessment can supply fundamental information to feed risk models, i.e. data
to define, calibrate and validate risk models. The lack or low quality of information regarding damage and losses
collected in the aftermath of events conditions the quality of pre-event scenarios, thus affecting also the significance
and the relevance of cost benefit analyses on mitigation measures to reduce the severity and magnitude of damage
that are expected. Data collected in the aftermath of disasters are usually not suitable to this aim. Mostly, data on
damage explicative variables (i.e. hazard, exposure, vulnerability and mitigation actions) are missing; damage data
themselves can be also unsuitable as they refer to different spatial or temporal scales than those at which damage
models work. In such a context, this paper presents results from the European Project IDEA (Improving Damage
assessments to Enhance cost-benefit Analyses). The project is a response to the very limited reliability of data
currently used to support cost-benefit analyses for natural hazards mitigation. The main objective of IDEA is an
improvement of both damage data quality and procedures to collect and manage them. The paper focus in detail on
the investigation of how improved damage data can better support the risk-modelling process. To this aim, the flood
hitting the Umbria Region (Italy) in 2012 and the earthquake event that stuck the municipality of Lorca (Spain) in
2011 were investigated. Observed damages and damage predictions based on data that were available before the
disaster have been compared. The comparison had several objectives:
- to verify the reliability of damage models that are currently used for damage estimation and that are proposed in
literature;
- to identify data gaps in pre-event assessment that could be narrowed by better damage data. This is relevant for
showing what data are currently missing in risk modelling but could be obtained at reasonable costs;
- to identify sectors for which pre-event damage assessment cannot be carried out or is carried out at the expense of
large uncertainties and/or roughness;
- to show how improved risk modelling could better feed cost benefit analyses of pre-event mitigation measure
Rischio e vulnerabilita' umana da un punto di vista urbanistico
Quaderni dell'Istituto di Sociologia Internazionale di Gorizia 95-5, Programma Emergenze di Massa, dicembre 199
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