IFNet_Newsletter_April 2012

IFNet Newsletter June 2012 issue
June 11, 2012 / IFNet secretariat

FLOOD NEWS

1. Major water-related disasters from March to May, 2012

1-1. Flood in Fiji
The tropical cyclone in March 29th caused serious flood disaster in Viti Levu, which left 4 people dead and washed away roads, bridges and homes, forcing thousands of people to shelter in evacuation centers.

1-2. Floods in Kenya
A series of flash floods in April 6th left 66 people dead, 42 injured, 2 missing and at least 60,000 affected. Collapse of river bank resulted in submerging many houses, livestock and schools.

1-3. Avalanche, landslide and flood in Nepal
A landslide and a catastrophic flash flood of May 5th left 31 people dead and 40 people missing near Machhapuchhre Mountain in Kaski district. There also happened a massive flash flood in Seti River. As a consequence, roads, bridges, water supply facilities and electric poles were damaged. A total of 20 houses, two temples and one community building were completely swept away.

1-4. Hails and floods in China
Hails, heavy rains, and floods occurred in Hunan province on May 8th and in Gansu province on May 10th. The total deaths amount up to 132, and are likely to increase in the whole country.

1-5. Flood in Afghanistan
The damage of the flash flood of May 6th in Damarda village, Sangcharak district, Sari Pul province left 27 people dead and 300 missing. Over 100 houses were damaged, 100 acres of agricultural land was flooded and 540 animals died. Several days later, a series of flash floods on May 9th in the north provinces such as Faryab and Baghlan left 50 people dead and 76 missing.

2. Information on the water-related disasters in FY2011
IFNet Secretariat gathers information on water-related disasters of the world. Major water-related disasters in FY2011 (April 2011- March 2012) is shown on the world map on the below Website.
http://www.internationalfloodnetwork.org/index/disasterMap2011.pdf

3. Development of Satellite-based Precipitation Data Delivery System
Thanks to the financial support by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and RESTEC (Remote Sensing Technology Center) of Japan, IDI has developed the Satellite-based Precipitation Data Delivery System, which automatically provides satellite-monitoring precipitation data every hour both for the river basin and for the administrative district. It also notifies with different colors whether the accumulated precipitation in some river basin or district exceeds the pre-calculated probable precipitation with some return period (such as once in two-years, or once in five-years).

The trial version is now utilized by the Government of Thailand in order to prevent and to be well prepared for flood disasters during flood season this year.

The detailed information will be found on the below Website.
http://www.internationalfloodnetwork.org/20120608satellite/2012_satellite.html

4. Restoration and reconstruction process after the Great East Japan Earthquake
One year passed since the occurrence of Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011, restoration and reconstruction works are vigorously undertaken in the disaster-affected regions.

97% of the tsunami-oriented massive debris and mud was removed from the site to the temporary piling yards. However, only 9% of the pile-up debris was incinerated. The prefectural governments are seeking the way to incinerate the debris in non-affected regions, but still have not yet fully got consent from local residence of these regions.

Most of the immediate restoration works are just about completed. From now on, the full-scale restoration works needs to develop by reflecting the opinion and requirement of local residence.

5. Flood prevention and mitigation in Niigata, Japan
IDI is publishing a journal “IDI Quarterly”, in which public works and construction technologies in Japan are introduced. At present, more than 900 persons of 90 countries subscribe this journal. The latest edition (No. 59) of April, 2012 introduces miserable history of flood disasters in Niigata Plain and the outstanding projects to prevent and mitigate flood disasters. It highlights both structural measures (such as constructing river bank, straightening river course and constructing diversion channels to let floodwater directly flow into the ocean) and non-structural measures (such as flood forecasting, early warning and flood hazard mapping). Owing to the above efforts, flood damage in 2011 was far less than that in 2004, although the cumulative rainfall in 2011 was 1.6 times higher.

Further information will be found on the below Website.
http://www.idi.or.jp/tech/quarterly/idi59.pdf