Handbook of Coastal Disaster Mitigation for Engineers and Planners

University

Introduction: Lessons from the Last 10 Years of Coastal Disasters

Miguel Esteban¹; Hiroshi Takagi²; Tomoya Shibayama³, ¹ Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan, ² Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, ³ Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

1 From the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami to the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan Storm Surge

Human beings have long had a very close connection with the sea, and about 60% of the world's population currently lives in coastal areas, including 65% of cities with a population of over 2.5 million (UNCED, 1992). Even more importantly, most of the world's largest cities, or ‘megacities’ with over 10 million inhabitants, are situated close to the sea. Generally speaking, the economic activity of coastal zones, including activities such as shipping, fishing, tourism, and industry, increases as populations grows, and vice versa. In this sense, between 2005 and 2030 the world's population is expected to increase by 1.7 billion (UN, 2006), and thus it is likely that the economic activities of coastal zones will continue to expand. This trend in economic expansion will be further strengthened by economic globalization, as coastal cities act as a gateway between countries.

However, almost all coastal areas are vulnerable to coastal disasters such as high waves, tsunamis and storm surges. These disasters can wreak havoc among unprepared coastal settlements, setting back their development years or even decades, though they can have profound effects even countries that are well prepared for them. In the last decade, the editors of the book have conducted surveys of all major coastal disasters that have taken place, and this book is an attempt to draw a number of lessons and reflect on current state-of-the-art knowledge in disaster management. The book draws together a number of different authors, all experts in the field, and tries to tie their chapters together to create a coherent message. A number of the most important disasters in the last 10 years will be highlighted, starting with the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and finishing with Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in 2013. Such disasters have highlighted the vulnerability of coastal communities and the need to improve the resilience and preparedness of societies at risk.

It is logical to start the book with a chapter on the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history, triggered by a massive earthquake in December 2004 and eventually killing over 230,000 people in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and many other countries. Although at the time of writing this book 10 years has passed after the tsunami, many of the local communities are still being transformed by its consequences, which include the relocation of entire villages to increase safety against future events (see Chapters 1 and 27). A number of other major tsunamis have taken place throughout this time, including that in Samoa (2009; see Chapter 5), Chile (2010; see Chapters 6 and 11), and Mentawai (2010; see Chapter 5). Inevitably the other event that is stuck in people's minds is the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which killed nearly 20,000 people and devastated vast coastal areas (see Chapters 9-11, 13, 15-20, 25 and 28-29).

The devastation caused by tsunamis highlights the necessity to adequately plan coastal areas to make sure they are disaster-resilient and ensure their long-term sustainable development. However, it is certain that economic development typically receives a higher priority than disaster mitigation. This trend is observed not only in developing countries but also in developed countries. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami revealed that Japan, although perceived to be a country resilient against natural disasters, was still significantly vulnerable. Even though it takes many years to develop coastal cities and towns, a catastrophic natural disaster can destroy everything from human life to properties in an instant. Figure 1 shows how large settlements such as Minamisanriku Town (Japan) were totally flattened by the tsunami.

Figure 1 Photo taken from the rooftop of the tsunami evacuation building in Minamisanriku shortly after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

However, this book not only will focus on tsunamis but also analyze a number of major storm surge events that have taken place in this period. Notably among these were Hurricane Katrina (the United States in 2005, approximately 2000 dead and missing; see Chapter 2), Cyclone Sidr (Bangladesh in 2007, 3600 dead; see Chapter 3), Cyclone Nargis (Myanmar in 2008, over 138,000 dead; see Chapter 4), Hurricane Sandy (the United States in 2011, over 40 dead and second costliest in US history; see Chapter 7), and Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda, in the Philippines in 2013, nearly 8000 people dead and missing, see Chapter 8), all of which caused catastrophic damage to coastal areas.

All of these disasters highlight the clear need to consider the vulnerability of coastal areas, particularly in developing countries that are frequently affected by events. One such country is Vietnam, which with its 3260 km coastline and two vast low-lying deltas (Red River Delta and Mekong Delta), could be considered one of the most vulnerable countries against coastal disasters and climate change. However, it appears that people outside Vietnam are not significantly aware of the vulnerability of this country's coasts against disasters. Chapter 12 will thus analyze the risk in this country, and Chapter 14 will show how other regions that are generally not perceived to be at great risk, such as the Iranian coast, could also suffer major disasters. Awareness about disasters is critical to increase survival rates of the population inside inundated areas, and in this respect it seems that events in the last 10 years have meant that words such as tsunami and storm surge are recognized even by people in countries that have not recently experienced such events (see Chapter 11). Maintaining such levels of awareness is important, nowhere least than in Japan, where major tsunami events are expected in the near future (see Chapter 13). Despite the high levels of education and preparedness, the large number of casualties recorded highlights the need to learn some lessons about why did people died (see Chapter 10) and how buildings were damaged (see Chapter 9).

In order to protect against such events the role of mitigation measures is very important. Typically, these are divided into structural measures, such as the construction of tsunami walls and breakwaters, and soft measures, including the utilization of vegetation or other systems to protect the population. The Tohoku coastline had been protected by large-scale structural countermeasures, many of which failed during the tsunami, which was higher than what they had been designed against. Chapters 16, 17 and 19 will draw lessons on the failure of a variety of coastal structures, and Chapter 18 will try to understand to what degree breakwaters were actually effective in preventing the inundation of the areas behind them. The design of breakwaters to resist tsunami attack and other types of waves will also be the focus of some other chapters (Chapters 15, 16 and 23). Also, as a consequence of this and other events, new tsunami building standards are currently being drawn, and Chapters 21 and 22 will present details on a new American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Tsunami Loads and Effects Design Standard for the United States. For the case of areas that are highly prone to tsunami attack, a variety of different types of measures will have to be attempted, which leads to the concept of multilayer safety (see Chapters 25 and 29). Currently, large-scale reconstruction efforts in Tohoku are centered around the idea of rebuilding structural measures to a higher standard than what was there before and the elevation of residential areas by using sand and gravel. To understand which measures should receive more attention and develop optimum design levels it is necessary to carry out an economic optimization, which should include the cost of structural countermeasures and the potential elevation of residential areas (see Chapter 25). Chapter 29 provides a more detailed picture of reconstruction efforts in one Japanese town, Otsuchi, highlighting the spatial reclassification of lands throughout the city and the different philosophies being applied to build a more resilient town against future disasters (Build Back Better; see also Chapter 27).

However, so-called hard structures are not the only countermeasures available to protect coastal areas. The planting of mangroves to protect against natural disasters has been attempted around numerous coastlines, and Chapter 24 will showcase some of the efforts currently underway in Thailand. Alternatively, in areas where the use of mangroves is not possible, gravel beaches can effectively stabilize a degraded coastline. This can make such coastlines more resistant to erosion, which could be used in the future as a possible adaptation mechanism against climate change, especially in areas suffering from high coral mortality such as Mauritius (see Chapter 26).

Finally, it is necessary to understand that it is impossible to protect land and infrastructure against all conceivable types of disasters, and ultimately the safety of human beings should rely on efficient evacuation systems (see Chapters 5, 10, 11 and 28). In order for these to be effective, it is necessary that local people undertake regular training, so that they know what to do in the event of an emergency (Chapters 10 and 28). The impact of such a disaster is clearly imprinted in the minds of the people who have experienced or witnessed it and, in many cases, will become part of the collective memory of a coastal society, though such memory will fade over time and with the passage of generations (Chapter 11). The creation of tsunami memorials and signs is also crucial to maintaining a culture of awareness about disasters, and significant efforts are under way in the Tohoku region to create such a legacy for future generations (Chapters 28 and 29). If a disaster causes catastrophic damage and is also widely broadcasted by the media, the world's attention will focus on the damaged areas, contributing to raising awareness about the dangers faced by a particular country or region. However, people may not be particularly aware of the danger posed by certain potential future disasters if the media does not report minor disasters due to limited human and property losses, highlighting the need to improve awareness in countries not typically affected by disasters (see Chapters 12 and 14).

Unfortunately, the legacy from the past and present inhabitants of this planet to future generations will probably also include climate change and sea-level rise. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 5th Assessment Report (IPCC AR5, 2013) unequivocally pointed out anthropogenic and other influences on global weather patterns. Such influences are likely to increase the intensity of tropical cyclones, which could have disastrous consequences for coastal areas. Some of the areas that could be worst affected include places such as Bangladesh, Myanmar and Vietnam, where stronger cyclones could increase the level of storm surges in the future (Chapters 3, 4 and 12), increase salinity intrusion, and also cause coastal erosion (Chapters 12 and 26). In particular, breakwaters, which have long service lives but are usually designed with static climate and sea levels in mind, could suffer increasing damage due to future events (see Chapters 30–33). To take into account the randomness of waves and complex structural responses, these failures need to be stochastically evaluated by incorporating various uncertain design factors, with Chapter 30 describing possible approaches for caisson-type breakwaters. The influence of sea-level rise will also be significant, especially for breakwaters in shallow water, which could require significant strengthening in the future as higher waves will be able to reach them (see Chapter 31), though it will also have a significant effect on a number of other port structures and components (see Chapter 32). As a result, some of the structures will need to be improved by employing additional countermeasures to mitigate negative influences on port operations (Chapter 23). For the case of low-lying cities, larger-scale efforts might be needed, such as the construction of storm surge barriers in places such as the entrance of Tokyo Bay (Chapter 33).

If such adaptation strategies are not undertaken, future events will likely cause greater damage than what is expected at present, especially given the increased exposure due to greater population densities in coastal areas. This clearly highlights the importance of this book, which attempts to describe the challenges created by natural disasters around the world and draw lessons from events during the last 10 years. It also provides the latest information regarding various engineering and social challenges and state-of-the-art academic research findings regarding how to adapt against the risks associated with coastal disasters and future climate change.

The challenges posed by climate change and sea-level rise will have important regional and global repercussions. The authors wish this book to be an important source of information for all those who are looking at the challenges of defending against coastal problems and should be particularly relevant to government and local policymakers, environmental and climate scientists, and engineers.

References

IPCC, 2013. Working Group I Contribution to The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, Final Draft Underlying Scientific-Technical Assessment.

United Nations Conference on Environment & Development (UNCED): AGENDA 21, Rio de Janerio, Brazil, 1992.

United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2006. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2005 Revision. Working Paper No. ESA/P/WP/200.

Part I

Analysis of Recent Disasters

Chapter 1

2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

Tomoya Shibayama    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract

A large tsunami generated and propagated along the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004, resulting in a large number of casualties. As a consequence, the author led a number of field surveys in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand, to identify damage mechanisms and survey inundation and run-up heights. The maximum surveyed tsunami height for the tsunami was 48.9 m at Rhiting, Banda Aceh, Indonesia. From the survey results, a variety of disaster mechanisms were found in different locations, with local socio-economic and geographical conditions having a big influence on disaster patterns. In order to promote an appropriate post tsunami rehabilitation and environmental restoration process, cooperative work with local engineers and local university professors is essential since the restoration process should take into account the local social and natural conditions of a given area. Furthermore, to establish a reliable disaster prevention system not only appropriate protection structures but also a clear and realistic evacuation plan should be designed for residents of coastal areas.

Keywords

Tsunami

Indian Ocean

Sri Lanka

Indonesia

Aceh

Hambantota

Leupung

2004

48.9 m

Rhiting

Polhena

1 Introduction

On December 26, 2004, a large undersea Mw 9.1 (USGS) megathrust earthquake with an epicenter off the cost of Sumatra (Indonesia) generated a major tsunami wave that propagated over the Indian Ocean and attacked the coasts of Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, India and the Maldives, amongst other countries. Figure 1 shows a general view of the tsunami affected area in the Indian Ocean, together with the location of the tsunami origin. Indonesia is one of the most tectonically active countries in the world, as it forms the meeting point of several plates. Essentially, the subduction of the Indian oceanic plate under the Eurasian continental plate has formed a chain of volcanoes in the western side of Indonesia, explaining the high frequency of earthquakes and powerful eruptions. Such eruptions include, for example, the case of Krakatoa, which killed over 36,000 people in 1883 when three quarters of the island blew up, generating a tsunami that has been estimated to be over 40 m in height.

Figure 1 in the figure.

The megathrust earthquake that caused what has also been called the Boxing Day Tsunami was unusually large in geological extent, and it was estimated that the fault was around 1,600 km long and slipped around 15 m in two phases over a period of several minutes. As a result the sea floor is estimated to have risen by several meters, triggering the tsunami. It is worth noting that the tsunami eventually reached Africa, killing small numbers of people even in countries such as Tanzania. Overall, the numbers of victims (including those who perished and are still missing) was over 230,000, making it one of the most deadly natural disasters in recorded history.

As many chapters in the present book will discuss tsunamis, it is worth remembering that essentially tsunamis are generated when the seabed rises or subsides as a consequence of an earthquake, causing the volume of water on top of it to also move and thus creating a wave. Tsunami waves have very long periods, explaining why their behavior is very different to that of wind waves and typically result in large scale inundation and devastation. Following the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami the Japanese Coastal Engineering Community has started to classify tsunami events into two different levels (Shibayama et al., 2013), according to their level of severity and intensity. Level 1 events have a return period of several decades to 100 + years and would be relatively low in height, typically with inundation heights less than 7-10 m. Level 2 events are less frequent, typically occurring every few hundred to a few thousand years. The tsunami inundation heights would be expected to be much bigger, typically over 10 m, but would include events of up to 20-30 m in height. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami clearly constitutes a level 2 event, based on the high inundation heights recorded at many locations (as will be described in the present chapter) and the low frequency of such an event.

In order to clarify the disaster mechanisms of the event, a number of surveys were performed over the disaster area to measure inundation heights and run-up, identify disaster patterns and further understand the behavior of local residents. In the remaining part of this chapter two major surveys carried out to document the disaster mechanism and storm surge heights are described, one in Sri Lanka and the other in the Banda Aceh region.

2 Methodology and Description of Basic Tsunami Parameters

The main aim of the surveys was to record the distribution of tsunami trace heights as well as to understand the situation of the damaged area. At each tsunami trace the precise location of the point was measured with surveying instruments. The tsunami traces were identified by broken branches, debris on trees, watermarks left on structures and eyewitness accounts. Section transects were taken to identify the distance from each point to the sea, and, where possible, the maximum run-up height in nearby hills or elevated terrain was also measured. All surveyed areas used the sea level at the time of the survey as the basis for the measurements taken, and later the level of the tide at the time of the survey and when the tsunami struck were taken into account.

Figure 2 shows a diagrammatic representation of a typical ideal transect. The diagram also shows the concepts of run-up and inundation heights, which are very important to understand tsunami destruction patters. As these concepts will be used by many authors in other chapters (see Chapters 5, 6, 9, 10, 11 or 15, for example) it is worth describing them in a bit more detail in this section.

Figure 2 Definitions of inundation height, run-up height, and inundation depth.

Tsunami waves are typically generated in relatively deep seas, and propagate quickly across the ocean. While propagating in deep seas they cause little damage, as they are typically only a few dozen centimeters in height. However, as they approach the coastline the wave starts to transform in a series of processes know as wave shoaling. Essentially as the water depth decreases, the wave speed decreases and the friction of the seabed starts to affect the wave shape, rapidly increasing the height of the tsunami, though resulting in a decrease in its wavelength. This increase in wave height is given by the following equation (Green’s formula):

where Hs and Hd are wave heights in shallow and deep water and hs and hd are the depths of the shallow and deep water.

According to this equation, a tsunami with a height of 1 m in the open ocean where the water depth is 4000 m would have a wave height of 4 to 5 m in a water depth of 10 m. Although the wave is slowed down considerably (with respect to its velocity in deep seas) it still has considerable kinetic energy. Video footage from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and 2011 Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami clearly show that the speed of the wave, although varying from location to location, is typically faster than a man can run, and in places as fast as cars. Such a wave will proceed to quickly inundate areas in the immediate vicinity of the coastline, and surveys in these areas will measure the inundation height (as shown in Figure 2). As the wave proceeds towards higher elevations its kinetic energy will be gradually transformed into potential energy. In these areas, the inundation height is less important than the maximum run-up height, or the maximum point reached by the wave as it climbs a coastal hill or other similar elevated terrain. The run-up height can thus be an indicator of total tsunami energy in the area. Both the inundation height and run-up height can then be used to ascertain the validity of inundation and simulation propagation models, which are very important to simulate and predict future tsunami hazards.

3 Surveys in Sri Lanka (Shibayama et al., 2006)

The 2004 tsunami was the worst natural disaster ever recorded in the history of the country, causing significant damage to life and coastal infrastructure. A total of 1,100 km of coastline was affected (particularly along the east, south and west of the country), leaving approximately 39,000 dead and destroying 100,000 homes. Fisheries were badly damaged, including the ports of Hikkaduwa, Mirissa and Puranawella (Esteban et al., 2013a, see also Chapter 15).

In Sri Lanka, there were few historical records of tsunamis and residents of coastal areas were not aware about the possibility of such events taking place before the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. As a result, there were many people who did not evacuate or even visited the coastline as the sea retreated before the first tsunami wave. Such behavior clearly does not constitute the best course of actions during a tsunami event (see Chapter 10), helping to explain the high casualty rates recorded in this country.

There were mainly three survey teams which visited the affected area, approximately one month after the event, which covered all of the worst affected areas. The first team was led by Prof. Y. Kawata of Kansai University, the second one by the author of this chapter Prof. T. Shibayama of Waseda University and the third one by Prof. F. Liu of Cornell University. The present chapter describes mainly the results of the second team, though some other information from the other teams will also be provided. A considerable variation in tsunami inundation heights was recorded, ranging from less than 3.0 m to as high as over 11.0 m, with the height generally showing a decreasing trend from the south to west coast (Shibayama et al., 2006; Wijetunge, 2006).

Figure 3 shows the points surveyed by the various research teams along the south coast of Sri Lanka. The second team surveyed the south coast of Sri Lanka, where a number of coastal towns were attacked by the tsunami, such as Galle, Matara, Hambantota and Kirinda. Figure 3 shows the points surveyed by the second team. Each of these towns has particular topographical and socioeconomic conditions and thus the disaster patterns also varied due to the conditions at each location. In Hambantota two different survey points were measured, as shown in Figure 4 (points c and h in the figure). Figure 5 shows the cross-sectional view of tsunami induced water mark distribution in the downtown (east part) of Hambantota (point c in Figure 4). To the right hand side of Figure 4 is the sea, from which the tsunami approached, with the left hand side indicating a coastal lake located close to the sea. Tsunami inundation heights were surveyed all the way from the sea to the lake, with inundation heights in the centre of the town measured as 6.8 m, though this was still lower than in other locations surveyed further inland (as will be described later). This means that kinetic energy in this area had not yet been fully converted to potential energy, and thus the tsunami wave passed through the downtown area with high velocity, causing heavy damage to housing and injuring and killing many residents. Figure 5 indicates the location of water marks on various buildings surveyed in this area, also showing how the wave was strong enough to damage even reinforced concrete buildings.

Figure 3 Location map of points surveyed along the south coast of Sri Lanka ( Shibayama et al., 2006 ).

Figure 4 Locations survyed by the second team in Hambantota, Sri Lanka.

Figure 5 Tsunami height, east Hambantota, Sri Lanka ( Shibayama et al., 2006 ).

Figure 6 shows the surveyed land and inundation profile in the west part of Hambantota (point h in Figure 4). In this area the topography raised quickly from the sea to a coastal hill located behind it, and thus as the tsunami climbed the hill its kinetic energy was transferred to potential energy. The run-up height in this location was measured at 10.6 m, which was the highest value recorded in the south coast of Sri Lanka. Figure 6 also shows photographs that illustrate the survey in progress, together with the coastline at this location and the highest run-up point measured on the side of the hill.

Figure 6 Tsunami height, west Hambantota, Sri Lanka ( Shibayama et al., 2006 ).

Figure 7 shows a photograph of the situation of Polhena town after the tsunami attack. In Polhena, the maximum water mark was 2.68 m high from the mean water level, which represents a tsunami inundation of 1.50 m. Although this would not appear to be a considerable height, residents had low or no tsunami awareness and because the tsunami manifested itself suddenly in this area few people evacuated, resulting in many drowning inside their houses. Many houses in this area were poorly constructed, as can be seen in Figure 7, and even such limited inundation heights could easily cause their collapse, which probably also contributed to the high casualty rates.

Figure 7 A view of the devastation caused by the tsunami in the town of Polhena, Sri Lanka.

Figure 8 shows a summary of the survey results of the measured tsunami run-up marks on land along the coast of Sri Lanka. A total of eight sites were surveyed, with the maximum run-up height being 10.6 m in Hambantota, as explained earlier. Generally speaking run-up heights were higher on the east side of the coastline surveyed, gradually decreasing towards the west. This indicates how tsunami energy was higher along the east coast, which was to be expected giving the direction of tsunami propagation (see Figure 1).

Figure 8 Summary of run-up in Sri Lanka ( Shibayama et al., 2006 ).

4 Surveys in Banda Aceh, Indonesia (Shibayama et al., 2006)

The team headed by the author of this chapter also surveyed the Banda Aceh part of northern Sumatra island, in Indonesia. Figure 9 shows the main locations surveyed, along the western side of the northernmost tip of the island, which was totally washed away as the tsunami flooded over the land. In this area the coastline was severely eroded, with villages being completely wiped out, including all houses and the surface layer of the ground. Only the foundations and basements of some houses survived, with most trees also being cut by the powerful waves. Evidently, the energy with which the tsunami arrived to the Banda Aceh coast was far greater than that along the south coast of Sri Lanka.

Figure 9 Main locations surveyed along Aceh, north part of Sumatra Island.

Figure 10 shows a general view of typical erosion of the coastline of Banda Aceh. In the figure, a part of a road could still be seen in the left hand side of a tall tree that survived the tsunami. Considerable scour could be observed throughout the entire area, as evidenced by the depth of the tree roots exposed. The photograph also shows how the coastline had considerably retreated in this area as a consequence of tsunami scour, a phenomenon that could be witnessed in many other parts of this coastline. Figure 11 shows a close view of the coast line, indicating how the ground was eroded by at least around 1 m due to tsunami flow.

Figure 10 Typical example of coastal erosion due to tsunami scour in the Banda Aceh region, Indonesia.

Figure 11 Survey of surface erosion in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

In the village of Leupung the recorded tsunami inundation height was 21.4 m, higher than most trees and structures. In this area the wave had very high momentum and washed away almost all structures and trees leaving very little standing, as shown in Figure 12. As a consequence of this Leupung totally disappeared, leaving little but some debris to indicate that there had once been a human settlement there. Measuring the tsunami height at this location was clearly challenging, though this could be done using some of the coconut trees and hills visible in Figure 12, which survived the tsunami attack.

Figure 12 A village disappeared in Leupung, Indonesia.

In the village of Rhiting the tsunami propagated over a hill which was situated on a peninsula. Figure 13 shows the side of the hill where the maximum run-up was measured, with Figure 14 showing the debris that accumulated at the point where the maximum run-up was measured. Figure 15 shows a diagrammatic representation of the topography of the peninsula, indicating the local topography and the direction of the tsunami attack. The tsunami energy was concentrated in a relatively low area of the hill, and given that the area between the peaks (see Figure 15) was slightly lower, the tsunami could overcome the hill in these areas and run-down the other side. The maximum run-up over the hill was 48.9 m, which is the maximum recorded tsunami run-up during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and is the maximum record of a modern tsunami attack in the world. Figure 16 shows the summary of the run-up height distribution along the west coast, south of Aceh city.

Figure 13 Run-down in hillside of Rhiting, Indonesia.

Figure 14 Location of maximum run-up, Indonesia.

Figure 15 Tsunami propagation over peninsula, Indonesia.

Figure 16 Tsunami Run-up heights in Banda Aceh ( Shibayama et al., 2006 ).

5 Discussion

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was one of the most powerful and destructive natural hazards in modern times. The tsunami was generated by a powerful earthquake in one of the planet’s most seismically active zones, and it is clear that other such powerful tsunamis will be generated in the same region in the future. One such example actually took place around 6 years afterwards. On 25 October 2010, a large earthquake occurred off the coast of the Mentawai islands in Indonesia, generating a tsunami that caused damage to the coastal area of North Pagai, South Pagai and Sipora islands (see Figure 17), with inundation heights in excess of 5 m surveyed on the coastal area of the Indian Ocean side of North and South Pagai islands and the south part of Sipora island (see Mikami et al., 2013 and also Chapter 5). This figure also shows the locations of other recent earthquakes generating a tsunami (The locations and magnitudes of earthquakes were based on information from the US Geological Survey), clearly highlighting the importance of the region as a tsunami source. In fact, it appears that this region of Sumatra and its adjacent islands has been attacked many times by tsunamis (Hamzah et al., 2000). Sieh et al. (2008) also reported that sea-level changes extracted from corals suggested that four series of earthquakes occurred in the Mentawai islands in the past 700 years, and Monecke et al. (2008) reported that three layers were found in 1,000-year sediment records in the north coast of Sumatra island. These results indicate that the recurrence intervals of large earthquakes or tsunamis, while frequent, is typically longer than a century. In addition, there were large earthquakes that did not generate a large tsunami (e.g. the 2009 Padang Earthquake).

Figure 17 Map around Sumatra island and locations of recent earthquakes generating a tsunami (The locations and magnitudes of earthquakes were based on information from the United States Geological Survey), from Mikami et al. (2013) .

Given the high tsunami risk in these areas it is important to consider possible mitigation strategies, which can take a variety of forms. However, it is clear that the key feature to improve the resilience of coastal communities against tsunamis is a high degree of awareness and preparedness amongst the local population (Esteban et al., 2013b, see also Chapter 11). Given that large tsunamis appear to have return periods which might be larger than centuries, it is possible that residents in the area might not have experience with a previous event. It has been reported that a tradition of oral histories about past tsunami events saved some residents in the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami (McAdoo et al., 2006). However, to maintain this traditional knowledge where it exists, and create it where it does not, it is important to maintain/enhance people’s awareness against future tsunamis through education. This usually involves the education of children and conducting frequent tsunami drills so that people know what to do in the event of an emergency. Such drills appear effective in reducing casualty rates (see Chapter 10), and should form the central part of any tsunami risk management efforts.

In order for people to be able to evacuate, an early warning system is also crucial. While such as system has existed in the Pacific Ocean for a long time, its development for the Indian Ocean only followed the 2004 events (see German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System project, Munch et al., 2011). Such an early warning system should be accompanied by evacuation maps and clearly marked routes that allow residents to easily evacuate.

Coastal structures and other geographic features can also provide local residents with extra time to escape. While the field surveys conducted in the Banda Aceh region showed that coastal forests might not provide much protection against a higher order tsunami (as the trees can be uprooted and turned into floating projectiles), tsunami barriers and sand dunes can provide residents with some extra time to escape in other areas (see Esteban et al., 2013a, 2013b, and Chapters 25 and 29). Nevertheless, the most effective way to mitigate future tsunami damage in low-lying areas would be to relocate houses to higher ground. However, in some of these villages this does not appear to be a realistic prospect, either because there is no appropriate high ground near the residential area or because residents want to continue living near the coast (as these are advantageous for fishing, for example). In such a case, residents could explore the possibility of the construction of tsunami shelters or evacuation routes to higher ground, which can carry people to safe locations in a short period of time.

Tsunami shelters or evacuation buildings, based on the experience of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan (Mikami et al., 2012) should be at least over 20-25 m high (seven-story or more), and in no case lower than the highest conceivable event, in areas such as Banda Aceh where a large level 2 event is likely (Shibayama et al., 2013). However, developing countries might face financial constraints that make it difficult to construct and maintain tsunami shelters which are high and strong enough against such tsunamis. Thus, securing and expanding evacuation routes should be considered as the most immediate evacuation strategy. Where there is a road connecting the coastal and inland areas residents can use it for other purposes, and thus this represents a no regrets strategy, as even if a tsunami does not take place for a long period of time residents can benefit from an improved road network.

6 Summary and Conclusions

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was one of the most devastating tsunamis in recent times. Many people throughout the world were introduced to the term tsunami for the first time, and it was clear that the inhabitants of the affected areas had almost no awareness about such types of disasters. As a consequence, large numbers of people perished, though the event served to raise awareness about such phenomena throughout the planet due to wide coverage by the media.

In the aftermath of the event the author led a number of survey teams to survey the damage and gain an understanding of damage mechanisms. Through these field surveys tsunami and run-up heights of 2 to 10 meters were measured along the south coast of Sri Lanka and 10 to over 40 meters in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. A maximum run-up value of 48.9 m was measured at Rhiting in Aceh.

The energy with which the tsunami arrived to Sri Lanka and Aceh, Indonesia, was different, though the loss of life was massive in both areas. From the field survey it appeared that the number of lives that were lost depends on the geographical and socioeconomic conditions of a given area. In Hambantota, the residential area of the city was characterized by its high housing density in the region between the sea and a lake. The tsunami flooded over the area with high momentum and swept houses and residents, who had little chance to escape. In Leupung, the tsunami flowed over a fishing village and was reflected by the almost vertical wall of a nearby hill and flooded again over the village.

According to such results, in order to improve disaster preparedness and countermeasures against future tsunamis local topographical and social conditions should be considered in order to establish reliable disaster prevention systems. Also, it is clear that tsunami awareness such be increased through education and that warning and evacuation systems should be further developed and enhanced in all tsunami-prone countries.

References

Esteban M, Jayaratne R, Mikami T, Morikubo I, Shibayama T, Danh Thao N, Ohira K, Ohtani A, Mizuno Y, Kinoshita M, Matsuba S. Stability of breakwater armour units against tsunami attack. J. Waterw. Port Coast. Ocean Eng. 2013a;140:188–198.

Esteban M, Tsimopoulou V, Mikami T, Yun NY, Suppasri A, Shibayama T. Recent tsunami events and preparedness: development of tsunami awareness in Indonesia, Chile and Japan. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct. 2013b;5:84–97.

Hamzah L, Puspito NT, Imamura F. Tsunami catalog and zones in Indonesia. J. Nat. Disaster Sci. 2000;22(1):25–43.

McAdoo B, Dengler L, Prasetya G, Titov V. Smong: how an oral history saved thousands on Indonesia’s Simeulue Island during the December 2004 and March 2005 Tsunamis. Earthq. Spectra. 2006;22(S3):661–669. doi:10.1193/1.2204966.

Mikami T, Shibayama T, Esteban M, Matsumaru R. Field survey of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. Coast. Eng. J. 2012;54(1):125011. doi:10.1142/S0578563412500118 26 pages.

Mikami T, Shibayama T, Esteban M, Ohira K, Sasaki J, Suzuki T, Achiari H, Widodo T. Tsunami vulnerability evaluation in the Mentawai Islands based on the field survey of the 2010 tsunami. J. Nat. Hazards. 2013;71:851–870.

Monecke K, Finger W, Klarer D, Kongko W, McAdoo BG, Moore AL. A 1,000-year sediment record of tsunami recurrence in northern Sumatra. Nature. 2008;455:1232–1234. doi:10.1038/nature07374.

Munch U, Rudloff A, Lauterjung J. Preface The GITEWS project—results, summary and outlook. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 2011;11:765–769. doi:10.5194/nhess-11-765-2011.

Shibayama T, Okayasu A, Sasaki J, Wijayaratna N, Suzuki T, Jayaratne R, Masimin M, Zouhrawaty A, Matsumaru R. Disaster survey of Indian Ocean tsunami in south coast of Sri Lanka and Ache, Indonesia. In: Proc. of 30th Coastal Eng. Conf; 2006:1469–1476.

Shibayama T, Esteban M, Nistor I, Takagi H, Danh Thao N, Matsumaru R, Mikami T, Arenguiz R, Jayaratne R, Ohira K. Classification of tsunami and evacuation areas. J. Nat. Hazards. 2013;67(2):365–386.

Sieh K, Natawidjaja DH, Meltzner AJ, Shen C-C, Cheng H, Li K-S, Suwargadi BW, Galetzka J, Philibosian B, Edwards RL. Earthquake supercycles inferred from sea-level changes recorded in the corals of west Sumatra. Science. 2008;322:1674–1678. doi:10.1126/science.1163589.

Wijetunge JJ. Tsunami on 26 December 2004: spatial distribution of tsunami height and the extent of inundation in Sri Lanka. Sci. Tsunami Hazards. 2006;24(3):225–239.

Chapter 2

2005 Storm Surge by Hurricane Katrina

Tomoya Shibayama    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract

Hurricane Katrina attacked the United States in 2005, causing particularly catastrophic damage to the city of New Orleans and the coast of Louisiana and Alabama states. The storm surge generated by the hurricane caused over 1,800 casualties and huge economic damage, flooding large areas of New Orleans and adjacent cities. The author of the chapter led a team of researchers in a field survey that attempted to draw lessons from the disaster in order to improve storm surge protection in other locations around the world. Three general characteristics of the disaster could be ascertained through these field surveys: (1) The disaster affected a large area and required long distance evacuation, which involved people crossing state boundaries, sometimes by a distance of 300 km or more, 2) it was a high magnitude disaster which stopped the functioning of New Orleans for a long time; (3) the consequences of the disaster continued for a long period of time, during which many of the affected could not return to their original places of residence. However, the disaster patterns experienced by residents were different from place to place. After a variety of damage types were analyzed in different areas the author concludes that it appears to be necessary that disaster prevention plans for tropical cyclone hazard areas are based on multifarious conditions, including local topography and the level of preparedness and awareness of residents in a given region.

Keywords

Katrina

Storm surge

New Orleans

Louisiana

Waveland

Mississippi

Watertown

Gulfport

1 Introduction

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina struck the Mexican Gulf coast of the United States, generating a large storm surge and high waves which attacked the coast of New Orleans city and Louisiana and Alabama states. Over 1,800 people died as a result, making it one of the deadliest hurricanes in the twentieth century. The hurricane also had a large scale influence on the economy of the United States. The capital stock destroyed by Hurricane Katrina could have been over $100 billion (including 17 billion for the government and $63.20 billion for the private sector, of which $30 billion were in the mining sector and $5 billion in the utilities sector, according to Hallegatte, 2008). However, the indirect cost of the disaster was also large, with the total loss of value added due to the disaster being equal to a further $23 billion (Hallegatte, 2008).

Hurricane Katrina originally started to form over the Bahamas on the 23rd of August 2005, intensifying the following day into a tropical storm. The storm proceeded to move towards Florida, becoming a hurricane 2 h before making landfall on this state on the 25th of August. As usual with hurricanes the storm lost strength as it crossed land—as hurricanes feed on the heat of the ocean, and are deprived of their source of energy once they make landfall—, but once again regained hurricane-level strength after it re-entered the Gulf of Mexico. The storm then continued to rapidly intensify in strength due to the warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, reaching Category 5 on the 28th of August, with a minimum central pressure of 902 mb and maximum sustained winds of 280 km/hr. The storm proceeded towards Louisiana and eventually made its second landfall, though by then it had weakened to a Category 3 hurricane, with a central pressure of 920 mbar at landfall. Nevertheless, the storm still had sustained wind speeds of 190 km/hr and maintained its strength as it travelled into the Mississippi, finally being downgraded into a tropical depression 240 km inland.

Hurricane Katrina generated a large storm surge which caused the catastrophic failure of many of the levees that protected New Orleans. This resulted in the flooding of most of the city, killing many and triggering a humanitarian catastrophe. The fact that there was a possibility that a major storm surge would flood New Orleans was already known well before Katrina struck, as during the twentieth century a number of hurricane also caused massive damage (Jonkman et al., 2009a, 2009b). These include, for example, the hurricanes of 1915, 1947 and 1965. In this last event, known as Hurricane Betsy, it was estimated that around 40 people died and thousands had to be rescued from floodwater (Jonkman et al., 2009a, 2009b).

New Orleans is situated in the delta of the Mississippi River and the city and surrounding suburbs that make up the metropolitan area are largely below sea level and entirely surrounded by levees (Jonkman et al., 2009a, 2009b). In fact the city is threatened by floods from all sides, being bounded by the Mississippi River to the south, Lake Pontchartrain to the north and the wetlands of St. Charles Parish to the west (Jonkman et al., 2009a, 2009b). The levees protecting the area were not strong enough to protect against the storm surge, with their failure probability pre-Katrina estimated to be around 1/50 per year, though they were strengthened after the disaster and are currently estimated to have a 1/100 per year probability of failure, according to Jonkman et al., 2009a, 2009b. As a result of the storm the dykes were overtopped, causing the failure of many of them and resulting in the city being flooded. This resulted in over 700 deaths, with many residents forced to take refuge in the superdome for days. It also resulted in significant damage to housing, especially in areas where the water flood velocity was high (Pistrika and Jonkman, 2009).

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina a disaster survey was carried out by a Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) Team headed by the author of this chapter. The field survey was conducted along the coastal areas worst affected, covering 300 km from the lower part of the Mississippi River and Lake Borgne to Pascagoula in Alabama State. The team also visited Louisiana State University and FEMA (US Federal Emergency Management Agency), in order to further understand the emergency situation and the response by local and national authorities. The methodology used by the team encompassed a variety of different types of actions, including (1) interviews with governmental organizations involved in the disaster risk management and relief operations, (2) survey of storm surge levels through the observation and measurements of high water marks along the downstream reaches of the Mississippi River and coastal areas of Louisiana and Alabama states and 3) interviews with local residents. The results and conclusions of such field work will be explained in detail in this chapter.

2 Survey Results of JSCE Team (Shibayama et al., 2006)

Figure 1 shows the route that Hurricane Katrina followed as it made landfall over New Orleans and the coast of Louisiana state. Alongside the strong winds and heavy rain the hurricane brought with it a large storm surge that was generated from a variety of components (wind surge, pressure surge, wind wave and set-up due to wind waves, together with the high tide). As a result of all this the storm surge attacked the coast line and sea water flooded over coastal areas. The coast of Louisiana is frequently attacked by hurricanes, almost on a yearly basis, but the magnitude of Katrina was far greater than that of other hurricanes in recent decades.

Figure 1 Route of Katrina and area of field survey ( Shibayama et al., 2006 ).

This paper will focus on detailed observations made by the JSCE team, relating to the characteristics of the storm surge as it overtopped defences and the damage patterns that were observed.

2.1 Interviews with Residents in Waveland

Waveland, Mississippi, is located 75 km east from New Orleans, close to the boundary between Mississippi and Louisiana States. It is considered to be part of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, having a population of over 6,000 people according to the 2000 census. The city has a history of hurricane damage, and prior to Katrina it greatly suffered from the impact of Hurricane Camille in 1969, with the recovery taking many years.

The city was directly in the path of Hurricane Katrina and as a result of this it was devastated by a combination of the storm surge and high winds brought by the hurricane. Much of the city was flooded and around 50 people died as a result. A video tape taken by a local resident in a house situated 2.5-3 miles away from the coastline was analyzed in detail by the members of the survey team. From this video recording the time series of the event on that day when the hurricane made landfall (August 29, 2005) could be obtained, which can be described as follows (according to interviews with residents):

(1) The storm surge came to the city of Waveland at around 9:40 in the morning.

(2) In a period of around 20 minutes the water level rose very rapidly and reached the level of the roof of the 1st floor at 10:00.

(3) At 13:30 the water level height inside the house was reduced to less than 1 m

(4) At 15:15, there was no water inside the house but in the street the water level was still at a height approximately to the middle of the car doors.

(5) At 16:00 the street was no longer flooded, with most of the water having retreated

The water due to the storm surge stayed in the city for almost 5-6 h, although the major component that caused the disaster took place during the first 3 h. The storm surge looked like a flood, which was accompanied by small waves with a height of less than 10 cm. The magnitude of the disaster from such events typically depends on the flow level and velocity. Judging from the video recording, for the case of this city the effect of the waves appears to have been minor (though they have been significant for the case of other storm surges, such as during Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, see Chapter