1. FLOODS IN REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA June 13-15, 2015 Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, USA Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, USA

2. REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA

3. The heavy rain that began shortly before midnight Sunday caused a landslide that blocked what is normally a pleasant stream in Tbilisi, a hilly city, but as the floodwaters grew in strength, a fierce torrent broke through. 14 DEAD; 40 HOMES DESTROYED

4. PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF FLOODS INUNDATION, HIGH-VELOCITY FLOW, HIGH-VOLUME DISCHARGE, EROSION, AND SCOUR

5. LOSS OF FUNCTION OF STRUCTURES IN FLOODPLAIN FLOODS INUNDATION INTERACTION WITH HAZARDOUS MATERIALS STRUCTURAL/CONTENTS DAMAGE FROM WATER WATER BORNE DISEASES (HEALTH PROBLEMS) EROSION AND MUDFLOWS CONTAMINATION OF GROUND WATER CAUSES OF RISK FLOOD DISASTER LABORATORIES

6. FLOODING IN TBILISI

8. TYPICAL IMPACTS OF FLOODS DAMAGE TO CONTENTS, LOSS OF FUNCTION OF BUILDINGS AND INFRASTRUCTURE, RELEASE OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, TRANSPORTATION OF DEBRIS, AUTOS, AND HOUSES, ENVIRONMENTAL DEAD ZONES, AND DISEASE VECTORS

9. SITING AND BUILDING ON UNSTABLE SLOPES LANDSLIDES SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE TO FALLS SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE TO TOPPLES SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE TO LATERAL SPREADS SOIL AND ROCK SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLOWS PRECIPITATION THAT TRIGGERS SLOPE FAILURE SHAKING GROUND SHAKING THAT TRIGGERS SLOPE FAILURE CAUSES OF DAMAGE GLOBAL DISASTER LABORATORIES

10. ATYPICAL IMPACT: ANIMALS ESCAPE FROM TBILISI ZOO

11. TBILISI: TRANQUILIZED HIPPO

12. RECAPTURING THE HIPPO

13. WHAT INCREASES VULNERABILITY MANKIND’S ACTIONS AND NATURAL EVENTS CAN CHANGE THE VULNERABILITY OF ELEMENTS AT RISK TO FLOODS

14. An element’s vulnerability (fragility) is the result of a community’s actions or nature’s actions that change some part of the regional water cycle (e.g., precipitation, storage, runoff, transpiration, evaporation).

15. MANKIND’S CONTRIBUTION An element’s vulnerability (fragility) is the result of flaws that enter during the planning, siting, design, and construction of a community’s buildings and infrastructure.

16. ACTIONS THAT CAN CHANGE KEY PARTS OF THE WATER CYCLE Urban development or industrial development in areas that were formerly wetlands. Locating buildings and infrastructure in a river floodplain.

17. MANKIND’S ACTIONS THAT CHANGE SOME PART OF THE WATER CYCLE Actions that increase or decrease river gradients (deforestation, dams, etc). Actions that change the runoff pattern or rate (e.g., the city’s concrete footprint )

18. NATURE’S ACTIONS THAT CAN CHANGE THE NORMAL WATER CYCLE A flash flood. Ice jams/ice dams on the river Rapid melt of snow and ice Extreme or prolonged precipitation caused by stalled low-pressure systems.

19. POLICY ADOPTION RISK ASSESSMENT VULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY EXPOSUREEXPOSURE EVENTEVENT POLICY ASSESSMENT COSTCOST BENEFITBENEFIT CONSEQUENCESCONSEQUENCES FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENT LEADS TO FLOOD-DISASTER-RISK REDUCTION FLOODSFLOODS EXPECTED LOSS

20. A RISK ASSESSMENT A risk assessment involves the probabilistic integration of: The hazard (e.g., floods) and their potential disaster agents (inundation, erosion, etc) that are directly related to the location of the community and what happens in the regional water cycle.

21. RISK ASSESSMENT (Continued) The location of each element of the exposure in relation to the physical demands of the hazard (i.e., inundation, etc.)

22. RISK ASSESSMENT (Continued) The exposure (e.g., people, and elements of the community’s built environment), represents the potential loss when the natural hazard occurs.

23. RISK ASSESSMENT (Continued) The vulnerability (or fragility) of each element comprising the exposure when subjected to the potential disaster agents.

24. REQUIRED INFORMATION Physical characteristics of the regional drainage system. Physical characteristics of each river system and its floodplain. Physical characteristics of the regional water cycle.

25. REQUIRED INFORMATION Physical characteristics of catchment basins, reservoirs, and wetlands in the region. Physical characteristics of dikes, levees, and dams controlling water discharge and flooding in the region.

26. REQUIRED INFORMATION The hazardous materials located in the floodplain.

27. GEORGIA’SCOMUNITIESGEORGIA’SCOMUNITIES DATA BASES AND INFORMATION HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS FLOOD HAZARDS MAPS INVENTORY VULNERABILITY LOCATION RISK ASSESSMENT RISK ACCEPTABLE RISK UNACCEPTABLE RISK FLOOD DISASTER FLOOD DISASTER REDEUCTION REDEUCTION PREPAREDNESS PROTECTION/PREVENTION EARLY WARNING EMERGENCY RESPONSE RECOVERY/RECONSTRUCT. POLICY OPTIONS

28. DISASTER-RISK REDUCTION POLICES FOR FLOODS MITIGATION, PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS, FORECASTS AND WARNING, EVACUATION, EMERGENCY RESPONSE, RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION, AND EDUCATIONAL SURGES