Dale Dominey-howes - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Dale Dominey-howes

Macquarie University ResearchOnline.

... Abstract. Selected results from a pilot investigation into public awareness of tsunami risk i... more ... Abstract. Selected results from a pilot investigation into public awareness of tsunami risk in the Sydney region are presented. This is fundamentally necessary for developing appropriate risk mitigation and preparedness strategies. ...

ABSTRACT A History of Tropical Cyclone Events, their Spatial-temporal Distributions and Effects i... more ABSTRACT A History of Tropical Cyclone Events, their Spatial-temporal Distributions and Effects in Bangladesh Details Meeting 2012 Fall Meeting Section Education and Human Resources Session Education General Contributions II Posters Identifier ED21A-0681 Authors Alam, M E*, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh Dominey-Howes, D, Australia-Pacific Tsunami Research Centre and Natural Hazard Research Laboratory, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia Momtaz, S, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia Calgaro, E, Australia-Pacific Tsunami Research Centre and Natural Hazard Research Laboratory, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia Index Terms Extreme events [4313] Exposure [4326] Risk [4328] Disaster risk analysis and assessment [4333] Abstract Tropical cyclones (TCs) frequently devastate large areas, take numerous lives, and damage extensive property in the coastal and island areas of Bangladesh. A review of the literature about cyclone events in Bangladesh indicates that previous research has mainly focused on events occurring after AD1959. In addition, limited work has examined historical data in order to understand the spatial-temporal pattern of TC occurrences and their associated losses. We rectify this gap by developing a new TC database that goes beyond the present regional TC databases by maximising the use of all available documentary sources. We then analyse the spatial-temporal pattern of TC occurrence and reconstruct their effects in Bangladesh. This new database consists of 254 TCs that occurred between AD1000 and 2009 in the Bay of Bengal (BoB). A total of 184 events directly struck Bangladesh between AD1484 and 2009. Of these 184 events, the precise location of landfall was not available for 11 events. Of the remaining 173 events, Chittagong was struck by 43 TCs, Barisal and Khulna by 42 each. Noakhali and Cox’s Bazar were struck by 29 and 17 TCs respectively. Although, Chittagong was struck by more TC landfalls than any other coastal segment, Barisal was identified as high-risk place in terms of the occurrence of deaths. The findings suggest that prior to AD1900, there is a lack of data on the occurrence of TCs and this paucity of data increases the further back in time. Within the new dataset, inconsistencies in reported storm surge height, wind speed and exaggerations in the reporting of deaths are identified and discussed. In Bangladesh, a total of 2,665,636 human deaths occurred in association with the 184 TCs between AD1484 and 2009. Between AD1923 and 2009, 13 TCs caused 9,431,225 people to become homeless. Analysis of the deaths and damage associated with TCs in AD1970, AD1991 and AD2007 indicate that whilst the number of deaths decreased between events, the amount of economic damage and the number of people being affected and becoming homeless, increased significantly. The highly positive correlation (r = 0.89) between storm surge height and human deaths suggests that the occurrence of deaths increases with an increase in storm surge height. On the other hand, the increase in human injuries is mainly associated with (r = 0.51) an increase in wind speed of TC. We recognise that our new TC database for the BoB is incomplete and as such, only provides a partial picture useful for quantifying regional hazard. As such, we suggest further ‘deep’ archival research coupled with regional geological studies of palaeostorm surge events to gain a more sophisticated understanding of the hazard. Cite as: Author(s) (2012), Title, Abstract ED21A-0681 presented at 2012 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, Calif., 3-7 Dec.

Macquarie University ResearchOnline.

... Abstract. Selected results from a pilot investigation into public awareness of tsunami risk i... more ... Abstract. Selected results from a pilot investigation into public awareness of tsunami risk in the Sydney region are presented. This is fundamentally necessary for developing appropriate risk mitigation and preparedness strategies. ...

ABSTRACT A History of Tropical Cyclone Events, their Spatial-temporal Distributions and Effects i... more ABSTRACT A History of Tropical Cyclone Events, their Spatial-temporal Distributions and Effects in Bangladesh Details Meeting 2012 Fall Meeting Section Education and Human Resources Session Education General Contributions II Posters Identifier ED21A-0681 Authors Alam, M E*, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh Dominey-Howes, D, Australia-Pacific Tsunami Research Centre and Natural Hazard Research Laboratory, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia Momtaz, S, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia Calgaro, E, Australia-Pacific Tsunami Research Centre and Natural Hazard Research Laboratory, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia Index Terms Extreme events [4313] Exposure [4326] Risk [4328] Disaster risk analysis and assessment [4333] Abstract Tropical cyclones (TCs) frequently devastate large areas, take numerous lives, and damage extensive property in the coastal and island areas of Bangladesh. A review of the literature about cyclone events in Bangladesh indicates that previous research has mainly focused on events occurring after AD1959. In addition, limited work has examined historical data in order to understand the spatial-temporal pattern of TC occurrences and their associated losses. We rectify this gap by developing a new TC database that goes beyond the present regional TC databases by maximising the use of all available documentary sources. We then analyse the spatial-temporal pattern of TC occurrence and reconstruct their effects in Bangladesh. This new database consists of 254 TCs that occurred between AD1000 and 2009 in the Bay of Bengal (BoB). A total of 184 events directly struck Bangladesh between AD1484 and 2009. Of these 184 events, the precise location of landfall was not available for 11 events. Of the remaining 173 events, Chittagong was struck by 43 TCs, Barisal and Khulna by 42 each. Noakhali and Cox’s Bazar were struck by 29 and 17 TCs respectively. Although, Chittagong was struck by more TC landfalls than any other coastal segment, Barisal was identified as high-risk place in terms of the occurrence of deaths. The findings suggest that prior to AD1900, there is a lack of data on the occurrence of TCs and this paucity of data increases the further back in time. Within the new dataset, inconsistencies in reported storm surge height, wind speed and exaggerations in the reporting of deaths are identified and discussed. In Bangladesh, a total of 2,665,636 human deaths occurred in association with the 184 TCs between AD1484 and 2009. Between AD1923 and 2009, 13 TCs caused 9,431,225 people to become homeless. Analysis of the deaths and damage associated with TCs in AD1970, AD1991 and AD2007 indicate that whilst the number of deaths decreased between events, the amount of economic damage and the number of people being affected and becoming homeless, increased significantly. The highly positive correlation (r = 0.89) between storm surge height and human deaths suggests that the occurrence of deaths increases with an increase in storm surge height. On the other hand, the increase in human injuries is mainly associated with (r = 0.51) an increase in wind speed of TC. We recognise that our new TC database for the BoB is incomplete and as such, only provides a partial picture useful for quantifying regional hazard. As such, we suggest further ‘deep’ archival research coupled with regional geological studies of palaeostorm surge events to gain a more sophisticated understanding of the hazard. Cite as: Author(s) (2012), Title, Abstract ED21A-0681 presented at 2012 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, Calif., 3-7 Dec.