ROLE OF SELF-INSTRUCTION MODULE IN IMPROVEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Background: Incessant rains in the Kolhapur region has led to disastrous flood situations in the past. Disaster preparedness is therefore necessitated to counter the loss suffered by the residents and is closely linked to knowledge improvement. Self-instruction Module (SIM) has been extensively used as a learning tool in healthcare and has proven its effectiveness in knowledge improvement. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of SIM on disaster preparedness among the residents of the flood prone areas of Karveer taluka, Kolhapur and to determine the association between the knowledge scores and the socio-demographic variables. Methods: Consenting participants from Karveer taluka were recruited to evaluate the efficiency of SIM through a structured knowledge tool using pre-test-post-test design. Both—SIM and knowledge tool, were sent for expert evaluation. Data were collected during specific periods between January and February 2019. Improvement in knowledge score was determined through qualitative and evaluative approach. Results: Significant improvement in knowledge scores was observed between pre-and post-test scores (P<0.001) of 100 consenting participants. Association was lacking between the knowledge scores and the socio-demographic variables. Conclusion: SIM developed in the study was effective in improving knowledge score, across all age groups, and could be used to improve the disaster preparedness of the residents of flood-prone areas.

RELEVANT ISSUES OF LEGAL AND REGULATORY AND TECHNOLOGICAL SUPPORT OF CADASTRAL WORKS FOR DETERMIING FLOODING AND UNDERFLOODING ZONE BOUNDARIES FOR THE PROTECTION OF REAL ESTATE OBJECTS IN EMERGENCIES

Since 2014 the Russian Federation has been carrying out the works for determining flooding and underflooding zones near water objects. It is legally stated that the information about the boundaries of such zones must be inserted into the Unified State Real Estate Register. However, the range of legal and regulatory and technological issues in determining the boundaries of flooding zones has not yet been solved and the works have not been completed to the full extent. The article performs the analysis of governing regulatory documents as well as the amendments accepted in 2019, devoted to the improvement of the procedure for determining flooding and under flooding zones. As the argument of relevance of determining flooding and underflooding zones were considered the examples of cata-strophic floods on the territory of the Russian Federation, which caused billion-ruble losses to the state as well as to the real estate owners. The article substantiates the necessity of computer-based forecasting modeling of emergencies, related to flooding of territories and determining the boundaries of the emergency geospace – the flooding and underflooding zones. The article draws the technological scheme of the actions for determining emergency geospace. There have been built the digital forecast-ing models of the flooding zones on the territory of the Novosibirsk city in disastrous flood. There has been drawn the information about the registered geodata base of flooding zones in residential areas of the Novosibirsk region during seasonal river floods. To optimize the processes of entering information about flooding and underflooding zones into the unified state register of real estate, a technological scheme for establishing flooding and flooding zones has been developed and introduced into the work of the Verhne-Obskoj Basin Water Management. There has been shown the positive impact of determination and registration in state informational resource of the data about flooding and under-flooding zone boundaries. In particular this information allows to perform the evaluation of territorial stability of land-property complex spatial structures. On the basis of statistical data on damage due to floods, there has been drawn the conclusion about the necessity of tax reduction on real estate in areas of possible emergencies and redistribution of funds of real estate owners for property insurance.

Global and Regional Aspects for Genesis of Catastrophic Floods: The Problems of Forecasting and Estimation for Mass and Water Balance (Surface Water and Groundwater Contribution)

Traditionally torrential rains are considered to be the main factor of flood emergence. But with some examples of disastrous floods in absolutely different parts of the world, the rough estimation of the water balance results in the necessity to suggest a correct alternative hypothesis. Our simplest model (taking into account precipitation, evaporation, and soil permeability) clearly points out the significant discrepancy in several events between potentially accumulated and observed water masses. This observation puts forward the idea that precipitation is necessary, but it is not often a sufficient factor for disastrous flood emergence and for the water flow budget. Thus, another available water source, i.e., groundwater, should not be ignored. We consider the reasons and conditions for such phenomena. In this chapter, we will focus only on the causes and forecast of dangerous dynamic phenomena in rock masses. Of particular interest here are water flows through various granite massifs and geological rocks of magmatic origin using nonlinear dynamics approaches.

Towards improving a national flood early warning system with global ensemble flood predictions and local knowledge; a case study on the Lower Shire Valley in Malawi.

&lt;p&gt;Flood risk, a function of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability, is increasing globally and has led to more and more disastrous flood events. Previous research has shown that taking early action is much more cost-effective than responding once the flood occurs. Such an anticipatory approach requires flood early warning systems (EWS) that provide ample lead time and that have sufficient spatial resolution. However, in developing countries, often the skill of available forecasts is insufficient to create a more effective triggering mechanism as part of a flood EWS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This research presents an assessment of two methods to improve an existing flood EWS using a case study of the most flood-prone area of Malawi, i.e. the Lower Shire Valley. First, the forecast skill and trigger levels of the medium-term Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS) model are determined for four gauge locations to assess how they can improve the national EWS. Secondly, an assessment is done on how the process of integrating flood forecasts based on local knowledge with official forecasts, can help to improve the EWS. This is done by semi-structured interviews at the national level and focus group discussions at the community level. The study shows that GloFAS does not predict absolute discharge values precisely, but can be used to predict floods if the correct trigger levels are set per location. The integration of multiple forecast sources is found to be useful at both national and community levels. An integration process is proposed where village stakeholders should take the leading role by using existing disaster management and civil protection coordination mechanisms. Overall, both methods can contribute to improving the flood EWS and decreasing the flood risk in the Lower Shire Valley in Malawi.&lt;/p&gt;

Weather extremums in Siberia in 2019 and their connection with circulation of the atmosphere

According to the circulation seasons [Dzerdzeevsky et al., 1946], according to the website Weather News, extreme events in the Asian territory of Russia for first half of 2019 were considered: daily maximums and minimums of air temperature; maximum daily amplitudes of air temperature, daily maximums and monthly lows of atmospheric precipitation; daily maximums wind speeds, maximum and minimum of snow depths and dangerous natural processes. Their connection with the atmospheric circulation of the Northern Hemisphere has been shown [Atmospheric Circulation fluctuations site 18992018]. In recent years, extreme situations are increasingly becoming apparent in the Asian part of Russia. This attracts the close attention of researchers [Latysheva et al., 2010; Zolina, Bulygina, 2016]. They try to identify the causes of what is happening [Vasilyev et al., 2018; Kononova, 2018; Kochugova, 2018; Tarabukina et al., 2018] and predict the future nature of extrema [Shkolnik et al., 2012]. It seemed interesting to analyze the extremes of the current year (more precisely, the first half of it), to show the real situation today. The majority of extremes, surpassed in the first half of 2019, refers to the 21st century. This means that extremity has been growing rapidly in recent years. The consequence of this is an increase in the frequency of occurrence of dangerous natural processes. The main source of information on daily meteorological extremes was Weather News [Meteonovosti.ru]. It briefly informed about fires and floods. More detailed information was taken from local sites [Amur.Info, Taiga.Info, Ulpress.ru, Social media news]. The character of atmospheric circulation was analyzed by classification [Dzerdzeevsky et al., 1946] using data from the site of the Atmospheric Circulation fluctuations.. for 1899 2018 The most disastrous flood was June 24 - 29 in the Irkutsk region. It destroyed more than 10,000 residential homes in 98 settlements, 43 schools, kindergartens and hospitals. According to information on July 11, 25 people died. The strongest were fires in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region in the third decade of July. Smoke from them reached the Ulyanovsk region. The conducted research allows to draw the following conclusions. The number of extremes of both air temperature and precipitation in the XXI century continues to grow. Negative extremes of precipitation in combination with positive extremes of air temperature lead to natural fires, positive extremes of precipitation - to catastrophic floods. The increasing frequency of atmospheric circulation contributes to an increase in the frequency of occurrence of those and others: an increase in the frequency of occurrence of blocking processes (arctic invasions resulting in the formation of a vast stationary anticyclone) and exits of southern cyclones.

Precipitation Enhancement via the Interplay between Atmospheric Rivers and Cutoff Lows

A significant enhancement of precipitation can result from the interplay between two independent, large-scale phenomena: an atmospheric river (AR) and a cutoff low. An AR is a long, narrow region with a deep moist layer. A cutoff low is an upper-level cyclonic eddy isolated from the meandering upper-level westerly jet. Herein, we construct composites of cutoff lows both close to an AR (AR-close category) and distant from an AR (AR-distant category) over a 14-yr period across the western North Pacific region. A comparison between the two categories shows an enhanced precipitation area to the northwest of the cutoff low and to the south of the AR axis in the AR-close category. The horizontal formation among the AR, cutoff low, and enhanced precipitation area in the composite coincides with that in a disastrous flood event that occurred in Hiroshima, Japan, in 2014. The deep moist layer associated with the AR, and the destabilization and isentropic up-gliding effect associated with the cutoff low are also observed in both the composite and the Hiroshima cases. We further evaluate the distribution of quasigeostrophic forcing (Q vector) for vertical motion. This shows that warm air advection associated with the AR overcomes the descending forcing inherent in the northwest of the cutoff low and makes the instability and up-gliding effect in that region more effective. These results indicate that the interplay between ARs and cutoff lows is a common mechanism in the enhancement of precipitation and the Hiroshima case is an extreme precipitation event caused by this interplay.

Wszystko, co ludzkie

All that is humanAbstractIn Historie florenckie Ewa Białkowska focuses on the vast cultural heritage of RenaissanceFlorence, however, she begins by mentioning a disastrous flood of the 1960s that couldhave easily ruined said heritage. The present article aims at presenting the main ideas ofthe book and more importantly to pinpoint those elements that contribute to its originality.Even though Historie florenckie focus mainly on showing the most important works of art ofTuscany’s capital, in their descriptions a vital role is played by identifying the relationshipbetween a piece of art and a human, between culture and society in which it is created. Theinteraction between human and art appears to be the most interesting aspect of the book.Keywords: Florence, travel, renaissance art

Peru's growth will disappoint again this year

Subject Peru's modest economic prospects. Significance Peru’s economy grew by 2.5% in 2017, the lowest growth rate for several years and well below initial expectations. The economy was hit by disastrous flood damage in the first half of the year and by the indirect effects of the ‘Car Wash’ corruption scandal that has led to the postponement of major construction projects. Political ‘noise’ impacted negatively on policymaking. Impacts As investment in mining picks up, it is likely to face renewed protests from affected communities. Problems associated with informality and corruption will complicate investment decisions. Kuczynski's possible ouster will increase perceptions of political risk. Employment levels will prove slow to recover.

The German National Flood Protection Programme: Evaluating the impact of supraregional flood protection measures on extreme floods using hydrodynamic modelling

After the disastrous flood events of June 2013 in the German Elbe and Danube catchments, the German government together with the federal states decided on the joint elaboration of a nationwide flood protection programme (NHWSP, 2015-2027+). Within the frame of this programme, the government supports the realization of large-scale retention measures for the improvement of supra-regional flood prevention. For scientific monitoring, the Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG) was mandated to conduct a two-part preparatory ad hoc study (2014-2015) and a subsequent research project (2015-2019) evaluating the collective impact of the planned retention measures on flooding processes and flood peak reduction in the Danube, Elbe, and Rhine basins. Findings from the ad hoc study provided the government with first elements of evidence for taking its decision on the elaboration of the NHWSP programme, and supported the development of a modelling strategy for the accompanying research project. By using extensive sets of hydrodynamic models, the research project takes into account the complex interrelations between supra-regional flood formation, flooding process, and retention control concepts when evaluating flood reduction on catchment level. It is expected to technically substantiate the government's NHWSP programme by refining the criteria for identification and prioritization of measures.