GADRIACTIONS
Summer 2019
Volume 9— Number 1

1

The summer is coming to an end and with mixed feelings we
wait to welcome the Autumn. What is it – is it the joy andrelief that the hot and humid summer is finally coming to an or
the sadness for those of us who are blessed with the four
seasons, to wait another full cycle of twelve months for the
next summer – to enjoy bright early mornings, and long
evenings – yet with the global warming, the summer
temperatures are increasingly becoming unbearable andthreatening our very livelihood.

In our journey to overcome this situation, we all need to work,
even on a small scale, to prevent global warming and getother global stakeholders to work on it in a mega scale toovercome this situation. We, ourselves can start it in our own
garages, our home, kitchen or by walking or taking public
transport to work instead of using our car. Kyoto University
Health Service introduced the “Walk to the Moon” challenge
in 2017. Many of us participate in it and it is successfully
carried out to date. Did you know “The moon is 384,000 km
from earth which roughly equals 480,000,000 steps(Calculated assuming that one step is 0.8 m). If 2000 people
walk 8000-10000 steps on an average daily for 4 weeks will
cover the distance to the moon!”. This is a healthy campus
challenge. At the same time, it is a subtle nudge towards
climate change by motivating people to get involved and geton the pedometer instead of the odometer.

Contents•

Disaster Report on
Cyclone Fani, India•

Report on Typhoon
Jebi, September2018•

Global Platform 2019—
Science and Policy
Forum

•

Report on UKADR
International
Conference 2019•

NCDR International
Training Workshop•

Lectures at GADRISecretariat, DPRI,
Kyoto University•

Establishment of
NAAHDRI•

Visits by GADRI
Member Institutions•

GADRI Members

This issue of GADRI Actions highlights some of thechallenges faced by climate change, activities at GADRI
member institutes and a report from the “Dealing with
Disasters, GCRF, UK Alliance for Disaster Research,
Disasters R e s e a r c h G r o u p and UK Collaborative forDevelopment Research”.

We hope you enjoy this issue.

Hirokazu Tatano and Wilma James

Photos were taken by the staff of DPRI during the 4th Global Summit of Research Institutes for Disaster Risk
Reduction held at DPRI, Kyoto University, Kyoto, JapanGADRI Actions is designed, formatted and edited by Hirokazu Tatano and Wilma James.
2Cyclone Fani
(3rd May 2019, Odisha, India)

By: Ms. Payal Nayak,
Assistant Professor, School of Climate and Disaster Studies (SCDS)
Centurion University of Technology and Management

Context
The current report briefly describes theimmediate impact of very severe tropical
cyclone, named ‘Fani’, that made landfall at
8.12 AM on 3rd May 2019 at Puri, Odisha, East
Coast of India. The Category 4 cyclone had anestimated maximum sustained surface windspeed of 175-185 km/hr, gusting to 210 km/hr.
Along the path it moved through the densely
populated coastal Odisha, affecting 16.5 million
in 14 districts, with severe destruction of life andproperty in the districts of Puri, Khurdha,
Cuttack, Jagatsinghpr and Kendrapara.

Satellite image of Fani intensifying in the Bay of Bengal (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1 st May 2019). Source: Dhaka
Tribune, Date:2 nd May, 2019were informed about the cyclone and coping strategy
through regular announcements in electronic, print andsocial media. 2.6 million text messages were sent towarn about the cyclone. Fishermen were asked torefrain from the sea from 30th April night.

Fani evolved from a depression in Indian Ocean, on
the west of Sumatra on 26th April 2019. It maintained
its intensity after crossing the sea, even after aninteraction with land, and did not cause heavy rainfall.
Its track remained closer to Odisha coast during its
lifespan of 11 days, in the sea and land put together.

Pre-Cyclone Initiatives
Till 27th of May, 2019, the Indian Meteorological
Department (IMD) did not predict any major impact
on Odisha. However, The Joint Typhoon Warning
Center (JTWC) suggested possible impact of thecyclone on the Odisha. IMD issued warnings on 30 thof May, 2019 predicting that Fani would likely movenorthwestwards from its position and recurve towards
Odisha coast. Skymet predicted intensification of
Fani while it gained latitude.
More than 1.2 million people from 14 coastal andinterior districts were evacuated to 900 cyclone
shelters in 24 hours creating a record history. People

Police officer requesting a resident to evacuate(Source: Outlook India, Date: 4th May, 2019)3

buzzing with tourists during summer days aremostly unoccupied. At the same time in previous
year, 129 hotels in Puri had accounted for 84,000
summer tourists. The debris, damaged hotels andelectricity infrastructure has brought down tourists
to almost nil in the city. As far as fishermen areconcerned their livelihood has gone due to loss ofboats and fishing equipment.

Immediate Impact
In spite of such huge evacuation andcommunication, the state witnessed a loss of 64
precious human lives, 8 million livestock, 10
million trees, electricity, telecommunication androad infrastructure and other property.

Loss of infrastructure
The Odisha government has
estimated Fani induced physicalinfrastructure loss at US$ 1700
million. It includes half a million
houses, roads, culverts, electricity
poles and wires, street lights,
drains, community centers, town
halls, parks, etc. 200,000 electricpoles, 5030 km of 33 kV lines,
38613 km of 11 kV lines, 79485 kmof low tension lines and 64304
distribution
transformers
arereportedly
damaged.
2000
telecommunication towers havebeen damaged. (Hindu, 15th May,
2019).

Ripped off coconut farms in Puri District.
Source: New Indian Express, Date: 10th May, 2019.

Loss of Agriculture and agriculture
based livelihood

Relief and Restoration Initiatives

The estimated damage to standing crops has
been pegged at US$ 20 million, besides
destruction of storage facilities and harvested
crops. About 150,000 hectares of agricultural landhas been affected by the cyclone. About 30,000
hectares of horticulture land with perennial crops
such as mango, cashew, coconut andbetel vine have been affected. Thesecrops are relatively more valuable andwere still standing in the field when thecyclone hit. Infrastructure used forfloriculture, such as greenhouses, drip
irrigation and sprinkler systems, havealso taken a heavy hit.

44 teams of National Disaster Response Force, 20
teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, 525
teams of Fire Services and 8 teams of Odisha
Forest Development Corporation were deployed forsearch and rescue, tree cutting and road clearance
in the affected areas.

Loss of non-farm livelihood
The cyclone has also destroyed thelivelihood of craftsmen, who depended
on natural products such as coir (forhandicraft) and natural dyes (forpainting) derived from trees. Tourism
has got major blow. Over 600 hotels

Aftermath of Cyclone, Devastation of electrical infrastructure
Source: Outlook India, Date: 7th May, 2019.
4

200 gang men from Andhra Pradesh and 50 eachfrom Telangana and West Bengal were engaged in
the restoration of the electric poles. Heavy duty
generators were engaged by Public Works
Department to supply drinking water, since water
storage and treatment facilities were majorly hit due
to uprooting of trees.
Because of devastated telephone towers, HAM
radio and satellite phones, were used tocommunicate with district headquarters. As relief
measures for affected populations, rolls ofpolythene, food items, and survival kits were
distributed by the state, market and civil society
organisations.

Relief Distribution at Nimapada Block, Puri District
Source: Payal Nayak, CUTM, Date:17th of May, 2019.

Reference
Concluding Remarks• IAGO (2019), Cyclone FANI - Joint Rapid Needs
Assessment Report, In The Aftermath Of Cyclone
Fani In Odisha-May 2019. (Unpublished)

The state of Odisha, on the eastern seaboard of India,
with 480 km of coastline, 11 major river systems andthe geo-climatic conditions is vulnerable to different
disasters such as floods, cyclones, droughts and heatwaves. It has been witnessing a growing intensity of
frequent disasters over the past 50 years.

• https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/simplyput-why-fani-is-an-unusual-cyclonic-storm-5705562/• https://indianexpress.com/article/india/cyclone-faniodisha-kolkata-andhra-pradesh-5709800/

The ‘zero casualty’ policy of the country has been
driving the state’s disaster management strategy andit has done a commendable job in issuing early
warnings and evacuations of vulnerable people.

• https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/odisha-government-says-cyclone-fani-caused-rs-525-crore-infrastructure-damage-2037725• https://www.news18.com/news/india/cyclone-fani-has-snatched-our-livelihood-taken-us-20-years-behindsay-chilika-fishermen-2150891.html

However, there is a need to strengthen its postdisaster restoration and rehabilitation strategies. It canbe strengthened through building of strong community-based institutions and developing robust linkages
with government departments. While the pre-disaster
operations are mostly centralized due to the nature ofitsinterventions
requiring
promptactions,rehabilitation and restoration lacked considerable
state and civil society partnership. It was reported thatfood relief was not received by some areas even after
48 hours and the communities and civil society
agencies came forward to fill the gap. These groups
have the potential to supplement the humungous taskof relief and restoration during and post-disasters,
because of their proximity, local knowledge andvoluntary spirit.

• https://www.news18.com/news/india/cyclone-fani-has-snatched-our-livelihood-taken-us-20-years-behindsay-chilika-fishermen-2150891.html• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politicsand-nation/cyclone-fani-six-things-you-should-know/
articleshow/69151302.cms• https://www.thestatesman.com/india/fani-lifespanlongest-among-tropical-cyclones-bay-bengal1502755176.html• http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2019/
may/03/lighting-kills-8-in-uttar-pradesh-1972176.html• https://www.dhakatribune.com/around-theweb/2019/05/02/how-cyclone-fani-got-its-nameFinally, there is a large need to develop context
specific knowledge, and affordable disaster resilient
technology and infrastructure to deal with the frequent
occurring of cyclones in this economically backward
coastal state in the long run, if it has to come out of theviciouscycle
ofdisasterandeconomic
underdevelopment.

• https://thewire.in/environment/cyclone-fani-death-tollin-odisha-rises-to-64

5Extreme Winds in Urban Districts
during Typhoon Jebi (2018)
By: Dr. Tetsuya Takemi, Associate Professor
Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University, Japan
Typhoon Jebi (2018) made landfall in the Osaka Bay
area, Japan and caused significant damages tobuildings and houses, trees, power lines, and so on.
The maximum instantaneous wind measured at themeteorological observatory in Osaka reached 47.4 m s 1, the third record in the history of the observatory.
This report documents the damages in an urban districtof Osaka City, Japan and the results of the numericalanalysis on extreme winds in the densely built, urban
district.

1. Introduction
Typhoon Jebi (2018) developed in the western North
Pacific in August 2018 and obtained the lifetime
minimum central pressure of 915 hPa. After obtaining
this intensity, Typhoon Jebi maintained its intensity
while moving northward. On September 4th, Typhoon
Jebi finally made landfall on the islands of Shikoku andHonshu, crossing over the Osaka Bay, and spawned
storm surges/high waves around the bay areas as well
as strong winds over the inland areas. KansaiInternational Airport (KIX) established on a reclaimed
island in the Osaka Bay in 1994 was seriously
damaged by storm surge. Furthermore, a large numberof points observed extreme winds, which caused
severe damages to houses/buildings, trees/forests,
power lines, etc.
Typhoon Jebi took a track very similar to Typhoon
Nancy (1961) and Muroto Typhoon (i.e., Daini-Muroto
Typhoon) in 1934. In Osaka City, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rdhighest record of instantaneous wind speed is 60.0 m s-1-1

in September 1934 (Muroto), 50.6 m s in September
1961 (Daini-Muroto), and 47.4 m s-1 in September 2018
(Jebi), respectively. In Kyoto City, the maximum
instantaneous wind speed during Typhoon Jebi was
39.4 m s-1, which is the 2nd highest record since theobservation started in 1915 (the 1st record in Kyoto Cityis 42.1 m s-1 in September 1934). This suggests that
this typhoon has been the most threatening windstorm
in the area. Considering the time period spanning from1934 to 2018, the influences of both urbanization andglobal warming should be taken into account to assessthe disaster risks by typhoons.

2. Damages by strong winds in the
Namba area, Osaka City
In the Namba area, one of the business district inOsaka City, severe damages to houses, structures,
trees along streets and in parks, occurred. Figure 1
shows damage to an old wooden house in the Namba
area.

Figure 1: damage to an old house in Osaka
City.
There were also damages to roofs, walls, signboards,
etc. of buildings and houses. A large number of trees
along the streets and in parks in Osaka City sustained
severe damages.
Figure 2 shows the damages to trees along theMidousuji Street, a major street in Osaka City.

Figure 2: Damages to trees on the Midousuji street.
6

district analyzed here were estimated to be 60 - 70 m
s-1, owing to the downward transport of strong winds
at higher levels above the urban canopy (Figure 4).

3. Numerical analysis of strong winds
in Osaka City
After the severe damages incurred in urban
districts, quantitative estimations of winds in theareas were necessary. However, it is very difficult
to quantitatively estimate strong winds in urban
districts, due to absence of observations within
urban districts, and because of the inability tosimulate airflows in urban districts with only anumerical weather prediction model. Explicit
representations of urban buildings and structures
are critically important to reproduce airflows within
urban districts.

The idea in this study is to combine the
Figure 4: The spatial distribution of the maximum instantaneous windadvantages of a numerical weather prediction
speed at the 10-m height from the time series of the wind speed at eachgrid point in a business district of Osaka City.
model and a turbulence model (large-eddy
simulation model; LES) to quantitatively estimate thewind speeds in the business district of Osaka City.
The weather prediction model can reproduce actual
meteorological situations including Typhoon Jebi
4. Implications(2018), while the LES model can incorporate the
The turbulent airflows and the maximum wind gusts
actual buildings and structures and hence reproduce
within the actual business district of Osaka City were
turbulent airflows within actual urban districts. The
successfully
estimatedbycombiningtheframework of this analysis is presented in Figure 3.
meteorological simulations and buildingresolving turbulent airflow simulations. Wind
speeds were highly variable, depending on
the arrangement and vertical extent ofsurrounding buildings and structures. From
this study, emphasize is placed on the criticalimportance to understand the risk of strong
winds hidden in urban districts by conducting
similar analyses on various metropolitan
areas. Considering the ongoing re-shaping of
metropolitan areas and the increasing numberof high-rise buildings in Japan and thepossible impacts of future climate change on
the intensification of typhoons, it is necessary
to understand emerging risks of strong winds
in urban districts.
Figure 3: Conceptual framework of the numerical analysis ofstrong winds in urban districts.

References

Takemi, T., T. Yoshida, S. Yamasaki, and K. Hase,
2019: Quantitative estimation of strong winds in an
urban district during Typhoon Jebi (2018) by merging
mesoscalemeteorologicalandlarge-eddy
simulations. SOLA, 15, 22-27, doi:10.2151/sola.2019-005.

The LES model was able to simulate fluctuating,turbulent airflows within the business district ofOsaka City. By referring to the simulated windspeeds by the weather model and quantifying thewind speeds simulated by the LES model, themaximum wind speeds in some areas within the7

Photo by UNDRRGADRI Presence at the Science and Policy Forum, Global
Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction 2019
The main focus of the GADRI 4th Global Summit of Research Institutes for Disaster Risk Reduction was thecontributions to the contextualization of the Science and Technology Roadmap which was presented during theScience and Policy Forum on 13 to 14 May 2019 at the Global Platform 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Prof. Hirokazu Tatano, Secretary-General of GADRI was invited to discuss in the session on “Presentation of thecontextualized Global Science and Technology Roadmap, for adoption by the participants” at the Science andPolicy Forum.“ The Science and Policy Forum focused on advancing interdisciplinary collaboration and better
linkages between the science community and policy-makers
to build effective and coherent approaches to risk reduction
andresiliencebuilding
therebysupportingthetransformative change required to achieve the ambitious
2030 Agenda in an increasingly interconnected andcascading risk landscape to ensure nobody is left behind.”
The Science and Technology Roadmap is intended as aliving document to be implemented by the science andtechnology community in partnership with otherstakeholders. During the GADRI 4th Global Summit,
participants contributed collectively for the improvement andcontextualization of the Science and Technology Roadmap.
Photo by UNDRR
Further details can be found at the website - https://www.unisdr.org/conference/2019/globalplatform/programme/
preparatory-days/view?id=965

RevisedScienceandTechnologyRoad
Map
c49ab99020190411_Science_Technology_Road_Map_Final_(1).pdf

8-

https://www.preventionweb.net/files/

Dealing with Disasters, GCRF, UK Alliance for Disaster Research, Disasters
Research Group and UK Collaborative for Development Research
DwD-GCRF-UKADR-DRG-UKCDR International Conference, 2019
17th, 18th and 19th July @ Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

New points of departure in transitioning
disaster reduction and sustainability challenges
POST EVENT – INITIAL REPORT
By: Prof. Andrew Collins, Northumbria University and Co-Chair of UKADR

This year’s conference aimed to stimulate debate andadvance thinking around ‘New Points of Departure inTransitioning Disaster Reduction and Sustainability
Challenges’, to build on the progress made in the recent
United Nations Global Platform 2019 and in anticipationof the forthcoming Climate Summit. There is a need for
new points of departure in relation to science andtechnology, political will and behaviour in bringing
systemic changes to the way people take on disasterthreats and sustainability challenges, to survive and for
future quality of life.
Supported by the UKs Global Challenges Research
Fund (GCRF) the occasion combined the 12th Dealing
with Disasters (DwD) and 3rd UK Alliance of Disaster
Research (UKADR) Conferences, Disaster ResearchGroup (DRG) and UK Collaborative for Development
Research (UKCDR) in examining current advancesand future research needs. The event took place on the10th Anniversary of the Disasters Research Group(DRG). Further details on each of these institutions andthe Northumbria University Disaster and Development
9

Network (DDN) is available in the main conference
brochure posted to the web site www.northumbria.ac.uk/
dwd2019 .
The conference was attended by 130 delegates from 17
countries. Structured into six plenary and 18 parallelsessions it included 100 presentations, five workshops,
a symposium the Annual General Meeting of the United
Kingdom Alliance for Disaster Research (UKADR).
Whilst this was not the largest of the multi-disciplinary
Dealing with Disasters events hosted by Northumbria todate it facilitated highly significant content and policy
reach and has received positive feedback.
Following an opening by the Northumbria Pro ViceChancellor, Lucy Winskell, and introductions from thepartner institutions the envoy of the Special
Representative of the United Nations Secretary General,
Ricardo Mena, provided an overview of the current stateof knowledge application towards global targets ofdisaster risk reduction alongside the sustainable
development agenda.

The UK Government’s Department for International
Development representative and Senior Humanitarian
Advisor, Roger Bellers, presented the new emphasis
for his department on fragility and conflict affected
regions. This was followed by the first of a series of
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) inputs. Ruth
Kelman for NERC presented on investment into
resilient environments. Later plenaries included inputs
from ESRC on inequitable resilience and from the
GCRF, UK Space Agency and the European
Commission.
Plenaries on the second day of the conference begun
with a special address from the Disaster Risk
Management Focal Point of the World HealthOrganisation, Jonathan Abrahams. He was joined by
the representative of the WHO Kobe Centre fromJapan Ryoma Kayano, Head of Global Disaster Risk
Reduction for Public Health England, Virginia Murray,
Ben Taylor, Chief Executive of Evidence Aid and a
special delegation from the Chinese University ofHong Kong.
Parallel sessions and plenaries included inputs from17 UK University physical, environmental and social
sciences groups and six Non-Governmental
Organisations.
Two workshops lead by Public Health England on‘Hazards redefinition’ and by Northumbria on ‘Action
Data’ took place as part of Working Groups of theUnited Nations, and also being supported by GCRF. A
workshop hosted by Alliance to Feed the Earth inDisasters (ALLFED) provided a team of its staff fromvaried backgrounds in interactive exploration of
scenarios. A workshop provided by University ofSalford THINKlab demonstrated state of the art
satellite and modelling technologies for enhancing
disaster risk reduction and response.
Following the second day opening plenary, the WHO
Thematic Platform for Health Emergency and Disaster
Risk Management Research Network symposium
consisted of two further sessions with 12 inputs,
including four from DDN affiliates and one from
Northumbria Healthcare Trust. The Platform waslaunched as part of the inclusion of health (and wellbeing) in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction 2015-2030 and follows last years research
Summit of the same Platform at the Chinese
University of Hong Kong exactly one year earlier. A
contribution to this process had also been made via
the 2015 Dealing with Disasters conference on HealthCentred Disaster Risk Reduction.

10

Two of the recently established large GCRF Research
Hubs, on Urban Risk Transitions (Tomorrow’s Cities)
and Living Deltas provided a first combined GCRF
hubs session. This included debate around core
themes of the hubs and the challenges andopportunities offered by this new form of UK research
investment and with inputs from nine institutions.
A special workshop session of the ‘Youth Voice’ inDisaster Risk Reduction was organised by Mark
Ashley Parry of the Northumbria University Disasterand Development Society (DDS). This included inputs
from schools, the South African Youth Centre for
DRR, the Corpo Italiano di San Lazzaro, Italy, Kyoto
University, Japan and by remote link up from
Northumbria Post-graduate students currently carryingout field work in one of the more isolated regions of
Nepal. This special session was also stimulated bycurrent actions surrounding the school climate action
and Extinction Rebellion.
A fuller report on the proceedings and outcome of theconference is being worked on for later release. It is
intended that all presentations will be made available
online for those who consent to that.
The hosts at Northumbria University are thankful tothe partner organisations, the United Kingdom
Alliance for Disaster Research (UKADR), the Global
Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), the Disasters
Research Group (DRG) and the United Kingdom
Collaborative for Development Research (UKADR) for
this combined conference. Institutional supportingorganisations were the United Nations Office forDisaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Public Health
England (PHE), Integrated Research on Disaster Risk
(IRDR), University of Bristol Cabot Institute,Collaborating Centre for Oxford University andChinese University of Hong (CCOUC), WHO
Thematic Platform for Health Emergency andDisaster Risk Management and the Global Alliance ofDisaster Research Institutes (GADRI). The event was
supported by a Committee of nine people from within
this group who are named in the main conference
documentation. The event benefitted from the supportof Northumbria Research and Innovation Services
and Northumbria Campus Services.
The Conference Chair would also like to specificallythank staff and students of the Department ofGeography and Environmental Sciences and thewider Northumbria University who in various ways
contributed inputs. Thanks to Mark Ashley Parry and
to Becky Richardson for their important enthusiasm
and back up across several academic and logisticalaspects of delivery.

2019 International Training workshop for Natural
Disaster Reduction
National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR), Chinese Taipei
By: Mr. Hasitha Adikari, Research Engineer, Center for Urban Waters (CUrW), Sri Lanka

The 3-day International Training Workshop for Natural
Disaster Reduction was organized by NCDR from25th to 27th June 2019.

New research ideas presented
1. Utilize Social Media and Big Data to Build a Realtime Disaster Management System - by Dr. MingHsiang (Ming) Tsou (Director of the Center for Human
Dynamics in the Mobile Age, Professor Department ofGeography, San Diego State University)
Use geotagged tweets for understanding/simulating
how general public behave (people in the same
network community are more likely to make the samedecision), what type of actions they’ll take and whatroutes they’ll take before/after the evacuation. Also
use these tweets to identify the real time conditions
like traffic jams and need of food and water in an
emergency situation.
Building dynamic population model to build population
density maps based on different types of land use
data and census data. These maps will provide actual
status of the population behaviour so they’ll improvedisaster responsiveness and evacuation procedures.

11

2. The challenge of utilizing social media forevacuation and sheltering support - by USDA,
Yuichiro. Ph.D. (Director General, Center for
Comprehensive Management of Disaster Information,
NIED, Japan)
In a disaster situation various government and nongovernment organizations needs to work collectively
and effectively to minimize the effects of the disaster.
But different organizations may have different needsof information formats and types. So there’s arequirement for information pipeline which can extract
data from various sources and integrate extracted
information into the form of use for users.
SIP4D (Shared Information Platform for Disaster
Management) is an information sharing platform thatcollects disaster related data from various sourcesand distribute them as “ready to use” information todisaster response organizations. Changes of thedisaster and its condition needs to deploy accurate
post disaster activities. But grasping this change withthe available regular information is challengeable task
since changes were not visible to the regular
information. So there is a need of a system thatobserves “the disaster dynamics” by observing
dynamics of society.

CPS4D (Cyber Physical System for Disaster
Resilience) - Resilient network that keeps connecting
real and cyberspace which maps dynamics of thedisaster in real space and can have the ability todrive behavior and activity in real space by the
information in cyberspace. To do the mapping
between real space and cyberspace this platform
uses Disaster response chatbot which included
Natural language processing platform (DISAANA/DSUMM). This chatbot provides functionalities suchas autonomous information gathering and providing
evacuation supporting information for each citizen.
3,

There is a requirement of a system which can collectinformation from Social forums, blogs and many otherweb contents. Also for a platform which can process
those gathered data, basically topic identification andtracking, volume analysis, automatic keyword
extraction and summarization, sentiment analysis andinfluencer analysis. OpView provides all thesefunctionalities under single platform. So with the helpof OpView’s natural language processing andintelligent agent technology, the content and thecontext related to a disaster or emergency(earthquake, typhoon, etc.) may be detected andextracted very fast, in all stages (Pre-event, Event,Post-event).

Strategy and methodology for Data Analysis fromSocial Media - Geographic Information extraction by Chiao-Ling kuo (Assistant Research Fellow Center for GIS, Research Center for
Humanities and Social Sciences(RCHSS),
Academia
Sinica).
Identifying and predicting trends
using geotagged photos will be useful
in decision making in disastermanagement.

4. Information Extraction for Event orActivity Monitoring on Social Media by Prof. Chia-Hui Chang (WIDM LAB,
National Central University, Taiwan)

POI is a specific point location thatsomeone may find useful orinteresting. Extracting POI data fromvarious social media sources andconstruct a POI-DB, and verify POI
relations to enable POI search onmaps will be useful in disaster risk
reduction activities.

Experience from field visits
1. Chunghwa Telecom.

Users can report damage occurred in various textual
formats. So need to extract location, damage, datetime occurred and other relevant information fromthose reports. After geocoding the locations we caneasily visualize them in maps to provide more
information about the disaster to the relevant parties.

The largest telco service of the Taiwan which manages
IoT data for NCDR.
IoT smart platform - Managing DMP devices connections
provide fast device management function, instant device
status notification , and interacts smartly with otherdevices and 3rd-party application services. Also thisplatform provides data security monitor, protection, anddetection to ensure overall data protection and securityof different layers from the platform to sensory devices.
Smart Cloud - Develop spark based solution for big data
analysis providing a rich selection of data analytic
macros for users to choose and use on big data at
different stages (data preparation -> model prediction) tohelp with data analysis.

5. An empirical study of social listening in disaster
reduction and emergency management - by Willie
Yang, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Business
Administration,
National
TaiwanUniversity.
Managing
Director,
OpView
Team/eLand
Technologies Corporation)

12

Smart Energy Applications - Includes five categories,
namely measurement
services,
expertpower
consumption diagnosis, solar energy management,water resources management, and industrial energy
conservation services.
Other than above mentioned projects there are few
interesting IoT projects like smart city, smart agriculture,
smart building and etc.. Also the Disaster information
system which included flood monitoring and landslide
monitoring has significant impact on disaster risk
reduction.

2.
NCDR (National
Science and Technology
Centerfor
Disaster
Reduction, Taiwan)

Analysis
information

Monitor outcomes of long-term post-disaster recovery
by the field surveys.
CEOC (Central Emergency Operation Center) Consists of four divisions Chief staff division, Newsand Media's division, Operation division and
Administrative division. Operation tasks of CEOC
includes analysis disaster situation, conduct situationassessment meetings (at least 3 times per day),prepare work report meeting (at least 3 times perday) and conduct after work report meeting to express
the disaster preparedness and decisions. So decision
workflow of CEOC is as follows,

Generating
decision

Daily operational activities - Conduct mission oriented
research activities related to issues of natural disaster.
Collaboration with domestic and international institutes
and facilitate consultations.

Cooperating decision

Express
decision

CEOC situation assessment group (for Typhoonsituation) : NCDR - Risk assessment, Technology support.
 Water Resource agency - Hydro information of river.
Dam and pumping station operation.

During emergency situation - Join the operations in theCentral Emergency Operation Center by offering
integrated information and sharing timely suggestions.
Deliver common operational pictures to the government
through the decision support system.

 National Fire Agency - Loss estimation. Coordinationand communication.

Post-disaster actions - Conduct on-site investigations.
Annually update the hazard maps for public awarenesswith the cooperation with the government sector.

 Central Weather Bureau - Dynamic data of typhoon.

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 Directorate General of Highways - consultation.
 The Soil and Water Conservation Bureau - Potential
streams of debris flow. Monitoring and warning.

 Office of Disaster Management

Learning outcomes
1. Need of educating and empowering people. Reachout to the people.
Conducting training sessions and workshops toschools, universities and local public has significant
effect on disaster risk reduction process. Generalpublic should have the knowledge regarding following
disaster prevention and mitigation activities also how tobehave in a disaster situation.
General scenario public has much less interest andknowledge about these situations till they face them.
To prevent the risk of a disaster support from generalpublic has tremendous effect so reaching out to themand educating them has very much importance indisaster risk reduction.

3. Requirement of all relevant disaster information on
one integrated platform for decision making.

2. Necessity of timely decision making and importanceof data.
•

Historical data (Threshold values)•

Observed data (Current situation)•

Numerical models (Forecast and nowcast)•Take Action (Decision maker, Local residents)

Time will be one of the most crucial factors in disastersituation so understanding the evolution of data andtheir sources have significant advantages to facedisaster situation. So we should try every possible
method to reach out to the general public to spread thedisaster warnings timely. For this standard
communications methods may be less effective withtime constraint so we should use novel techniques likesocial media to spread the warning effectively andtimely.

Decision making on disaster condition may involve
various information sources from various sources. If
decision makers have one platform to visualize all theinformation it will be more convenient and efficient indecision making.
4. Evolution of Emergency management with thecollective involvement among stakeholders. Main
factors of emergency management has evolved asfollows:

Factors/Stage

Experience

Science

Tools

Paper maps, radio

Digital risk maps,
scenarios

Social media, real time data

Actions

evacuations

Early warning,
evacuations

Risk communication, impact based
preparedness

Info sources

faxes, news

Data, internet

Live videos, social media

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Information

Fun Activities

National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Hakka cultural park

Taipei 101

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2019 International Training Workshop for Natural Disaster ReductionApplying Social media in Disaster Reduction
By: Ms. Kiri chen, Research Assistant, NCDR

Two-way communications through social media become an efficient and effective channel to collect inputs anddisseminate information. Compared with traditional sensor-based data, social media provides non-structural, realtime and direct responses to disaster managers. Enhancing digital preparedness by social media for disaster risk
reduction and emergency response is a new trend of evidence-based disaster management which offers thecontinuous and local information to test preparation and reaction conducted by the public sector.
The Workshop took place from 25 to 27 June in New Taipei City, and focuses on all innovative applications ofsocial media in helping disaster risk management and emergency preparedness. Through sharing of case studies
from individual social media and discussing, all delegates also joined brainstorming in what and how to define
effective two-way risk communications through social media as well as joining field visit to the Chunghwa Telecom
Company, to see applications of 5G telecommunication, Internet of Things (IoT) and dynamic big data produced byprivate sector.
There are 38 delegates (5 were recommended by GADRI) from 14 countries attended the workshop, including
Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Japan, Myanmar, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Solomon Islands, Thailand, The United States, Viet Nam and Zimbabwe.

Field visit toChunghwa Telecom

16Seminar on High-quality Earthquake Locations, DPRI, Kyoto University
12 June 2019
A seminar on High-quality Earthquake Locations wasorganized by Prof. Jim Mori, Head, Research Divisionof Earthquake Hazards, DPRI, Kyoto University, UjiCampus on 12th June 2019. Various presentations
were delivered by the following participants:
1. High-quality earthquake locations using regional
waves in mainland East Asia by Paul Richards(LDEO, Columbia University, USA)
2. Hypocenter catalog redetermined with threedimensional seismic velocity structure by Makoto
Matsubara (NIED, Tsukuba, Japan)

3.

Japan Unified hI-resolution relocated Catalog for
Earthquakes (JUICE) using double-difference
earthquake relocation method, Tomoko Elizabeth
Yano (NIED, Tsukuba, Japan)

4.

An automatic hypocenter determination system of
the JMA unified earthquake catalog, Koji
Tamaribuchi (JMA, Japan)

5. Precise location of very small (down to Mw -5)
mining-induced acoustic emissions, Makoto
Naoi (DPRI, Kyoto University, Japan)

Lecture on Damage to the water network of Uki City from the 2016
Kumamoto earthquake: Derivation of damage functions andconstruction of loss scenarios delivered by Dr. Pierre Gehl, BRGM
Lecture on “Damage to the water network of Uki City
from
the
2016
Kumamoto
earthquake: Derivation of damage functions andconstruction of loss scenarios” was delivered by Dr.
Pierre Gehl, BRGM (French Geological Survey) on
11th June 2019 at DPRI, Kyoto University. Dr. Gehl
was visiting DPRI at the invitation of Prof. Shinichi
Matsushima, Research Division of Earthquake
Disasters,
DPRI,
Kyoto
University.
Abstract of the lecture: Empirical data from water
pipeline damage due to the 2016 Kumamoto
earthquake are used to calibrate and update existingdamage functions (i.e., pipeline repair rate). Using a
Bayesian updating framework, it is shown that theparameters of the damage function are highly
dependent on the shake-map(s) used to represent
the earthquake event, as well as the site amplification
model considered. The effect of specific land17

conditions (e.g., topographic / geological factors) isalso investigated. Finally, the developed damage
functions may be applied to stochastic simulations of
the seismic performance of the water network, while
keeping track of various sources of uncertainties.

Establishment of The North American
Alliance of Hazards and Disaster ResearchInstitutes (NAAHDRI)
Last summer, a group of directors of university-based hazards anddisaster laboratories, centers, and institutes voted to adopt a charter forforming the North American Alliance of Hazards and Disaster ResearchInstitutes (NAAHDRI). On Sunday, July 14, 2019, NAAHDRI held its first
official meeting to discuss future priorities for research, education, andpolicy advocacy.

The meeting was chairedby the newly elected Boardof Directors, and over 40 center and institute directors attended.
In addition, Prof. Tatano from the Global Alliance of Disaster
Research Institutes (GADRI) was present at the meeting. During
the meeting, the members of the recently elected Board of
Directors were introduced, and new members and contributors
were acknowledged and welcomed. The meeting proceeded witha discussion of priorities for year 1, a brainstorming session of
longer-term visions for the Alliance, and the establishment of aprocess for engagement with and communication among
NAAHDRI members.

Visit by Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG), Brazil

Prof. Carlos de Oliveira Galvão from the Federal University of Campina Grande, Brazil visited DPRI, Kyoto
University and GADRI Secretariat on 30 May 2019 during his two-week visit to Kobe University. One agenda
item in particular related to increasing GADRI visibility in Brazil and active contributions to support GADRI
activities. Prof. Galvão is also an alumni of DPRI, Kyoto University.

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New GADRI Members
Environment and Natural Resources Research Program (PIRNA), Instituto de Geografía “Romualdo
Ardissone”, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
The Program of Investigations in Natural Resources and Environment (PIRNA) works since 1988 in
the Institute of Geography of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Buenos Aires.
Its objective is to generate knowledge and train researchers in the problem of the use andmanagement of natural resources and the environment, with an emphasis on aspects related to territorialconfigurations.
http://geografia.institutos.filo.uba.ar/
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences (SMAH), University of Wollongong, Australia
The GeoQuEST Research Centre represents an interdisciplinary team from the Faculty of
Science, Medicine and Health and the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences thathave a focus on environmental and climate change research under the overall theme of Earth
System Science and Technology. The centre brings together outstanding researchers studying
the atmosphere, earth and water within the broad disciplines of geography, geology,
environmental science and environmental engineering who share interests in environmental processes and climatechange. https://www.uow.edu.au/science-medicine-health/research/geoquest/

Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation, Italy
The GEM Foundation is a non-profit, public-private partnership that drives a global
collaborative effort to develop scientific and high-quality resources for transparent
assessment of earthquake risk and to facilitate their application for risk management
around the globe. Assisted by an initiative of the OECD's Global Science Forum, GEM was formed in 2009as a non-profit foundation in Pavia, Italy, funded through a public -private sponsorship with the vision tocreate a world that is resilient to earthquakes. GEM’s mission is to become one of the world’s mostcomplete sources of risk resources and a globally accepted standard for seismic risk assessment; and toensure that its products are applied in earthquake risk management worldwide.
https://www.globalquakemodel.org/
Risk and Crisis Research Centre (RCRC), Mid Sweden University, Sweden
Risk and Crisis Research Centre (RCR) develops and communicates knowledge about
risk, crisis and security. RCR gathers researchers from nine different disciplines. The
centre’s activities include research, education and collaboration. Through RCR, you have aunique opportunity to access research results on how risk is perceived and assessed andhow crises are managed, all for the benefit of society.
https://www.miun.se/en/RCR/

Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE),
University of South Carolina, USA
The mission of the Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE) is to improve our Nation's
security through the development of advanced models and tools for the evaluation of the risks, costs andconsequences of terrorism and to guide economically viable investments in homeland security.
https://create.usc.edu/
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GADRI Members
The Global Alliance of Disaster ResearchInstitutes (GADRI) was established in March 2015
to support the implementation of the Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030(SFDRR) and the work of the Scientific andTechnical Advisory Group of the United Nations
Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
GADRI join hands with research institutes aroundthe world to further realize these goals and targetsof the Science and Technology Roadmap. Since
March 2015, GADRI’s membership has expanded
to nearly 200 member institutions (as of 31 August2019).
GADRI Secretariat is currently hosted by theDisaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI),
Kyoto University, Uji Campus, Kyoto, Japan.
Membership is free; and completely voluntary andnon-binding.
To join GADRI, please contact GADRI Secretariat:

Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes (GADRI)
Secretariat
Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI)
Kyoto University, Uji Campus, Gokasho, Uji-shi
Kyoto 611-0011, JAPAN
Tel: +81-774-38-4621
Fax: +81-774-38-4254
E-mail: secretariat-gadri@dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Web: www.gadri.net

All rights reserved. GADRI ACTIONS is the property of GADRI and protected by the international copyright laws. GADRIACTIONS contents may not be reprinted, copied, and distributed without the copyright holder's prior written permission.

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