He said the conference would allow for exchange of information on good practice and strengthen knowledge. Mexico won acclaim for its disaster risk reduction mobilization against Category 5 Hurricane Patricia in 2015 and for the successful partnership between the government and private telephone companies for mobile alerts.

Conference speakers repeatedly stressed the need for more collective, coordinated action in the “first mile” of the early warning process as well as greater community involvement and education to make sure the warnings reach the “last mile.”

“With the impact of climate change, persistent poverty, and urbanization, we can expect an increase in hazards and these can manifest themselves in unpredictable ways,” said Robert Glasser, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of UNISDR.

Costs relating to disasters have increased 50-fold since 1950s. The trend in casualties has been the opposite thanks to better early warnings which have saved millions of lives, said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. The number of disasters is highest in Asia, economic losses are highest in North America, and capacity for coping with disasters is lowest in Africa. Capacity development is therefore paramount to make sure that nobody gets left behind, he said.

The conference heard many case studies. These included the United Kingdom and Argentina which set up national hazards platforms to coordinate action; Ecuador, which was hit by a volcanic eruption, earthquake and El Niño-related flooding all in a matter of months; and Namibia which is prone to drought but also faces devastating periodic flash flooding.

Michael Staudinger, head of the Austrian meteorological service introduced Europe’s pioneering MeteoAlarm network. This is a platform that gets alerts from national weather services to the general public, avoiding jargon and explaining the potential impacts of incoming hazards using simple language and colour coding. WMO is working to expand this into a global multi-hazard alert system.

He echoed repeated comments by speakers on the need to break down barriers to communication and to integrate multiple risks by “looking at the mountains to reduce hazards from the oceans.” “Get out of the silos and interact with users,” said MeteoAlarm’s Staudinger. “It’s complex but refreshing.’

Date:

23 May 2017

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for the Americas (UNISDR AM)

Themes:

Capacity Development, Climate Change, Community-based DRR, Early Warning

Hazards:

Cyclone, Tsunami, Volcano