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January – March 2014
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SPC Applied Geoscience and Technology Division (SOPAC)
A rapid post-disaster assessment
recently conducted by specialists from
the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s
(SPC) Applied Geoscience and Technology
Division (SOPAC) will help Tongan
emergency managers better understand
the impacts of Cyclone Ian and prepare for
future storms.
In early January, Cyclone Ian devastated
parts of Tonga, particularly in the Ha’apai
Group. The category-five storm killed one
person, injured 14 others, displaced more
than 4,000 people, and destroyed food
crops and infrastructure.
In the wake of this storm, Tongan authorities
requested assistance from SPC’s Applied
Geoscience and Technology Division
(SOPAC) to assess damages on the island
of Lifuka in the Ha’apai Group.
‘They wanted us to provide technical data
on the extent of inundation and erosion in
coastal zones as well as water supplies
and groundwater contamination in Lifuka,’
SPC Senior Technical Assistant and
Oceanographer Zulfikar Begg explains.
‘They also asked us to train their geology
staff so that they could do the same rapid
assessments in the outer islands.’
Having previously completed extensive
baseline surveys of Lifuka’s coasts and
water resources in 2011 as part of the
Pacific Adaptation Strategy Assistance
Programme (PASAP), the SPC team arrived
in Lifuka on 28 January ready to hit the
ground running.
What did they find? According to Begg,
‘There was a lot of inundation – up to 94
meters measuring from the base of the
beach. Because of that inundation impact,
now at spring tides and high tides, the
water moves further inland than it used
to. At high tide, the water moves up to the
road or sometimes into the compound of
the government buildings.’
‘Lifuka has faced serious coastal inundation
challenges since the island shifted following
an earthquake in 2006. Much of the
island’s key infrastructure, including the
hospital and government buildings, is now
very vulnerable to flooding. The seawalls,
sandbags and structures built to protect the
coast in the last few years were scattered
by Cyclone Ian’, reports Begg.
Data collected by the SPC team will be
used to generate an animated wave model,
allowing emergency managers to visualise
how the waves impacted the coast during
the storm. This will help authorities better
anticipate future cyclone events.
In addition, says Begg, ‘The Tongan
government will use our data to decide
whether to build houses in the same area
with improved building codes or to move
them elsewhere.’
POST-CYCLONE RAPID ASSESSMENT ASSISTS TONGAN EMERGENCY
AUTHORITIES
Setting up Trimble R10 GPS for Real Time Kinematic Survey
to measure inundation extent and wave run up
January - March 2014