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Post Tropical Cyclone Ian in Tonga: Assessment of damage to
buildings
In the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Ian, Tonga was
challenged with assessing the extent of damage in
the Ha’apai group, given the distance of the group
from Tongatapu and the lack of communication with
communities on the island after the cyclone had
passed. Initial government reports stated that up to
75 per cent of buildings were damaged in Ha’apai,
with power and communications networks affected.
In February 2014, the Housing Reconstruction
Programme in Ha’apai was launched by the
Ministry of Infrastructure that then established a
Task Force to focus on the medium and long-term
housing reconstruction priorities. The Task Force
commissioned the development of a policy strategy
and implementation plan for the reconstruction.
A team from SPC, including Amrit Raj and Mereoni
Ketewai, was mobilised to provide technical support
to the programme and become part of a larger
assessment team, comprising census enumerators
from the Bureau of Statistics. They conducted
household surveys and building inspections assessing
the structural integrity of affected buildings. Amrit
and Mereoni used handheld devices to capture
building information that would later be used to
link the household and housing damage information
collected in a GIS platform. The team spent two
weeks in Ha’apai assessing households and houses in
Lofanga, Ha’ano, ‘Uiha, Mo’unga’one, Lifuka and Foa.
A total of 2400 buildings were assessed.
The results of the assessment will be used to develop
criteria to guide the housing reconstruction plan
by identifying the level of targeted assistance for
households.
Formal consultation wraps up on the strategy for climate and
disaster resilient development in the pacific
The formal consultation period for the Strategy for
Climate and Disaster Resilient Development in the
Pacific (SRDP) is now wrapping up after an extensive
and inclusive engagement process. Engagement for
the strategy has involved workshops and face to
face interviews with stakeholders from community,
national and international levels and an online
consultation process open to the public.
The global online consultation occurred in February
and March 2014, resulting in 1539 individual
comments and 56 submissions. While comments
largely came from the Pacific region, the SRDP also
gained interest from Europe, North America, Africa,
Asia and Australia and New Zealand, demonstrating
the potential impact of this first regional strategy
integrating climate change and disaster risk
management, in a framework centred on building
resilient development.
An updated draft of the SRDP was presented for
discussion and feedback at the 6th Session of the
Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management held
in Suva on 2-4 of June 2014. ‘The Platform in June
had an entire day dedicated to the SRDP. It provided
another opportunity for stakeholders to provide their
comments to the draft's’ says Cristina Casella, SPC
Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Policy
Advisor.
The process to develop the SRDP (termed "the
Roadmap") has been agreed by the Pacific region in
2011 and formally launched in July 2013 at the first
Joint Meeting of the Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk
Management and Pacific Climate Change Roundtable.
It is expected to culminate in the final approval of the
Strategy by Pacific Island Leaders in 2015.
The Strategy will provide guidance to Pacific Island
Governments and administrations, private sector, civil
society and development partners, including donors,
regional and international organisations on how to
address the challenges posed by climate change and
disasters, while building resilient development.