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In 2015 and 2017 unusual ocean and atmospheric conditions produced many years' worth of rainfall in short periods over Northern Chile's Atacama Desert, resulting in catastrophic flooding in the town of Chañaral. However, the town is not only at risk of fluvial flooding, it is also at risk of tsunamis. Through a community mapping exercise, the authors attempted to establish the level of community awareness about tsunamis, and contrasted it with that of other types of water-related hazards facing the town (namely that of flooding due to high intensity rain). This was then compared with the results of field surveys and tsunami hazard simulations, indicating than overall the community appears to have better awareness than authorities about the threat posed by these types of events. The authors thus concluded that in cases when the community has a high level of hazard awareness (which in the case of Chile was the result of traditional knowledge being transmitted from previous generations) it would be advantageous to include them in discussions on how to improve disaster resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction emphasizes the need to rebuild better after a disaster to ensure that the at-risk communities can withstand a similar or stronger shock in the future. In the present work, the authors analyzed the reconstruction paths through a comparative analysis of the perspective of a community in Japan and another in Chile, and their respective local governments. While both countries are at risk to tsunamis, they follow different reconstruction philosophies. Data was gathered through key informant interviews of community members and local government officials, by adapting and modifying the Building Resilience to Adapt to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) 3As framework to a tsunami scenario. The 3As represent anticipatory, adaptive, and absorptive capacities as well as transformative capacities and respondents were asked to rate this according to their perspectives. It was found that while both communities perceive that much is to be done in recovery, Kirikiri has a more holistic and similar perspective of the recovery with their government officials as compared to Dichato. This shows that community reconstruction and recovery from a disaster requires a holistic participation and understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change will likely affect the effectiveness of future management of coastal ecosystems, impacting communities that reside within the coastal area. In order to formulate appropriate adaptation counter-measures it is important to understand the actual vulnerability of the communities that depend on these ecosystems. The present research proposes a tool for assessing the vulnerability of coastal communities to climate change by combining survey results with secondary and observed data available from national and local governments. The study focused on fisheries, given that they constitute the source of livelihood for many communities in developing countries such as Vietnam. The results showed that two coastal wards in Binh Thuan province, Vietnam, are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, mainly because of their dependence on fisheries and the topography of the area. The seasonality of their source of livelihood affects the adaptive capacity of residents, making it less likely that they will be able to successfully adapt to changes in fishery resources that could be brought about by climate change. The results also showed that the communities are particularly vulnerable to sea level rise, given that they are both located in the immediate vicinity of the sea and are particularly low in elevation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Typhoon Jebi struck Japan on the 4 September 2018, damaging and inundating many coastal areas along Osaka Bay due to the high winds, a storm surge, and wind driven waves. In order to understand the various damage mechanisms, the authors conducted a field survey two days after the typhoon made landfall, measuring inundation heights and depths at several locations in Hyogo Prefecture. The survey results showed that 0.18–1.27 m inundation depths were caused by Typhoon Jebi. As parts of the survey, local residents were interviewed about the flooding, and a questionnaire survey regarding awareness of typhoons and storm surges, and their response to the typhoon was distributed. The authors also mapped the location of some of the containers that were displaced by the storm surge, aiming to provide information to validate future simulation models of container displacement. Finally, some interesting characteristics of the storm surge are summarized, such as possible overtopping at what had initially been thought to be a low risk area (Suzukaze town), and lessons learnt in terms of disaster risk management are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]