Catastrophe Risk Assessment Methodology
The Pacific Region is one of the most natural disaster prone regions on earth. The Pacific Island Countries (PICs) are highly exposed to the adverse effects of climate change and natural hazards, which can result in disasters affecting their entire economic, human, and physical environment and impact their long-term development agenda. The average annual direct losses caused by natural disasters are estimated at US$284 million. Since 1950 natural disasters have affected approximately 9.2 million people in the Pacific Region, causing 9,811 reported deaths. This has cost the PICs around US$3.2 billion (in nominal terms) in associated damage costs. This report focuses on the development of the country catastrophe risk profiles, the information collected, how it was catalogued and processed, and now being used for a variety of applications in Climate and Disaster Risk Management. The country risk profiles integrate data collected and produced through risk modeling and include maps showing the geographic distribution of assets and people at risk (section one), hazards assessed (section two) and potential monetary losses and casualties (section three). The profiles also include an analysis of the possible direct losses (in absolute terms and normalized by GDP) caused by tropical cyclones and earthquakes, and their impact though severe winds, rainfall, coastal storm surge, ground shaking and tsunami waves. The expected return period indicates the likelihood of a certain specified loss amount to be exceeded in any one year.
Summary: | The Pacific Region is one of the most
natural disaster prone regions on earth. The Pacific Island
Countries (PICs) are highly exposed to the adverse effects
of climate change and natural hazards, which can result in
disasters affecting their entire economic, human, and
physical environment and impact their long-term development
agenda. The average annual direct losses caused by natural
disasters are estimated at US$284 million. Since 1950
natural disasters have affected approximately 9.2 million
people in the Pacific Region, causing 9,811 reported deaths.
This has cost the PICs around US$3.2 billion (in nominal
terms) in associated damage costs. This report focuses on
the development of the country catastrophe risk profiles,
the information collected, how it was catalogued and
processed, and now being used for a variety of applications
in Climate and Disaster Risk Management. The country risk
profiles integrate data collected and produced through risk
modeling and include maps showing the geographic
distribution of assets and people at risk (section one),
hazards assessed (section two) and potential monetary losses
and casualties (section three). The profiles also include an
analysis of the possible direct losses (in absolute terms
and normalized by GDP) caused by tropical cyclones and
earthquakes, and their impact though severe winds, rainfall,
coastal storm surge, ground shaking and tsunami waves. The
expected return period indicates the likelihood of a certain
specified loss amount to be exceeded in any one year. |
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