Natural and Environmental Disasters
Beth
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09 Aug 2011
The Solomon Islands' national disaster response strategy is guided by the National Disaster Act (1989) and the National Disaster Plan (1987).
The Solomon Islands continues to be impacted by a range of natural disasters of both atmospheric and geological origin. The Solomon Island’s vulnerability to extreme events is apparent from a long and growing list of adverse events resulting from climatic and tectonic incidents. The key hazards of the Solomon Islands include tropical cyclones,...
Beth
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03 Aug 2011
Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a National Disaster Management Act and a National Emergency Plan. In 2003, PNG established a National Disaster Awareness and Preparedness Committee.
PNG is particularly prone to natural disasters including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, cyclones, landslides, droughts, and river and coastal flooding. The highlands, with 2.2 million people living in thousands of small villages, are subject to weather extremes of heavy rainfall and drought. Increasingly...
Beth
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02 Aug 2011
Palau has a Disaster Management Plan, a National Emergency Management Office (NEMO), a high-level Disaster Executive Council chaired by the President, and a multi-sector National Emergency Committee (NEC) chaired by the Vice-President.
Although Palau lies south of the typhoon belt, it is still vulnerable to a range of natural and human-induced disasters. Recent natural disasters have included tropical storms, tidal surges, drought, the El Niño event of 1998-1999 and...
Beth
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02 Aug 2011
Tropical cyclones are a serious risk for Niue, with a major passage averaging about once every ten years. On Monday, 5 January 2004, Tropical Cyclone Heta struck Niue head on. Winds in excess of 270 km and a mountainous storm surge battered the west coast. The storm caused great destruction, largely due to a sea surge estimated at 50 meters that rose well above the cliffs and in some cases pushed 100 meters inland. Seriously effected regions included Alofi and the villages of Makefu, Tuapa,...
Beth
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01 Aug 2011
Drought is Nauru's most common and perhaps most serious environmental and natural disaster threat. Prolonged droughts are common in Nauru and place severe stress on natural species. The frequent occurrence of severe droughts has resulted in limited biodiversity, making Nauru one of the poorest terrestrial ecologies in the world. The country is less biologically diverse than some of the world’s great deserts, with only 60 species of indigenous vascular plants on record. Rainfall cycles...
