Project
Project Reference:
Grant agreement no. 607821.
Project Short Name:
SECTOR
Call:
FP7-SEC-2013-1
Funding Scheme:
Collaborative Project CP-FP
Project web-site:
http://www.fp7-sector.eu/
Deliverable 2.1
Information Gathering of past
critical events and their
consequences
Final
Document
Deliverable No.:
2.1
Due Date:
2015-04-16
Issued by Partner:
e-GEOS
Actual Date:
2015-04-16
WP/Task:
WP2/T2.1
Pages:
59
Confidentiality Status:
PP
Authors
Name
Organisation/Unit
Main Author
Domenico Grandoni
e-GEOS
Contributing Author(s)
Michela Corvino
e-GEOS
Lucia Luzietti
e-GEOS
USTUTT
PSNI
PAS
SGSP
Approval
Name
Organisation/Unit
Technical Reviewer
Jana Mauthner
USTUTT
Language Reviewer
Önder Altan
ASELSAN
File
2015-04-16_D2.1_v2.0.docx
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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Document History
Table 1 Document history
Document
information
Date
Chapters
affected
Version
Description of
change
Author
Document
Status
290814 0.1
All
Initial template
D. Grandoni,
e-GEOS
0.1 draft
211114 0.2
All
All chapter
modified
L. Luzietti,
e-GEOS
0.2 draft
271114 0.3
All
Finalisation of
Draft
D.Grandoni,
e-GEOS
0.3 final draft
L. Luzietti,
e-GEOS
M. Corvino,
e-GEOS
011214 0.4
All
Review
J. Mauthner;
USTUTT
0.4 final draft
021214 0.5
All
Review
Ö. Altan,
ASELSAN
0.5 final draft
111214 0.6
All
Review
L. Luzietti,
e-GEOS
0.6 final draft
121214 1.0
All
Finalisation
L. Luzietti,
e-GEOS
1.0 final version
070415 1.1
All
Final Review /
Deliverable
Update
L. Luzietti,
e-GEOS
1.1 final draft
090415 1.2
All
Deliverable
Update
L. Luzietti,
e-GEOS
1.2 final draft
090415 2.0
All
Finalisation
L. Luzietti, eGEOS
2.0 final version
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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Document Reviews
The following table gives an overview of all document reviews.
Table 2 Document reviews
Version
reviewed
Date
Remarks,
Corrections
Reviewer
New Status
011214
0.3
Particular remarks
in spelling and
concerning the
overall quality of
the document
USTUTT
0.4 final draft
021214
0.4
Quality review
ASELSAN
0.5 final draft
111214
0.5
All chapter modified e-GEOS
according to the
comments of the
reviewer
0.6. final draft
070415
1.0
All chapter modified e-GEOS
1.1 final draft
080415
1.1
Particular remarks USTUTT
in spelling and
formatting
1.2 final draft
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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Table of Content
Executive Summary
5
Definitions, acronyms and abbreviations
6
List of tables
7
List of Figures
8
1.
Introduction
9
2.
Scope and Methodology
3.
12
2.1
Scope and objective
12
2.2
Structure and implementation of the Pan-European database
13
2.3
Information gathering
23
Results
25
3.1
The information collection campaign
25
3.2
The delivered Pan-European database
38
3.3
Main findings and issues encountered
42
4.
Conclusion and outlook
44
5.
References
46
6.
Annex
47
6.1
The Pan-European Database – A sample of 10 events
47
6.2
Event Information
48
6.3
Consequences A
51
6.4
Consequences B
54
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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Executive Summary
In recent years, international preoccupation for disasters and their impacts has
intensified and risen closer to the top of the development agenda. For many years,
response to disasters was largely confined to emergency relief and short-term lifesaving actions. But over the last two decades, the critical importance of disaster
preparedness, mitigation, and prevention has been widely recognised. In this
scenario, the management of crisis is one of the great challenges of the 21st century.
The ever growing human, economic and environmental losses due to natural and
man-made disasters show the need for a systematic approach to the management of
crises (World Health Organization, 2013).
SECTOR (Secure European Common Information Space for the Interoperability of
First Responders and Police Authorities) aims at establishing the foundations of
future Common Information Spaces (CCM) by expanding the European scientific
knowledge base on (cross-border) multi-agency CCM processes and the
complications these imply when aiming at setting-up and design cross-border
supporting information systems.
This deliverable, the ‘Information gathering of past critical events and their
consequences’ is located in the first phase of WP2. The objective of this work
package is to create a Pan-European inventory and analysis of past critical crisis
events, their consequences and the involvement of crisis management organisations,
focusing on information exchange between the organisations. Furthermore,
information management tools, processes and standards currently in use as well as
the characteristics of the deployment of crisis management services are collected
and analysed.
The information gathering activity on past critical events and their consequences was
time and effort consuming activity, since most data cannot be accessed from publicly
available data sources and are generally not at an easy to gather even for people
officially involved in the disaster risk management cycle.
This activity has demonstrated that there is no common and homogeneous
methodology at EU level implemented to track the consequences of natural and
technological disasters, thus preventing any reliable and consistent analysis in terms
of trends, aggregations, etc.
Future challenges are related to the re-build and maintenance of such a complete
database structure both for past and future events, defining proper methodologies
and responsibilities for data collection, storage and distribution. The European
interest in the results of this activity given, a specific EU intervention to fill this gap
could be envisaged.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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Definitions, acronyms and abbreviations
Abbreviation
Description
BIH Armed
Forces
Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
CBA
Cost Benefit Analysis
CCM
Collaborative Crisis Management
CIS
Common Information Space
CRED
Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters
DB
Database
DIPECHO
European Community Humanitarian Office’s Disaster Prevention,
Mitigation and Preparedness Programme
DOW
Description of Work
Dx.x
Deliverable x.x
EC
European Commission
EM-DAT
Emergency Events Database
EU
European Union
EUFOR
European Union Force
GIS
Geographic Information System
GMES
Global Monitoring for Environment and Security
IFRC
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies
ISDR
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
SECTOR
Secure European Common Information Space for the
Interoperability of First Responders and Police Authorities
Tx.x
Task x.x
WHO
World Health Organization
WPx
Work Package x
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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List of tables
Table 1 Document history ........................................................................................... 2
Table 2 Document reviews ......................................................................................... 3
Table 3: Structure of the Pan-European Database ................................................... 14
Table 4: Classification of event type ......................................................................... 17
Table 5: An example of Database output ................................................................. 20
Table 6: List of events .............................................................................................. 26
Table 7 List of contributors ....................................................................................... 37
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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List of figures
Figure 1: Number of natural disasters in the world 1900-2011 (EM-DAT) .................. 9
Figure 2: Number of technological disasters in the world 1900-2011 (EM-DAT) ........ 9
Figure 3: Flood in Sardinia, Italy (2013) .................................................................... 10
Figure 4: WP2 summary – Pan-European Inventory of security systems and data set
................................................................................................................................. 11
Figure 5: Distribution of the collected disasters ........................................................ 37
Figure 6: Cross border event .................................................................................... 37
Figure 7: The steps necessary to deliver and share the Pan-European Database ... 39
Figure 8: Database checks – Event Information ....................................................... 40
Figure 9: Database checks – Consequences information ........................................ 41
Figure 10: Database checks – Crisis management and reconstruction .................... 41
Figure 11: Example of data representation on ArcGIS Online platform .................... 42
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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1. Introduction
Nowadays, the world is facing an increasing frequency and intensity of disasters natural and man-made - that has had devastating impacts. As reported by the
secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), the last ten
years have seen 478,100 people killed, more than 2.5 billion people affected and
about US$ 690 billion in economic losses. Disasters triggered by hydrometeorological hazards amounted for 97 percent of the total people affected by
disasters, and 60 percent of the total economic losses.
Below, based on the data of the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of
Disasters Emergency Events Database (CRED’s EM-DAT)1, the number of natural
and technological disasters in the world are reported for the period 1900-2011.
Scientific predictions and evidence indicate that global climate changes are
increasing the number of extreme events, creating more frequent and intensified
natural hazards such as floods and windstorms.
Figure 1: Number of natural disasters in
the world 1900-2011 (EM-DAT)
Figure 2: Number of technological
disasters in the world 1900-2011 (EMDAT)
In recent years, international preoccupation for disasters and their impacts has
intensified and risen closer to the top of the development agenda. For many years,
response to disasters was largely confined to emergency relief and short-term lifesaving actions. But over the last two decades, the critical importance of disaster
preparedness, mitigation, and prevention has been widely recognised.
1
Since 1988 the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) has been maintaining
an Emergency Events Database EM-DAT (http://www.emdat.be/index.html). EM-DAT was created
with the initial support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Belgian Government. The EMDAT contains essential core data on the occurrence and effects of over 16,000 disasters in the world
from 1900 to present. The database is compiled from various sources, including UN agencies, nongovernmental organisations, insurance companies, research institutes and press agencies.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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It has become increasingly apparent that a relatively small investment in disaster
preparedness can save lives, reduce the number of people requiring emergency
assistance and preserve vital economic assets, as well as reduce the cost of overall
relief assistance to disaster-stricken countries. This fortuitous realisation has largely
contributed to the systematic decrease in the number of deaths due to natural
disasters over the last two decades, despite the increase in the number of disaster
events.
The humanitarian and the United Nations system are therefore called to intensify
their efforts to improve their capacity in order to provide support to the countries in
need and to be better prepared to intervene. Such request came, amongst others,
from the UN General Secretary in various occasions. The European Community
Humanitarian Office’s Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness Programme
(DIPECHO) was launched in 1996 to help prepare populations in areas at risk from
natural catastrophes and to support practical measures to reduce such risks.
DIPECHO funds support training, capacity-building, awareness raising and earlywarning projects, as well the organisation of relief services. The programme has
shown that even simple precautions can help save lives and property when disaster
strikes.
In this view, the management of crisis is one
of the great challenges of the 21st century.
The ever growing human, economic and
environmental losses due to natural and
man-made disasters evidence the need for a
systematic approach to the management of
crisis. A multi-disciplinary understanding and
disaster risk management is required. In
such
situations,
Collaborative
Crisis
Management (CCM) is usually coordinated
by local authorities or dedicated civil
protection organisations, supported by a Figure 3: Flood in Sardinia, Italy (2013)
variety of different national and international
crisis management organisations, all acting relatively autonomously. The process is
typically coordinated through periodic physical meetings of the involved
organisations, in which information is shared about the situation, priorities are set and
responsibilities allocated. Follow-up and execution of tasks is managed by each
individual organisation, typically supported by a range of not interoperable
information management tools, depending on the level of information of the local or
national crisis management systems(DOW Part A: 4 ).
The project SECTOR (Secure European Common Information Space for the
Interoperability of First Responders and Police Authorities) aims at establishing the
foundations of future Common CCM Information Spaces by expanding the European
scientific knowledge base on (cross-border) multi-agency CCM processes and the
complications these imply when aiming at setting-up and design cross-border
supporting information Systems.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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This deliverable, the ‘Information gathering of past critical events and their
consequences’, is located in the first phase of WP2 (see Figure 4). The objective of
this WP is to create a Pan-European inventory and analysis of past critical crisis
events, their consequences and the involvement of crisis management organisations,
focusing on the information exchange between the organisations. Furthermore,
information management tools, processes and standards currently in use as well as
the characteristics of the deployment of crisis management services was collected
and analysed.
In this context, research was conducted that led to realise a comprehensive PanEuropean database of past critical events and their consequences. The focus was
put on cross-border events and relevant, representative events that could have
resulted in a border-crossing emergency. The information gathered in this task
included a detailed description of the events during the crisis, the involved actors,
consequences (e.g. economic or social impacts), and the contexts of the crisis (e.g.
weather, special events, etc.). Information was collected from the project participants’
countries on past events.
T2.1
T2.1
Information
Informatio
gathering of
past n
critical
events and
gathering
their
consequences
of past
critical
T2.2
T2.2
T2.3
T2.3
Information
Analysis of
Analysis
information
on
pastof
events
Informatio
gathering of
datansets,
procedures, and
gathering
tools
of data
sets,
informatio
n on past
events
T2.4
T2.4
Analysis of
Analysis
information
dataof
sets,
procedures, and
informatio
tools
n data
sets,
T2.5
T2.5
Organisations
Organisati
business model
analysis
ons
Business
Model
analysis
T2.6
T2.6
Survey on
Survey
on
standards and
technologies
Standards
+
Technolog
ies
Relevant outcome of WP2: Information and analysis of critical events and their consequences as
well as of data sets, procedures, and tools, including focus on service providing  past events
database, as well as a survey on standards and technologies for crisis management services.
Figure 4: WP2 summary – Pan-European Inventory of security systems and data set
A thorough analysis of the information on past events gathered in the data base will
be conducted in the framework of T2.3 (analysis of information on past events).
The document is structured in the following way:

Chapter 2: This chapter provides information about the scope and the
methodology used for the implementation of the Pan-European Database. In
particular the requirements identified for the definition of the database
structure are described. Furthermore, all identified fields are detailed in order
to provide exhaustive information for the database implementation.

Chapter 3: In this chapter the information collection campaign is described. In
particular the methodology used to compose the database from information
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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collected by the project team is detailed. Furthermore, this chapter gives an
overview of the main results derived from the information campaign collection.

Chapter 4: In this chapter the conclusions and an outlook are presented.
2. Scope and Methodology
2.1
Scope and objective
The objective of this task T2.1 was to create a Pan-European inventory of past
critical crisis events and their consequences. As mentioned above, the focus is put
on cross-border events and relevant, representative events that could have resulted
in a border-crossing crisis or emergency. The information gathered in this task
includes a short description of the events during the crisis, the involved actors,
consequences (e.g. economic or social impacts), and the contexts of the crisis (e.g.
weather, special events, etc.). This document describes the criteria used to define
the structure of the database, while the analysis of the collected database will be
carried out within the task T2.3.
The need to collect and refine a database of past critical events derives from the
assertion of importance of geographic information to support decision-making and
management of growing national, regional, and global crises due to disasters in
general. Geographic information, or geospatial data, is vital to rationalise decision
making for disaster preparedness, as well as providing an objective base for
vulnerability assessment and priority setting.
As a matter of fact, the unique characteristics associated with geographic, or
geospatial, information technologies facilitate the integration of scientific, social and
economic data through space and time, opening up interesting possibilities for
monitoring, assessment and change detection activities, thus enabling better
informed interventions in human and natural systems. Besides, its proven value (e.g.
United Nations Regional Cartographic Confereces-Americas 2001, Bathurst
Declaration 1999), that geospatial information is an expensive resource and needs to
be fully utilised to maximise the return on investment required for its generation,
management and use. Re-use and sharing of spatial information for multiple
purposes is an important approach applied in countries where investment in spatial
data collection and in their appropriate management has advanced on the basis of its
known asset value. Very substantial economic benefits have been estimated by
countries that have moved in the direction of optimising data reuse.
The following sections describe the standard for the database structure which was
defined to collect the Pan-European inventory.
The use of the standardisation was considered crucial since it has the following
advantages:

It permits the comparability of data from different sources that comply with the
standard that will lead to improving and easing analysis.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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
It allows for the integration of multiple sources of data about disasters. This
integration may be horizontal (integrate data from different geographic areas,
or from different events, of different times, of different themes, or in general
from different dimensions of the disaster data). Furthermore, it allows vertical
integration, or aggregation processes from lower levels of geography.

It permits computer systems to exchange information about disasters by
providing sets of standard codes to allow this exchange.

It increases the accessibility of information allowing better information flow.
2.2
Structure and implementation of the Pan-European database
The Pan-European database developed in SECTOR is structured in order to be
suitable to collect the necessary information and to allow cross event analysis for the
task T2.3. Specifically, in the design-phase of the database the following
requirements have been taken into account:

REQ_DB_01: the database needs to store information on the event
description (Req. Source: DoW, Req. type: Structure)

REQ_DB_02: the database needs to store information about at least 40 past
events (Req. Source: DoW, Req. type: Structure)

REQ_DB_03: the database needs to be searchable on a geographic basis
(Req. source: ICT Board, Req. type: Structure and Implementation)

REQ_DB_04: the database needs to be searchable on an alphanumeric basis
(Req. source: ICT Board, Req. type: Implementation)

REQ_DB_05: the database needs to store information about
consequences of crisis (Req. Source: DoW, Req. type: Structure)

REQ_DB_06: the database needs to store the involved actors in the
management emergency.
the
In order to satisfy the above mentioned requirements, the following structure of the
database has been adopted (see Table 3) to collect the information of past critical
crisis events.
The fields shown and described in the table are:

#: Numeric ID

Field name: name of the database field

Field Description: short description of the database field

Type: numeric, free text, drop down menu, boolean, etc.

Optional/Mandatory or Priority: must have vs nice to have

REQ_DB: requirement match.
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for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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Table 3: Structure of the Pan-European Database
Field Name
Field Description
Type
Optional/
Mandatory
REQ_DB
Country
Country(ies) in which
the disaster occurred in Europe
Text
Mandatory
02
03
04
Place/Province
Place(s)
and
Province(s) in which
the disaster occurred in Europe
Text
Mandatory
02
03
04
3
Centroid
Centroid
coordinates
(latitude, longitude) to
locate the disaster
Numeric Decimal
Degree
[xx.xxxx]
Mandatory
02
03
4
Cross- Border
Text
[Y/N]
Mandatory
02
03
04
5
Date
Numeric
(dd/mm/year)
Mandatory
02
04
Numeric
(days)
Mandatory
02
04
#
Class
Field
1
2
Location
Cross border disaster
Date when the disaster
occurred (start)
Time
6
Crisis Timeframe
Disaster period
7
Disaster Generic
Group
Two
groups
are
distinguished – natural
and
technological
disasters
Text natural/
technological
Mandatory
01
02
04
Standard description of
the disaster (see Table
4)
Text
Mandatory
01
02
04
8
Disaster
information
Event Type
2
.
9
Short Description
Short Description of the
event
Free Text
Mandatory
01
02
10
Glide-Number
GLobal
IDEntifier
number (GLIDE)
Text
Optional
01
02
04
2
In the Pan-European database the classification of the International Federation of Red Cross and
Red Crescent Societies was adopted to define the event type (https://www.ifrc.org/en/what-wedo/disaster-management/about-disasters/definition-of-hazard/)
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
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Field Name
Field Description
Type
Optional/
Mandatory
REQ_DB
People Affected
Number
of
people
requiring
immediate
assistance during a
period of emergency;
this
may
include
displaced or evacuated
people
Numeric
Mandatory
01
02
04
Killed
Number
of
people
confirmed dead and
number missing and
presumed dead
Numeric
Mandatory
01
02
04
13
Injured
Number
of
people
suffering from physical
injuries, trauma or an
illness
requiring
immediate
medical
treatment as a direct
result of a disaster
Numeric
Optional
01
02
04
14
Displaced
Number
of
people
needing
immediate
assistance for shelter
Numeric
Optional
01
02
04
15
Settlements
Affected
Global
figure
of
damaged settlements
during the disaster
Numeric
[ha]
Mandatory
01
02
04
Transportation
Global
figure
of
damaged
Transportation
(highways,
roads,
railways, etc.) during
the disaster
Numeric
[km]
Mandatory
01
02
04
Global
figure
damaged
area
relevance
of
environment
Numeric
[ha]
Mandatory
01
02
04
Short description of the
political
and
social
consequences of the
disaster
Free Text
Optional
01
02
04
Estimated
Direct Loss
Value
Global figure of the
economic impact of the
disaster
Numeric
[€]
Mandatory
01
02
04
Estimated
Indirect Loss
Value
Global figure of the
economic indirect loss,
e.g. reduced tourism,
commuter disruptions
Numeric
[€]
Optional
01
02
04
#
Class
Field
V2.0
11
12
People
Infrastructure
16
17
18
Environment
Political and Social Impact
19
Economic
20
of
of
the
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
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Field Description
Type
Optional/
Mandatory
REQ_DB
Risk
Monitoring
Organisations
List of organisations
which worked during
the Crisis
Text
Mandatory
01
02
04
Removal
consequence
s
organisations
List of organisations
which
worked
on
removal consequences
after the crisis
Text
Mandatory
01
02
04
Activities
Short description of the
reconstruction activities
carried out after the
disaster in the short
term
Free Text
Optional
01
02
04
Financial
Global figure of the
economic impact of the
reconstruction in the
short terms
Numeric
[€]
Optional
01
02
04
Activities
Short description of the
reconstruction activities
carried out after the
disaster in the long
term
Free Text
Optional
01
02
04
Financial
Short description of the
reconstruction activities
carried out after the
disaster in the long
term
Numeric
[€]
Optional
01
02
04
Summary of Crisis
Management Activity
Short description of
crisis
management
activity
Free Text
Mandatory
01
02
04
28
Status of the Information
Exchange within the Crisis
Short description of the
information exchange
status during crisis (e.g.
barriers in accessing
missing information)
Free Text
Mandatory
01
02
04
29
Source of information
Data source used to
collect the data
Text
Mandatory
01
02
04
#
Class
Field
V2.0
21
Organisations
Involved
22
23
Field Name
Reconstruction
Needs
Short Term
24
25
Reconstruction
Needs
Long Term
26
27
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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The following table (Table 4) describes the classification of the event types applied to
the Pan-European database. As mentioned above the adopted classification is the
same as defined by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies.
Table 4: Classification of event type
Event Type
Epidemics
Animal and Insect
infestation
Earthquakes
Mass movement
dry
Tsunamis
Volcanic
eruptions
Drought
Extreme
temperatures
Description
An epidemic is the unusual increase in the number of cases of an infectious
disease, which already exists in a certain region or population. It can also refer
to the appearance of a significant number of cases of an infectious disease in a
region or population that is usually free from that disease.
Pervasive influx and development of insects or parasites affecting humans,
animals, crops and materials.
Earthquakes are the result of forces deep within the earth's interior. Sudden
break within the upper layers of the earth, sometimes breaking the surface,
resulting in the vibration of the ground, which were strong enough will cause
the collapse of buildings and destruction of life and property.
A landslide is the movement of soil or rock controlled by gravity and the speed
of the movement usually ranges between slow and rapid, but not very slow. It
can be superficial or deep, but the materials have to make up a mass that is a
portion of the slope or the slope itself. The movement has to be downward and
outward with a free face.
A tsunami is a series of waves caused by a rapid displacement of a body of
water (ocean, lake). The waves are characterised by a very long wavelength
and their amplitude is much smaller offshore. The impact in coastal areas can
be very destructive as the waves advance inland and can extend over
thousands of kilometers.
Volcanic eruptions happen when lava and gas are discharged from a volcanic
vent. The most common consequences of this are population movements as
large numbers of people are often forced to flee the moving lava flow. Volcanic
eruptions often cause temporary food shortages and volcanic ash landslides
called Lahar.
Drought is an insidious phenomenon. Unlike rapid onset disasters, it tightens its
grip over time, gradually destroying an area. In severe cases, drought can last
for many years and have a devastating effect on agriculture and water supplies.
Drought is defined as a deficiency of rainfall over an extended period – a
season, a year or several years – relative to the statistical multi-year average
for the region. Lack of rainfall leads to inadequate water supply for plants,
animals and human beings.
Heat Waves
A heat wave is a prolonged period of excessively hot and sometimes also
humid weather relative to normal climate patterns of a certain region.
Heat kills by pushing the human body beyond its limits. In extreme heat and
high humidity, evaporation is slowed and the body must work extra hard to
maintain a normal temperature.
Cold waves, winter storms and extreme winter conditions
A cold wave can be both a prolonged period of excessively cold weather and
the sudden invasion of very cold air over a large area. Along with frost it can
cause damage to agriculture, infrastructure, and property.
Cold waves, heavy snowfall and extreme cold can immobilise an entire region.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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Event Type
Wildfires/Urban
fires
Floods
Mass movement
wet
Tropical storms,
hurricanes,
typhoons and
cyclones
Storms and tidal
waves
V2.0
16.04.2015
Description
Even areas that normally experience mild winters can be hit with a major
snowstorm or extreme cold. Winter storms can result in flooding, storm surge,
closed highways, blocked roads, downed power lines and hypothermia.
Wildfire and urban fires describes an uncontrolled burning fire, usually in wild
lands, which can cause damage to forestry, agriculture, infrastructure and
buildings.
Generally, floods can be predicted in advance, except in the case of flash
floods. The impact of flooding can include destruction of housing, crops, cattle
and people.
Subsidence is the motion of the Earth's surface as it shifts downward relative
to a datum (e.g. the sea level). Subsidence dry can be the result of: geological
faulting, isostatic rebound, human impact (e.g. mining, extraction of natural
gas) etc. Subsidence (wet) can be the result of: karst, changes in soil water
saturation, permafrost degradation (thermokarst) etc.
Rockfall refers to quantities of rock or stone falling freely from a cliff face. It is
caused by undercutting, weathering or permafrost degradation.
Avalanche describes a quantity of snow or ice that slides down a mountainside
under the force of gravity. It occurs if the load on the upper snow layers
exceeds the bonding forces of the entire mass of snow. It often gathers
material that is underneath the snowpack like soil, rock etc. (debris avalanche).
A landslide is the movement of soil or rock controlled by gravity and the speed
of the movement usually ranges between slow and rapid, but not very slow. It
can be superficial or deep, but the materials have to make up a mass that is a
portion of the slope or the slope itself. The movement has to be downward and
outward with a free face.
Tropical storms, cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons, although named
differently, describe the same disaster type. Essentially, these disaster types
refer to a large scale closed circulation system in the atmosphere which
combines low pressure and strong winds that rotate counter clockwise in the
northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
A winter storm emerges from an extra-tropical cyclone, a synoptic scale low
pressure system that occurs in the middle latitudes of the Earth and is
connected to fronts and horizontal gradients in temperature and dew point. A
winter storm comes along with high wind speeds, gusts, thunderstorms, rain
and often storm surges.
A severe storm or thunderstorm is the result of convection and condensation
in the lower atmosphere and the accompanying formation of a cumulonimbus
cloud. A severe storm usually comes along with high winds, heavy precipitation
(rain, sleet, hail), thunder and lightning.
A hail storm is a type of storm that is characterised by hail as the dominant
part of its precipitation. The size of the hailstones can vary between pea size
(6mm) and softball size (112mm) and therefore cause considerable damage.
Lightning is an atmospheric discharge of electricity, which typically occurs
during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms.
Tornadoes are rotating columns of air (vortex) that emerge out of the base of a
cumulonimbus cloud and have contact to the Earth's surface. Typically a
tornado forms during a severe convective storm in so-called supercells and is
often visible as a funnel-shaped cloud. Tornadoes are usually short-lived,
lasting on average no more than 10 minutes. They can generate wind speeds
above 400 km/h and are considered the most destructive weather
phenomenon. The intensity of tornadoes is assessed using the Enhanced
Fujita Scale. Other names for this weather phenomenon are twister,
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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Event Type
V2.0
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Description
waterspout.
Local windstorm refers to strong winds caused by regional atmospheric
phenomena which are typical for a certain area. These can be katabatic winds,
foehn winds etc.
A sandstorm/dust storm typically occurs in arid or semi-arid regions if high
wind speeds cause the transportation of small particles like sand or fine clastic
sediment by saltation and/or suspension.
A snowstorm refers to a storm, usually in the winter season, where large
amounts of snow fall. If it is a severe snowstorm that meets certain criteria,
such as strong winds, blowing snow and low or falling temperatures, it's called
blizzard.
A tidal wave/storm surge is the rise of the water level in the sea, an estuary or
lake as result of strong wind driving the seawater towards the coast. This socalled wind setup is superimposed on the normal astronomical tide. The mean
high water level can be exceeded by five and more metres. The areas
threatened by storm surges are coastal lowlands.
A glacier lake outburst flood (Jökulhlaup) occurs when a lake - dammed by a
glacier or a terminal moraine - fails. The outburst can be triggered by erosion, a
critical water pressure, a mass movement, an earthquake or cryoseism. A
jökulhlaup is a special type of a glacier lake outburst flood related to the
outburst of an ice-dammed lake during a volcanic eruption.
Industrial
accidents
Transport
accidents
Complex
emergencies
Famine/food
insecurity
Displaced
populations
Danger originating from technological or industrial accidents, dangerous
procedures, infrastructure failures or certain human activities, which may cause
the loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption or
environmental degradation.
Disaster type term used to describe technological transport accidents involving
mechanised modes of transport. It comprises four disaster subsets: accidents
involving air, boat, rail transport and accidents involving motor vehicles on
roads and tracks.
Some disasters can result from several different hazards or, more often, to a
complex combination of both natural and man-made causes and different
causes of vulnerability. Food insecurity, epidemics, conflicts and displaced
populations are examples.
Food-security emergencies are complex disasters with multiple root causes.
Severe drought and/or conflict can produce an acute food emergency,
whereas chronic food insecurity is often a reflection of poverty, a worsening
debt crisis, the economic effects at household level of the HIV/AIDS pandemic
or mismanagement or abuse of water resources. In such cases, food can be
both unavailable (insufficient production) and inaccessible (distribution
problems, beyond consumers' purchasing power).
A sudden impact such as a natural disaster or conflict triggers the displacement
of populations. We supply immediate short-term relief by providing safe water
and basic sanitation; emergency medical care A sudden impact such as a
natural disaster or conflict triggers the displacement of populations.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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The following table (Table 5) describes an example of the expected database output.
It refers to the emergency event caused by the heaviest rains and floods, which have
hit Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia (2014), killing five people, forcing hundreds out
of their homes and cutting off entire towns. During the event Bosnia & Herzegovina
and Serbia declared a state of emergency in a number of municipalities. The
dimensions of the emergency were so significant that a GLIDE number was
associated to the event. This parameter is a globally common unique ID code for
disasters and very useful for the identification of the disaster. The components of a
GLIDE number consist of two letters to identify the disaster type (e.g. FF – Flash
Flood); the year of the disaster; a six-digit, sequential disaster number; and the threeletter ISO code for country of occurrence. The GLIDE number which was included
into the Pan-European inventory cannot be considered a mandatory parameter,
because it is generated only for all new disaster events that meet the EM-DAT
criteria3.
Other parameters were classified as optional (e.g. disaster-related economic damage
estimates) since difficult to find.
Table 5: An example of Database output
Location
Country
Croatia,
Serbia,
Bosnia &
Herzegovin
a
3
Place/
Provinc
e
Balatun
Centroid
(Latitude,
Longitud
e)
44.8628,
19.3414
Time
Cross
Border
Y
Date
15/05/201
4
Disaster Information
Disaste
Crisis
r
Timefr
Generic
ame
Group
4
Natural
Event
Type
Short Description
The heaviest rains
and floods in 120
years
have
hit
Bosnia and Serbia,
killing five people,
forcing hundreds out
Floods of their homes and
cutting off entire
towns. Bosnia and
Serbia declared a
state of emergency
in a number of
municipalities.
GLIDENumber
FF-2014000059BIH
http://www.cred.be
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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People
People
Affected
Killed
40000
13
Economic
Estimated
direct Loss
Value
[€]
2.491,7M
Infrastructure
Injured
NA
Estimated
indirect
Loss Value
[€]
1.493M
16.04.2015
Displaced
2177
Settlements
affected
[ha]
Transportation
[km]
2.5
Organisations Involved
Risk Monitoring
Organisations
BIH
Armed
Forces, EUFOR,
NATO,
Red
Cross, Cantonal
and
Municipal
Authorities
Removal
Consequences
Organisations
BIH
Armed
Forces, EUFOR,
NATO,
International
Federation
of
Red
Cross,
Cantonal
and
Municipal
Authorities
7.8
Environ
ment
[ha]
Political and Social
4445
Around 90000 persons
were temporarily displaced
from their homes. Over
43000 houses and flats
were flooded and 1952
houses were destroyed
due to the landslides.
Agriculture production and
livestock depletion were
two direct consequences of
the floods.
Reconstruction Needs short Term
Activities
Financial
[€]
Reconstruction
Needs - long Term
Activiti
es
Financial
[€]
Organisations
have contributed
to the preparation
of
temporary
shelters in camps
for
displaced.
1.019,3M
They
also
provided
water
and food as well
as
immediate
psycho-social
supports.
702,5M
Summary of Crisis
Management Activity
Status of the Information Exchange
within the Crisis
Source of Information
Ministry of Security of Bosnia and
Herzegovina requested international
assistance from the Union Civil
Protection Mechanism through the
Emergency Response Coordination
Centre of the European Commission.
The involvement of different institutions
required regular information exchange and
meetings. The Government of Bosnia and
Herzegovina was in charge of coordinating
humanitarian aid at the national level. There
had been national coordination meetings on
a daily basis.
Maps, Media Sources, EC, IFRC
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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The ideal structure of the database has been then verified against the real
possibilities to collect the expected information from the selected sources. The level
of completeness of the database has been used as a success parameter of this
activity (see chapter 3.3).
In order to take the requirements mentioned at the beginning of chapter 2.2 for the
Pan-European database best into account, the selected database was implemented
in a web based geographic content manager application (ArcGIS Online 4). ArcGIS
Online is a platform for managing and sharing GIS content and for powering many
types of GIS-based applications and end-user websites. The users can connect to
the geodatabase from virtually any device to use the shared content that is managed
in the ArcGIS Online cloud as well as in an own on-premises systems.
The geodatabase is the common data storage and management framework for
ArcGIS. It combines ‘geo’ (spatial data) with the function of a ‘database’ (data
repository) to create a central data repository for spatial data storage and
management. It can be leveraged in desktop, server, or mobile environments and
allows to store GIS data in a central location for easy access and management.
With ArcGIS Online, it is possible to deploy and exploit online maps and geographic
information in general.
ArcGIS Online enables the users to conduct the following steps:

It is possible to publish maps and related information into the ArcGIS Online
platform.

It is possible to integrate external tabular data and files into your maps and
apps by uploading and styling your datasets in ArcGIS Online.

It is possible to create and share web maps on a wide range of devices

It is possible to choose, how and with whom you will share each information
product, publicly or privately, item by item.

The users can access ready-to-use maps, apps, and tools.
Therefore the ArcGIS Online platform allows fulfilling the requirements for the PanEuropean database:
4

ArcGIS Online permits to store and share information in form of a geodatabase (REQ_DB_01-02-05-06).

ArcGIS Online permits to be searchable on a geographic basis and on an
alphanumeric basis (REQ_DB_03-04).
http://www.arcgis.com
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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2.3
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Information gathering
In order to fill in the structure of the database, it had been necessary to define and
select:
 The relevant past events according to the following requirements:
 REQ_EV_01: the selected events shall be cross-border (Optional).
 REQ_EV_02: the selected events shall be preferably from the past
three years (Optional).
 REQ_EV_03: the selected events must be related to natural or manmade disasters (Mandatory).
 REQ_EV_04: the selected events must be located in Europe
(Mandatory).
 REQ_EV_05: the selected events must be documented (e.g. public
media evidences, internal reports from user organisations) (Mandatory).

For each event, the primary information source is:
o Civil protection organisations:
 Advantages: reliable information, verified, accurate
 Disadvantages: difficult to find because not public
o Public media sources
 Advantages: reliable information, verified, accurate
 Disadvantages: difficult to find because not public

For each information source, the information collection method is:
o Phone interviews
 Advantages: reliable information, verified, accurate
 Disadvantages: difficult to find because it requires the availability
of a person
o Questionnaires
 Advantages: reliable information, verified, accurate
 Disadvantages: difficult to find because it requires the availability
of a person
o Internet browsing
 Advantages: easy to find
 Disadvantages: heterogeneous information, if not official report,
unreliable information
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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The information gathering task has benefitted from the following background
knowledge and network of the involved partners:
5

SECTOR Consortium;

Long-time relationships with Civil protection users (e-GEOS);

Long-time experience in GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and
Security)/Copernicus Emergency Services (e-GEOS);

Awareness about publicly available disaster records;

Publicly available reports (e.g. EC, International Federation of Red Cross, …);

EM-DAT5, Emergency Event Database;

Copernicus Emergency Management Service activations;

External user interviews.
www.emdat.be
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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3. Results
3.1
The information collection campaign
The 45 events listed in Table 6 have been selected by the team members during the
first two months of activity according to the methodology described in chapter 2. They
are the disasters collected in the Pan-European database.
In order to simplify the reading of the table below, it contains only the fields related to
the information of the collected events (Date, Crisis Timeframe, Disaster Generic
Group; Event Type, Short Description, Place/Province, Country, Glide Number and
Cross Border).
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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Table 6: List of events
CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
DATE
15/05/2014
18/11/2014
03/06/2014
2
1
3
DISASTER
GENERIC
GROUP
Natural
Natural
Natural
EVENT
TYPE
SHORT DESCRIPTION
PLACE
PROVINCE
COUNTRY
GLIDE
NUMBER
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
Floods
The heaviest rains and floods in 120 years have hit
Bosnia and Serbia, killing five people, forcing
hundreds out of their homes and cutting off entire
towns. Bosnia and Serbia declared a state of
emergency in a number of municipalities.
Balatun
Croatia, Serbia,
Bosnia &
Herzegovina
FF-2014000059-BIH
Y
Floods
Cyclone Cleopatra passed through Sardinia on the
night of November 18th, causing severe flooding,
substantial damage to infrastructures and several
casualties across the island. The city and province of
Olbia in Sardinia's northeast were among the worst
affected areas.
Olbia
Italy
Floods
Surging rivers in the Czech Republic, Germany and
Austria caused widespread flooding in the region.
Heavy rains had swelled the Elbe, Danube and
Vienna rivers. In the Czech Republic the floods have
been affecting a number of towns and villages in both
Usti and Labem, Melnik, Prague and other areas. The
flooding prompted the evacuation of about 20000
people and the declaration of state of emergency.
Prague, Karlovy
Vary, Plzeň, Liberec,
Ústí nad Labem,
Hradec Králové,
Pardubice and
Příbram
Czech
Republic,
Hungary
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
26/59
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FL-2013000068CZE/DEU/CH
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CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
DATE
DISASTER
GENERIC
GROUP
EVENT
TYPE
06/07/1997
22
Natural
Floods
28/01/2006
2
Technological
Industrial
accidents
21/08/2007
1
Natural
V2.0
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SHORT DESCRIPTION
Southern and
Western Poland,
Czech Republic, East
The biggest flood for decades in Poland, called ‘Flood
Germany, the Northof the millennium’.
western Part of
Slovakia and the
East of Austria
03/03/2012
1
Technological
14/11/2013
2
Technological
Industrial
accidents
GLIDE
NUMBER
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
Y
Katowice
Poland
N
Warmian-Masurian
Voivodeship
Poland
N
Silesia Province,
Szczekociny
Poland
N
Poland
N
Szczekociny rail crash, head-on collision of two fast
trains: 31100 TLK "Brzechwa" PKP Intercity relation
Przemysl-Warsaw and interREGIO 13126 "Jan
Matejko" Warsaw-Cracow.
Failure of a gas pipeline in Jankowo Przygodzkie with Wielkopolska Region,
a diameter of 0.5 m. The leaking gas was completely
Jankowo
extinguished November 15 morning.
Przygodzkie
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
COUNTRY
Poland, Czech
Republic,
Germany,
Austria,
Slovakia
The collapse of the roof of an exhibition hall in
Katowice.
Storms and Storm on Mazurian District lakes, 12 degrees in 12tidal wave degree Beaufort scale, wind speed of 130 km / h.
Transport
accidents
PLACE
PROVINCE
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CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
DATE
14/06/2012
26/06/1971
26/08/1992
16/07/2001
1
2
19
11
DISASTER
GENERIC
GROUP
Natural
EVENT
TYPE
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GLIDE
NUMBER
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
PLACE
PROVINCE
COUNTRY
Tornadoes in Kujawsko- Pomorskie, Pomeranian and
Warmia-Mazury voivodeship. Basing on the damage
Storms and
scale it can be estimated that the tornado can be
tidal wave
rated as F2 in Fujita scale, which means the wind
blew at a speed of 181 to 253 km / h.
KujawskoPomorskie,
Pomeranian and
Warmia-Mazury
Poland
N
Silesia Province,
CzechowiceDziedzice
Poland
N
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Technological
Wildfire/
Urban fires
Fire at the refinery in Czechowice. Around 7:50 pm
lightning caused a tank shell burst and an oil fire in
that tank (8850 tons) and three other tanks. There
were 2 explosions. The fire was put out on June 29th
(after 69 hours), tanks smouldered till 2nd of July. Four
tanks were destroyed, that contained in total 31,080
tons of oil. The fire spread rapidly, within a radius of
250 m. The tanks with acetone, benzene, toluene,
ammonia were damaged. 22 national fire brigade
vehicles were destroyed during fire.
Natural
Wildfire/
Urban fires
The forest fire started in the middle of summer, early
in the afternoon. The cause of the event is not known.
The fire was spotted by a random person, who called
the fire- brigade. The air temperature was 34 degrees
Celsius in the shade.
Kuźnia Raciborska
Poland
N
Floods
Its cause was torrential rain and storms. High water
lasted for 2-3 days on the Vistula River. There were
also failures of hydraulic structures (e.g. interruption
of the cofferdam and, consequently, flooding large
parts of Ostrowiec)
Basin of the Vistula
River in Southern
Poland.
Poland
N
Natural
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DATE
CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
DISASTER
GENERIC
GROUP
EVENT
TYPE
SHORT DESCRIPTION
PLACE
PROVINCE
COUNTRY
22/07/2007
1
Technological
Transport
Accidents
Road accident in Vizille.Polish bus accident with
tourists.
Vizille City; Isère,
Southeast of
Grenoble
France
Y
Vistula, Odra and
Warta Rivers
Regions
Poland
Y
Dolnośląskie
Poland/
Germany
Y
GLIDE
NUMBER
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
14/05/2010
5
Natural
Floods
Flood that affected 15 of the 16 Polish regions. The
southern polish regions where damaged most. After a
few days of rain the largest rivers -the Vistula and the
Oder - swell. Floods are most likely in the regions
California, Swietokrzyskie, Podkarpackie, Lublin and
Silesia. They occur most often in the upper basin of
the Vistula and the Oder.
06/08/2010
13
Natural
Floods
Violent rain, in 60 minutes 25 litres of water per
square meter fell.. Rainfall led to a flooding. 3.500 firefighters attended the event.
19/04/2011
1
Natural
Wildfire/
Urban fires
Forest fire at border with Czechoslovakia
Głuszyca
Poland, Czech
Republic
Y
04/11/2012
2
Technological
Wildfire/
Urban fires
Large fire of commercial buildings, total area 4869
square metres. Located near to the patrol station
Cedynia
Poland
Y
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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Information gathering on past
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CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
DATE
11/04/1996
03/06/1998
12/04/1999
3
1
3
DISASTER
GENERIC
GROUP
Technological
Technological
Technological
V2.0
16.04.2015
SHORT DESCRIPTION
PLACE
PROVINCE
COUNTRY
Wildfire/
Urban fires
On April 11th, 1996 a fire broke out inside the
passenger terminal of Düsseldorf International Airport,
Germany. As of 2013, it was the worst structural fire
that has occurred in any commercial airport building
so far.
North RhineWestphalia
Germany
N
Transport
Accidents
The Eschede train disaster occurred on June 3rd,
1998 near the village of Eschede in the Celle district
of Lower Saxony, Germany, when a high-speed train
derailed and crashed into a road bridge.
Lower Saxony
Germany
N
Transport
Accidents
The line's only fatal accident occurred close to
Robert-Daum-Platz station during maintenance work
in the early morning hours of April 12th, 1999. Workers
had forgotten to remove a metal claw from the track
on completion of scheduled night work.
North RhineWestphalia
Germany
N
North RhineWestphalia
Germany
AC-2000000042-DEU
N
Germany /
Switzerland
AC-2002000394-DEU
Y
06/02/2000
2
Technological
Transport
Accidents
The Brühl train disaster happened on February 6th,
2000 in Brühl, Germany, railway station on the West
Rhine railway. A train negotiated a low speed turnout
at three times of the correct speed and derailed, killing
9 people.
01/07/2002
6
Technological
Transport
Accidents
The Ueberlingen mid-air collision occurred at 21:35
UTC on July 1st, 2002 between Bashkirian Airlines
Baden-Wuerttemberg
Flight 2937 and DHL Flight 611 over the towns of
Ueberlingen and Owingen in southern Germany
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for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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GLIDE
NUMBER
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
EVENT
TYPE
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
V2.0
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DATE
CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
DISASTER
GENERIC
GROUP
EVENT
TYPE
SHORT DESCRIPTION
PLACE
PROVINCE
COUNTRY
24/07/2010
2
Technological
Mass Panic
A crowd disaster at the 2010 Love Parade electronic
dance music festival in Duisburg.
North RhineWestphalia
Germany
Saxony, Bavaria,
Saxony-Anhalt,
Brandenburg,
Thuringia, BadenWuerttemberg
Germany,
Austria,
Slovakia,
FL-2002000467-DEU
Y
Epidemics
On May 22nd, Germany reported a significant increase
in the number of patients with haemolytic uremic
syndrome (HUS) and bloody diarrhoea caused by
Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC).
Bavaria
Germany
EP-2011000057-DEU
N
Floods
Torrential rainfall in Saxony and Bavaria (South of
Germany) caused rapid increase of river levels over
the weekend. A state of emergency has been
declared in the cities of Passau and Rosenheim. The
Bavaria flood alert service forecasts heavy rains,
affecting the Danube and Inn rivers. Other affected
states are Saxony, Thuringia and BadenWuerttemberg. Emergency and rescue efforts were
provided, and the army has been deployed to support
flood affected areas after reaching record levels of
flooding.
Saxony, Thuringia,
Saxony-Anhalt,
Brandenburg, Lower
Saxony,
MecklenburgWestern Pomerania
and SchleswigHolstein
Germany
(South and
East)
FL-2013000068-DEU
Y
06/08/2002
22/05/2011
02/06/2013
16
1
Natural
Natural
Natural
Floods
Flood of the Elbe in 2002 in Germany
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for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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GLIDE
NUMBER
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
N
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
V2.0
16.04.2015
DATE
CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
DISASTER
GENERIC
GROUP
EVENT
TYPE
SHORT DESCRIPTION
PLACE
PROVINCE
COUNTRY
07/08/2014
2
Natural
Floods
Massive rainfall in the area of Lower Silesia was a
cause of a flood that hit Bogatynia. In a couple of
hours Bogatynia was completely cut off from the rest
of the world.
Bogatynia
Poland
N
Transport
Accidents
There was a dramatic road accident in Kowiesy
(Łódzkie Voivodeship), Poland. 11 vehicles crashed
on the S8 highway on the way from Warsaw to
Katowice. There were 11 passenger cars and 2 lorries
involved in the collision caused by a woman, who
stopped on the road because of fear of the dense fog.
As a result, 3 people died and 25 were injured.
Kowiesy
Poland
N
Trzebnica
Poland
N
04/05/2014
14/07/2012
1
1
Technological
Natural
Around 5 p.m. a massive tornado hit the region of
Trzebnica, mainly the area of Tuchola Forest. The
Storms and
affected area was several kilometres long and up to
tidal wave
800 meters wide. 550ha of forest was completely
destroyed.
12/08/2011
21
Technological
Transport
Accidents
03/03/2012
2
Technological
Transport
Accidents
GLIDE
NUMBER
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
Around 4:15 p.m. a passenger train derailed near the
Baby train station. The main cause of the accident
was high excessive speed of the train when it drove
through the railroad switch.
Kiełczówka
Poland
N
Two passenger’s rails collided.
Szczekociny
Poland
N
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for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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Information gathering on past
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CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
DATE
DISASTER
GENERIC
GROUP
EVENT
TYPE
V2.0
16.04.2015
SHORT DESCRIPTION
COUNTRY
Poland
United
Kingdom,
Republic of
Ireland,
Netherlands,
Germany,
Denmark,
Faroe Islands,
Sweden,
Norway,
Poland,
Lithuania, Isle
of Man,
Belgium
Y
Cyclone Xaver was a winter storm that affected
northern Europe. Force 12 winds and heavy snowfall
were predicted along the storm's path, and there were
warnings of a significant risk of storm surge leading to
coastal flooding along the coasts of the North and
Irish Seas.
GLIDE
NUMBER
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
PLACE
PROVINCE
05/12/2013
3
Natural
Tropical
storms,
hurricanes,
typhoons
and
cyclones
18/09/2009
1
Technological
Industrial
accidents
Methane explosion in a mine.
Ruda Slaska
Poland
N
06/10/2014
12
Technological
Industrial
accidents
Methane explosion in a mine.
Myslowice-Wesola
Poland
N
31/12/2013
6
Natural
Floods
Coastal Tidal Flooding, with potential for major impact
on Belfast. In the event the tidal surge was 100mm
lower than predicted resulting in minor flooding.
Belfast City, East
Coast of Northern
Ireland
United
Kingdom
N
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for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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Information gathering on past
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CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
DATE
22/03/2013
7
DISASTER
GENERIC
GROUP
Natural
V2.0
16.04.2015
SHORT DESCRIPTION
PLACE
PROVINCE
COUNTRY
Extreme
temperatur
es
A Spring Blizzard with strong winds and heavy snow
affected much of eastern Northern Ireland. This was
particularly severe in areas of high ground above
150m above sea level. This resulted in the complete
loss of infrastructure in much of County Antrim, north
of Belfast. In a wide area of southern County Antrim
there were snow drifts of 2-3m.
County Antrim,
Northern Ireland,
Belfast City
United
Kingdom
N
Northern Ireland
United
Kingdom
Y
Newry, Northern
Ireland.
United
Kingdom
N
Strangford Lough,
Northern Ireland.
United
Kingdom
N
09/12/2010
7
Natural
Extreme
temperatur
es
From 9th-14th December there was a severe frost,
which resulted in unusually high numbers of burst of
water supply pipes. Then on December 16th, a second
more intense cold period started and lasted for 10
days. A sudden thaw took place, which resulted in
unprecedented levels of water loss across Northern
Ireland. Thousands of homes and industry were
without water supply. This included hospitals and
critical sites.
13/11/2014
2
Natural
Floods
Serve Weather. Flash Flood. As a result of heavy rain
the city centre of Newry flooded. Evacuations of 20
households took place and city centre businesses
were impacted.
10/08/2014
1
Natural
A sudden localised storm hit an International Youth
Sailing Event in Strangford Lough. The event involved
Storms and
87 yaughts each with 2 on board. All vessels
tidal wave
capsized, which resulted in the need to rescue nearly
200 young people from the water.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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GLIDE
NUMBER
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
EVENT
TYPE
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
DATE
13/01/2011
19/02/2001
30/09/2005
CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
35
220
1
DISASTER
GENERIC GROUP
Technological
Natural
Technological
V2.0
16.04.2015
SHORT DESCRIPTION
PLACE
PROVINCE
COUNTRY
Transport
accidents
Ship carryting Sulphuric Acid sank with two results:
shipping channel blocked: large volume of acid
threatened ecology.
Rhine at St.
Goarshausen
near Mainz,
RhinelandPalatinate,
Germany
Germany
Y
Epidemics
In February 2001, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth
Much of
disease spread across mainland Britain and from
Britain,
there to Northern Irealand and the Irish Republic,
Armagh,
resulting in thousands of animals being slaughtered
Northern
and incinerated and in the enforcement of restriction Ireland, and
zones, resulting in major losses to agriculture, tourism County Louth,
and both governments.
Irish Republic
United
Kingdom and
Republic of
Ireland (ROI)
Y
Transport
accidents
A bus accident that took place near the village of Old
Jezewo on the national road no. 8 from Bialystok to
Warsaw. 13 people were killed, among which 9
graduates from Bialystok. The bus driver was
overtaking another vehicle in prohibited place – the
bus violently collided with a truck coming from an
opposite direction. Before the fire rescue brigade
arrived, the bus burned.
Poland
N
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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national road
no. 8 from
Bialystok to
Warsaw
GLIDE
NUMBER
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
EVENT
TYPE
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
DATE
02/06/1994
01/11/1978
CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
1
1
DISASTER
GENERIC GROUP
Technological
Technological
V2.0
16.04.2015
SHORT DESCRIPTION
PLACE
PROVINCE
COUNTRY
Transport
accidents
Near the village of Kokoszki located 15km from
Gdansk city, there was a bus accident known as the
most tragic in Polish history. Although the bus could
carry a maximum number of 51 passengers, it was
filled with people – there were 75 people on board,
including the driver. On the straight stretch of road the
bus driver started to overtake the 'Jelcz' truck. During
this maneuver the tire snapped, the bus was pulled
over on the roadside and at a velocity of about 60
km/h hit a tree. 32 people were killed and 43 were
severely injured.
15 km from
Gdansk
Poland
N
Transport
accidents
In the early morning 2 passenger buses felt into a skid
and come down from the bridge into the Zywiec Lake.
The official cause of the accident was the drivers'
carelessness. There were 30 people killed and the
accident was known as the most tragic in the post-war
Poland.
ZywiecOczkowa
Poland
N
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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GLIDE
NUMBER
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
EVENT
TYPE
D2.1
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Information gathering on past
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According to the graphs the following graphs describe the event distribution
according to its generic group (natural/technological) and its cross border nature to
better understand the type of collected events.
Cross border
[%]
[%]
Disaster generic group
100
100
80
80
60
60
40
40
20
20
0
0
Technological
yes
Natural
Figure 5: Distribution of the collected disasters
no
Figure 6: Cross border event
Once an event was selected as suitable for the database population, the information
gathering process started according to the identified methodology. The following
table reports the SECTOR partners contributing to the information collection process
for different number of events.
Table 7 List of contributors
Name
Abbreviation
Information
Collection
N. events
ITTI SP ZOO
ITTI
8
e-GEOS SpA
EGEOS
3
Police Service of Northern Ireland
PSNI
6
WYZSZA SZKOLA POLICJI W SZCZYTNIE
PAS
10
SZKOLA GLOWNA SLUZBY POZARNICZEJ SGSP
8
STICHTING STUDIO VEILIGHEID
SSV
1
UNIVERSITAET STUTTGART
USTUTT
9
The collected results were delivered to e-GEOS in digital format for integration in the
final Pan-European database.
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for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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The delivered Pan-European database
In order to implement the final Pan-European database that fulfils the requirements
identified in the methodology, the following steps were necessary:

Step 1 - COLLECTION: information collection from partners in a digital format,
exchange format was MS Office Excel.

Step 2 – QUALITY CHECK: verification of the data collected by the team. In
particular it is necessary to verify and standardise the formats used, the
completeness of the database.

Step 3 - MERGE: merge in a single file of all collected data

Step 4 - CONVERSION: conversion to ESRI Shapefile

Step 5 - UPLOAD: content upload into ArcGIS online platform (see Figure 7).
The quality check is the step that required a great deal of effort within the task T2.1.
In particular all data collected were verified considering the completeness and the
consistency according to the structure of the database defined and widely described
above (see 2.2). For many events was necessary to standardise the information (i.e.
the currency related to economic data). In other cases the presence of the event in
other databases (e.g. EM-DAT) was verified and where possible the missing
parameters have been completed.
The activities of consistency of the collected data during the quality check have
allowed speeding up the next steps to obtain the final Pan-European inventory.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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xlsx3
Collected
Information
QUALITY
CHECK
Xlsx
Pan-European DB
16.04.2015
1. information collection from
xlsx2
xlsx1
V2.0
MERGE
CONVERSION
UPLOAD
partners in a digital
exchange format (xlsx 
MS Office Excel)
2. All collected data need
to be checked and
standardised
3. All collected data are
combined in a single file
4. All collected data are
converted to ESRI
shapefile
5. The PanEuropean
Database is
uploaded in to
WEBGIS online
platform
Figure 7: The steps necessary to deliver and share the Pan-European Database
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for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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The geodatabase was checked for completeness of the data gathered.
The graphs below report the results of this inspection. The structure of the collected
database was synthesised considering three types of data:
1. Event information;
2. Consequences of the event;
3. Crisis management and reconstruction.
It is evident that basic generic information are generally available, while there are
some data categories (i.e. economic figures) that are mostly partially available or not
available at all (apart from isolated cases).
Figure 8 underlines that all fields related to the event information (e.g. event type,
disaster generic group, etc.) are completed (for each collected event 100% of the
fields included in the geodatabase). In this regard it is important to underline that the
information concerning the GLIDE number is not applicable for all events. In fact, as
already mentioned the GLIDE number is generated only for events that meet specific
requirements. Also in this case, however, the database can be considered complete.
Because of the low completeness of some fields in the collected database, only a
sample of 10 events (with more complete information) is reported in this deliverable
(see Annex 6.1).
Completness Database Checks - Event Information [%]
SOURCE OF INFORMATION
CROSS BORDER
GLIDE NUMBER
COUNTRY
CENTROID
PLACE/PROVINCE
SHORT DESCRIPTION
EVENT TYPE
DISASTER GENERIC GROUP
CRISIS TIMEFRAME
DATE
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
[%]
Figure 8: Database checks – Event Information
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Completness Database Checks - Consequences [%]
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL
ESTIMATED INDIRECT LOSS VALIE [M €]
ESTIMATED DIRECT LOSS VALIE [M €]
ENVIRONMENT [ha]
TRANSPORTATION [km]
SETTLEMENTS AFFECTED [ha]
DISPLACED
INJURED
KILLED
PEOPLE AFFECTED
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
[%]
Figure 9: Database checks – Consequences information
Completness Database Checks
Crisis managment and Reconstruction [%]
Status of the information exchange within the Crisis
Summary of crisis management activity
Reconstruction Needs long terms - financial [M €]
Reconstruction Needs long terms - activities
Reconstruction Needs short terms - financial [M €]
Reconstruction Needs short terms - activities
Removal Consequences Organization
Risk Monitoring Organizations
0
20
40
60
80
100
[%]
Figure 10: Database checks – Crisis management and reconstruction
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The complete Pan-European database has been finally implemented as an ArcGIS
Online resource that can be displayed and queried at the following link:
http://www.arcgis.com/apps/Viewer/index.html?appid=b8e8698b07a5429ead52a505
0e80c24d
Figure 11: Example of data representation on ArcGIS Online platform
3.3
Main findings and issues encountered
Generally, detailed information and data related to the economic impact of an event
is gathered only in case of large scale events where an EU intervention is required.
However, it is clear that in the past years the number of small to medium sized
natural and technological disasters has been tremendously increasing (EM-DAT
statistics). Access to relevant data and information has been the major challenge of
this activity, partially mitigated through a network of contacts that has allowed the
SECTOR team to access information and data that otherwise would have not been
available. Therefore the heavy use of Internet sources has been necessary to
complete the task.
It becomes clear that economic data are subject to the highest difficulty grade in
terms of availability. Economic data have been gathered according to two different
types of expenditures:

Estimation of losses (immediately after the disaster);
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Estimation of reconstruction costs in the short (essential goods and services,
including critical infrastructures such as bridges, ports, airports, etc.) and
medium to long term (reconstruction of properties, not critical infrastructures,
etc.).
In general, data related to estimation of losses is available through public sources as
it has the most immediate relevance even at public opinion and media level, while
data related to the estimation of reconstruction costs is normally not available as it
needs to be calculated in a much wider time interval (years) and it is influenced by a
wider number of factors (not all reconstruction activities may be traced under the
same umbrella, so there could be a leak of data monitored and used for such
estimation).
However, data on economic and social losses is necessary to properly estimate the
consequences of natural and technological disasters and to use this data as an input
when performing any Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) related to public works and
interventions over areas highly exposed at risks. In fact, missed future losses and
expenditures generally exceed the costs of the interventions required to secure an
area and avoid, or at least reduce, disaster consequences over the territory and the
social environment.
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for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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4. Conclusion and outlook
The objective of this task T2.1 was to create a Pan-European inventory of past
critical crisis events and their consequences which will be analysed into the task
T2.3.
The need to collect a database of past critical events derives from the assertion of
importance of geographic information to support decision-making and management
of growing national, regional, and global crises due to disasters in general. In fact,
geographic information, or geospatial data, are vital to rationalise decision making for
disaster preparedness, as well as providing an objective base for vulnerability
assessment and priority setting.
The information gathering activity on past critical events and their consequences has
demonstrated to be a time and effort consuming activity since most data cannot be
accessed publicly through available data sources and is generally not at an easy
reach even for people officially involved in the Disaster Risk Management cycle.
This activity has demonstrated that there is no common and homogeneous
methodology at EU level implemented to track the consequences of natural and
technological disasters, thus preventing any reliable and consistent analysis in terms
of trends, aggregations, etc. It can be supposed that such kind of analysis, when
requested by EU bodies, are directly provided by the single Member States based on
different data sources. Nevertheless, this task highlighted the need for developing
such a common approach in order to make such data easily accessible and available
for further multi-purpose analysis (CBA, risk assessment, policy evaluation, etc.).
The collected database showed that economic data are subject to the highest
difficulty grade in terms of availability. On the other hand the data about economic
and social losses are crucial to properly estimate the consequences of nature and
technological disasters and to use this data as an input when performing any Cost
Benefit Analysis related to public works and interventions over areas highly exposed
at risks.
Disaster Risk Reduction and other related topics are indicated as top priorities by
several EU countries that have been historically affected by natural and technological
disasters (e.g. Italy, United Kingdom), however the absence of appropriate
knowledge of the consequences of past event can be considered as a significant
deficit when building policies, defining interventions and assessing results.
Future challenges are related to the re-build and maintenance of such a complete
database structure both for past and future events, defining proper methodologies
and responsibilities for data collection, store and distribution. Given the European
interest in the results of this activity, a specific EU intervention to fill this gap could be
envisaged. Development and relief agencies have long recognized the important role
played by data and information in mitigating the impacts of disasters on vulnerable
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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populations. Systematic collection and analysis of these data provides invaluable
information to governments and agencies in charge of relief and recovery activities.
Additional indications about the future outlook of this activity will be derived after the
analysis of the collected data (WP2.3). It is possible that useful indications about the
potential application of derived information from the Pan-European database could
arise.
The outcomes of T2.1 and T2.3 can support the design and the identification of
requirements for SECTOR’s Common Information Space
(1) Crisis scenarios definition in T3.1 that will specify user needs and propose a
set of scenarios from which a final one will be chosen for the demonstration of
the Common Information Space in a real life scenario.
(2) User requirements collecting and tracking in T3.3 which will collect and
formalise user requirements for the Common Information Space,
(3) Taxonomies identification and definition in T4.1 that aims to unify the
manifold vocabularies into a common taxonomy/data model that directly
reflects the shared underlying conceptualisation within crisis management.
(4) European CCM Meta-Model definition and design in T4.2 where an evolved
Collaborative Crisis Management (CCM) Meta-Model based on existing crisis
management models and processes will be defined and designed.
(5) Collaborative processes definition and design in T4.3, which will propose
common processes for multi-agency and cross-border information exchange
and collaborative tasks between crisis management organisations in Europe.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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5. References
Arctur, D.; Zeiler, M. (2004). Designing Geodatabases, Case studies in GIS data modelling.
ESRI Press, California.
Bathurst Declaration (1999). United Nations Declaration on Land Administration Systems for
Sustainable Development, UN-FIG Workshop on Land Tenure and Cadastral Infrastructure
for Sustainable Development, Bathurst, Australia.
CRED EM-DAT, Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters Emergency Events
Database. Available at: http://www.emdat.be/Database (accessed 3rd November 2014).
Guha-Sapir, D.; Hargitt, D.; Hoyois, P. (2004). Thirty years of natural disasters 1974-2003:
the numbers. UCL PRESSLES UNIVERSITAIRES DE LOUVAIN.
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (2015). Types of
disasters. Definition of hazard. Available at: https://www.ifrc.org/en/what-we-do/disastermanagement/about-disasters/definition-of-hazard/ (accessed 3rd January 2015).
Perencsik, A.; Woo S.; Booth, B.; Crosier, S.; Clark, J.; MacDonald, A. (2004). ArcGIS 9,
Building a geodatabase. ESRI Press, USA.
Rose, A.; Porter, K.; Dash, N.; Bouabid, J.;Huyck, C.; Whitehead, J.; Shaw, D.; Eguchi, R.;
Taylor, C.; McLane, T.; Tobin, L.; Ganderton, P.; Godschalk, D.; Kiremidjian, A.; Tierney, K.;
;West, C. (2007). Benefit-Cost Analysis of FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grants. In Nat. Hazards
Rev., 8(4) (pp.97–111).
SECTOR (2014). Description of Work of the European project SECTOR. FP7-Security607821.
UN - United Nations (2008). Disaster Preparedness foe Effective Response. Guidance and
Indicator Package for Implementing Priority Five of the Hyogo Framework”.
WHO - World Health Organization (2007). Risk reduction and emergency preparedness.
WHO six-year strategy for the health sector and community capacity development.
WHO - World Health Organization (2013). ERF – Emergency Response Framework.
WHO - World Health Organization (2014). Quantitative risk assessment of effects of climate
change on selected causes of death, 2030s and 2050s.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
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D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
V2.0
16.04.2015
6. Annex
6.1
The Pan-European Database – A sample of 10 events
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
47/59
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
6.2
V2.0
16.04.2015
Event Information
ID
1
2
3
DATE
15/05/2014
18/11/2014
06/08/2002
CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
2
1
16
DISASTER
GENERIC
GROUP
Natural
Natural
natural
EVENT TYPE
SHORT DESCRIPTION
PLACE
PROVINCE
COUNTRY
GLIDE
NUMBER
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
Floods
The heaviest rains and floods in 120 years
have hit Bosnia and Serbia, killing five people,
forcing hundreds out of their homes and cutting
off entire towns. Bosnia and Serbia declared a
state of emergency in a number of
municipalities.
Balatun
Croatia,
Serbia, Bosnia
& Herzegovina
FF-2014000059-BIH
Y
Floods
Cyclone Cleopatra passed through Sardinia on
the night of November 18th, causing severe
flooding, substantial damage to infrastructures
and several casualties across the island. The
city and province of Olbia in Sardinia's
northeast were among the worst affected
areas.
Olbia
Italy
Saxony,
Bavaria,
SaxonyAnhalt,
Brandenburg,
Thuringia,
BadenWuerttemberg
Germany,
Austria,
Slovakia,
Floods
Flood of the Elbe in 2002 in Germany
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
48/59
N
FL-2002000467-DEU
Y
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
ID
4
DATE
02/06/2013
V2.0
16.04.2015
CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
DISASTER
GENERIC
GROUP
EVENT TYPE
SHORT DESCRIPTION
PLACE
PROVINCE
Saxony,
Thuringia,
SaxonyAnhalt,
Brandenburg,
Lower
Saxony,
MecklenburgWestern
Pomerania
and
SchleswigHolstein
COUNTRY
GLIDE
NUMBER
Germany
(South and
East)
FL-2013000068-DEU
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
15
Natural
Floods
Torrential rainfall in Saxony and Bavaria (South
of Germany) caused rapid increase of river
levels over the weekend. A state of emergency
has been declared in the cities of Passau and
Rosenheim. The Bavaria flood alert service
forecasts heavy rains affecting the Danube and
Inn rivers. Other affected states are Saxony,
Thuringia
and
Baden-Wuerttemberg.
Emergency and rescue efforts were provided
and the army has been deployed to support
flood affected areas after reaching record
levels of flooding.
Vistula, Odra
and Warta
Rivers
Regions
Poland
Y
Y
5
14/05/2010
5
Natural
Floods
Flood that affected 15 of the 16 Polish regions.
The southern polish regions where damaged
most. After a few days of rain the largest rivers
-the Vistula and the Oder - swell. Floods are
most likely in the regions California,
Swietokrzyskie, Podkarpackie, Lublin and
Silesia. They occur most often in the upper
basin of the Vistula and the Oder.
6
07/08/2014
2
Natural
Floods
Massive rainfall in the area of Lower Silesia
was a cause of a flood that hit Bogatynia. In a
couple of hours Bogatynia was completely cut
off from the rest of the world.
Bogatynia
Poland
N
Wildfires/Urban
fires
On April 11th, 1996 a fire broke out inside the
passenger terminal of Düsseldorf International
Airport, Germany. As of 2013, it was the worst
structural fire that has occurred in any
commercial airport building so far.
North RhineWestphalia
Germany
N
7
11/04/1996
3
Technological
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
49/59
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
ID
8
9
10
DATE
03/06/1998
16/07/2001
22/03/2013
CRISIS
TIMEFRAME
[days]
1
11
7
DISASTER
GENERIC
GROUP
Technological
Natural
Natural
EVENT TYPE
Transport
accidents
V2.0
16.04.2015
SHORT DESCRIPTION
PLACE
PROVINCE
The Eschede train disaster occurred on June
3rd, 1998, near the village of Eschede in the
Celle district of Lower Saxony, Germany, when Lower Saxony
a high-speed train derailed and crashed into a
road bridge.
COUNTRY
GLIDE
NUMBER
CROSS
BORDER
[Y/N]
Germany
N
Floods
Its cause was torrential rain and storms. High
water lasted for 2-3 days, which resulted in
penetration and stopping of shafts on the
Vistula River. There were also failures of
hydraulic structures (e.g. interruption of the
cofferdam built container shavings on Świślinie
and, consequently, flooding large parts of
Ostrowiec)
Basin of the
Vistula River
in Southern
Poland.
Poland
N
Extreme
temperatures
Severe Weather Event. A Spring Blizzard with
strong winds and heavy snow affected much of
eastern Northern Ireland. This was particularly
severe in areas of high ground above 150m
above sea level. This resulted in the complete
loss of infrastructure in much of County Antrim,
north of Belfast. In a wide area of southern
County Antrim there were snow drifts of 2-3m.
County
Antrim,
Northern
Ireland,
Belfast City
United
Kingdom
N
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
50/59
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
6.3
V2.0
16.04.2015
Consequences A
CONSEQUENCES
PEOPLE
INFRASTRUCTURE
ECONOMIC
ID
People
Affect
ed
Killed
Injured
Displaced
Settlements
Transportat
affected
ion [km]
[ha]
Environment
[ha]
Estimated
Direct Loss
Value
(€ Millions)
Estimated
indirect
Loss Value
(€ Millions)
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT
8
4444.8
2491.7
1493.0
Around 90000 persons were temporarily displaced from
their homes. Over 43000 houses and flats were flooded and
1952 houses were destroyed due to the landslides.
Agriculture production and livestock depletion were two
direct consequences of the floods.
1
40000
13
N/A
2177
residential :
1.3,
industrial
1.2
2
3000
18
N/A
3000
N/A
N/A
N/A
650
N/A
N/A
3
N/A
21
N/A
43000
N/A
N/A
75000
N/A
N/A
Solidarity Fund for the repair of environment damage and
compensation for the victims.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
51/59
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
V2.0
16.04.2015
CONSEQUENCES
PEOPLE
INFRASTRUCTURE
ECONOMIC
ID
People
Affect
ed
4
600000
Killed
4
Injured
128
Displaced
100000
Settlements
Transportat
affected
ion [km]
[ha]
430000
agricultural
and forestry
land
N/A
Environment
[ha]
Estimated
Direct Loss
Value
(€ Millions)
Estimated
indirect
Loss Value
(€ Millions)
N/A
8.2
N/A
2500
Property
damage
caused by
the flood is
estimated
at 3 billion
euros
Flooding causes difficulties in providing services
in selected localities. This applies to the supply of fuel
(flooded gas stations), sewage treatment plant, provide
clean drinking water (pollution of water supply). In many
cases, floods show the complete helplessness of the local
authorities.
Complete
Flooded
destruction of
thousands
several levees
kilometres of
across the
road
country, at least a
(national,
dozen of them
provincial,
will be seriously
etc.)
damaged.
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT
Solidarity Fund.
5
N/A
29
100
30547
196.000
6
1156
familie
s
4
N/A
N/A
residential :
4,5
15km of
roads, 11
bridges
N/A
59
N/A
N/A
7
1000
17
88
N/A
N/A
N/A
3
5
N/A
N/A
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
52/59
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
V2.0
16.04.2015
CONSEQUENCES
PEOPLE
INFRASTRUCTURE
ECONOMIC
ID
8
9
10
People
Affect
ed
Killed
Injured
Displaced
295
101
194
N/A
N/A
20000
Flood area
with its
range
covered
several
provinces
N/A
200000
5
0
67
20
0
Environment
[ha]
Estimated
Direct Loss
Value
(€ Millions)
Estimated
indirect
Loss Value
(€ Millions)
N/A
5
70
75
Criminal proceeding against German Railways and
representatives of the manufacturer, Solidary Fund ,
establishment of a memorial place.
Flooded
hundreds of
miles of
roads
Flooded
hundreds of
square kilometres
of farmland,
parks
562
N/A
Loss of confidence in state authority
Main and
local roads
in affected
area.
As a result of this
event up to
18000 livestock
(farm animals)
died. This had a
huge economic
impact upon the
farming
community. The
fallen stock was
posed a public
health problem.
N/A
This event resulted in the Northern Ireland Assembly
Department responsible for farming seeking assistance
from UK military and Republic of Ireland military aircraft to
provide airlifts of feed for the surviving livestock. This had
political impact. Due to the nature of the event up to 10,000
households were confined to their homes due to the loss of
the road network.
Settlements
Transportat
affected
ion [km]
[ha]
Rural
communities
, farms and
small
villages
16
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
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53/59
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
6.4
16.04.2015
Consequences B
INVOLVED ORGANISATION
ID
V2.0
Risk
Monitoring
Organisatio
ns
1
BIH Armed
Forces,
EUFOR,
NATO, Red
Cross,
Cantonal
and
Municipal
Authorities
2
Italian, Civil
Protection,
Armed
Forces,
Italian Red
Cross,
Regional
and
Municipal
Authorities
Removal
Consequence
s
Organisation
BIH Armed
Forces,
EUFOR,
NATO,
cantonal and
municipal
authorities
Reconstruction Needs
short term
SOURCE OF
INFORMATION
Reconstruction
Needs
long term
Summary of Crisis
Management Activity
Activities
Organisations
have
provided
to
the
preparation of temporary
shelters in camps for the
displaced. They also
provided water and food.
Immediately
psychosocial supports were
provided.
Italian, Civil
Protection,
Armed Forces,
Italian Red
Reconstruction of critical
Cross,
infrastructure and roads.
Regional and
Municipal
Authorities
Financial
(€ M)
1019
100
Activities
N/A
N/A
Financial
(€ M)
702.5
Ministry of Security of Bosnia and
Herzegovina
requested
international assistance from the
Union
Civil
Protection
Mechanism
through
the
Emergency
Response
Coordination Centre of the
European Commission.
N/A
All
implemented
procedures
related to high alert level,
established crisis management
team
at
national
level
coordinated by Civil Protection
and relevant departments and
services notified. During the
emergency teams of volunteers
from various organisations were
also involved.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
54/59
Status of the
Information Exchange
within
the Crisis
The
involvement
of
different
institutions
required
regular
information
exchange
and
meetings.
The
Government of Bosnia
and Herzegovina was in
charge of coordinating
humanitarian aid at the
national level. There had
been
national
coordination
meetings
on a daily basis.
The
involvement
of
different
institutions
required
regular
information
exchange
and
meeting.
The
National Civil Protection
was
in
charge
of
coordinating
humanitarian aid at the
national level.
Database
about Threats
Other
Maps,
media
sources,
EC
EM-DAT
Maps,
media
sources,
EC
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
INVOLVED ORGANISATION
ID
3
4
Reconstruction Needs
short term
Risk
Removal
Monitoring Consequence
Organisatio
s
Evaluation
of
the nswater Organisation
levels of the
reference
Dikes, bridges, Streets,
water level,
railway lines, farmland,
weather
N/A
buildings (esp. Railway
forecast,
stations)
analysis of
aerial
photographs
(DLR)
Germany
is
supporting
research
Evaluation of projects in the
the
water areas
of
levels of the technical flood
reference
protection
Dikes, bridges, streets,
water level, (such as dike
railway lines, farmland,
weather
construction),
buildings (esp. Railway
forecast,
ecological
stations)
analysis of flood
aerial
protection and
photographs forecasting/mo
(DLR)
delling,
establishment
of
resource
quotas
Reconstruction
Needs
long term
1500
Expansion
of dikes,
re-naturation
3700
Expansion
of dikes
V2.0
16.04.2015
Summary of Crisis
Management Activity
Status of the
Information Exchange
within
the Crisis
SOURCE OF
INFORMATION
Database
about Threats
Other
700
Command managing staffs in the
districts and the Ministry of
Interior
Telephone, Email,
cellular radio
Media
sources
2700
Establishment
Interdepartmental
staff
Telephone, Email,
cellular radio
Maps,
media
sources,
EC
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
55/59
of
emergency
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
INVOLVED ORGANISATION
ID
Risk
Monitoring
Organisatio
ns
5
Minister of
Environment
, The
minister
responsible
for water
management
, National
Water
Management
, Regional
Water
Management
Boards,
Institute of
Meteorology
and Water
Management
, Polish
Geological
Institute PIG
Removal
Consequence
s
Organisation
National Fire
Service;
Voluntary Fire
Service;
Police;
Ministry od
Administrative
and
Digitalisation;
Minister of
Environment
Reconstruction Needs
short term
Reconstruction of the
critical
infrastructure;
provision
of
basic
services in the delivery
of food, drinking water,
medication, counselling,
alternative places to live,
need for money, rescue
equipment,
vaccine,
mobile
waterworks,
mobile electricity plants,
large pumps and certain
expert support.
N/A
Reconstruction
Needs
long term
Reconstruc
tion of
bridges,
overpasses
, dikes
N/A
V2.0
16.04.2015
Summary of Crisis
Management Activity
83 000 rescuers involved;
European
Community
mechanism have been activated
by Poland for the very first time.
Proper assessment and needs
definition is crucial – risk analysis
for operational planning and
resources dislocation; Updated
procedure „How to proper
receive int. assistance?”;Crisis
management council in the
headquarter of the State Fire
Service
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
56/59
Status of the
Information Exchange
within
the Crisis
SOURCE OF
INFORMATION
Database
about Threats
Strengthening the flood
system requires the
Websites,
integration of distributed
Administration
decision-making centres,
s of public
efficient
information
bodies on the
sharing
and
alert
national level
processes. The creation
(Government
of a single decisionSecurity
making centre would
Centre,
facilitate the coordination
Institute of
of activities carried out
Meteorology
by the departments,
and Water
rescue
groups
and
Management);
representatives of the
EM-DAT
governing bodies of
security.
Other
Media,
maps,
Internet
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
INVOLVED ORGANISATION
ID
Risk
Monitoring
Organisatio
ns
6
7
Removal
Consequence
s
Organisation
Institute of
State Fire
Meteorology
Service,
and Water
Volunteer Fire
Management
Brigades,
, District
various units
Disaster
of National
Recovery
Forces, Police,
Centres
Border Guard
Fire-Brigade
has to be
alerted
before the
activities are
started
New
protection
concept
Reconstruction
Needs
long term
Reconstruction Needs
short term
Reconstruction of
destroyed building
Decontamination
Terminal A and
reconstruction Terminal
B
2.3
Reconstruc
tion of
buildings
5
30
New
automatic
sprinkler,
fire
detection
and fire
alarm
systems,
building
plans for
the
volunteer
N/A
V2.0
16.04.2015
Status of the
Information Exchange
within
the Crisis
Summary of Crisis
Management Activity
The official report points out the
fact that the actions were taken
too late. The first warnings about
the forthcoming storms were sent
out by IMGW to Voivodeship and
Poviat
Disaster
Recovery
Centers on August 6th around
noon. Poviat Disaster Recovery
Centre in Zgorzelec forwarded
this information to Bogatynia
authorities about 20 minutes
later. However, any actions from
Bogatynia authorities' were taken
on the next day (August 7th)
around 8:00 a.m., minutes before
the event occurred. It was only
then when the State Fire Service
and volunteer fire-brigade were
engaged to inform local residents
about
the
threat.
The District Disaster Recovery
Centre
in
Bogatynia
was
completely cut off from the rest of
Poviat..
Crisis management
Ministry of Interior
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
57/59
in
the
SOURCE OF
INFORMATION
Database
about Threats
Other
Destroyed power and
telephone lines, mobile
network not available for
most of the time, rescue
teams
could
communicate
with
headquarters only via
military radio.
Official
report
Radio system
Media
sources,
EC
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
INVOLVED ORGANISATION
ID
Risk
Monitoring
Organisatio
ns
8
9
Removal
Consequence
s
Organisation
Reconstruction
Needs
long term
Reconstruction Needs
short term
Changes
in
the
maintenance
intervals
for
axes,
Improving
emergency
the
ICE
New bridge, train repair,
hammer, The
regular
new railway tracks
German
maintenance
railways have
predetermined
breaking
points ( Train
windows)
Minister
of
Prevent the interruption
Environment
of levees and the
, the minister
flooding of populated
responsible
areas, management of
for
water
the rescue operation,
management
organisation of the work
National Fire
,
National
of
staff
action,
Service,
Water
providing
specialists
Police,
Management
and
equipment,
Voluntary Fire
,
Regional
protection of clothing,
Service; Civil
Water
food and material aid for
Defence, Army
Management
those
affected,
Boards,
organisation
and
Institute
of
supervision
of
flood
Meteorology
plans,
and
Water
repair of embankments
Management
and
hydraulic
V2.0
16.04.2015
Summary of Crisis
Management Activity
Status of the
Information Exchange
within
the Crisis
SOURCE OF
INFORMATION
Database
about Threats
Other
fire-brigade
40
N/A
N/A
N/A
15
The mission was divided into two
sections (technical and fire),
crisis intervention teams (CIT), a
central point of inquiry was set
up.
N/A
The most difficult situation was in
the
Malopolska
province,
Podkarpackie,
Świętokrzyskie
and Silesia, where mountain
streams and rivers busted their
banks, causing flooding of
nearby sites and farms. There
has been a sharp increase in
dangerous water levels in
reservoirs,
forcing
technical
services for rapid, controlled
discharge of excess water.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
58/59
Media
sources,
pictures
Radio system, mobile
service
Information chaos
Official reports
after flood;
EM-DAT
Maps,
media
sources,
EC
D2.1
Information gathering on past
critical events and their
consequences
INVOLVED ORGANISATION
ID
Reconstruction Needs
short term
Risk
Removal
Monitoring Consequence
s
,Organisatio
Polish
engineering equipment,
ns
Organisation elimination of the effects
Geological
Institute
of
flood,;
information to the public
10
1. Met
Office.
2. Transport
NI.
1. Transport
NI.
2. Department
of Agriculture.
Remediation
6.5
Reconstruction
Needs
long term
Utilities
companies,
such as
power,
water, the
telecoms
repaired
and
restored
infrastructu
re.
Transport
Northern
Ireland
cleared
and
repaired
the road
network.
N/A
V2.0
16.04.2015
Summary of Crisis
Management Activity
As a result of the impact of the
severe weather event with
storms and heavy snow the Pan
Northern Ireland Serve Weather
Protocols were activated. The
Strategic Coordination Group
was formed with Police leading.
Measures were taken to identify
and contact vulnerable persons
and rescue trapped mortises.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme
for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 607821.
59/59
Status of the
Information Exchange
within
the Crisis
The timely and accurate
passage of information
was achieved through
face to face briefings
and shared information
platforms. The main
barriers to improving this
flow were lack of real
time
Geo
mapping.
http://www.gistrategyni.g
ov.uk/index/newsarchive/emergency_map
ping__response_to_spri
ng_blizzard_2013.htm
SOURCE OF
INFORMATION
Database
about Threats
Other
http://www.bbc
.co.uk/news/uk
-northernireland22123430 ,
http://www.bbc
.co.uk/news/uk
-northernireland21917586 ,
http://www.bbc
.co.uk/news/uk
-northernireland21916274 ,
http://www.bbc
.co.uk/news/uk
-northernireland21900756
Maps,
media
sources,
etc.