WORLD METEOROLOGICAL DAY 2022

Disaster Resilience is "The Wealth-of-The-Nation".

Satellites, Radars, Seismographs, Buoys, etc. are considered as ‘Critical-Life-Saving-Tools’, in the Early Warning Systems. These tools are very sophisticated equipments harnessed with sensors, cameras, antenas, scanners, etc. All these ‘Critical-Life-Saving-Tools’ require well qualified and trained personnel for their operations.

The First ‘Mega and Deadly Flash Flood’ occurred on 30 March 2013 in Mauritius, when 11 innocent citizens lost their life. It should be noted that, I in my capacity of Predicting Natural Calamities had Alerted the Mauritius Meteorological Services (MMS), regarding the oncoming Flood 10 days before the Disaster. Moreover, I also requested the Speaker of the National Assembly-Razack Peeroo to assemble all the Policy Makers to attend to my presentation on the oncoming Flood of 30 March 2013. Unfortunately, he did not listen to me and 11 deaths took place. NASA had lso confirmed my Prediction by sending a Satellite Imagery of the ''Marine Strato Cumulus Clouds'' which were moving at about 2 km from the Earth Boundary from Eastern Africa and Northern Madagascar towards South-West of Mauritius. These made landfall on Signal Mountain mainly causing localized Flash Flood with 152.2 mm of Rainfall within 1.5 hours and eventual Mega Disasters.

Just two days before that Disastrous Event, I wrote to the WMO, Geneva by stating that out of the 54 Member States of WMO in Africa, 17 of them, including Mauritius, do not seem to provide adequate information/warnings to their respective population. After an subsequent survey made by WMO, it was discovered that more than 57 out of the 193 Member States are in this category. Many of these have not invested in the ‘Critical-Life-Saving-Tools’. Madagascar and Comoros, Botswana are vivid examples. All these are “Country-Driven-Mechanisms’’ which must be applied in the ‘Putting-People-First’ concepts. In default, Loss of lives, of livelihood, of economic progress and of infrastructure are such miseries which engulf the populations.
In 2015, I wrote to WMO suggesting the revival of the International Cloud Atlas, as the guidelines shown therein form an important part of Traditional, Idigenous Local Knowledge/Local Practices (TIK/LP). The WMO decided to review and present a New Version of the Atlas. The reason behind my suggestions was that Observation of Clouds from the ground is a ‘Critical-Life-Saving-Tool’. It is Complementary to Scientific Forecast of Heavy Rains, Floods, Cyclones, Droughts, Hailstorms, etc. The WMO agreed to this Early Warning System.
13 March 2022 marks another sad Flood Event in Mauritius with 111 mm of Rain within 3 hours. The issue was that people have constructed houses and commercial buildings on the natural flow of rain water. The reason behind this is that the Ministries and Municipal Council had granted Morcellment and Building permits for the purposes. The 2 feet of muddy flows of water overflowed the main road invading the neighbouring residential buildings. About a dozen cars which were on the roadside of residences were also carried away and eventually damaged. The adjacent Latanier River had also carried torrents of muddy water causing horrible erosions of the banks and the nearby bridge. International researchers have reported that hardly 10% of the funds earmarked by financers are really used in projects.
             


Geostationary Satellite Meteosat -7 belonging to EU has been replaced by Meteosat-8 in 2016. Yet, there are some delay in the Imageries display, which are not providing on real-time.  
The Doppler Radar was fixed on the flank of Trou-aux-Cerf crater in March 2019. Calibration and training of personnel do not appear to be perfect.

In addition, the first Nano Satellite of Mauritius MIR SAT 1 has been launched jointly by the International Space Station and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) programme at around 03.15 pm (Mauritian Time) on Tuesday 22 June 2021. Stationed at about 420 km altitude, this Tool will help much in Disaster Management and other uses for Sustainable Development Goals. The question is whether the prevailing series of Flash Floods are being detected by MIR SAT 1 and Action being taken at the Real Time. The Response Teams arrived after 1-2 hours. 
DISASTER RESILIENCE
  1. The first fact is that the Mauritius Meteorological Services did publish the Flood Warning beforehand as far as the Flash Flood of 13 March 2022 was concerned;
  2. The second fact is that the people do not have any knowledge regarding the Impacts of such Natural Disasters WHICH ARE PREVAILING WITH INCREASED fREQUENCY and INTENSITY;
  3. The National Disaster Management Centre, previously ‘foetus-like’, is still operating on reactive and ad-hoc bases;
  4. Another fact is that the Role of the Media is also questionable, as they are notorious in ‘Dissecting, Distorting, Digressing and Delaying’ (DDDD) Alerts and Warnings to the population and
  5. The Policy Makers of almost all countries are Amateurs and Part-Timers with very little knowledge on Disaster Management. So, education is non-existent in the Republic of Mauritius.
My International Campaign on ‘Disaster Resilience’ at the several Meteorological Stations and Disaster Management Centres, in Schools, Colleges and Universities in India and Nepal during 2017-2019 has been very fruitful. The DGs of all Delhi, Kolkatta, Puna, Chennai, Shimla, Patna and Kathmandu were much agreeable on my campaign. Many explained to me how the Media disseminates Weather Bulletins while ‘Dissecting, Distorting, Digressing and Delaying’ them. I further, gave the Scientists an example how to provide information to the Media by not making a show out of the interaction with them. Moreover, I explained how I am Skilled in Traditional, Indigenous Local Knowledge/Practices (TILK/P
The horrific Floods which happened in Germany, France and elsewhere last year the Warnings did not reach the population on time, according to reports. It means that there were no Early Actions taken for the Safety and Protection of the respective populations. The main culprits are therefore the Policy Makers who try to become wise after the events.

The WMO is hence requested to provide training, world wide, to all the Media and Stakeholders in Disaster Resilience which I qualify as ‘The Wealth-of-The-Nation.’


The theme of the World Meteorological Day-23 MARCH 2022 is: “EARLY WARNING AND EARLY ACTION.’’  


WMO Geneva:

[[[Weather, climate and water extremes are becoming more frequent and intense in many parts of the world as a result of climate change. More of us are exposed than ever before to multiple related hazards, which are themselves evolving as a result of population growth, urbanization and environmental degradation.


Forecasts of what the weather will BE are no longer enough. Impact-based forecasts that inform the public of what the weather will DO are vital to save lives and livelihoods. Yet one in three people are still not adequately covered by early warning systems.


Greater coordination between national meteorological and hydrological services, disaster management authorities and development agencies is fundamental to better prevention, preparedness and response.


COVID-19 has complicated the challenges facing society and weakened coping mechanisms. The pandemic has also highlighted that, in our inter-connected world, we need to embrace a truly multi-hazard, cross-border approach to make progress towards global goals on climate action, disaster risk reduction and sustainable development.


Being prepared and able to act at the right time, in the right place, can save many lives and protect the livelihoods of communities everywhere, both now and in the future.


World Meteorological Day 23 March 2022 therefore has the theme Early Warning and Early Action, and spotlights the vital importance of Hydrometeorological and Climate Information for Disaster Risk Reduction.]]]

WMO Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes (1970–2019) (WMO-No. 1267)


[[[ Between 1970 and 2019, there were more than 11 000 disasters attributed to weather, climate and water-related hazards, which accounted for just over 2 million deaths and US$ 3.64 trillion in losses, according to new data presented in this WMO Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes.

Economic losses are mounting as exposure increases. But, behind the stark statistics, lies a message of hope. This second edition of the WMO Atlas shows that implementation of multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWSs) has led to a significant reduction in mortality. Quite simply, we are better than ever before at saving lives.

WMO is playing a pioneering role in promoting impact- based forecasts that inform the public of what the weather will do as well as what it will be and in fostering greater coordination between national meteorological services and their counterparts in disaster management agencies. This is leading to better prevention, preparedness and response.


But much more remains to be done. There are severe gaps in weather observations, especially in Africa and island states, which undermine the accuracy of early warnings locally and globally. Additionally, only half of 193 WMO Members have multi-hazard early warning systems. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (Sendai Framework) recognizes the significant benefits of MHEWSs by incorporating them into one of its seven global targets: “Substantially increase the availability and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessments to people by 2030”.


Much has evolved since the production of the first edition in 2014 of the WMO Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate, and Water Extremes, which provided an analysis of the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters’ (CRED) Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT). For this second edition, WMO set the bar even higher, disaggregating the data further down to the hazard level for more granularity. It was paramount that WMO, a scientific organization, present statistics on the exposure and impacts that can and should be used as a basis for capacity development, policy development and decision-making to protect lives and livelihoods.


This report reveals a few key lessons learned during the past 50 years. These include:

. Review hazard exposure and vulnerability considering a changing climate to reflect that tropical cyclones may have different tracks, intensity and speed than in the past.

. Strengthen disaster risk financing mechanisms at national to international levels, especially for Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States and Territories.

• Develop integrated and proactive policies on slow-onset disasters such as drought.


The WMO Cataloguing of Hazardous Weather, Climate, Water, and Space Weather Events is also introduced. When fully implemented, this will strengthen the statistical basis for national development, planning and prevention and provide a solid foundation for understanding hazard exposure and impacts from national to global levels.

The number of weather, climate and water extremes are increasing and will become more frequent and severe in many parts of the world as a result of climate change. The WMO community is therefore striving to increase capacities to identify and reduce the risks associated with such extremes and to strengthen the early warning systems for these hazardous events.

I want to thank our partners, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the World Health Organization, as well as the authors and contributors. I would also like to thank CRED for working with us during the analysis phase.

The WMO Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes provides invaluable insight and important information on weather, climate and water-related hazards and their impacts as we all strive to achieve the targets of the Sendai Framework.

Prof. Petteri Taalas

Secretary-General.]]]


https://public.wmo.int/en/resources/world-meteorological-day/world-meteorological-day-2022-early-warning-early-action.

Please, Keep Watch for next Update soon.

PKANHYE.      First Uploaded: 10.50 am TUESDAY 22 MARCH 2022.

Satellite Animation