Example%20of%20response:%20Belarus%20experience%20in%20response%20to%20floods

1
Example of response Belarus experience in
response to floods

• Mikhail Kalinin Workshop
  Water and Adaptation to Climate Change
  Joining Efforts to
  
  Adapt
• 
  
  1-2 July 2008 Amsterdam

2
Flood frequency

• catastrophic and outstanding floods were observed
  in Belarus
• in 1845- in Pripyat river
  (flood frequency once in 600 years)
• in 1931 in Western Dvina,
  Dniepr, Berezina and Sozh rivers,
• 
  (flood frequency once in 300 years)
• in 1958 in Niemen and Schara
  rivers
• Outstanding floods took place in
• Western Dvina river -
  in 1878, 1929, 1941, 1951, 1956,
• Niemen river -
  in 1886,
  1931,
• Muchavets river -
  in 1974,
  1979,
• Dniepr, Berezina rivers -
  in 1908, 1956, 1958,
• Sozh river
  in 1956, 1958, 1962, 1970,
• Pripyat river in 1888, 1895,
  1900, 1932, 1958, 1974, 1979, 1999.

3
Floods and high waters

• Floods causing huge damage in Belarus river
  basins take place once in 4-5 years over the last
  period. In 1974 direct damage from flood in
  Polessie region reached the amount of 173
  million US dollars.
• 400 thousand ha of land were covered with water,
  640 km of the electric lines were ruined, 674
  settlements were left without electricity for a
  long period, 453 livestock farms, 246 km of the
  roads were destroyed, 2.8 thousand of houses
  were ruined
• Great damage was caused by the summer flood in
  1993. 10 thousand of houses were flooded for a
  long period, around 200 thousand ha of crops,
  over 30 thousand ha of potatoes were damaged. 10
  bridges and 150 sections of the communication
  lines were destroyed. 400 settlements and 160
  livestock farms were left without electricity.
  Damage constituted 100 billion US dollars.
• Similar high waters take place regularly
  especially in floodplains and cause great damage
  to the economy.

4
Transboundary rivers

• Flood situation is aggravated
  in the south of the country by the absence of the
  schedule of the maximum flow quantity and
  impossibility to use water reservoirs placed in
  the Ukraine territory.
• In the river basin of Goryn and
  Styr rivers, starting from the Ukraine and going
  to the River Pripyat in Polessie region, 5
  biggest water reservoirs are located with total
  capacity of 1695 million m3.
• Water level in these reservoirs
  fully depends on the water level of the Goryn
  river in the area of Stolin and David-Gorodok
  town. To regulate the situation a special
  schedule for the flood should be developed
  between 2 countries (Belarus and the Ukraine).

5
Examples of emergency situation liquidation at
flood and high water

• Activities in liquidation of flood consequences
  are conventionally divided in 3 stages
• First stage
• - emergency situation forecasting and
  development of the activities to mitigate them
• early warning of the emergency situation units,
  managers of the establishments, members of the
  Emergency Situation Commission, officers in the
  army troops, population
• realization of the initial actions to mitigate
  the losses and damage (reinforcement of the dams
  and bridges), to put the rescue troops and
  technical equipment on alert, to define the
  evacuation routes.
• Second stage
• To carry out actions to the population rescue,
  evacuation of the medical and childrens
  establishments, population, livestock, different
  values
• -to provide population with food-staff,
  restoration of the ruined communications water,
  heating, electricity, communication, roads and
  rail-roads, bridges.
• Third stage
• - restoration of housing
• - reestablishment of social sphere objects
  heating and electricity lines
• harvesting
• - reestablishment of roads and bridges.

6
Examples of emergency situation liquidation at
floods and high water continued

• Common activities of the
  Ministry for Emergency Situations during last
  flood
• In Drogichin region
• - breach of the dam in Zhirovsky canal was
  liquidated near lake Beloe (settlements
  Malinovka, Svaryn, Veliki Les were protected
  from flooding)
• - 3 dams of the bypass canals from the Ukrainian
  side were reinforced which prevented from
  flooding of the 2 settlements
• In Luninets region
• -reinforcement of the paving of
  Luban-Ostrovo-Namokrovo road during 6 days
  provided communication between settlements of
  Namokrovo and Ostrovo
• reinforcement of dams in the area of settlements
  Grjada, Lachva, Zaproje prevented from flooding
  of the 7 settlements
• reinforcement of the 4 street paving prevented
  from flooding of the whole settlement (only 79
  houses were flooded out of 634).
• In Stolyn region
• 27 settlements were covered with flood but
  activities of the emergency situation units
  prevented 15 settlements from flooding
• bridges in the settlements of Rubel and
  Korotichi were protected from destruction by
  demolition of the ice in the river

7
Lessons learned

• Designed climate warming and national economic
  growth in the river valleys will lead to the
  increase in floods with no doubt. In this regard
  it is necessary to strengthen the research
  activities and management towards the flood
  prevention. Flood prevention actions can reduce
  the damage cost by 50-70 times.
• The analysis of the existing flood
  prevention system in the Pripayt floodplain, the
  experience of the application of the system, the
  result of the snow-melt flood in 1999 proved the
  following application of pure engineering
  methods does not ensure sufficient damage
  reduction.
• Alongside with engineering methods
  (flow regulation by constructing of dams,
  channels etc.) non-engineering ones should be
  applied.
• It means to develop economic and legal acts
  specific for the flood-dangerous areas. This can
  be total or partial prohibition to carry out
  economic activities which can lead to the flood
  reinforcement or activities which can lead to the
  flow decrease.
• Engineering constructions should be
  effective but should lead to the minimum
  disturbance of the environment while building.

8
Lessons learned - continued

• When developing the flood protection
  actions in the river valleys the whole area
  should be taken into consideration not only
  specific parts, because local flood protection
  actions without the total flood picture in the
  river valley may sufficiently deteriorate the
  situation and cause greater damage.
  
• When exploiting the flood-dangerous
  areas in the river valleys detailed feasibilities
  should be elaborated to achieve the maximum
  advantages and sufficient flood decrease.
• Solution of this problem could not be
  achieved without further development of the
  estimation methodology of damage caused by flood.
  Estimation of the flood damage play am
  important role.
• Assessment in the actual and post accidental
  losses during the flood can promote to choose the
  optimum variant of actions in prevention and
  elimination of the flood and damages. Assessment
  of damage is very important for the environmental
  expediency and efficiency of the engineering
  protection systems alongside with insurance of
  population and enterprises. Efficient flood
  insurance programme, both obligatory and
  voluntary forms, can be the best tool in
  regulating of land use in flood-dangerous areas.
  

9
Lessons learned - continued

• It is necessary to register the
  flow in the large amount of tributaries (from the
  Ukrainian side). Newly established water stations
  which were set up after 1999 flood in the rivers
  of Styr, Tsna, Slovechna can not ensure the
  requested tasks.
• Much attention should be paid to the early
  warning of the population, it is necessary to
  rise the awareness of the population about the
  flood, its consequences and prevention actions.
  In the flood-dangerous regions the public
  authorities and population should be aware of
  their activities and responsibilities during the
  flood period and afterwards.
• Specific flood-plains maps should be created
  with flood and high water borders of various
  water levels. Special attention should be paid
  to artificial modification of the flow formation
  conditions which can influence hydrological and
  hydraulic flow parameters, development of the
  management strategy which can minimize the
  negative flood effects and can define the ways of
  effective use of the floodplains.
• .

10
Recommendations

• National strategy on minimizing flood damage
  under climate change should be based on the
  world experience. It is necessary to create the
  following
• Develop common state policy in the sphere of
  flood protection, create mechanism of its
  implementation, define priorities and
  responsibilities at all the levels, create common
  financial state system for flood-protection
  actions
• Develop and reinforce regulatory mechanism for
  economic use of the flood-dangerous areas
• Improve monitoring system of forecasting of
  floods. Restore the hydro-meteo-observation
  network
• -Develop scientific and information ensuring of
  the flood-protection actions

11
Recommendations continued

• Improve international cooperation in
  the transboundary river basins, develop
  flood-protection actions in cooperation with all
  relevant water objects. Cooperation should be
  installed on the ministerial and other
  administrative levels in agriculture, forestry,
  transport, environment, public health.
• Inter-state authorities should
  develop a joint long-term strategy of flood
  prevention which would involve all transboundary
  basin partners. It would lead to the development
  of a joint Action Plan, minimization of the
  flood damage, development and improvement of the
  flood forecasting and early warning systems,
  improvement in the international cooperation in
  the basins of the transboundary regions.