Hurricane Related Coastal Flooding in the Province of Ciego de Avila, Cuba: Hazard, Vulnerability and Risk Study

Abstract

AbstractThe province of Ciego de Avila has been impacted by hurricanes of different intensity since the end of the 20th Century. The most severe impacts have taken place during the last forty years. Hurricanes Kate (1985), George (1998), Ike (2008) and Irma (2017) are just four remarkable examples; the latter was a cat 5 in the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The aforementioned hurricanes and others have caused coastal flooding in both, the northern and southern coasts of the said province. Modeling coastal flooding as a natural phenomenon implies a complex research process, where risk areas, with emphasis in the most sensitive ones, have been spatially determined (Júcaro and Jagüeyal on the southern coast and Punta Alegre on the northern coast). The methods used to assess hazard, and the methodology to estimate risk are addressed in this work. Vulnerability values are also included, as they encompass critical factors upon which human beings may influence to minimize hurricane related risks; thus making possible the improvement of Disaster Contingency and Recovery Plans, aimed at preventing or mitigating social and economic damages. This is precisely the goal of this scientific output. Our results may be easily replicated in other places of Cuba, or even extrapolated to the island states of the Caribbean region.KeywordsCoastal floodingHurricanesHazardVulnerabilityRisk