Effects of FloodingEffects of flooding on people are:i) demographicii) economiciii) social

Case Study: Venezuela 1999

DEMOGRAPHIC EFFECTS: According to the United Nations the death toll is now estimated at 30,000. It also reports that some 600,000 persons have been affected by the floods and ensuing mudslides.

Demographic Effect – National Scale: 75% of the 23 million population lives in this densely populated area

One portion of the state quickly recovered and normal activity resumed. First were the cities of Maiquetia, home to the country's main airport, and La Guaira, the largest port. Then came the smaller towns, many of which are dedicated to tourism.

Demographic Effectat Regional Scale

'The town doesn't exist anymore'The worst flooding was in the state of Vargas, just north of the capital Caracas, where authorities believe many people are buried beneath mud, boulders and debris. "The town doesn't exist anymore," said Gabriela Gonzales, 22, a resident of Carmen de Uria in Vargas.

16000 deaths ?30000 deaths ?

At least 500 of the town's 5,000 residents died in one colossal rainstorm on 15 December. (10% death toll?) Most are still buried in the mud and sand heaped up by the sea, alongside the remains of some 500 of the 800 homes that used to make up Carmen de Uria.

DemographicEffects – at a more local scale

Economic Effects:Plantations, roads and highways are blocked or destroyed. Airports were closed to commercial flights for more than a week. Damage estimates are several billion dollars - Material losses from the catastrophe amounted to $4 billion ... around 4% of Venezuela's gross domestic product.

Airport used in rescue efforts

Floods dash hopes for Venezuelan economic recovery: Officials estimate that the costs of reconstruction following Venezuela's disastrous floods will reach $15bn and take many years.

Venezuela is Oil Rich and can be argued as a MEDC or an LEDC but the flood damage costs reduces their economic growth

Flash flood damage halted operations at the Maiquetía seaport and hampered efforts to bring in emergency supplies immediately after the disaster. Some containers carrying hazardous materials were washed into the sea.

Flash floods damaged hundreds of containers at the seaport in Maiquetía. Lost production, lost trade, costs of replacement. Costs of rebuilding the port.

Hundreds of landslides destroyed or damaged sections of the coast road near Los Camuri. Plantations, roads and highways are blocked or destroyed. This disrupted trade.

Naiguata: This pleasure-boat marina was filled with sediment by debris flows and flash floods.

Economic effect – insurance claims and reduced tourismSocial Effect – loss of leisure / inconvenience to wealthy.

Social Effects – immediate Large numbers are missing and presumed dead. More than 400,000 people are homeless. At least 600,000 are affected by the floods.About 90,000 homes are destroyed. Entire villages have been buried in mud, rocks and debris, up to the height of the street lights in some cases. Shelter, food, water, and medicinal supplies are desperately needed

Social Effect – need for international aid

2000 litre water tanks provided by the American Red Cross arrive on a military air transport.

"We have no mattresses. We have no food. We have no water," said 66-year-old Luisa Estebez, who cried when she first saw a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter hovering above Rio Chico, a small farming town on the coast.

Social Effects- Short / Medium TermThere is a threat of disease from broken sewers and contaminated water.President Hugo Chavez has urged people not affected by the floods to open their doors to refugees, as emergency shelters in Caracas are overwhelmed.

Cholera is spread by contaminated water and food. Sudden outbreaks, follow a disaster, usually caused by a contaminated water supply

Social Effects – longer term:Housed temporarily in a multistorey parking garage in the capital, Caracas, she is just one of tens of thousands now dependent on government help. But the government is determined to turn catastrophe into opportunity. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to engineer a massive and permanent shift in the population away from the crowded and vulnerable Caribbean coast into the virtually empty interior.

However, five years later, just essential repairs have been made to keep the state alive. Promised dwellings became slums and every time it rains, afflicted residents put their trust in the Lord.

Social Effects – Longer Term 2006

Canalization of the rivers that come from the Ávila mountain is pending. The use of the region as a tourist destination has not been materialized.

Long Term Effects: Social Effects – unrest: This picture was taken a year and a half after the event, and after millions and millions of cubic meters of mud and debris had been removed.  Everything in the area of the picture below was probably under five to ten meters of mud.

Social /Economic Effects:

Debris flow and flash flood damage to Universidad Simón Bolívar campus, located on alluvial fan at canyon mouth. Education affected : Long Term

Will it happen again? Inadequate responses. There are two types of reservoirs: open and closed, the first to accumulate sediment as normal flows of water pass and the second are like teeth to stop sediment passing and need to be cleaned in exceptional rainfalls, especially when mud is carried along ... we made initial designs in reinforced concrete but Corpovargas has changed many of the designs."

Pyschological scarring

Long Term Social Effect