NEWSLETTERNo. 2 – December 2011

ASIAN NETWORK ON DEBRIS FLOW (ANDF)

Compiled and sent out by editor Aaron Guoand co-editors Kaesorn Jumpa and Winai Wangpimool

Please send your contributions/ information for next issue(s) of ANDF Newsletterto mhsp@imde.ac.cn & sblong2003@yahoo.com.cn.

Tick TockBy Joanna Fuchs

I’m writing this in a state of shock,Watching the clock—tick tock, tick tock,Advancing, approaching, relentlessly,

A brand new year; Oh, can it be?

The calendar says the same thing, too;Time races, vanishes for me; Boo hoo!

No, wait! If time flies, I’m having fun!A year of fun! It’s gone! It’s done!

I now embrace the blur of time,Because it simply means that I’m

Too busy with pleasure, joy, delightTo mourn the passing days’ swift flight.

So I’m wishing you fast, happy days,Pleasuring you in myriad ways,Filled with happiness and cheer,

Oh Happy, Happy Bright New Year!

New year, same goal - Joe King

Let our New Year's resolution be this: we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finestsense of the word. - Göran Persson

You are invited to the festival of this world and your life is blessed.- Vern McLellan

What the New Year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the New Year. - Rabindranath Tagore

In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth, rather than a reason for destruction. - Audre Lorde

This issue:New Year Rhymes…p.1Work Report - A Summary…p.2A Notice of 2012 International Debris Flow Workshop…p.3Academic activities in 2011 and 2012…p.4Flood in Thailand and Mudflow in Kashmir...p.5Hazard Events in Asia…p.6Debris Flow Control System Introduction…p.7

Mission of ANDFTo promote Asian cooperation, ANDF may:

Organize international seminars, workshops and conferences;

Promote research and technical training programmes;

Publish newsletters and other publications;

Collaborate with other organizations with similar objectives; and

Others

Work Statement — A Summary

The ANDF shall be a non-governmental, non-political, non-profit institution at all times, free from racial, gender, or national prejudice. The objectives of the ANDF shall be:

To strengthen the exchange and cooperation between debris flow scientists in AsiaTo disseminate the scientific knowledge of debris flow in Asia To promote the debris flow research and hazards mitigation technology in Asia

The preparation group established in 2010 will continue to work with the secretariat to serve as a catalyst to bring together a wide range of private entities into a regional partnership for action. The partnership will encompass private business, both large and small, multi-regional and local organizations. It aims to improve the debris flow knowledge, to a d v a n c e m o n i t o r i n g a nd c o n t r o l o fdebris flow hazards.

Work Report — A Summary

What we have done - A reportThe 2012 Internat ional Debr is F low Workshop, August 11-12, 2012, is undersmooth preparing.

The 8th Seminar on Mountain Disasters and Environmental Protection across Taiwan strait and actives for Celebrating the 15th Anniversary of DPRC, NCKU, Taiwan, China were held to strengthen the communicationand exchange in Asia.

We helped announce the 5th International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mit igation: Mechanics, Prediction and Assessment June 14-17, 2011 University of Padua, Italy; more than 20 ANDF membersattended the conference.

We published newsletters in this June and December. The manuscripts submitted for the 2010 International Debris Flow Workshop were peer reviewed and published on the Journal of Mountain Sciences (Volume 8Number 4, 2011).

We publicized ANDF and got support from more than 80 scientists in Asia. Furthermore, a cooperative relationship with ICIMOD, WASER, WASWAC, and other global and loca l o rgan iza t ions has been bu i l t .

Meanwhile, ANDF members gave advice to the government, and contributed to thenational hazards mitigation in each country.

Introduction2 0 1 2 I n t e r n a t i o n a l D eb r i s F l ow

Workshop will be held in Chengdu, on 11-12 August 2012. The workshop will provide a forum for debris-flow researchers to exchange ideas on how to cope with debris-flow hazards using the most advanced, state-of-the-art methodologies in mechanics as well as in hazard prediction and risk assessment. How to strengthen the international cooperation of debris-flow research and mitigation is the other focus ofthis workshop.

This is the second International Debris Flow Workshop, with the first one that took place in 2010 in Chengdu. This series of workshop will be held every two years.

Topic of this workshopAll abstracts and reports submitted to the

workshop are expected to address timely issues on disaster caused by debris flows, debris avalanches, mudflows, lahars, hyper concentrated flows, debris floods, and the like. How to strengthen the international cooperation of debris-flow research and mitigation is another focus of this workshop. Topics of interest in technical sessionsinclude, but are not limited to:

1. Formation mechanics of debris flows 2. Numerical modeling of debris flow3. Debris-flow experiments4. Assessment of debris-flow hazards and risk5. Flied observations and measurements of debris flows 6. Debris-flow monitoring and alert systems7. Structural and non-structural debris-flow countermeasures8. Relationship between debris flow, human activity and eco-environment9. International cooperation mechanism of debris-flow research and mitigation.

2012 International Debris Flow Workshop, August 11-12, 2012 - A Notice

ManuscriptsAuthors can send their manuscripts to

the secretariat before 31 May 2012. The manuscripts in accord with the workshop topics will be recommended to Journal of Mountain Sciences (SCI expanded), International Journal of Sediment Research (SCI expanded), and Frontiers of Earth Science in China. The peer-review and final decision will be conducted by relatededitorial office independently.

Conferences/Meetings/Workshops in 2011

CL-CGS Seminar on Geo-hazards February 20-25, 2011, Xi`an, ChinaThe 14th Asian Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, May 23-27, 2011, Hong Kong, China

The 5th International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation, June 14-17, 2011, Universityof Padua, ItalyThe 8th Seminar on Mountain Disasters and Environmental Protection across Taiwan strait, July 27-30, 2011, Urumqi, China

International Symposium on Sediment Disasters under the Influence of Climate Change and Tectonic Activity (2nd), September 15-16,2011, Hokkaido University, Japan

5 th I n te rna t iona l Confe rence on F lood Management (ICFM5), September 27-29, 2011,Tokyo, Japan

G1：The 2nd Internat ional Workshop on Multimodal Sediment Disaster – Asian Cloud Network on Disaster ResearchG2：2011 International Symposium on Natural Disaster Prevention – Coping with Extreme Flood and Sediment-related DisastersG3：The 7th Taiwan-Japan Joint Seminar on Natural Hazard Mitigation in 2011 – Typhoon MORAKO & 311Earthquake in Japan—— Actives for Celebrating a 15th Anniversaryof DPRC, NCKU, Taiwan, China

Upcoming:Academic Activities in 2012

Interpraevent 2012 – 12th Congress, April23-26, 2012, Grenoble, France

2012 International Debris Flow Workshop, August 11-12, 2012, Chengdu, China

International Symposium on Earthquake-induced Landslides, November 7-9, 2012, Kiryu, Japan

2nd In te rna t iona l Con fe rence on Mountain Environment and Development, ICMED, Chengdu, October 15-19, 2012,Chengdu, China

Academic Activities in 2011 and 2012

Debris-Flow Hazard Events in Asia in 2010 and 2011

By 19 September 2010, at least 63 people had been killed from flooding and landslides innorthern India.

Typhoon Megi triggered deadly Taiwan landslides, killing three people and leaving six more missing on 23 October, 2010.

The Low Pressure Area (LPA) which prevailed since January 31, 2011 to February 4, 2011 brought widespread rains over Visayas and Mindanao and landslides in some places in Philippines, over 20 people were dead, 66 were injured.

At least three people had been killed and 21 more were missing after a landslide struckhomes and destroyed mining tunnels in Philippines on 22, April, 2011.

16 people were buried by the Malaysia Orphanage Landslide in on 21, May, 2011.

At least 15 people were killed on 1 July 2011 after hours of steady downpours triggered a mudslide at Batali Hill in Chittagong, in southeastern Bangladesh.

Landslides and debris flow triggered by monsoon rains on 15, July, 2011 in Nepal, killedsix people, and buried 10 others.

The landslide caused by torrential rain crashed into a South Korean mountain resort east of Seoul early on 27 July 2011, destroying four buildings and killing at least six people.

Typhoon Muifa affected in Regions I, III, IV-A, VI and NCR of Philippines, causing floods and landslides. By 28, July, 2011, 84 people died and 53 were injured, thousands ofhouses were damaged and more than one million people were affected.

The village in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan was hit by mud flood on 30 July 2011, 466 dead, 756 injured and resultantly 129 households got completely destroyed.

Mud flow hit Leh, Kashmir on 6th August, 2011. At least 193 died and 200 people werereported missing and thousands more were rendered homeless.

Seven were killed in a landslide in Cameron Highlands, Pahang State, Malaysia on 7 August 2011.

At least five people were killed and 30 others were missing because of a landslide triggered by heavy rain on the Indonesian Island of Nias on 30 November 2011.

Thailand's devastating flood had caused floods in 15 provinces. It affected over one million people and caused more than 700 death.

Typhoon Washi (Sendong), with winds gusting up to 90km/h (56 mph), hit Philippines, late on 16 December, brought heavy rain. More than 1700 people were killed.

… ….

Flooded areas covered 56 of 77 provinces of the country, affecting more than 4 million people , both d i rec t ly and indirect ly . Communication and transportation were totally ruined, the agriculture and water supply were badly affected. Total fatalities were 823 deaths and 3 missing, with a totaldamage of up to US$45 billion. (31 Dec ’11)

Thailand may have to suffer the disaster such as floods and landslides again and again in the coming years since it is only at the very beginning of the era when the effect from the c l imate change has come to a f fec t humans rather hardly and quickly.

Catastrophic Mud Flow in Kashmir

A cloudburst occurred on 6th August 2010 and was followed by heavy downpour for just one and one-half hours leading to flash flood and mud slides over the region. Many buildings were destroyed including hospitals and bus terminals. All communication systems including radio station transmitter, telephone exchange and mobile-phone towers were fully destroyed. The village of Choglamsar on the outskirts of Leh was badly affected.

At least 193 people (including 5 foreign tourists) were reported to have died. Two hundred people were reportedly missing and thousands more were rendered homeless.

Largest Flood in Thailand Since 1942

Leh, the largest town in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir is on a plateau at around 3,500 meters above the mean sea level. This area is a 'high altitude cold desert' that sparsely receives rainfall (in the month of August the average rainfall is about 15.4 mm) and heavy downpour, in particular, is a rare occurrence. The highest rainfall ever recorded during 24 hours period has been 51.3 mm on 22 August 1933.

We all remember the catastrophic in Pakistan in 2010. Some places in South Asia and Southeast Asia are badly affected by the over flooding of the r i ve rs dur ing the monsoon every year .Since 25 July 2011, the impact of Tropical Storm Nock-Ten, and heavy monsoon had triggered heavy rainfall over Thailand, caused floods, storms, landslides.

DonmueangAirport was flood to circa 1 m or more. The cost of renovation alone is approx. US$300M.

Thai residents make their way through flooded streets in Pathum Thani & Bangkok.

Debris Flow Control System Introduction

A Debris Flow Control System contains geotechnical and/or ecological engineering measures, and monitoring and/or alarming measures. It should be built based on the practical situation of the debris flow watershed including fundamental characteristics, the occurrence conditions, activity patterns, developing trend, hazard level of debris flows, and the corresponding geological hazards, terrain conditions, with the aims of controlling debris flows and/or reducing their hazards, repairing and/or improving the ecological environment of the watershed.

The geotechnical engineering is the most effective measure to control debris flows. It should contains the stabilization works (check dams), the barrier facilities (sand-sediment dams) and the guide projects (drainage canals).

Upcoming Events/Important TipsPlanning for Second International Debris Flow Workshop in 11-12, August 2012 in Chengdu, China and the formal establishment of the Asian Network on Debris Flow is undergoing. Topics, agendas, ideas and network operation suggestions are welcome. Please send your contribution to the Secretariat. Manuscripts are welcomed to send to the secretariat before 31st May, 2012. The Manuscripts in accord with the workshop topics will be recommended to Journal of Mountain Sciences (SCI expanded), International Journal of Sediment Research (SCI expanded), and Frontiers of Earth Science in China. We also welcome the information about local natural hazards, new study progress, results and technology.

Chair of ANDF Preparatory Group: Chack-Fan LeeAdvisor: Samran SombatpanitSecretary-general: Peng CuiSecretary: Aaron Guo （Guo Xiaojun）Address: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment,

CAS, #9, Block 4, Renminnanlu Rd., Chengdu, P.R.ChinaE-mail: mhsp@imde.ac.cn

Newsletter Editor: Aaron GuoCo-editors: Rongzhi Tan, Kaesorn

Jumpa and Winai WangpimoolGraphic: IMHE, Chengdu, China &

LDD-DWR, Bangkok, Thailand

NOTESΔ ANDF Newsletter is a biannual publication of the Asian Network on Debris Flow (DF) dedicated

to the study of its nature and how to avoid its effect and dissemination of DF knowledge widely. It welcomes articles related to every aspect of debris flow from countries in Asia as well as other continents. Scientists interested in Debris Flow are invited/encouraged to send your articles to Aaron Guo at mhsp@imde.ac.cn.

Δ ANDF Newsletter is a FREE digital/online newsletter. Anyone interested in obtaining it may subscribe to Aaron Guo with your name, address, profession, institution and nationality. Kindly inform your colleagues about this newsletter and invite them to contribute articles and subscribe.

We would like to thank all of our supporters and workshop participants for making this network under smooth preparation. We hope this

organization will contribute substantially in Asian Debris Flow study area!

December 2011