The Colombian National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (Unidad Nacional de Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres, UNGRD) has recently published the “Colombia Risk Atlas: Revealing Latent Disasters”. The publication strengthens the understanding of disaster risks at the national and regional level, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
The Atlas highlights different studies and technological innovations related to natural and technological hazards as well as statistical methods to measure risk for decision-making in the Colombian context. It includes maps that help understand and manage seismic activity, floods, tsunamis, tropical cyclons, forest fires, landslides and droughts among other disasters in Colombia. Moreover, it could be used as a tool to identify the municipalities that need to be studied in detail in order to have a better understanding of regional and local risk.
Using an integral risk index, and multi-hazard profiles help to understand better disaster and risk management processes in Colombia.
Colombia spansuffered ent years the socioeconomic consequences of natural hazards and the communities where these phenomena are frequent have high vulnerability rates. Usually, the most vulnerable communities are the ones less developed and those who have a lack of planification and institutional management. This is why the Altas emphasizes local cases of study including brief descriptions of probabilistic risk evaluation that were used in decision-making in these cities and regions.
Some examples where space-based technologies and probabilistic indices were used for disaster and risk management are the case studies of Manizales, in La Mojana region, Galeras Volcano, the Seismic Automatic Instrumentalization Laboratory (LISA) and SISMan LISA in Bogota and Manizales, Medellin, and the risk evaluation of the hurricane in San Andres.
