Estimating emergency costs for earthquakes and floods in Central Asia based on modelled losses

Abstract

Estimating the emergency costs for disasters is of high relevance in the design of any comprehensive disaster risk management strategy. These costs usually include the ones associated with the immediate response aimed to provide the required safety and emergency attention, and those of debris removal and disposal. Over the time, and in different regions of the world, several research efforts have been carried out for the quantification of the emergency costs and have been usually associated with those of the direct losses. Also, previous studies have been typically carried out in the aftermath of large disasters, and to the best of our knowledge, no specific quantification of the emergency costs has been carried out in Central Asia. This paper presents a methodology, which has been applied in five countries in Central Asia using historical and synthetic events, to estimate the emergency costs as a function of modelled direct losses for earthquakes and floods, taking into account the demographic and building characteristics. The methodology allows the prospective estimation of the total emergency costs, so that they can be considered in the planning and budgeting of the emergency and recovery phases, as well as in disaster risk financing initiatives. It was found that the average emergency response costs for earthquakes and floods in Central Asia show good agreement with those previously estimated at other locations as a function of the direct losses; however, this methodology allows differentiating between different types of events allowing a better description and understanding of these needs.