Disasters, Conflicts and Migration
|
Natural Disasters |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Type |
Occurs |
Comments / Details |
|
Drought |
Yes |
Severe droughts for rainwater tanks occur approximately every 4 to 5 years and have an average duration of 5 to 6 months. For domestic wells, severe droughts occur on average every 5.5 to 6 years and last, on average, 7 to 8 months. |
|
Earthquakes |
Yes |
Located in the Pacific Ring Of Fire, there were 13 quakes above 5.5 magnitude in the early 1980s but none in past 15 years. |
|
Epidemics |
Yes |
Malaria, Dengue Fever and Hepatitis B are prevalent. |
|
Extreme Temperatures |
No |
n/a |
|
Flooding |
Yes |
Regular flooding by seawater occurs during king tides or storms. |
|
Insect Infestation |
Yes |
Disease carrying and crop eating insects are present. |
|
Mudslides |
No |
n/a |
|
Volcanic Eruptions |
No |
No recent eruptions. |
|
High Waves / Surges |
Yes |
Kiribati land elevation is less than 2.5 meters. Regular flooding by seawater occurs during king tides or storms. |
|
Wildfires |
No |
Christmas Island does experience regular bush fires during drought. |
|
High Winds |
Yes |
Tropical Cyclones whilst generally not prevalent in these latitudes can have indirect effects (Pam 2015, Tia 1995). |
|
Other Comments |
Climate-related hazards such as salt-water inundation, droughts, plagues and epidemics as well as man-made hazards such as fires, oil spills and aircraft accidents pose challenges to the nation’s economy, food and water security, |
|
|
Man-Made Issues |
||
|
Civil Strife |
No |
n/a |
|
International Conflict |
No |
n/a |
|
Internally Displaced Persons |
No |
n/a |
|
Refugees Present |
No |
n/a |
|
Landmines / UXO Present |
No |
n/a |
|
Other Comments |
|
|
For a more detailed database on disasters by country, please see the Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters Country Profile.
Seasonal Effects on Logistics Capacities
|
Seasonal Effects on Transport |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Transport Type |
Time Frame |
Comments / Details |
|
Primary Road Transport |
Wet season November to January |
Heavy rains for up to a week may impede transport as a result of surface flooding. High tides are more problematic and can result in surface flooding 2 – 3 times per month. |
|
Secondary Road Transport |
November to January |
As above. |
|
Rail Transport |
N/A |
No Rail transport. |
|
Air Transport |
none |
Air transport is not generally seasonally effected. |
|
Waterway Transport |
none |
Waterway transport is not generally seasonally effected. |
|
Seasonal Effects on Storage and Handling |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Activity Type |
Time Frame |
Comments / Details |
|
Storage |
Wet season November to January |
Heavy rains may result in damage during loading/unloading and transporting perishable goods. |
|
Handling |
Wet season November to January |
Heavy rains may result in damage during loading/unloading and transporting perishable goods. |
|
Other |
||
Heavy rains may result in damage during loading/unloading and transporting perishable goods. During wet season however this is not a major constraint.
Capacity and Contacts for In-Country Emergency Response
Government
The Office Of The President has oversight of the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO). It has a Risk Management Plan in place and is working with UN agencies to formalise Standard Operating Procedures to ensure they are able to work in conjunction with UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations in case of disaster relief operations. These are scheduled to be in place later in 2018.
There is no military force and no defence or civil defence assets. Police have a patrol boat that is utilised in emergency rescue and work in conjunction with the NDMO in the case of major relief operations.
For more information on government contact details, please see the following link: 4.1 Government Contact List
Humanitarian Community
Red Cross Society and UNICEF have staff based permanently in Kiribati. Red Cross has 2 containers of NFI prepositioned. They coordinate closely with the NDMO.
UNICEF has an ongoing WASH programme in schools and works closely with Government.
The Mormon Church provides water tanks and has some small stocks of relief materials.
For more information on humanitarian agency contact details, please see the following link: 4.2 Humanitarian Agency Contact List
