Sophie Pardo

The use of a micro-scale index to identify potential death risk areas due to coastal flood surges: lessons from Storm Xynthia on the French Atlantic coast

Storm Xynthia (February 2010) was responsible for a large sea surge along the French Atlantic coast. It resulted in the flooding of low-lying coastal areas during the night. Urbanized areas were impacted and 41 people died by drowning in their homes. The location and type of construction of the houses in the affected area contributed to the death toll. The fact that the inadequacy of construction with regard to coastal flood hazard could lead to death was one of the most important lessons of the storm. The French government decided to buy back and scrap the most dangerous buildings hit by Xynthia. In order to prevent future deaths by drowning, we have developed a tool (the V.I.E. index) to identify houses where a risk of death due to a coastal flood cannot be excluded. The goal is to propose individual-based solutions for risk mitigation of residential houses. This tool uses a micro-scale-level analysis along with four criteria: (1) the potential water depth per house, (2) the distance between the dike and the house, (3) the architectural typology and (4) the closeness to rescue point. The methodological background and the first results for three towns are presented in this paper. Limitations and further developments are also discussed.

A comparative appraisal of the resilience of marine social-ecological systems to mass mortalities of bivalves

In many parts of the world, both wild and cultured populations of bivalves have been struck by mass mortality episodes because of climatic and anthropogenic stressors whose causes and consequences are not always clearly understood. Such outbreaks have resulted in a range of responses from the social (fishers or farmers) and governing systems. We analyzed six commercial bivalve industries affected by mass mortalities using I-ADApT, a decision support framework to assess the impacts and consequences of these perturbations on the natural, social, and governing systems, and the consequent responses of stakeholders to these events. We propose a multidimensional resilience framework to assess resilience along the natural, social, and governing axes and to compare adaptive responses and their likelihood of success. The social capital and governability of the local communities were key factors affecting the communities’ resilience and adaptation to environmental changes, but the rapid degradation of natural ecosystems puts the bivalve industry under a growing threat. Bivalve mariculture and fishing industries are likely to experience increased frequency, severity, and prevalence of such mass mortality events if the resilience of the natural systems is not improved. An understanding of previous adaptation processes can inform strategies for building adaptive capacity to future events.