Natural Hazards and Earth System Science
www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net
1561-8633
1684-9981
7
5
2007
10.5194/nhess-7-495-2007
http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/7/495/2007/
http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/7/495/2007/nhess-7-495-2007.html
http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/7/495/2007/nhess-7-495-2007.pdf
495
506
2007-08-30
Towards an empirical vulnerability function for use in debris flow risk assessment
S. Fuchs
sven.fuchs@boku.ac.at
K. Heiss
J. Hübl
Institute of Mountain Risk Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
In quantitative risk assessment, risk is expressed as a function of the
hazard, the elements at risk and the vulnerability. From a natural sciences
perspective, vulnerability is defined as the expected degree of loss for an
element at risk as a consequence of a certain event. The resulting value is
dependent on the impacting process intensity and the susceptibility of the
elements at risk, and ranges from 0 (no damage) to 1 (complete destruction).
With respect to debris flows, the concept of vulnerability – though widely
acknowledged – did not result in any sound quantitative relationship
between process intensities and vulnerability values so far, even if
considerable loss occurred during recent years.
<br><br>
To close this gap and establish this relationship, data from a
well-documented debris flow event in the Austrian Alps was used to derive a
quantitative vulnerability function applicable to buildings located on the
fan of the torrent. The results suggest a second order polynomial function
to fit best to the observed damage pattern. Vulnerability is highly
dependent on the construction material used for exposed elements at risk.
The buildings studied within the test site were constructed by using brick
masonry and concrete, a typical design in post-1950s building craft in
alpine countries. Consequently, the presented intensity-vulnerability
relationship is applicable to this construction type within European
mountains. However, a wider application of the presented method to
additional test sites would allow for further improvement of the results and
would support an enhanced standardisation of the vulnerability function.
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