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Tropical cyclone risk assessment of Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India by using numerical modelling and geospatial techniques

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Abstract

Tropical cyclone activity in Bay of Bengal (BoB) is growing quickly, and as a consequence, people living along the shore are significantly susceptible to tropical cyclonic hazards. The Andaman Islands, situated in the southeast Bay of Bengal (the Andaman Sea), are consequently very vulnerable to the danger of cyclones since most cyclogenesis in BoB occurs near these islands. This project as a pilot study intends to build a complete and comprehensive risk map for Port Blair, Andaman Islands area using numerical modelling and geospatial technology. Thirteen criteria layers were evaluated under three risk components: vulnerability and exposure, hazard, and mitigation capacity. An analytical hierarchy process was used to rank and weigh the criteria levels. After integrating all the components, the overall risk map was created. The risk map indicates that 13% of the study area is in a very low-risk zone, 21% is in a low-risk zone, and 22% is in a medium-risk zone. A significant portion of the study region (34%) falls into the category of high-risk zones, while 10% of the study area falls into the category of extremely high-risk zones. The findings of this research may be utilised by the island’s relevant authorities to establish appropriate disaster risk reduction policies.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mr Abhilash Kumar, Managing Director, DHI (India), Water and Environment Pvt. Ltd for providing MIKE 21 Software. The authors would also like to thank Mr Thousif Jaman and Suhel Rana, Department of Coastal Disaster Management, Pondicherry University, for their valuable suggestions during the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Coastal Disaster Management, Pondicherry University, Port Blair Campus, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

    Hamid Varikkodan, S Balaji & Kajal Kumar Mandal

  2. Marine Division, Hatch Marine Consultants, Sasthamangalam, Trivandrum, India

    S Arjun

Authors
  1. Hamid Varikkodan
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  2. S Balaji
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  3. S Arjun
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  4. Kajal Kumar Mandal
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Contributions

Hamid Varikkodan: GIS analysis, fieldwork, numerical modelling and drafting the overall manuscript. Balaji S: Overall support and conceptualisation of methodology. Arjun S: Numerical model analysis and conceptualisation. Kajal Kumar Mandal: Field support and GIS analysis.

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Correspondence to Hamid Varikkodan.

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Communicated by P A Francis

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Varikkodan, H., Balaji, S., Arjun, S. et al. Tropical cyclone risk assessment of Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India by using numerical modelling and geospatial techniques. J Earth Syst Sci 132, 37 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-023-02055-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-023-02055-8

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