The Inaugural Summit
NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
Preparedness Response Recovery Mitigation
 
May 25 2010
Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin
Plus a separately bookable focus day for 2010
Flood Risk Management
May 26, 2010, Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin
Flood Risk Management - Wednesday, May 26th
This is the programme for the separately bookable focus day on Flood Risk Management. To view the programme for the National Emergency Management Summit click here.
8:50 Welcome and introduction to day 2
  Dr Caroline McMullan, Dublin City University
9:00 OPENING ADDRESS: Adaptation - preparing for climate change.
  The widespread flooding in Ireland in 2009 highlighted the huge exposures of both citizens and infrastructure to a hazard that is likely to become more frequent in the future due to changes in rainfall brought about by climate change. This paper will provide an overview of the most recent findings on the likely impacts of climate change on flooding for Irish catchments and explore the challenges that confront us in ensuring successful adaptation to a changed climate. Key challenges to be discussed will include; uncertainty in future climate impacts, how we might adapt given uncertainties and how we might define successful adaptation.
  Dr Conor Murphy, ICARUS (Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units), NUI Maynooth
9:25 Institutions for floods risks and emergencies
 

The floods of late last year have exposed some major weaknesses in the organisation of flood management and emergency response. The following lessons are drawn:

  • There should be national flood management authority, which should take over the duties of all other national bodies that relate to flood control.
  • The river basin districts should take over flood management duties from the county councils.
  • Flood risk should be a major factor in planning permission and land zoning.
  • Regional flood prediction and warning systems need to build to guide emergency responses.
  Dr Richard Tol, Research Professor, Economic and Social Research Institute
MINIMISING RISK
9.55 Update on flood risk and implementation of a sustainable and appropriate approach
 
  • Strategic overview of flood risk
  • Challenges of quantifying flood risk
  • Future solutions
  Tony Smyth, Chief Engineer, Office of Public Works
10:20 INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Assessing the progress of the implementation of the Pitt Review recommendations
 
  • Summer 2007 Floods
  • Multi agency response
  • Learning from Pitt
  • Progress and what's next
  Hilary Aldridge, Head of Incident Management, Flood and Coastal Risk Management Directorate, Environment Agency, UK
10:50 Coffee Break
11.10 Perspectives from the insurance industry
 

Impact of recent flood events on policyholders and insurers

  • Insurance industry response
  • Implications for policyholders
  • Government and industry co-operation on flood
  Aidan Hanratty, Director, Risk Management, Allianz
11.35 INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDY: The 2007 Gloucestershire Floods
  In the summer of 2007, Gloucestershire experienced one of the worst peacetime civil emergencies the UK has seen. Not only did Gloucestershire experience severe flooding but the county also lost a main water treatment works resulting in 200,000 people being without mains water for 2 weeks. In his presentation Iain will reveal how the emergency agencies responded to the crisis, the business contingency arrangements, the recovery phase and lessons learned.
  Iain Bryson, Head of Emergency Management Service, Gloucestershire County Council
FORECASTING FLOODS
12:00 Can we make better choices in flood risk management? What have we learnt?
 

Sustainable development means doing more with less, thus posing three central questions;

  • More 'what?'
  • Less 'what'? and crucially
  • How?
It also means doing better, learning. So what have we learnt so far? How can we increase the rate at which we learn? And, how can economics help us?
  Professor Colin Green, Flood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex University
12:25 The National Flood Mapping Programme
 
  • Overview and background of flood maps in Ireland
  • Existing mapping
  • Ongoing and future mapping programmes
  Gavin Poole, Flood Risk Assessment and Management section, Office of Public Works
12:45 Lunch
DESIGNING FOR RESILIENCE
1:50 Welcome back from the Chair
1:55 The Importance of preserving (or even extending) wetlands as a natural flood defence mechanism
  This presentation will report on the Final Recommendations of the Flood Awareness and Prevention Policy Network (FLAPP) a pan-European Interreg 3c funded project completed in 2008. This paper will present some important findings of a Wetlands Survey completed in County Monaghan in 2007. It will then outline the development of the Ballybay Wetlands Centre and how it is beginning to carve out a role in education and awareness raising about our aquatic resources and their importance.
  Gretta McCarron, Ballybay Wetlands Centre
2:15 Case Study: Triton System for Dublin Bay and South Fingal Coasts
  The development of Ireland's first coastal flood forecasting system under the European SAFTER project
  Tony Maguire, Project Manager, SAFER, Dublin City Council
2:30 The importance of high resolution data for flood management planning, flood prediction and managing the emergency response
  Our speaker will discuss the requirement for high-resolution, real-time data delivery to achieve an understanding of the physical processes in a catchment and how this real-time data can significantly enhance our operational ability to manage, assess and respond to risk. The paper will present how a well designed monitoring system can serve as a very cost effective tool in flood management and also discusses the relationship between predictive models and monitoring. The paper will also present how real-time monitoring of key vulnerable infrastructure is of significant benefit in managing an emergency response.
  John Wallace, Director, IDS Monitoring
2:55 DEPLOY - Real-time monitoring of our waterways for event detection and management
  DEPLOY is a collaborative technology demonstration project between the Tyndall National Institute, Dublin City University and industry partners Intelligent Data Systems which aims to investigate how state of the art technology can be implemented for cost effective, continuous, real-time monitoring of a river catchment. The deployment aims to demonstrate sensor network capability in collecting real-time water quality data. The data can also be used to inform decision makers as to other catchment related scenarios outside the realm of water quality monitoring per se as evidenced during the recent flood even in November 2009 in Cork city.
  Brian O'Flynn, R&D Activity Leader, Tyndall National Institute
3:20 Coffee Break
3:40 Flood defence infrastructure: Reliability & failure
  What are the priorities for capital spending? What's needed to develop an effective flood defence strategy? Where are the infrastructure gaps? Flood Resilience for critical infrastructure
  John Power, Director General, Engineers Ireland
PLANNING AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT
4:05 PANEL DISCUSSION: Planning development: Have we learned anything?
  Should elected representatives have a say in allowing planning developments or should they simply be allowed the right to challenge what they consider bad planning? Panellists will include leading industry experts including:
  Jack Keyes, City and County Managers Assoc.
Michael Silke, Chairman, IFA Flood Management Team
Joe Crockett, County Manager, Kilkenny County Council
4:30 Case Study: Cork City Council's response to the emergency caused by the flooding of the Water Treatment Plant
 

Cork City Council was required to provide alternative water facilities to 50,000 people during the November / December 2009 floods which resulted in the loss of the Lee Road water supply to the city.

  • Communications Response
  • Crisis Management Response
  • Engineering Response
  Michael O'Brien, Senior Engineer, Environment Directorate, Cork City Council
5:00 Conference Close
Sponsors
IBM
Sponsors
IAEM
Exhibitors
Marsh
IDS Monitoring
RMI
Contech
Exhibitors
The Sunday Times
Emergency Services Ireland
Local Authority
Organised by iQuest
 
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