A Rapid Assessment of Kili Island - Sea Grant College Program

Table 1. A generalized comparison of the vulnerability of Kili and Jabat to contemporary and future impacts of storm and sea-level risedriven flooding.ExposureSensitivityAdaptivecapacityVulnerabilityKILIModerate:Low-lying island with existing swampwhich regularly receives salt water input.Moderate wave energy environment.Infrequent storms.Moderate:Low dependence on locally grown food,inundation damage to crops is not a criticalfood security issue. Electrical supplysystem has resulted in wide spread uptakeof electrical appliances, air conditioningetc, which are highly sensitive to saltwater.Likewise trucks, cars, heavy equipment arehighly sensitive to saltwater exposure. Highpopulation density.Moderate-high:Access to heavy equipment to aid inresponse. Runway for emergency relief.Large population. Greater financialresources.High:Highly exposed to inundation hazardswhich are expected to increase in frequencyand magnitude. A number of highlysensitive assets which can be severelyimpacted by inundation. Higher level ofadaptive capacity to mitigate impacts,respond and adapt.JABATModerate:Low-lying island, although higher thanKili. Moderate wave energy environment,slightly more energetic than Kili. Infrequentstorms.Moderate:Moderate dependence on locally grownfood, so crop damage has an impact on foodsecurity. Little use of electricity so impactson households of minor inundation areminimal. Low population density.Low:Low population with low capacity torespond to inundation events. Difficultlocation to access and provide relief.Moderate:Less exposed, less sensitive, lower adaptivecapacity• There is a need for improved forecasting of inundation events throughout RMI, particularlyin the outer-islands. The community should have received advanced notice of the high likelihoodof inundation during this event. ENSO guidance is issued quarterly 10 and distributed to theRMI government and its agencies. This guidance predicted higher than normal water levelsover the 2010/2011 winter. The elevated tide levels were predicted and wave models wouldhave provided a forecast of the arrival of long period waves from the north-northwest. If thecommunity was adequately warned simple preparations for the event including moving electricalequipment above likely flood level and ensuring adequate levels of food and drinking waterwere available could have been made in anticipation. Kili has access to cellular and internetbasedtelecommunication technology not generally available to other outer-islands. As such, Kilishould be amongst the most well informed communities when it comes to receiving weatherinformation and warnings. However, at the time of the October 2011 assessment communicationswere unreliable. As such, the purchase of satellite telephone should be considered as temporary13