A Rapid Assessment of Kili Island - Sea Grant College Program

Executive SummaryKili is one of five mid-ocean platform islands within the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). Onthe evenings of both January 20 th and 21 st 2011 large areas of the island were inundated as a resultof marine flooding. Two visits to Kili were undertaken along with a desktop study in order to furtherunderstand the physical drivers of the inundation event and the vulnerability of Kili to future inundation.Using both topographic surveys and community consultations the most inundation prone areas of theisland were mapped and found to be a central depression within the central sections of the island whichis occasionally connected directly to the ocean during high energy conditions. Topographic surveysrevealed the island to be low-lying, even relative to other islands in the RMI and is highly vulnerable tofuture inundation, be it from distant storms, seasonal high tides or sea-level rise.The January 2011 inundation event was driven by a combination of seasonally high tides, knownlocally as “king tides,” a region-wide super elevation of sea level as a result of La Niña conditions anda moderate energy wave event from the northwest. None of these conditions alone was particularlyunusual in terms of frequency or magnitude. However, the combination of all three occurring at onceresulted in a total water level that was high enough to breach the island berm on the northwest section ofthe island. The bulk of housing on Kili is located on higher elevation sections of the island. However, anumber of key assets including the school, airport and some housing are located in low-lying sections ofthe island which are highly vulnerable to inundation.Resident consultations suggest inadequate warning from central government weather and disasterauthorities and Kili-based local government officials and the Kili community. Wave models, La Niñapredictions and tide forecasts all suggested that late January 2011 was a period of high inundationrisk, yet for many in the community the event occurred without warning or notification. This reportrecommends the methods of communicating weather related risk needs strengthening in order to providethe community with opportunities to prepare for inundation events.Looking to the future, events such as the January 2011 inundation will occur with increasing frequencyand severity. Sea-level rise is expected to accelerate and planning for all future activities on Kili needs tocarefully consider not only the present day vulnerability, but also future vulnerability due to higher sealevels.i