Finland Natural Disasters

Finland's Main Natural Disasters

Flooded section of road in Southern Finland

Floods

     Finland is very fortunate. There are minimal amounts of earthquakes, that are small earthquakes that have reached the highest of 4.5 on the Richter Scale, inactive volcanoes, no worries of tornadoes, tsunamis, or typhoons. The people of Finland are very lucky to have suck few natural disasters to worry about, but flooding and snowstorms are a major concern for Finland. 

     Flooding generates a huge amount of financial costs in damages every year.  In 2013, flooding resulted in nearly 10 million euros in damages to the country.  The expansion and the consolidation of urban areas, along with the development of building more agriculture sections have increased the vulnerability of the country's to natural hazards. but more importantly to flooding.  Also with the face of climate change, the risks for floods and other natural weather events is expected to increase.  During the winters in Finland, the weather caused ice dams and flooding in several rivers in Finland, that caused residents to evacuate their homes, with roads impassable, and destruction of buildings.  And according to climate projections, similar winter time conditions are estimated to increase.  

     From the extreme winters to the flooding that is caused, the media and public have taken more of an interest in the shift of responsibilities for the damages caused and what do when the emergency with flooding arises.  In the areas of flooding that occur every year, possessing the know-how and profession skill associated with preparing for floods, flood protection and operational flood prevention is important for preserving the the land, people, animals, building, and crops.  Good cooperation with rescue services is vital for flood prevention. The good news is that Finland is pretty well prepared for floods.  For example, the most significant agricultural regions, such as the region of the River Kyronjoki, are protected against flooding up to certain limits.  

     To move forward with flooding in Finland, it is important to prepare safety plans and risk assessments of dams taking the occurrence of extreme floods into consideration. Also with plans and regular drills are needed to secure flood prevention and rescue operations. For example, teaching citizens to try to prevent flood damage by monitoring flood warnings and following the instructions from the authorities, such as protecting properties with sand bags, sealing doors, blocking sewers and under drains, moving valuable items to a safe location, etc.  Another way to educate citizens is to have them take out insurance to cover the damage that is caused to their property by the flooding and for the government to help compensate for the costs that were not covered by the home insurance policies. 

     Finally, the reduction of flood risks, and the avoidance of construction in flood risk areas in particular, can be influenced by land use planning.  Land use planning and concentrating construction outside of flood risk areas, are the cheapest way to avoid flood damage.  

Snow Storms

Snow in Lapland, Finland (Northern Finland)

     Snow can fall starting as early as November and can continue until May and many parts of Finland have a thick layer of blanket of snow.  The problems with snow storms in Finland is car accidents in the snow.  There are a lot of accidents that occur because of the snow every year.  For example, when people forget to change their tires or slip on the black ice on the roads, accidents are more likely to happen, and unfortunately, if the temperature is low enough, salting will not help the road conditions.  The best course of action would to make sure after the first snow fall, cities should have snow plow companies that take the snow and ice away.
     Road conditions are not the only downside to heavy snow fall.  Other blizzard damages can be tree tops or trees can bend because of the snow load, trains and trams delayed, false fire alarms if blizzard snow reaches a fire detector, delays in air traffic, and scaffoldings may collapse.
     Because the local severe weather can have impacts that can affect and threaten lives, the government can create a guide of general safety rules for public or a call-to-action statements, which can be included in the storm warning messages.  For example, in a regular snow storm (with low impact), it should be recommended to move indoors and to look out for falling trees or power lines.  In an dangerous snow storm, people should move indoors right away, and to stay away from the widows.  Also, to look out for power lines and trees that have fallen and to report them right away.  In a snow blizzard, people should avoid unnecessary traveling. A blizzard can cause poor visibility. In a dangerous blizzard, it should be advised to not travel.  It is highly dangerous and poor visibility makes it difficult to see barriers on roads and slamming on the brakes can cause the car to slide at a long distance, due to the slipperiness of the road.  
     Understanding the consequences of severe weather on Finland's society helps develop preparedness for such events in the future.  Knowledge on typical impacts of events can guide several preparedness measures that aim to prevent causalities.  The information can also be used to mitigate property damage and ensure society's faster recovery by planning ahead, when severe weather is forecasted. 

Picture Reference:

http://base-adaptation.eu/sites/default/files/BASE%20SYKE%20Photo%201.png

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/911/cache/91119_990x742-cb1438273497.jpg

References: 

http://base-adaptation.eu/shifting-responsibilities-flood-damages-finland

http://www.climatechangepost.com/finland/river-floods/

http://www.peda.net/verkkolehti/jkl/lyseo/comenius_project_2010-2011?m=content&a_id=83

http://www.sirwec.org/Papers/quebec/20.pdf

Coastal Erosion

The High Coast, Kvarken, Gulf of Bothnia, Archipelago, Lighthouse

The active coastal dune fields of Finland are located between the swash zone (the zone of wave action) and the forest edge. The effect of waves during storms reaches far beyond the actual beach and can cause great changes (erosion) to sandy beaches at an exceptional speed. On the other hand, there can be periods, perhaps decades, of quiet evolution between the more severe storms. During the 90’s strong winds occurred and locally erosion of the coastal dunes at the Finnish coast has taken place. 

Thankfully, the Finnish coastal area is sparsely populated. Only about one third of the shore zone has been developed. The areas of the coastal dunes, where some erosion locally occurs, are usually desolated and undeveloped areas. 

Finland’s coastal area is in general, is pretty desolated. Forestry and coastal plains are the usual land use functions. In general, nature can take its course at the Finnish coasts. A lot of nature reserves are therefore present along the Finnish coast. In the last years however, a rapid increase in holiday houses is taking place in the coastal zone of Finland. 

Picture Reference:

http://footage.framepool.com/en/shot/181718852-the-high-coast-kvarken-gulf-of-bothnia-archipelago

Reference:

http://copranet.projects.eucc-d.de/files/000113_EUROSION_Western_coast_of_Finland.pdf