Contents: Foreword v Dr. Sathish Wate Preface vii R.J. Durrheim and B.G.N. Sewwandi Introduction xi Dr. Amitava Bandopadhyay Director General, NAM S&T Centre Section I: Lightning Strikes 1. Lightning: An Extreme Natural Event Causing Loss of Life and Property 3 R. Arora 2. Risk of Lightning and Mitigating its Impact in the Eastern Indian State of Odisha 13 B.C. Panda Section II: Flood, Drought and Water Pollution 3. The Effect of Floods on Livestock in Ampara District in Sri Lanka 25 E. Pavithira, M.G.M. Thariq, M.L.F. Ameer and K. Nijamir 4. Effect of Flood on the Out Breaking of Dengue Fever in Sri Lanka in 2017 37 M.B.F. Jemziya 5. Effect of Flooding in Kaluwanchikudy DSD: An Analysis Using GIS Application 45 S. Mathanraj and M.I.M. Kaleel 6. Flood Susceptibility Mapping Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process Method and Geographic Information System: Application to the Savannah Region, Togo 53 K. Komi 7. Applying Robust Decision Making (RDM) to Ensure Robust Flood Management in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 65 B.T. Sinh 8. An Assessment of Land Use Dynamics in Pallikaranai Wetlands, Tamil Nadu 73 K.S. Vignesh, V.M. Suresh, K. Leelavathy and S.V. Varshini 9. The Use of Remote Sensing and GIS for Drought Risk Assessment: The Case of Southern Province, Zambia 85 M.K. Phiri 10. Impact of Extreme Climate on Crop Production and Management Techniques in Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka: Review on Flood and Drought 103 A. Narmilan, B.G.N. Sewwandi and S. Puvanitha Section III: Climate Change 11. Climate Change and Extreme Events in Afghanistan 115 N. Sediqi 12. Climate Change and its Impact on the Economic Sectors in the Rural Areas of Karnataka, India: The Need for Multi-Pronged Approach 121 B.C. Prabhakar and K.N. Radhika 13. Working Out Ways to Find Commercially Viable Measures to Develop Water Resources in the Face of Climate Change and Recurring Droughts in India: An Overview 133 K.N. Radhika and B.C. Prabhakar 14. Rural Communities Response to Climate Change in Malawi: The Case of Mzimba District 147 G.R. Phiri 15. Understanding Connections between Climate, Extreme Weather, Air Quality, and Health with a Glance at Sri Lanka: A Review 157 H.K.W.I. Jayawardena 16. Assessment of Desertification in Iran by the ANN and IMDPA Model 169 A.R.N. Namaghi and Z. Golizadeh Section IV: Landslides 17. Landslide Risk Assessment and Real Time Monitoring for Minimizing the Impact of Rainfall-Induced Landslides in Indian Himalayas 181 D.P. Kanungo 18. Influence of Matric Suction on Pullout Resistance of Soil Nails 189 P. Rajeevkaran and A. Kulathilaka Section V: Earthquakes 19. The SSA-GEM Seismic Hazard Model for the East African Rift 201 V. Poggi, R.J. Durrheim, G.M. Tuluka, G. Weatherill, R. Gee, M. Pagani, A. Nyblade and D. Delvaux Section VI: Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction 20. The Impacts of Extreme Natural Events: S&T Awareness, Development and Education in Myanmar 211 M.S. Aung 21. Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM) for Landscape Stewardship from Natural Disasters: A Way Forward 219 R. Srivastava 22. Location-based Disaster Notification System 245 T.T. Zan and S. Phyu 23. Enabling Rapid Disaster Response Using Artificial Intelligence and Social Media 255 M. Imran, F. Alam, F. Ofli and M. Aupetit 24. A Review on Key Challenges Towards Risk Reduction Science and Innovation Plans 269 G. Clegg, N. Dias, D. Amaratunga and R. Haigh Colombo Resolution 277 Index The climate change at global level is leading to the alterations in weather and climate extremes. These climate extremes impact severely on both human and ecosystems including economic losses, sectors such as tourism, agriculture, urban settlements and small island states, etc. Scientists predict that the frequency and intensity of these disasters are likely to increase as a result of the effects of climate change. Their susceptibility is principally based on the geographical, geological and socio-economic characteristics. During the last few decades many countries in Asia and Africa encountered unforeseen natural disasters apparently due to both the climate change and deficiencies of the built environment. It seems that in the last five years such calamities have been accelerated such as Monsoon flooding in Bangladesh; Hurricane Irma in USA and Caribbean; floods in different regions of India, mudslide in Colombia and earthquakes in Mexico and Iran. These high-profile mega-disasters are raising global awareness of the need to build the capacity of national governments, civil society organizations and international entities to prevent, respond to and recover from natural disasters. In order to discuss the above issues, the Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre) organized an international round table on ‘Impacts of Extreme Natural Events: Science and Technology for Mitigation (IRENE)’ in Colombo, Sri Lanka during 13-15 December 2017, which brought the scientists, experts and professionals engaged in R&D, policy making and implementation, social activists and other stake holders to a common forum for sharing views and experiences for the development of a road map for reducing the risks in real situations. This book comprises twenty-four papers from the researchers and professionals of 12 countries. The papers in this book have been categorised in four sections, namely, National Experiences, Regional Cooperation and South-South Relations, International Organisations and Networking and Theoretical Frameworks. The book is expected to be of great value to the immense use to all those associated with issues related to mitigation of mega-disasters due to extreme natural events, from researchers to policy makers, non-government organisations and government officials in the developing and other countries.