Multi-Hazard Mapping as a Tool for Effective Risk Management

Natural hazards are very common from the very beginning of the existence of man and have been an on-going problem for millennia. Forecasted climate changes would cause increase of erosion intensity because of the increase of the temperatures would contribute to forest die-back, wild fires and soil degradation, and the increase of intensive rainfall frequency could dramatically intensify soil erosion and torrential floods. A lot of natural hazards can be triggered by a single natural occurrence. The use of multi-hazard mapping is a good way to perceive the effect of the same natural occurrence on the triggering mechanism of different natural hazards. The aim of this paper is to explain the methodology for development of multi-hazard maps in a GIS environment. The full process of development of a multi-hazard map will be described through the theoretical frame of the natural hazards, further on to composition of the single hazards in a multi criteria GIS environment and finally integration of the single hazards in one multi-hazard map. The chosen study area is the Vodno Mountain which is in the vicinity of the city of Skopje which has been permanently subjected to several major hazards in the past from forest fires and soil erosion with torrential floods. Multi-hazard mapping is a good approach for observing several hazards on one place in which each hazard could be observed separately and integrally. This is an effective tool for the decision makers for planning purposes and should be integrated into the daily operational applications.