Coastal Vulnerability Index for Árboletes (IVCA): an multiparameter approach to evaluate the impacts from cold fronts and hurricanes in the Colombian Caribbean

Abstract

Coastal regions are particularly vulnerable to impacts from extreme events such as hurricanes and cold fronts. In this sense, the present work evaluated the coastal vulnerability on Árboletes (Colombia) based on a specific index that was developed to solve this problem. For this purpose, extreme events (cold fronts and hurricanes) that occurred in the year 2020 were analyzed, due the positive anomaly number of these events in this area. The index proposed here, called Coastal Vulnerability Index for Árboletes (IVCA), was implemented based on different environmental variables: significant wave height, tidal amplitude, sea level, precipitation, geomorphology and, coastal erosion rates. The results suggests that the most vulnerable sectors are found in the topographically lower zones along the coast where hundreds of families lives developing different socioeconomic activities and which have historically suffered the effects of coastal erosion. Additionally, it was possible to observe that under "before" and "after" of extreme events, in general terms the region presented vulnerability classified as low to moderate, suggesting the influence of these atypical episodes on the region. We hope that this contribution can help in decision-making about the integrated management of coastal zone and territorial planning.