The Assessment of Coastal Hazards, Vulnerability and Risk for the coast of Oman, undertaken by the Environmental Hidraulic Institute of the University of Cantabria (IHC) covers two different resolutions: 1) Overall risk assessment along all the coast of Oman. 2) Detailed risk assessment for 9 selected cities (Sohar, Wudam, Sawadi, Muscat, Quriyat, Sur, Masirah, Al Duqm, and Salalah).
The main goal is the development of the Multi Hazard Risk Assessment System (MHRAS) addressing TWO specific hazards: Tsunamis and Storm Surge. The MHRAS will provide:
1. The scenario database to feed the Multi Hazard Early Warning System that the Government of Oman is currently implementing supported by IOC-UNESCO for the protection of population and goods during an event.
2. Hazard, vulnerability and risk maps for tsunami and storm surge, as basic tools to develop a safe planning for land and coastal management; including an atlas of possible risk mitigation measures.
Apart of the MHRAS platform, the work done by IHC includes two more components, being the first of them the development of a set of seasonal and short term forecasting tools for the regular marine climate and the tropical cyclones. Technology transfer is another important component of the project. In order to train several members of the meteorological service of Oman in the numerical models and working methodologies developed by IHC the hazard, vulnerability and risk assessment, a set of workshop have been included as part of the project.