AFTER THE FLOOD: DEVASTATION OF THE TRADITIONAL EARTHEN ARCHITECTURAL LANDSCAPE IN THE HADHRAMAUT VALLEY OF YEMEN; CAN MUDBRICK BUILDINGS BE MADE MORE RESISTANT TO CLIMATE CHANGE?

Resumen

On 23-24 October 2008, the Hadhramaut province of Yemen experienced a devastating flash flood resulting from 50 cm of torrential rain in a 40-hour period in a location that normally receives 7.5 cm per year. With a loss of 5,000 earthen buildings, the 100-year flood was unusual because the rain occurred over the entire region, potentially indicative of future catastrophic events resulting from climate change. The Hadhramaut Valley and its tributary wadis are well known for their spectacular ensembles of mudbrick tower houses, representing one of the last regions of the traditional Arabian oasis. The author, on behalf of Yemen’s Social Fund for Development, UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre and the Netherlands’ Prince Claus Fund, visited the province to evaluate the damage in December 2008-January 2009. Most of the buildings lost were of more recent construction. By comparison, older buildings fared better, and particularly those found in the tributary valley, Wadi Do’an. Some interesting observations will be discussed about the vulnerability of newer Hadhrami construction, which appears to have been partly due to the quality in construction. Although Yemeni mudbrick architecture is extraordinarily sophisticated, changes in methods of payment for contracting, as well as indifference to construction rules of thumb in flash flood zones, have taken their toll on the quality of new construction. Can lessons be learned from older buildings that survived? If flash floods become more frequent in the Hadhramaut Valley as a result of climate change, how can traditional mudbrick buildings be made more resistant? Can these ideas be incorporated into the new settlements that the local provincial government plans to build to replace those destroyed?