Perspectives on Compound Flooding in Chinese Estuary Regions

Extreme surges and rainfall represent major driving factors for compound flooding in estuary regions along the Chinese coast. The combined effect of extreme surges and rainfall (that is, compound floods) might lead to greater impacts than if the drivers occurred in isolation. Hence, understanding the frequency and severity of compound...

Damage Curves Derived from Hurricane Ike in the West of Galveston Bay Based on Insurance Claims and Hydrodynamic Simulations

Hurricane Ike, which struck the United States in September 2008, was the ninth most expensive hurricane in terms of damages. It caused nearly USD 30 billion in damage after making landfall on the Bolivar Peninsula, Texas. We used the Delft3d-FM/SWAN hydrodynamic and spectral wave model to simulate the storm surge inundation around Galveston...

Design & assessing the flood risk management paradigm shift: an interdisciplinary study of Vlissingen, the Netherlands

Mean sea level rise (SLR) could increase up to 2m by 2100, which would see damage caused by coastal flooding in Europe increase from €1.25bn per annum currently to €961bn in just over 80 years. Urban areas situated along the North Sea coastline are particularly vulnerable to extreme sea level rise (a combination of SLR, tide and storm surges)....

Impact of hydraulic model resolution and loss of life model modification on flood fatality risk estimation: Case study of the Bommelerwaard, The Netherlands

Flood simulations are important for flood (fatality) risk assessment. This article provides insight into the sensitivity of flood fatality risks to the model resolution of flood simulations and to several uncertain parameters in the loss of life model used. A case study is conducted for river flooding in a polder in the Netherlands (the...

An integrated framework of coastal flood modelling under the failures of sea dikes: a case study in Shanghai

Climate change leads to sea level rise worldwide, as well as increases in the intensity and frequency of tropical cyclones (TCs). Storm surge induced by TC’s, together with spring tides, threatens to cause failure of flood defenses, resulting in massive flooding in low-lying coastal areas. However, limited research has been done on the...

Tidal-flat reclamation aggravates potential risk from storm impacts

A better understanding of how tidal-flat reclamation changes the flood hazard is critical for climate-proofing coastal flood defense design of heavily urbanized areas. Since the 1950s, large-scale reclamation has been performed along the Shanghai coast, China, to fulfill the land demands of city expansion. We now show that the loss of tidal...

Experimental determination of pressure coefficients for flood loading of walls of Dutch terraced houses

Failure of residential buildings during floods is an important cause of damage and loss of life. In the case of the Netherlands, the collapse of buildings is implicitly included in current damage and mortality curves since these are generated from historical data. However, the Netherlands has not experienced destructive flooding since 1953, so...

Urban pluvial flooding prediction by machine learning approaches – a case study of Shenzhen city, China

Urban pluvial flooding is a threatening natural hazard in urban areas all over the world, especially in recent years given its increasing frequency of occurrence. In order to prevent flood occurrence and mitigate the subsequent aftermath, urban water managers aim to predict precipitation characteristics, including peak intensity, arrival time...

Flood Risks in Sinking Delta Cities: Time for a Reevaluation?

Sea level rise (SLR) and subsidence are expected to increase the risk of flooding and reliance on flood defenses for cities built on deltas. Here, we combine reliability analysis with hydrodynamic modeling to quantify the effect of projected relative SLR on dike failures and flood hazards for Shanghai, one of the most exposed delta cities. We...

Interdisciplinary Design of Vital Infrastructure to Reduce Flood Risk in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward

Engineering for flood resilience of dense coastal regions often neglects the resultant impact on urban design quality. Vital subsurface infrastructure such as hydraulic systems, water networks, civil construction, transport, energy supply and soil systems are especially important in shaping the urban environment and integrating resilience....

Hydrodynamic and debris-damming failure of bridge decks and piers in steady flow

In countries with steep rivers, such as Japan and the United States, bridges fail on an annual basis. Bridges on spread footings are especially susceptible to failure by hydrodynamic loading, often exacerbated by debris damming. Here, such failures are investigated via small scale model laboratory experiments and full scale numerical...

An interdisciplinary approach to urban reconstruction after the 2011 Tsunami

Students of hydraulic engineering, geotechnical engineering, transport infrastructure, urban drainage engineering and urbanism studied the recovery of the city of Yuriage using the goal integration method. Much can be learned from the bold approach of the Japanese to disaster reconstruction and fighting shrinkage in regional spatial planning.

Frequency Analysis of Storm-Surge-Induced Flooding for the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China

Shanghai, as a coastal city, is vulnerable to various types of flooding. The floodwalls along the Huangpu River provide protection against typhoon-induced flooding. However, there is limited insight into the actual safety level of the flood defences in Shanghai, and recent failures have highlighted their vulnerability. Therefore, the aims of...

Unsteady seepage behavior of an earthfill dam during drought-flood cycles

Climate change with extreme hydrological conditions, such as drought and flood, bring new challenges to seepage behavior and the stability of earthfill dams. Taking a drought-stricken earthfill dam of China as an example, the influence of drought-flood cycles on dam seepage behavior is analyzed. This paper includes a clay sample laboratory...

Performance of Models for Flash Flood Warning and Hazard Assessment: The 2015 Kali Gandaki Landslide Dam Breach in Nepal

The 2015 magnitude 7.8 Gorkha earthquake and its aftershocks weakened mountain slopes in Nepal. Co- and postseismic landsliding and the formation of landslide-dammed lakes along steeply dissected valleys were widespread, among them a landslide that dammed the Kali Gandaki River. Overtopping of the landslide dam resulted in a flash flood...