A study on siting of emergency shelters for dam failure floods considering population distribution and weather effects

In recent years, dam failures have occurred frequently because of extreme weather, posing a significant threat to downstream residents. The establishment of emergency shelters is crucial for reducing casualties. The selection of suitable shelters depends on key information such as the number and distribution of affected people, and the...

Rank classification method for cascade reservoirs considering scale, benefits, and risk consequences

Cascade reservoirs are essential in water resource utilization, flood control, and disaster mitigation. They have been built in several rivers worldwide. The rank classification for cascade reservoirs has significant practical implications for resource distribution decisions and risk management strategies and is also essential for ensuring the...

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...

Risk-based decision-making for evacuation in case of imminent threat of flooding

It is important for decision-makers in emergency response situations to determine the scope, scale, timing, path and resettlement area of an evacuation decision when there is an imminent threat of flooding. In this paper, a method called the "Evacuation Diagram" is described to support risk-based evacuation planning and decision-making. In...

Hurricane Harvey Report: A fact-finding effort in the direct aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in the Greater Houston Region

On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport, Texas as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of approximately 200 km/hour. Harvey caused severe damages in coastal Texas due to extreme winds and storm surge, but will go down in history for record-setting rainfall totals and flood-related damages. Across large...

Vulnerability of industrial plants to flood-induced natechs: A Bayesian network approach

In the context of natural-technological (natech) accidents, flood-induced damage of industrial plants have received relatively less attention mainly due to the scarcity of such accidents compared to those triggered by earthquakes, high winds, and lightnings. The large amount of oil spillage due to floods triggered by the Hurricanes Katrina and...

Fragility assessment of chemical storage tanks subject to floods

In the context of natural-technological (natech) accidents, flood-induced damage of chemical facilities have received relatively less attention mainly due to the scarcity of experimental or high resolution field observations. In the present study, we have introduced a methodology based on load-resistance relationships to assess the vulnerability...

Reliability-based analysis of river dikes during flood waves

Reliability and risk analyses are basic approaches, nowadays, for flood risk assessments in European countries such as the Netherlands, German, United Kingdom, etc. The methods also receive a lot of interest in developing countries. By considering uncertainties for both load and strength variables, the probability of failure for each element of...