scholarly journals How to Account for the Human Motion to Improve Flood Risk Assessment in Urban Areas

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Bernardini ◽  
Enrico Quagliarini
Keyword(s):  
Flood Risk ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Human Motion ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Evacuation Simulation ◽  
Simplified Approach ◽  
Safety Issues

Floods are critical disasters affecting urban areas and their users. Interactions with floodwater spreading and built environment features influence the users’ reaction to the emergency, especially during immediate disaster phases (i.e., evacuation). Recent studies tried to define simulation models to evaluate such exposure-related criticalities, assess individuals’ flood risk, and propose risk-mitigation strategies aimed at supporting the community’s proper response. Although they generally include safety issues (e.g., human body stability), such tools usually adopt a simplified approach to individuals’ motion representation in floodwaters, i.e., using input from non-specialized databases and models. This study provides general modelling approaches to estimate evacuation speed variations depending on individual’s excitement (walking, running), floodwaters depths and individuals’ features (age, gender, height, average speed on dry surfaces). The proposed models prefer a normalized evacuation speeds approach in respect of minimum motion constraint conditions to extend their applicability depending on the individuals’ characteristics. Speed data from previous experiments are organized using linear regression models. Results confirm how individuals’ speed reduces when depth and age increase. The most significant models are discussed to be implemented in evacuation simulation models to describe the evacuees’ motion in floodwaters with different confidence degree levels and then assess the community’s flood risk and risk-reduction strategies effectiveness.

scholarly journals Simplified graphical tools for assessing flood-risk change over large flood-prone areas

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 ◽  
pp. 209-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Carisi ◽  
A. Domeneghetti ◽  
A. Castellarin
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Flood Vulnerability ◽  
Simplified Approach ◽  
Hydraulic Behaviour ◽  
Risk Mitigation Strategies

Abstract. We propose and investigate the reliability of simplified graphical tools, which we term Hypsometric Vulnerability Curves, HVCs, for assessing flood vulnerability and risk over large geographical areas and for defining sustainable flood-risk mitigation strategies. These curves rely on the use of inundation scenarios simulated by means of quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2-D) hydrodynamic models that reproduce the hydraulic behaviour of the floodable area outside the main embankment system of the study river reach. We present an application of HVCs constructed on the basis of land use and census data collected during the last 50 years for assessing the recent dynamics of the flood vulnerability and risk over a large floodable area along a 350 km stretch of the River Po (Northern Italy). We also compared the proposed simplified approach with a traditional approach based on simulations performed with the fully-2-D hydrodynamic model TELEMAC-2-D, a widely employed and well-known 2-D finite-element scheme. By means of this comparison, we characterize the accuracy of the proposed simplified approach (i.e. quasi-2-D model and HVCs) for flood-risk assessment over large geographical areas and different historical land-use scenarios.

scholarly journals Towards dynamics in flood risk assessment

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3571-3587 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Mazzorana ◽  
L. Levaggi ◽  
M. Keiler ◽  
S. Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Flood Risk Assessment ◽  
Mountain Areas ◽  
Flood Impacts

Abstract. As a consequence of flood impacts, communities inhabiting mountain areas are increasingly affected by considerable damage to infrastructure and property. The design of effective flood risk mitigation strategies and their subsequent implementation is crucial for a sustainable development in mountain areas. The assessment of the dynamic evolution of flood risk is the pillar of any subsequent planning process that is targeted at a reduction of the expected adverse consequences of the hazard impact. Given these premises, firstly, a comprehensive method to derive flood hazard process scenarios for well-defined areas at risk is presented. Secondly, conceptualisations of a static and dynamic flood risk assessment are provided. These are based on formal schemes to compute the risk mitigation performance of devised mitigation strategies within the framework of economic cost-benefit analysis. In this context, techniques suitable to quantify the expected losses induced by the identified flood impacts are provided.

scholarly journals Performance-Based Planning to Reduce Flooding Vulnerability Insights from the Case of Turin (North-West Italy)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5697
Author(s):  
Stefano Salata ◽  
Silvia Ronchi ◽  
Carolina Giaimo ◽  
Andrea Arcidiacono ◽  
Giulio Gabriele Pantaloni
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Revision Process ◽  
North West ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Flooding Risk

Climate change impacts urban areas with greater frequency and exposes continental cities located on floodplains to extreme cloudbursts events. This scenario requires developing specific flooding vulnerability mitigation strategies that improve local knowledge of flood-prone areas at the urban scale and supersede the traditional hazard approach based on the classification of riverine buffers. Moreover, decision-makers need to adopt performance-based strategies for contrasting climate changes and increasing the resilience of the system. This research develops the recent Flooding Risk Mitigation model of InVEST (Integrated Evaluation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-off), where cloudburst vulnerability results from the soil’s hydrological conductivity. It is based on the assumption that during cloudburst events, all saturated soils have the potential for flooding, regardless of the distance to rivers or channels, causing damage and, in the worst cases, victims. The model’s output gives the run-off retention index evaluated in the catchment area of Turin (Italy) and its neighborhoods. We evaluated the outcome to gain specific insight into potential land use adaptation strategies. The index is the first experimental biophysical assessment developed in this area, and it could prove useful in the revision process of the general town plan underway.

scholarly journals Full integration of geomorphological, geotechnical, A-DInSAR and damage data for detailed geometric-kinematic features of a slow-moving landslide in urban area

Landslides ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario Peduto ◽  
Mariantonia Santoro ◽  
Luigi Aceto ◽  
Luigi Borrelli ◽  
Giovanni Gullà
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Landslide Risk ◽  
Conditioning Factors ◽  
Source Data ◽  
Slow Moving ◽  
Set Up

Abstract The reconnaissance, mapping and analysis of kinematic features of slow-moving landslides evolving along medium-deep sliding surfaces in urban areas can be a difficult task due to the presence and interactions of/with anthropic structures/infrastructures and human activities that can conceal morphological signs of landslide activity. The paper presents an integrated approach to investigate the boundaries, type of movement, kinematics and interactions (in terms of damage severity distribution) with the built environment of a roto-translational slow-moving landslide affecting the historic centre of Lungro town (Calabria region, southern Italy). For this purpose, ancillary multi-source data (e.g. geological-geomorphological features and geotechnical properties of geomaterials), both conventional inclinometer monitoring and innovative non-invasive remote sensing (i.e. A-DInSAR) displacement data were jointly analyzed and interpreted to derive the A-DInSAR-geotechnical velocity (DGV) map of the landslide. This result was then cross-compared with detailed information available on the visible effects (i.e. crack pattern and width) on the exposed buildings along with possible conditioning factors to displacement evolution (i.e. remedial works, sub-services, etc.). The full integration of multi-source data available at the slope scale, by maximizing each contribution, provided a comprehensive outline of kinematic-geometric landslide features that were used to investigate the damage distribution and to detect, if any, anomalous locations of damage severity and relative possible causes. This knowledge can be used to manage landslide risk in the short term and, in particular, is propaedeutic to set up an advanced coupled geotechnical-structural model to simulate both the landslide displacements and the behavior of interacting buildings and, therefore, to implement appropriate risk mitigation strategies over medium/long period.

scholarly journals Can Citizen Science Promote Flood Risk Communication?

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wing Cheung ◽  
David Feldman
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Flood Hazards ◽  
Risk Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Limited Application

This article explores the challenges facing citizen science as a means of joining the efforts of scientists and flood-risk affected stakeholders in motivating citizen involvement in identifying and mitigating flood risks. While citizen science harbors many advantages, including a penchant for collaborative research and the ability to motivate those affected by floods to work with scientists in elucidating and averting risk, it is not without challenges in its implementation. These include ensuring that scientists are willing to share authority with amateur citizen scientists, providing forums that encourage debate, and encouraging equal voice in developing flood risk mitigation strategies. We assess these challenges by noting the limited application of citizen science to flood-relevant problems in existing research and recommend future research in this area to meaningfully incorporate a “re-imagined” citizen science process that is based on the participatory theoretical framework. We also discuss one case study where the principles of collaboration, debate, and equal voice were put into play in an effort to apply citizen science and—in the long term—mitigate flood hazards in one set of communities.

scholarly journals A quantitative flood risk analysis methodology for urban areas with integration of social research data

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 2843-2863 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Escuder-Bueno ◽  
J. T. Castillo-Rodríguez ◽  
S. Zechner ◽  
C. Jöbstl ◽  
S. Perales-Momparler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Quantitative Estimation ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Risk Awareness ◽  
Flood Risk Analysis ◽  
Flooding Risk

Abstract. Risk analysis has become a top priority for authorities and stakeholders in many European countries, with the aim of reducing flooding risk, considering the population's needs and improving risk awareness. Within this context, two methodological pieces have been developed in the period 2009–2011 within the SUFRI project (Sustainable Strategies of Urban Flood Risk Management with non-structural measures to cope with the residual risk, 2nd ERA-Net CRUE Funding Initiative). First, the "SUFRI Methodology for pluvial and river flooding risk assessment in urban areas to inform decision-making" provides a comprehensive and quantitative tool for flood risk analysis. Second, the "Methodology for investigation of risk awareness of the population concerned" presents the basis to estimate current risk from a social perspective and identify tendencies in the way floods are understood by citizens. Outcomes of both methods are integrated in this paper with the aim of informing decision making on non-structural protection measures. The results of two case studies are shown to illustrate practical applications of this developed approach. The main advantage of applying the methodology herein presented consists in providing a quantitative estimation of flooding risk before and after investing in non-structural risk mitigation measures. It can be of great interest for decision makers as it provides rational and solid information.

scholarly journals Experimental Flash Floods Assessment Through Urban Flood Risk Mitigation (UFRM) Model: The Case Study of Ligurian Coastal Cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlotta Quagliolo ◽  
Elena Comino ◽  
Alessandro Pezzoli
Keyword(s):  
Flood Risk ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Spatial Knowledge ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Urban Flood ◽  
Coastal Cities ◽  
Runoff Reduction ◽  
Urban Flood Risk

Cities are vulnerable to extreme weather events, particularly by considering flash flood risk as a result of even more short-duration intensive rainfall. In the context of climate change, compound flooding due to simultaneous storm surges and increased runoff may further exacerbate the risk in coastal cities, and it is expected to be frequent and severe across several European urban areas. Despite this increasing evidence, the spatial knowledge of the hazardous events/vulnerabilities through modelling scenarios at the urban level is quite unexplored. Moreover, flood-prone areas often do not correspond to the traditional flood risk classification based on predicted return-period. The result that huge impacts (human losses and damages) occur everywhere throughout the city. Consequently, this new challenge requires stormwater flooding mitigation strategies to adapt to cities while mainstreaming urban flood resilience. In this paper, we considered the Urban Flood Risk Mitigation model through the employment of the open-source tool—Integrated Evaluation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-off (InVEST)—developed by the Natural Capital Project, integrated into a GIS environment. The model application in the three urban coastal territory of the Liguria Region (Italy) estimated the amount of runoff due to two extreme rainfall events for each watershed considered. These index calculation results help define examples of Natural Water Retention Measures (NWRM) per land-use type as resilient solutions by addressing site-specific runoff reduction. Local sensitivity analysis was finally conducted to comprehend the input parameter's influence of rain variation on the model.

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