Risk analysis and influencing factors of drought and flood disasters in China

The risk analysis of flood and drought disasters and the study of their influencing factors enhance our understanding of the temporal and spatial variation law of disasters and help identify the main factors affecting disasters. This paper uses the provincial administrative region of China as the research area. The proportion of the disaster area represents the degree of the disaster. The statistical distribution of the proportions was optimized from 10 alternative distributions based on a KS test, and the disaster risk was analyzed. Thirty-five indicators were selected from nature, agriculture and the social economy as alternative factors. The main factors affecting flood and drought disasters were selected by Pearson, Spearman and Kendall correlation coefficient test. The results demonstrated that the distribution of floods and drought is right-skewed, and the gamma distribution is the best statistical distribution for fitting disasters. In terms of time, the risk of flood and drought disasters in all regions showed a downward trend. Economic development and the enhancement of the ability to resist disasters were the main reasons for the change in disasters. Spatially, the areas with high drought risk were mainly distributed in Northeast and North China, and the areas with high flood risk were mainly distributed in the south, especially in Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui. The distribution of floods and drought disasters was consistent with the distribution characteristics of precipitation and water resources in China. Among the natural factors, precipitation was the main factor causing changes in floods and drought disasters. Among the agricultural and socioeconomic factors, the indicators reflecting the disaster resistance ability and regional economic development level were closely related to flood and drought disasters. The research results have reference significance for disaster classification, disaster formation mechanisms and flood and drought resistance.

     

Global snowmelt flood disasters and their impact from 1900 to 2020北大核心CSCD

Under the background of climate warming, the occurrence time, frequency, intensity, and impact of snowmelt flood disasters have changed significantly. Thus, establishing a global snowmelt flood disaster database is particularly important for disaster risk management. With the help of a web crawler, and based on multiple data sources such as natural disaster databases, documents, books, government agency websites, and news media, this study collected relevant information of snowmelt floods and mixed floods and established standards for identifying snowmelt flood events and their disaster impacts based on data from the different sources. Following the screening, sorting, fusion, and integration of snowmelt flood events, a global snowmelt flood disaster dataset containing 579 pieces of data with strong pertinence and reliability was constructed. The temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of global snowmelt flood disasters from 1900 to 2020 were preliminarily analyzed. The results showed that the snowmelt floods were mainly distributed between 30° N and 60° N, with more mixed floods south of 50° N and more snowmelt floods north of 50° N. Spring was the period of highest incidence of snowmelt flood disasters, followed by winter, summer, and autumn, respectively. The snowmelt floods that occurred in spring, autumn, and winter were mainly at 40°~50° N, and the snowmelt floods that occurred in summer were mainly at 30°~40° N. Compared with the snowmelt floods, the mixed floods were more frequent and more destructive, and their frequency increased with climate warming. The results provide a scientific basis for risk prevention and loss assessment of global snowmelt flood disasters. © 2022 Science Press (China).     

Comparison of TRMM-based flood indices for Gaziantep,Turkey

Floods are the most common natural disasters threatening the welfare of humanity. Gaziantep, a city located in a semi-arid region of Turkey, is occasionally flooded, and in May 2014, a flood not only caused property damage, but also resulted in the death of a lady who became trapped in flood waters. The fatality and property damage of flash floods arise from the limited response time for remediation. Despite improvements in numerical weather predictions, forecasting flash floods is not easy. Due to its frequent observations, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) real-time (RT) 3B42RT data are tested for Gaziantep flood predictions in this study. During TRMM era, six floods occurred in Gaziantep. Three-hourly 3B42RT data covering the 2000- to 2014-year period indicated high rain rates during months in which floods were observed. Also daily variation of rainfall was well represented. High-intensity rain (HIR), cumulative distribution functions (CDF) and Gaziantep Flood Index (GAFI) indices are developed for flood characterization. HIR, calculated as 10 mm/h, detected October and December of 2010 floods. CDFs with 99, 98.5, 95 and 91.3% indicated 4 floods occurred in August 2005, June 2007, October 2010 and December 2010, respectively. GAFI was able to detect 4 out of 6 occurrences (August 2005, June 2007, October 2010 and December 2010) as values ranging from 1 to 2.63 are selected for monthly precipitation. In the missed occurrence, 3B42RT did not indicate any rainfall. Although only rain rates are used in flood characterization, the results are promising, and the simplicity of the methodology favors its usage. Also, methodology can easily be implemented to TRMM following missions such as Global Precipitation Measurement Mission.     

Location model analysis of flood relief facilities: a case study of the Fazih River floodplain,Taiwan

The continuously low efficiencies of flood relief service in responding to flooding disasters in Taiwan highlight a need for research. This service efficiency is negatively influenced by flood relief facility locations and their operational management structure. The Fazih River floodplain has been previously identified as a high-flood-risk area using an analytic hierarchy process. The purpose of this study is to use the location set covering problem and the maximal covering location problem to determine the number of relief facilities required and the maximum covering area of each facility for the case study area of the Fazih River floodplain. The findings showed that covering distances range from 3.0 to 6.6 km and the number of facilities required for improved service efficiency is between 1 and 4.

     

Poverty, vulnerability and the impact of flooding in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

The article evaluates household vulnerability after the 2000 flood in two poor communities of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study analyses the forms of vulnerability which disasters such as floods present. Using data gathered from a survey of households, the study presents the impacts, coping and adapting strategies of households after the 2000 flood. The article argues that beyond the concern over socio-economic circumstances as the major determinant of household vulnerability, the management of the disaster can serve to perpetuate vulnerability.     

Risk Assessment,Emergency Preparedness and Response to Hazards: The Case of the 1997 Red River Valley Flood,Canada

The prevention and/or mitigation offlood disasters requires continual research, numerouscapital investment decisions, and high-qualitymaintenance and modifications of flood-controlstructures. In addition, institutional and privatepreparedness is needed. The experience offlood-control in North America has shown mixedoutcomes: while flood frequency has declined duringthe last few decades, the economic losses havecontinued to rise. Recent catastrophic floods havealso been linked to major structural interventions inthe region. The flood diversions may cause harmfuleffects upon the floodplain inhabitants by influencingflood levels in areas which are not normallyflood-prone. The increasing vulnerability of thefloodplain inhabitants poses new challenges and raisesquestions concerning the existing risk assessmentmethods, institutional preparedness and responses todisaster-related public emergencies, and local-levelpublic involvement in flood mitigation efforts.In the context of the catastrophic 1997 floods of theRed River Valley, Manitoba, Canada, this researchfocuses on two aspects of flood-related emergencygovernance and management: (i) the functions andeffectiveness of control structures, and (ii) theroles, responsibilities and effectiveness oflegislative and other operational measures. The studyconcludes that the flood-loss mitigation measures,both in terms of effects of control structures andinstitutional interventions for emergency evacuation,were not fully effective for ensuring the well-beingand satisfaction of floodplain inhabitants. Althoughorganizational preparedness and mobilization to copewith the 1997 flood emergency was considerable, theirsuccess during the onset of the flood event waslimited. Lack of communication and understandingbetween institutions, a reluctance to implementup-to-date regulations, and minimal publicparticipation in the emergency decision-making processall contributed to the difficulties experienced byfloodplain inhabitants.     

浅析甘肃小流域分布特性及山洪灾害成灾特点

暴雨洪水是自然界的主要灾害之一,它是水文现象的极端事件。山洪给国民经济和人民的生命财产造成很大损失,它是甘肃经济社会发展的重要制约因素之一。随着经济发展,人口增加,山洪给国民经济和社会发展带来的损失将越来越大,因此,防洪减灾任务仍十分艰巨。本文对甘肃省小流域分布特性及山洪成灾特点进行了分析,并提出了山洪灾害防治的建议。     

A coupled high-resolution hydrodynamic and cellular automata-based evacuation route planning model for pedestrians in flooding scenarios

Flooding is now becoming one of the most frequent and widely distributed natural hazards, with significant losses to human lives and property around the world. Evacuation of pedestrians during flooding events is a crucial factor in flood risk management, in addition to saving people’s lives and increasing time for rescue. The key objective of this work is to propose a shortest evacuation path planning algorithm by considering the evacuable areas and human instability during floods. A shortest route optimization algorithm based on cellular automata is established while using diagonal distance calculation methods in heuristic search algorithms. The Morpeth flood event that occurred in 2008 in the UK is used as a case study, and a highly accurate and efficient 2D hydrodynamic model is adopted to discuss the flood characteristics in flood plains. Two flood hazard assessment approaches [i.e., empirical and mechanics-based and experimental calibrated (M&E)] are chosen to study human instability. A comprehensive analysis shows that extreme events are better identified with mechanics-based and experimental calibration methods than with an empirical method. The result of M&E is used as the initial condition for the Morpeth evacuation scenario. Evacuation path planning in Morpeth shows that this algorithm can realize shortest route planning with multiple starting points and ending points at the microscale. These findings are of significance for flood risk management and emergency evacuation research.

     

Reconstruction and post-event analysis of a flash flood in a small ungauged basin: a case study in Slovak territory

Flash floods are one of the major natural hazards occurring in small streams with a negative effect on the country as well as on human lives. Heavy rainfall occurred on July 20, 2014 and July 21, 2014 and caused severe surface water flooding and a flash flood in the Malá Fatra National Park (Slovakia). The most affected was Vrátna Valley with the Varínka stream. This study presents a reconstruction and post-event analysis of a flash flood on small ungauged basin located in this protected area of Slovakia. The reconstruction included hydraulic terrain measurements on estimating the flood’s culmination and documenting the flood’s development. The measurements were taken at three cross sections of the Varínka stream. This paper is focused mainly on post-event analysis of the Varínka stream in two profiles: Strá?a (gauged profile) and Tiesňavy (ungauged cross section). Subsequently, the extremeness of the flash flood was preliminary evaluated. Results of the post-event analysis showed that the July 2014 flood was not the highest flood in this area despite its catastrophic consequences. By studying historical materials, we came to the conclusion that in the past (e.g. in 1848 or 1939) some devastating floods in this area had occurred, which had disastrous consequences for the population. The second part of the study is focused on comparing this flash flood with three major floods which have occurred in Slovak territory since 1998. The first flood occurred on the 20th of July, 1998 on the Malá Svinka stream, and the two others are floods which occurred on the 7th of June, 2011 in the Small Carpathian Mountains: on the Gidra stream in Píla village and on the Parná stream in Horné Ore?any village. Such comparison of flash floods from different geographical regions and different rainfall events can provide comprehensive information about their regimes, threats and disastrous effects.     

Major flood disasters in Europe: 1950–2005

There is a need for comprehensive, standardised and georeferenced information on floods for political and economic decision-making. Relevant, accurate and up-to-date data is an important aspect for resource distribution, mitigation programmes, disaster monitoring and assessment. Despite this, there is a lack of spatial and thematic accurate global data for floods. In Europe, historic data on flood losses and casualties are neither comprehensive nor standardised, thus making long-term analyses at continental level difficult. In this article, we present a map and catalogue of the major flood events of the last 56 years in the European Union (EU), Bulgaria and Romania. This study is an effort to alleviate the lack of homogeneous and georeferenced information on flood disasters for large periods in Europe. The objectives of this paper are to identify and classify the major flood disasters of the last 56 years in the EU; to map the major flood disasters at pan-European scale with the support of a potential flood hazard map and ancillary GIS datasets; and to give a picture of the current situation for major floods in the EU on the basis of past events and current trends. The Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) of the Centre of Research on Epidemiology of Disasters in Brussels (CRED) and United States Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and NATHAN of Munich Re are two of the main public global databases for natural disasters. Information from EM-DAT and NATHAN on flood disasters producing more than 70 casualties and/or more than 0.005% of EU GDP in damage has been assessed for the production of the map and catalogue of major flood disasters in Europe.

Riverine flood mapping and impact assessment using remote sensing technique: a case study of Chenab flood-2014 in Multan district,Punjab, Pakistan

The Multan district is mainly prone to riverine floods but has remained understudied. Chenab flood-2014 was the worst flood that this district experienced in recorded history. This study applies remote sensing (RS) techniques to estimate the extent, calculate duration, assess the major causes and resulting impacts of the flood-2014, using Landsat-8 OLI images. These images were obtained for pre-flood, during-flood and post-flood instances. Secondary data of flood causing factors were obtained for comprehensive analysis. Spatially trained and validated datasets were obtained through Google Earth platform and Global positioning system. The supervised classification with maximum likelihood algorithm was used to classify land use and land cover of the study area. The Modified Normalized Difference Water Index was utilized to detect flood inundation extent and duration, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index was utilized to monitor vegetation coverage and changes. The analysis allowed us to assess flood causes, and calculate the extent of the flooded areas with duration and recession, as well as damages to standing crops and built-up areas. The results revealed that the flood-2014 occurred due to heavy rains in early September in upper Chenab catchment. The flood inundation continued for around two months, which heavily affected agriculture and built-up areas. The present study introduces practical use of RS techniques to provide basis for effective flood inundation mapping and impact assessment, as an application for early flood response and recovery in the world.

     

中国城市洪涝问题及成因分析

随着经济社会的发展,中国步入城镇化快速发展的阶段,城镇化率已由2000年的36.22%增加到2014年的54.77%。在全球气候变化与快速城镇化背景下,中国城市洪涝灾害日益严重。阐述了全球气候变化及城镇化对城市降水和极端暴雨的影响机制,并从流域产汇流角度分析了城镇化对洪水过程的影响,系统剖析了中国城市洪涝频发的主要原因。在成因分析的基础上,进一步提出了中国城市洪涝防治的应对策略,主要包括:①以低影响开发理念为指导,加强城市基础设施建设,建设海绵城市;②建立城市洪涝立体监测、预报预警和实时调度系统,强化城市洪涝科学决策能力;③健全和完善城市洪涝应急预案,强化应急管理能力,完善灾害救助和恢复机制。     

基于非对称Archimedean Copula的三变量洪水风险评估

分析洪峰、洪量和历时三变量联合分布与风险概率及其设计分位数,为水利工程规划设计和风险评估提供参考依据。以珠江流域西江高要站52年洪水数据为例,采用非对称阿基米德M6 Copula函数与Kendall分布函数计算三变量洪水联合分布的“或”重现期、“且”重现期和二次重现期及其最可能的设计分位数。结果表明:“或”重现期的风险率偏高,“且”重现期的风险率偏低,二次重现期更准确地反映了特定设计频率情况下三变量洪水要素遭遇的风险率;按三变量“或”重现期或三变量同频率设计值推算的洪水设计值偏高,以最大可能概率推算的三变量洪水要素的二次重现期设计值可为防洪工程安全与风险管理提供新的选择。     

Geomorphic analysis reveals active tectonic deformation on the eastern flank of the Pir Panjal Range,Kashmir Valley,India

There are plenty of faults that show evidence that they are active. Most of the valley’s floor is occupied by unconsolidated Karewa deposits, in particular on the south–southwest of the Kashmir Valley. In such situations, geomorphic data can reveal the location of active faults. Accordingly, we tried to identify geomorphic indices in SW of the Kashmir Valley (Veshav, Rambiara, and Romushi drainage basins), which revealed the area to be potentially tectonically active. This active faulting was further substantiated by drainage anomalies and field investigations, which provides evidence for an emergent out-of-sequence NE-dipping active reverse fault (identified first time on ground) named the Balapur Fault (BF). The BF can be traced over at least 40 km along the southwest side of the Kashmir Valley. The existence of the active Balapur Fault and of two other inferred faults north of the Panjal Thrust or Murree Thrust presents a picture of a more complex strain-partitioning regime in the Kashmir Himalayas than is usually visualized.     

Flood, drought and typhoon disasters during the last half-century in the Guangdong province, China

In this paper, we present the changing properties of losses due to occurrences of droughts, floods and typhoon disasters in the Guangdong province, a comparatively economically prosperous province in the south China. Influences of typhoon activities on droughts and floods are also analysed. Results based on extensive and thorough investigations indicate that (1) generally, Guangdong province is both humid and warm; however, in recent decades, the negative impacts of droughts seem to be enhancing, which is proved by increasing drought-induced economic loss. In this sense, considerable importance should be attached to droughts, but not solely to floods, in the Guangdong province; (2) low-lying terrain of the Guangdong province makes this region easy to be influenced by flood inundation. Moreover, highly urbanized areas are mostly located in the low-lying areas. Flood-induced loss was increasing before 1990s and is decreasing after 1990s, and this should be attributed mainly to seasonal shifts of precipitation changes and enhancing human mitigation to flood disasters; (3) typhoon activities often inflict considerable loss on the economy of the Guangdong province. Moreover, flood events in the study region are mostly the results of typhoon activities. Flash floods, strong wind and storm surge accompanying typhoon activities are the major factors intensifying the negative impacts of the typhoon disasters.     

Global Perspectives on Loss of Human Life Caused by Floods

Every year floods cause enormous damage all over the world. This study investigates loss of human life statistics for different types of floods and different regions on a global scale. The OFDA/CRED Database contains data on international disasters and is maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters in Brussels (CRED) in cooperation with United States Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). Information from this source on a large number of flood events, which occurred between January 1975 and June 2002, is evaluated with respect to flood location and flood type. Due to the limited availability of information on coastal flood events, the scope of this study is limited to three types of freshwater flooding: river floods, flash floods and drainage problems. First, the development of loss of life statistics over time is discussed. Second, the dataset is analysed by region, by flood type and by the combination of type and region. The study shows that flash floods result in the highest average mortality per event (the number of fatalities divided by the number of affected persons). A cross analysis by flood type and location shows that average mortality is relatively constant for the different types over various continents, while the magnitude of the impacts (numbers of killed) and affected for a certain type varies between the different continents. On a worldwide scale Asian river floods are most significant in terms of number of persons killed and affected. Finally, a comparison with figures for other types of natural disasters shows that floods are the most significant disaster type in terms of the number of persons affected.     

Estimation of the upper bound of seismic hazard curve by using the generalised extreme value distribution

Flash floods are the most common type of natural hazards that cause loss of life and massive damage to economic activities. During the last few decades, their impact increased due to rapid urbanization and settlement in downstream areas, which are desirable place for development. Wadi Asyuti, much like other wadis in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, is prone to flash flood problems. Analysis and interpretation of microwave remotely sensed data obtained from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) data using GIS techniques provided information on physical characteristics of catchments and rainfall zones. These data play a crucial role in mapping flash flood potentials and predicting hydrologic conditions in space and time. In order to delineate flash flood potentials in Wadi Asyuti basin, several morphometric parameters that tend to promote higher flood peak and runoff, including drainage characteristics, basin relief, texture, and geometry were computed, ranked, and combined using several approaches. The resulting flash flood potential maps, categorized the sub-basins into five classes, ranging from very low to very high flood potentials. In addition, integrating the spatially distributed drainage density, rainfall intensity, and slope gradient further highlighted areas of potential flooding within the Wadi Asyuti basin. Processing of recent Landsat-8 imagery acquired on March 15, 2014, validated the flood potential maps and offered an opportunity to measure the extent (200–900 m in width) of the flooding zone within the flash flood event on March 9, 2014, as well as revealed vulnerable areas of social and economic activities. These results demonstrated that excessive rainfall intensity in areas of higher topographic relief, steep slope, and drainage density are the major causes of flash floods. Furthermore, integration of remote sensing data and GIS techniques allowed mapping flood-prone areas in a fast and cost-effective to help decision makers in preventing flood hazards in the future.     

Flood damage assessment of an urban area in Chennai, India, part I: methodology

Floods are random phenomena that not only cause damage to the lives, natural resources and the environment, but also affect the health of people. The severity of flooding tends to increase with urbanization. Socio-economic impacts of floods depend on the area, duration and depth of inundation, population density, housing typology, construction materials of dwellings, etc. This article examines the different available methods to trace the flood damage and illustrates the methodology to explore the economic loss through social investigation in Velachery, a part of urban Chennai in India. This paper is Part I of a two-part series in which the objectives and methodology are discussed. Based on the objectives and methodology developed for the study, a comprehensive flood management strategy can be proposed for the efficient management of future flood disasters. The results of the study are discussed in Part II.     

洪泽湖流域洪涝灾害的成灾机理分析与探讨

本文从洪泽湖历史洪涝灾情入手,分析了洪涝灾害的孕灾机理,认为自然因素叠加了人类不合理的活动共同导致了洪泽湖洪涝发生。典型洪涝孕灾区的过渡性地理位置是导致洪涝发生的大环境背景原因；流域暴雨降水高度集中的特征是洪涝的触发器；黄河夺淮历史和泥沙淤积而成的“悬湖”和“倒比降”的脆弱性地形地貌是洪涝发生的历史根本原因；下游排洪通道标准低、行洪能力不足以及人类过度围垦造成库容和湖面减小的影响都加重加大了洪涝灾害的程度和频次。     

Flood risk management in Central Viet Nam: challenges and potentials

This article explores the impacts of floods on the economy, environment, and society and tries to clarify the rural community’s coping mechanism to flood disasters in Central Viet Nam. It focuses on the social aspects of flood risk perception that shapes the responses to floods. The research findings revealed that flooding is an essential element for a coastal population, whose livelihood depend on productive functions of cyclical floods. The findings also revealed that floods, causing losses and damages, often inhibited economic development. The surveyed communities appeared to have evolved coping mechanisms to reduce the negative impacts of the floods, yet these coping mechanisms are under pressure due to environmental degradation. Integrated flood risk management is considered as a suitable paradigm for coping with flood disasters.