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Flood and Other Hydrogeomorphological Risk Management and Analysis

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2022) | Viewed by 31336

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Michalis Diakakis

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece
Interests: extreme events; flash flooding; flood mortality; risk perception; hydrogeomorphological disasters; landslides
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hydro-geomorphological events, including floods, debris flows and other hydrological and geomorphological phenomena, are among the most destructing, costly and lethal types of natural hazards. In light of recent scientific findings, the management of climate change-related risks becomes an increasingly urgent challenge for scientists, engineers, policy makers, as well as risk and civil protection professionals. The need to improve our understanding and protection with regard to these hazards has been highlighted multiple times in scientific and policy discussions.

In recent years, the management of hydrometeorological and hydrogeomorphological risks has seen advances in many aspects, including infrastructure, early warning processes, social integration, modelling and methodological processes, as well as the use of new technologies.

In addition to structural measures, a number of innovative methods and approaches have also been developed towards reducing the impacts of flooding, including remote sensing, unmanned aerial vehicles, flood resilience at the building level, warning systems for the general population, networks of interconnected sensors and machine learning. This is a multidisciplinary topic, which includes elements related to the understanding of human behaviour and safety, along with more traditional technical approaches to risk management.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to collect research works that improve our understanding of the management of flood risk and other hydrometeorological and hydrogeomorphological risks, including the use of innovative methods and tools, but also through the perspective of governance and policymaking. This topic draws on a wide range of expertise and applications including, but not limited to, the following:

Hydrogeomorphological risks in the built environment;
Catchment or national-scale approaches;
Community based approaches;
Human health and welfare;
Integrated solutions;
Mitigation and adaptation;
Natural flood risk management;
Risk management policy;
Building-level vulnerability and resilience;
Resilient infrastructure;
Hydrogeomorphological risks and transportation;
Smart resilient cities;
Stakeholder engagement for resilience.

Within this aim, original interdisciplinary research articles highlighting new ideas, review articles, study approaches, and innovations are welcome.

Dr. Michalis Diakakis
Guest Editor

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Keywords

flood risk management
hydrogeomorphological risks in the build environment
human health and welfare
building-level vulnerability
risk management policies
hydrogeomorphological risk resilience
hydrogeomorphological risks and new technologies

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Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3726 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

The Occurrence of Catastrophic Multiple-Fatality Flash Floods in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

by Michalis Diakakis, Katerina Papagiannaki and Meletis Fouskaris

Water 2023, 15(1), 119; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15010119 - 29 Dec 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4079

Abstract

Despite recent technological advances, many parts of the world continue to experience flood disasters accompanied by significant loss of human lives. Understanding how frequent these deadly catastrophes are creates many uncertainties, especially in areas where disaster records are scarce or have short timeframes. It is, however, very important from a preparedness and civil protection standpoint to assess the frequency of such high-mortality events, especially considering the threat of climate change. This work develops a high-mortality flood event database using multiple international sources, covering a relatively long time window (1882–2021), exploring the deadliest floods in the Eastern Mediterranean region, and examining their seasonal distribution, their temporal evolution, and their basic spatial patterns. The study identifies 132 flash flood events (causing ≥10 fatalities) with a return period of only 1.56 years. Additionally, higher-magnitude events (>85th percentile) were found to be less common but still not very rare (return period = 9.1 years). The number of events shows an increase in recent decades, while seasonal and spatial patterns were identified as well. Overall, the findings provide a foundation for understanding how common catastrophic flood events are in the region, are beneficial for policymakers and relevant professionals, and are an important stepping stone towards a complete understanding of how extreme floods have changed in the last century or will change in the near future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood and Other Hydrogeomorphological Risk Management and Analysis)

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27 pages, 8213 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Flood Protection Works on Flood Risk

by Georgios Mitsopoulos, Michalis Diakakis, Aristeides Bloutsos, Efthymios Lekkas, Evangelos Baltas and Anastasios Stamou

Water 2022, 14(23), 3936; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233936 - 3 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3441

Abstract

We pose the following research question: “what is the effect of flood protection works on flood risk?” To answer this question, we developed a flood risk assessment method that combines the typical hazard assessment via integrated hydrological and hydrodynamic calculations using HEC-HMS and 1D/2D HEC-RAS, respectively, and an original procedure for vulnerability assessment at the building level, which we applied in the town of Mandra in Attica, Greece. We performed calculations for 15 scenarios—combinations of return periods (T = 20, 50, 100, 150, and 200 y) and rain durations (t = 6, 12, and 18 h)—for the conditions of the year 2017, when there were no flood protection works, and today with these works in place. We identified the regions with high flood risk and concluded that the presence of the works caused a decrease in the inundation areas by 53–89%, along with reductions in the maximum water depths, the maximum flow velocities, and the average flood risk in Koropouli Street—the main street of Mandra, which suffered severe damage during the 2017 flood—by 38–62%, 18–52%, and 27–74%, respectively. The effect of the flood protection works increased with the increases in the return period and rain duration, while for the same return period the effect of the rain duration was more pronounced for the smaller return periods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood and Other Hydrogeomorphological Risk Management and Analysis)

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13 pages, 851 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Predicting and Changing Intentions to Avoid Driving into Urban Flash Flooding

by Kyra Hamilton, Stephanie R. Smith, Charlene Wright, Yvette Miriam Buchhorn and Amy E. Peden

Water 2022, 14(21), 3477; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14213477 - 31 Oct 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2384

Abstract

Driving into floodwater is a leading cause of fatal and non-fatal drowning during times of flood. The present research aimed to understand drivers’ beliefs and intentions in relation to driving into floodwater caused by flash floods in an urban area (Newcastle City, Australia), using the theory of planned behavior as a framework. The study (N = 217) used a survey-based design to identify the psychological processes (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, planning, moral norm) underpinning drivers’ intention to avoid driving into floodwater in Newcastle; and to concurrently investigate the potential effects of a brief planning intervention on drivers’ willingness to drive into floodwater in Newcastle. The structural equation model explained 49% of the variance in intention to avoid driving into floodwater in Newcastle, with subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and planning each significant independent predictors of drivers’ intention to avoid driving into urban floodwater in Newcastle. Paired samples t-tests revealed participants’ willingness to stay at their location and not drive if a flood alert was received, and willingness to drive into floodwater when there is perceived pressure from other drivers, significantly changed after a brief planning intervention. These findings can inform intervention targets and development of prevention strategies targeting personal mitigation measures, particularly in the context of driver behaviour during flash flooding in an urban area. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood and Other Hydrogeomorphological Risk Management and Analysis)

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18 pages, 5173 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Residual-Oriented Optimization of Antecedent Precipitation Index and Its Impact on Flood Prediction Uncertainty

by Jiyu Liang, Zichen Hu, Shuguang Liu, Guihui Zhong, Yiwei Zhen, Aleksei Nikolavich Makhinov and José Tavares Araruna

Water 2022, 14(20), 3222; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14203222 - 13 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1924

Abstract

Antecedent moisture conditions are essential in explaining differences in the translation of flood-producing precipitation to floods. This study proposes an empirical residual-oriented antecedent precipitation index (RAPI) to estimate and further link antecedent moisture conditions with flood predictive uncertainty. By developing a fully kernel-based residual error model without functional presumptions, the proposed RAPI is calibrated as the regressor of the deterministic model residual. Furthermore, the MI-LXPM algorithm is applied to search for optimal parameters in mixed-integer constraints. The rationality of the proposed framework is demonstrated by its application to a case study in South-East China. The quality of probabilistic streamflow predictions is then quantified using reliability, precision, and the NSE of the prediction mean. The results show that the RAPI closely connects to the uncertainty of hourly flood prediction as a proxy of antecedent soil moisture. The influence of RAPI is mainly on the precision and unbiasedness of flood prediction. Compared with the deterministic model output, the RAPI provides a better flood prediction of small to median flood events as a regressor. Along with the proposed date-driven residual error model, the framework can be applied to any pre-calibrated hydrological model and help modelers achieve high-quality probability flood prediction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood and Other Hydrogeomorphological Risk Management and Analysis)

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21 pages, 5650 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Improving Estuarine Flood Risk Knowledge through Documentary Data Using Multiple Correspondence Analysis

by Ana Rilo, Alexandre Oliveira Tavares, Paula Freire, José Luís Zêzere and Ivan D. Haigh

Water 2022, 14(19), 3161; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14193161 - 7 Oct 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2476

Abstract

Estuarine margins are usually heavily occupied areas that are commonly affected by compound flooding triggers originating from different sources (e.g., coastal, fluvial, and pluvial). Therefore, estuarine flood management remains a challenge due to the need to combine the distinct dimensions of flood triggers and damages. Past flood data are critical for improve our understanding of flood risks in these areas, while providing the basis for a preliminary flood risk assessment, as required by European Floods Directive. This paper presents a spin-off database of estuarine flood events built upon previously existing databases and a framework for working with qualitative past flood information using multiple correspondence analysis. The methodology is presented, with steps ranging from a spin-off database building process to information extraction techniques, and the statistical method used was further explored through the study of information acquired from the categories and their relation to the dimensions. This work enabled the extraction of the most relevant estuarine flood risk indicators and demonstrates the transversal importance of triggers, since they are of utmost importance for the characterization of estuarine flood risks. The results showed a relation between sets of triggers and damages that are related to estuarine margin land use, demonstrating their ability to inform flood risk management options. This work provides a consistent and coherent approach to use qualitative information on past floods, as a useful contribution in the context of scarce data, where measured and documentary data are not simultaneously available. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood and Other Hydrogeomorphological Risk Management and Analysis)

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18 pages, 8344 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A GIS-Based Model for Flood Shelter Locations and Pedestrian Evacuation Scenarios in a Rural Mountain Catchment in Romania

by Oana-Elena Chelariu, Corneliu Iațu and Ionuț Minea

Water 2022, 14(19), 3074; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14193074 - 29 Sep 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3663

Abstract

Shelter and evacuation-route planning represents the core of safe and efficient flood management. The methodology detailed in the present study includes an analysis of the suitability of areas for evacuation points, as well as an assessment of the degree of accessibility of those points during evacuation scenarios in small mountainous drainage basins. The analysis is based on water distribution and water-flow increase during the historic 2010 flooding of the Sucevița basin, when the discharge increased in merely 40 min. The proposed model considers the viability of pedestrian evacuation of the local population, as well as the degree of accessibility of nearby evacuation points. Thus, according to the results obtained for the mountain-based locality, 91.68% of the vulnerable population can be evacuated in 30 min, while 8.32% of the inhabitants require up to 54 min to reach an evacuation point. In the case of Marginea, located in a plateau area, the population under analysis can reach one of the evacuation points in approximately 36 min. The present study can support the implementation of non-structural flood management measures and decrease casualties through evacuation optimization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood and Other Hydrogeomorphological Risk Management and Analysis)

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14 pages, 3818 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Optimizing the Performance of Coupled 1D/2D Hydrodynamic Models for Early Warning of Flash Floods

by Georgios Mitsopoulos, Elpida Panagiotatou, Vasiliki Sant, Evangelos Baltas, Michalis Diakakis, Efthymios Lekkas and Anastasios Stamou

Water 2022, 14(15), 2356; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14152356 - 30 Jul 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2481

Abstract

We pose the following research question, “what are (i) the minimum required computation grid and (ii) the required form of hydrodynamic equations, i.e., shallow water equations (SWE) or diffusion wave equations (DWE), in 2D modeling to minimize the computational time while maintaining an acceptable level of error in the prediction of water depths and the extent of flood inundated areas?”. To answer this question, we apply the HEC-RAS 1D/2D model to simulate a disastrous flash flood in the town of Mandra, in Attica, Greece, in November 2017. HEC-RAS 1D/2D combines 1D modeling in the cross-sections of the two main streams of Mandra with 2D modeling in the rest of the potentially flooded area of the computational domain which has an area equal to 18.36 km². We perform calculations for 8 scenarios that combined various grid sizes (with approximately 44,000–95,000 control volumes) with the use of the SWE or DWE. We derive the following conclusions: (i) calculated maximum water depths using DWE were equal to 60–65% of the corresponding water depths using SWE, i.e., the DWE significantly underestimated water depths; (ii) calculated total inundation areas using the SWE were approximately 4.9–7.9% larger than the corresponding inundation areas using the DWE; these differences can be considered as acceptable; and (iii) the total computation times using SWE, which ranged from 67 to 127 min, were 60–70% longer than the computation times using DWE. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood and Other Hydrogeomorphological Risk Management and Analysis)

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21 pages, 5977 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Multi-Criteria Assessment of Hydrological Vulnerability—Case Study: Drainage Basins in the Northeast Region of Romania

by Andra-Cosmina Albulescu, Ionuț Minea, Daniel Boicu and Daniela Larion

Water 2022, 14(8), 1302; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14081302 - 16 Apr 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2577

Abstract

Hydrological vulnerability (HV) is a (changing) underlying condition in all drainage basins, depending on the dynamics of the potentially dangerous hydrological phenomena, the particularities of drainage networks, land use patterns, and processes that shape landforms in extensive periods. The socioeconomic attributes and the hydrotechnical infrastructure add up to the manifestation of this type of vulnerability. In this paper, we assess the HV levels of 81 drainage basins in the NE of Romania for three distinctive periods (1990–1999, 2000–2009, 2010–2018), using a multi-criteria approach. Two classical multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods were combined in order to evaluate the HV according to factors that refer to floods and hydrological drought occurrences, hydrotechnical structure coverage, the drainage network, land use, and landforms characteristics. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied to weigh these factors and the resulting relative importance values were integrated in the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), by which the alternatives represented by the catchments were ranked. The attenuation of the HV through time follows an East–West direction, from the lower elevations of the Moldavian Plateau to the heights of the Carpathians. Hydrological droughts are more likely to occur in the Eastern part of the analyzed territory, while the western section displays a certain propensity for floods. The results may be used by local and national authorities in order to improve the hydrological risk mitigation strategies, and to develop more targeted water management projects, properly calibrated to the conditions of the Northeast Development Region in Romania. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood and Other Hydrogeomorphological Risk Management and Analysis)

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15 pages, 3625 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Characteristics of Infrastructure and Surrounding Geo-Environmental Circumstances Involved in Fatal Incidents Caused by Flash Flooding: Evidence from Greece

by Michalis Diakakis

Water 2022, 14(5), 746; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14050746 - 26 Feb 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2103

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that a large portion of flood-associated fatalities are related to the use of vehicles. However, there is limited research on the role of infrastructure and geo-environmental conditions surrounding such incidents. This work exploits a dataset of 40 fatal vehicle-related events caused by flooding in Greece to explore the circumstances, the characteristics of infrastructure and of the surrounding environment and their possible influence in the studied incidents. The results showed that the majority of cases occurred in road segments and river crossings with a variety of design deficiencies related to safety and protection from flooding, including poor signage and lighting as well as the absence of road closures, road barriers and other crucial safety features. In high percentages incidents occurred in isolated/remote sites in rural areas, relatively narrow roads and low quality infrastructure (e.g., ford crossings) with a lack of easy alternate routes and absence of other individuals. In the vast majority of cases, the accidents occurred in small arid catchments drained by ephemeral torrents when experiencing extreme flows. The findings have practical implications as they provide a better understanding of dangerous circumstances and define the high-risk segments of the road, which is helpful in prioritizing and shaping appropriate interventions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood and Other Hydrogeomorphological Risk Management and Analysis)

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19 pages, 7990 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Small and Medium–Scale River Flood Risk in Case of Exceeding Control Standard Floods Using Hydraulic Model

by Zixiong Wang, Ya Sun, Chunhui Li, Ling Jin, Xinguo Sun, Xiaoli Liu and Tianxiang Wang

Water 2022, 14(1), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14010057 - 28 Dec 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2868

Abstract

Exceeding control standard floods pose threats to the management of small and medium–scale rivers. Taking Fuzhouhe river as an example, this paper analyzes the submerged depth, submerged area and arrival time of river flood risk in the case of exceeding control standard floods (with return period of 20, 50, 100 and 200 years) through a coupled one– and two–dimensional hydrodynamic model, draws the flood risk maps and proposes emergency plans. The simulation results of the one–dimensional model reveal that the dikes would be at risk of overflowing for different frequencies of floods, with a higher level of risk on the left bank. The results of the coupled model demonstrate that under all scenarios, the inundation area gradually increases with time until the flood peak subsides, and the larger the flood peak, the faster the inundation area increases. The maximum submerged areas are 42.73 km², 65.95 km², 74.86 km² and 82.71 km² for four frequencies of flood, respectively. The change of submerged depth under different frequency floods shows a downward–upward–downward trend and the average submerged depth of each frequency floods is about 1.4 m. The flood risk maps of different flood frequencies are created by GIS to analyze flood arrival time, submerged area and submerged depth to plan escape routes and resettlement units. The migration distances are limited within 4 km, the average migration distance is about 2 km, the vehicle evacuation time is less than 20 min, and the walking evacuation time is set to about 70 min. It is concluded that the flood risk of small and medium–scale rivers is a dynamic change process, and dynamic flood assessment, flood warning and embankment modification scheme should be further explored. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood and Other Hydrogeomorphological Risk Management and Analysis)

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11 pages, 2111 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Staged Operation of a Multi-Purpose Reservoir in Flood Season and Its Effect Evaluation

by Chongxun Mo, Can Zhu, Yuli Ruan, Xingbi Lei, Zhenxiang Xing and Guikai Sun

Water 2021, 13(18), 2563; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13182563 - 17 Sep 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1996

Abstract

A reasonable analysis of flood season staging is significant to the management of floods and the alleviation of water shortage. For this paper, the case of the Chengbi River Reservoir in China was selected for study. Based on fractal theory, the flood season is divided into several sub-seasons by using four indexes (multi-year average daily rainfall, multi-year maximum rainfall, multi-year average daily runoff, and multi-year maximum daily runoff) in this study. Also the Benefit-Risk theory is applied to evaluate the effects of staged dispatching. The results show that the flood season of the Chengbi River basin should be divided into the pre-flood season (13 April–6 June), the main flood season (7 June–9 September) and the post-flood season (10 September–31 October). After adjusting the flood limit water level for sub-season and benefit assessment, the probability of exceedance after reservoir flood season operation increases by

0.13 \times 10^{- 5}

, the average annual expected risk is 0.2264 million RMB, and the average annual benefit increases by 0.88–1.62 million RMB. The benefits obtained far outweigh the risks, indicating the importance of staging the flood season. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood and Other Hydrogeomorphological Risk Management and Analysis)

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