Abstract
In this study, a novel framework was developed to provide a holistic damage assessment caused by severe hydrologic events whether individually or as a compound event. The novel framework uses a developed hurricane-specific water quality model, Environmental Fluid Dynamic Code-Storm Surge model (EFDC-SS) and an ArcGIS-based framework, the Facility Economic Damage and Environmental Release Planning (FEDERAP) to assess damages to the built and natural environment. The developed framework could be used to compare different hurricanes and storms with a focus on land inundation, spill destination in both land and water and their associated risks, as well as economic loss including both physical and secondary losses. The results showed different spreading mechanisms during surge and rainfall-based hurricanes. While storm surge pushed contaminants (from spills) upstream, the rainfall-based hurricane caused a larger footprint of contamination on land. Though different in spreading patterns, spills during both hurricane types can widely spread miles away from the release location in a very short period of time. The FEDERAP economic loss model showed that facility area, average land elevation, the number of storage tanks and process units at the facility, and daily production are key drivers in the calculated total losses for a given hydrologic event.
Highlights
Storm surge, the rise in water level due to wind and pressure stresses, is known to be the most devastating aspect of a hurricane due to the retention time of inundated areas, currents, and water pressures within affected regions (Godoy, 2009; Naito et al, 2012)
This paper presents the coupling of the ADCIRC+SWAN model with Environment Protection Agency (EPA)’s Environmental Fluid Dynamic Code (EFDC) model as a framework for assessing environmental and economic damages associated with storm surge and the cascading effects of storm surge that include failures in environmental infrastructure such as wastewater plants, hazardous waste facilities and failures in industrial infrastructure including unit processes and above ground storage tanks that store chemicals and petrochemicals
The results from the water quality model driven by storm surge (EFDC-SS) model containing both land and waterbodies showed the different mechanisms of spill spread under different hurricane types
Summary
The rise in water level due to wind and pressure stresses, is known to be the most devastating aspect of a hurricane due to the retention time of inundated areas, currents, and water pressures within affected regions (Godoy, 2009; Naito et al, 2012). The literature is replete with studies that have demonstrated the catastrophic impacts of storm surge on residential areas (e.g., Robertson et al, 2007; Frazier et al, 2010) as well as on industrial regions (e.g., Cruz et al, 2001; Cauffman et al, 2006; Pine, 2006; Godoy, 2007; Harris and Wilson, 2008; Santella et al, 2010; Hallegatte et al, 2011; Burleson et al, 2015). To the best knowledge of the authors, there is no integrated framework that covers both economic and environmental impacts at the detailed facility level due to vulnerabilities to storm surge, inland flooding, or compound flooding
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