Assessment of Wave Storm-Induced Flood Vulnerability in Rhodes Island, Greece

Fragkiska-Karmela Gad,Maria Chatzinaki,Chara Kyriakidou,Vasilios Kapsimalis,Dimitris Vandarakis

doi:10.3390/w12112978

Fragkiska-Karmela Gad, Maria Chatzinaki + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/w12112978

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Journal: Water	Publication Date: Oct 23, 2020
Citations: 8	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Hellenic Centre for Marine Research

Abstract

Coastal areas are threatened by extreme meteorological phenomena, such as wave storms. Therefore, the analysis of such events, such as providing information for their potential hazards assessment, is a key element in coastal management. In this study, a preliminary assessment of flood vulnerability due to storms was performed in Rhodes Island, Greece. Firstly, storm events were defined in terms of significant wave height, peak period, and duration, and they were grouped by means of cluster analysis into five classes (from weak to extreme) reflecting the intensity of each event. Subsequently, flood hazard was assessed by using an empirical formula for wave run-up calculations on cross-shore profiles and storm surge data at the region. Finally, a Flood Vulnerability Index (FVI) was used for assessing vulnerability according to a scale from very low to very high. The most intense storms were found to occur in the eastern, southeastern, and southern part of the island. More than 60% of storms were classified as weak, while extreme events were found to occur with a frequency of less than 2.5%. Regarding flood hazard and vulnerability, the maximum values of wave run-up were calculated in the southeastern region, but the most vulnerable part was found to be the northwestern region, as the FVI was assessed as very high for weak and extreme events.

Highlights

Coastal areas are highly dynamic systems that are affected by several forcing factors
The present study provides a preliminary evaluation of flood vulnerability at a regional scale based on (a) the analysis of wave storm events; (b) the assessment of potential flood hazard, which was parameterized by using wave run-up and surge during storm events; and (c) the calculation of the Flood Vulnerability Index (FVI) in Rhodes Island, Greece
The above methodology was applied in eight geographical sections of Rhodes Island, which are presented in Figure 1, in order to classify storm events into five classes depending on their intensity (I—weak; II—moderate; III—significant; IV—severe; and V—extreme) and assess flood hazard and vulnerability in each region

Summary

Introduction

Coastal areas are highly dynamic systems that are affected by several forcing factors. Extreme wave storms cause significant socio-economic and environmental impacts on coastal areas such as human lives lost, the degradation of biodiversity, and damages to infrastructure and properties [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. The analysis of such events and the assessment of their impact are key elements in coastal management and planning, providing a tool to stakeholders and decision makers for selecting the best mitigation and adaptation measures to protect affected areas. The assessment of flood vulnerability in a specific coastal region requires an extensive analysis of a wave climate. The consideration of vulnerability due to wave storms demands the identification of the intensity and duration of each storm event. Dolan and Davis [9,10] firstly proposed a storm classification into five categories—I: weak; II: moderate; III: significant; IV: severe; Water 2020, 12, 2978; doi:10.3390/w12112978 www.mdpi.com/journal/water

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