Abstract
Abstract: Flooding is one of the most frequent natural disasters across the world, which damages properties and may take the lives of people. Flood warning systems can play a significant role in minimizing those effects by helping to evacuate people from the probable affected areas during peak flash flood times. Therefore, a conceptual approach of an automated flood warning system is presented in this research to protect several houses, roads, and infrastructures along the Grand River, which are vulnerable to flooding during a 500 year return period flash flood. The Grand River is a tributary of Lake Erie, which lies in the Grand River watershed in the northeastern region of the United States and has a humid continental climate and receives lake-effect precipitation. The flood warning system for the Grand River was developed specifically during high flow conditions by calculating flood travel time and generating the inundation mapping for 12 different selected flood stages, which were approximately 2 to 500 years in recurrence interval, ranging from 10 ft. to 21 ft. at gage station 04212100, near the City of Painesville, OH. A Hydraulic Engineering Center-River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) was utilized for hydraulic modeling. Geospatial data required for HEC-RAS was obtained using a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) datasets, which were pre-processed and post-processed in HEC-GeoRAS to produce flood inundation maps. The flood travel time and flood inundation maps were generated by integrating LiDAR data with field verified survey results in order to provide the evacuation lead time needed for the people of probable affected areas, which is different from earlier studies. The generated inundation maps estimate the aerial extent of flooding along the Grand River corresponding to the various flood stages at the gage station near the City of Painesville and Harpersfield. The inundation maps were overlaid on digital orthographic maps to visualize its aerial extents, which can be uploaded online to provide a real-time inundation warning to the public when the flood occurs in the river.
Highlights
Flooding is a major natural hazard, which greatly impacts different regions across the world [1,2].In the United States, floods take the lives of more people than any other form of natural disaster [3,4].Among different types of floods, flash floods are the most dangerous, as these are the primary cause of deaths in the United States, killing more than 140 people each year [5]
The flood travel time and flood inundation maps were generated by integrating Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data with field verified survey results in order to provide the evacuation lead time needed for the people of probable affected areas, which is different from earlier studies
A flash flood is an abrupt flow of a large amount of water in a river within a few minutes or hours due to intense rainfall, a dam or levee failure, or a sudden release of water held by an ice jam [5,6]
Summary
Flooding is a major natural hazard, which greatly impacts different regions across the world [1,2]. The primary objective of this research study was to calculate the flood travel time during a high flood period by developing a hydraulic model using the Hydraulic Engineering Center-River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) and to provide the model for the possible use by the NWS. Based on the river stages and the rating curve that we have reported in this study, the flood travel time and possible inundation area can be estimated from pre-developed flood inundation maps and flood warnings can be issued to the probable affected areas in the real time by uploading those pre-developed inundation maps online and providing access to the general public. Inundation maps would be helpful for planners to focus on specific areas during evacuation actions This information leads to a more effective and efficient way of providing a warning system before the flood occurs and for the evacuation after the occurrence of flood events
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