Abstract
Urban flooding events are a significant driver of disaster loss, resulting in insured and uninsured losses, property damage, and negative impacts on residents and communities in Canada and internationally. The risk of flooding in urban environments is affected by watershed characteristics, environmental conditions, and the presence and condition of flood management and mitigation technologies. Several building- and lot-scale (or private-side) flood mitigation options are available to better protect properties from the risk of flooding, including backwater valves and foundation drainage systems to reduce the risks of sewer surcharge and infiltration flooding into basements, respectively. The overall success of private-side approaches to reduce the risk of flooding into buildings is reliant upon consistent installation procedures, building code interpretation and enforcement, public engagement, and maintenance. Current research into private-side approaches is presenting many opportunities and solutions for improved flood protection against water-related disasters at home. A greater understanding of the performance of private-side technologies under complex site-specific conditions can help to appoint flood prevention strategies better suited to individual home characteristics. This review paper explores the inter-related factors that affect the risk of basement flooding and explores the challenges and opportunities associated with the adoption and success of private-side flood mitigation approaches. Developing a greater understanding of basement flood vulnerability at the lot-scale will assist in identifying and prioritizing private-side strategies for homeowners to adopt and reduce the risk of flooding based on site-specific conditions affecting flood vulnerability. Continued efforts to evaluate and identify flood risk factors and the performance of private-side strategies are needed to better manage urban flooding events.
Highlights
Urban flooding results from large and often rapid precipitation events that overwhelm drainage infrastructure, resulting in flooded streets and basements
Results from this research found that rainfall-derived inflow (RDI) can be responsible for up to 85% of total rainfall-derived infiltration and inflow (RDII) for a case study location in London, Ontario, Canada, highlighting the importance of disconnection of foundation drainage systems from the sewer system in order to reduce occurrences of sewer surcharge and basement flood risk
Owing partly to urban pluvial flooding’s exclusion from traditional river and coastal flood risk management options in Canada, relatively less is known about pluvial flooding in urban environments as it pertains to the mechanisms responsible for causing basement flooding and the approaches to mitigate damages and insured losses
Summary
Urban flooding results from large and often rapid (or flashy) precipitation (or pluvial) events that overwhelm drainage infrastructure, resulting in flooded streets and basements. Numerous lot-level factors (or characteristics) can result in increased risk or vulnerability for an individual home to basement flooding from overland, infiltration, or sewer surcharge mechanisms Local surface conditions such as street gradients, sidewalks and curb heights and lot grading (Schmitt et al, 2004) and the presence of the above-mentioned green infrastructure or low impact development measures to divert or temporarily store stormwater on the individual lot (Carr et al, 2001) can influence the risk of flooding from overland flow. Several advances into the performance of catchment-scale and privateside flood mitigation strategies have been made as research into this topic has increased in recent years Research has included both numerical and experimental approaches and has focused on the capabilities of green infrastructure (or low impact development) and lot drainage, sewer back-up and backwater valves, and infiltration flooding and foundation drainage systems. Babcicky and Seebauer (2017) found that social capital increased perceived self-efficacy for flood preparedness, and reduced flood risk perceptions due to expectations of social support during disasters
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