Flood Resilience Measures Research Articles

Measuring community heatwave resilience: A comprehensive framework and tool

This article presents the first comprehensive, multi-sector heatwave resilience measurement framework and associated tool, available for use at the community or city neighbourhood scale. The question of how to live in a rapidly urbanising, climate change impacted world with more frequent and intense heatwaves is more urgent than ever. Most cities and communities around the world are critically underprepared for the growing reality of heatwaves. This paper presents the system of systems that come together to generate heatwave risk and action in which can, in-turn, support community-level heatwave resilience: features of urban heatwave risk, heatwave vulnerabilities, and heatwave governance. We then present the heatwave version of the Climate Resilience Measurement for Communities: a systems-based approach for conceptualising and measuring disaster resilience. The framework was co-designed by researchers and practitioners and is based on the most widely applied community flood resilience measurement endeavor in the world. This is, to our knowledge, the only standardized and holistic, yet globally applicable, heatwave resilience measurement framework available.

Nivar cyclone-related urban flood vulnerability in Velachery municipality, Chennai

ABSTRACT The Velachery Municipality is highly vulnerable to natural disasters such as Storms, and floods due to its geo-environmental settings. It is evident that the Nivar cyclone has severely hit and caused flooding in the Velachery region during the fourth week of November 2020. Along with the increasing urbanization, it is also expected to experience severe impacts of climate change soon. Urbanization exerts additional environmental stress and amplifies the impact of natural disasters. The study area has been divided into 3 clusters based on the geographical location. The survey has been carried out in 180 households and data was statically analyzed. Indicators such as exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity were grouped and aligned with available data. Data were aggregated using a composite index and Urban Flood Vulnerability was compared to Cluster wise. The results reveal an extreme variability in terms of flood magnitude and frequency in Velachery. The vulnerability spider diagram suggests that Cluster 2 is more vulnerable in terms of less capacity to cope, and Cluster 3 is more vulnerable in terms of Exposure, Health, Economic susceptibility, physical susceptibility, less capacity to anticipate, cope and recover. Overall Cluster 3 has higher flood vulnerability compared to other clusters. The identification of flood-vulnerable zones has been done in the study and recommended flood resilience measures for Velachery Municipality, Chennai.

Measuring community disaster resilience for sustainable climate change adaptation: Lessons from time-series findings in rural Cambodia.

Donor-funded climate and disaster resilience programmes and projects aim to help build the capacities and resilience of communities. Measuring resilience is critical, therefore, in providing feedback, evidence, and accountability. This paper presents recent two-year time-series findings from an ongoing multi-partner academic and practical collaboration pertaining to a climate change adaption project with rural communities in Cambodia. To measure community resilience, the study used the Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities, which measures, using mixed methods, disaster resilience capacities across five key dimensions of resilience: human, social, physical, natural, and financial capitals. The study analysed and reported changes in these areas of resilience in the selected villages, generating insights into the strengths and weaknesses of flood resilience capacities in the region. This paper provides valuable guidance as to where investment can be most effective in different communities, confirming the usefulness of the tool in measuring resilience and assessing the effectiveness of the project concerned.

The impact of electrical hazards from overhead power lines on urban search and rescue operations during extreme flood events

Accurate flood forecasting and efficient emergency response operations are vital, especially in the case of urban flash floods. The dense distribution of power lines in urban areas significantly impacts search and rescue operations during extreme flood events. However, no existing emergency response frameworks have incorporated the impacts of overhead power lines on lifeboat rescue operations. This study aims to determine the necessity and feasibility of incorporating overhead power line information into an emergency response framework using Manville, New Jersey during Hurricane Ida as a test bed. We propose an integrated framework, which includes a building-scale flood model, urban point cloud data, a human vulnerability model, and network analysis, to simulate rescue operation feasibility during Hurricane Ida. Results reveal that during the most severe point of the flood event, 46% of impacted buildings became nonrescuable due to complete isolation from the road network, and a significant 67.7% of the municipality’s areas that became dangerous for pedestrians also became inaccessible to rescue boats due to overhead power line obstruction. Additionally, we identify a continuous 10-hour period during which an average of 43.4% of the 991 impacted buildings faced complete isolation. For these structures, early evacuation emerges as the sole means to prevent isolation. This research highlights the pressing need to consider overhead power lines in emergency response planning to ensure more effective and targeted flood resilience measures for urban areas facing increasingly frequent extreme precipitation events.

Geographic Information System (GIS) Assessment of the Impact of Flooding on Residential Buildings in Akure, Nigeria

Flooding has caused the deaths of people, collapse of buildings, destruction of properties, and a lot of worries to occupants in Nigeria. In spite of persistent incident of flooding in many areas, the researches that are aimed at lessening the impacts of flooding, especially on residential buildings close to riverbanks are few. The study assessed the influence of flooding on residential buildings in Ajeromi Community of Ondo State, Nigeria using Geographic Information System (GIS). A triangulation research approach involving structured questionnaire, personal observation and the application of Geographic Information System (GIS) were used. Data were collected from the occupants of buildings and GIS was used to collect information on the geo-referencing of affected buildings showing river channels, contours, and the topography of the area. From the result, the major effects of flooding were; paint defects, present of rot and mould, damage to the finishes of buildings, wall dampness, and cracking of ground floor due to uplift pressure. The major reason for vulnerability of these residential buildings to flooding were heavy rainfalls and climate changes, construction of buildings closes to waterways, and poor physical planning of the community. Flood resilience measures for residential occupants in the areas includes adequate channelization of waterbodies and avoidance of waterways when constructing buildings. All the results correlated with the findings of results from physical assessment and GIS geo-referencing. Based on the findings, GIS can be used to assess residential buildings to prevent flooding and enhance flood resilience.

Quantifying community resilience to riverine hazards in Bangladesh

Every year, 30–70% of Bangladesh is inundated with flood waters, which combined with erosion, affect between 10 and 70 million people annually. Rural riverine communities in Bangladesh have long been identified as some of the poorest populations, most vulnerable to riverine hazards. However, these communities have, for generations, also developed resilience strategies – considered as the combination of absorptive, adaptive, and transformative approaches – to manage significant flooding and erosion. It is not clear whether such existing strategies are sufficient to generate resilience in the face of increasing hazards and growing pressures for land. In this study, we quantify community resilience to flooding and erosion of 35 of the most poverty-stricken and exposed communities in riverine Bangladesh by applying the systematic resilience measurement framework provided by the Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities tool. The low levels of resilience observed in the riverine communities, as well as their continued focus on enhancing absorptive capacities are alarming, especially in the face of growing climate threats and continued population growth. Innovative transformative responses are urgently required in riverine Bangladesh, which align with and complement ongoing community-centred efforts to enhance rural resilience to riverine hazards.

A fuzzy logic approach for measuring flood resilience at community level in Nigeria

PurposeFlood resilience is a critical concept in flood risk management (FRM). Meanwhile, flood resilience measurement has become vital for making the business case for investment in FRM. However, information is sparse on measuring the level of resilience of flood-prone communities in Nigeria. Therefore, this study aims to develop a fuzzy logic-based model for measuring the resilience of flood-prone communities towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 11 and 13.Design/methodology/approachThis study describes the development of a fuzzy logic-based flood resilience measuring model, drawing on a synthesis of fuzzy logic literature and extant flood resilience. A generalisation of the flood system for a typical Nigerian community was made. It was followed by an identification and characterisation of the variables and parameters of the system based on SDGs 11 and 13. The generated data was transformed into a fuzzy inference system (FIS) using three input community flood resilience dimensions: natural, socio-technical and socio-economic factors (SEF). The model was then validated with primary data obtained from selected flood-prone communities in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria. Expert opinions were used in rating the input dimensions for the selected communities.FindingsIn spite of various inputs from experts in the same study area (Apete, Ibadan, Nigeria), the resulting FIS generated consistent resilience indices for various natural, socio-technical and SEF. This approach can strengthen flood resilience measurement at the community level.Originality/valueAlthough previous attempts have been made to measure flood resilience at the individual property level (Oladokun et al., 2017; Adebimpe et al., 2020), this research focuses on measuring flood resilience at the community level by adapting the fuzzy logic approach. The fuzzy logic-based model can be a tool for flood resilience measurement at the community level. It can also be developed further for regional and national level applications.

Machine Learning Enhances Flood Resilience Measurement in a Coastal Area – Case Study of Morocco

Machine Learning Enhances Flood Resilience Measurement in a Coastal Area – Case Study of Morocco

Investigating moral hazard and property-level flood resilience measures through panel data from Germany

Property-level flood resilience is an important element of managing current and future flood risk. Government-provided flood protection infrastructure alone cannot fully prevent flood impacts. Property-level flood resilience can aid in the management of risk through two interconnected avenues of individual action. The first is through risk transfer (insurance), which provides post-disaster compensation so that the recovery process is enhanced. The second is through property-level resilience measures, which are strategies aimed at limiting flood damage. Well-designed insurance schemes could incentivise insurance policyholders to employ additional property-level flood resilience measures. However, insurance can equally be argued to disincentivise the employment of property-level flood resilience measures, as the policyholder's losses will be compensated by an insurance company. This latter impact has been referred to as moral hazard, and its systematic presence in disaster insurance markets jeopardizes the industry's sustainability. However, the presence of moral hazard is context dependent. Therefore, it is necessary to study whether moral hazard is present to understand how resilient society is. We study the presence of moral hazard in Germany using a panel dataset, resulting from a longitudinal survey following a flood in 2013. The panel provides insights into dynamic mechanisms concerning moral hazard that would remain hidden in a cross-sectional survey, a dataset that is more widely used in the current literature. We did not find indications for the presence of moral hazard in Germany overall, but a continuing positive association between insurance purchases and the employment of flood resilience measures despite the overall increasing coverage rates.

Flood-resilient governance in Okanagan valley of British Columbia: current practices and future directives

The governance of flood resilience comprises an array of policy instruments that can be applied to reduce damages and risks to the communities. Policy instruments available at the local level tend to have the greatest impact on communities’ ability to absorb shock and resume normal operation. This study is the first attempt to analyze policy instruments and regulations guiding the progression of flood resilience measures in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. It aims to offer recommendations specific to the local context and identify the best practices to improve flood resilience of the communities. Therefore, the study adopted a multistage methodology including literature review, stakeholder consultations with the organizations (consisting of municipalities, regional districts, and First Nations), and quantitative analysis using present/absent criteria to measure prevalence of given indicators and five flood resilience classes. The results suggest that the flood resilience policies and strategies of 22 organizations in the Okanagan valley are predominantly focused on flood preparation and mitigation, whereas policies related to during and post-flood management are still in infancy and do not offer satisfactory support. Notably, some organizations are proactive in recognizing looming flood risks, thus enacting essential policy measures to strengthen resilience. These results further highlight that these organizations have focused on a variety of measures to improve resilience, such as spatial planning, building construction setbacks, enhancing natural environment, protecting riparian areas, and stormwater management. As well, current flood-resilient practices by the Prairies (Calgary) paved the way for how both regions can learn from each other. The study sheds light on broader takeaways of what the findings of this study mean for other world regions. The study results are of great importance to the organizations across the Okanagan Valley as they lay the groundwork for resource mobilization to achieve flood resilience and sustainability.

Investigating flood resilience perceptions and supporting collective decision-making through fuzzy cognitive mapping.

Improving flood resilience of communities requires a holistic understanding of risks and resilience options as well as the preferences and priorities of different stakeholders. Innovations in risk and resilience assessment have helped communities to identify gaps in their flood risk management strategy but selecting and implementing resilience solutions remains a big challenge for many decision-makers. In addition to traditional appraisals and cost-benefit assessments this also calls for a participatory process in which various stakeholders are encouraged to adopt a system-level approach in identifying interventions that can maximise a range of benefits and co-benefits. In this study, we investigate how a combination of modelling and measurement methods can help decision-makers with their flood resilience strategies. We apply a participatory system thinking approach combining Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) with a flood resilience measurement framework called Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities (FRMC). We first investigate stakeholders' biases on flood resilience interventions, and then lead them through a system thinking exercise using FCM and FRMC to elicit mental models representing important aspects of flood resilience and their interrelation. These are then aggregated, representing the collective perceptions and knowledge of stakeholders, and used to identify the most beneficial resilience actions in terms of direct and indirect impacts on flood resilience. We apply this approach to the case of Lowestoft, a coastal town in England exposed to significant flood risk. Developed in close collaboration with the local authorities, the ambition is to support decision-making on flood resilience interventions. We find that this combination of methods enables system-level thinking and inclusive decision-making about flood resilience which can ultimately encourage transformative decisions on prioritization of actions and investments.

Connecting research and practice

Connecting research and practice

Flood modeling of Sungai Pinang Watershed under the impact of urbanization

Urbanization has been a worldwide development trend, which regulates river courses, impervious surfaces and drainage systems. Urbanization causes hydrological effects, including increased runoff volumes, peak discharges and flow concentrations. This manuscript selects the Malaysian Sungai Pinang watershed as a case study to illustrate these land use, channel and flooding changes of Asian coastal cities. The Landsat satellite remote sensing images were first used to estimate the land use/land cover changes of the Sungai Pinang watershed by using SVM algorithm, and the results shows the urbanization was very rapid in the past decades, with the urbanization rate reached 46.41% in 2018 based on the build area rate. River channel characteristics also changed significantly, from natural river to concrete channel. Some flood resilience measures for coastal cities experiencing urbanization are also proposed for development and flood mitigation. Moreover, a flood forecasting model of the Sungai Pinang watershed is established herein. The simulation results of the Liuxihe model constructed in this study conforms to hydrological regularities and can provide a technical reference for flood control and disaster reduction. However, it is necessary to pay attention to the uncertainty of the forecast results.

Flood-adaptive green infrastructure planning for urban resilience

Urban flooding in South Korea continues to affect the lives of people. In this study, we propose flood-adaptive green infrastructure planning to enhance urban flood resilience. Specifically, a strategy for responding to flooding was established based upon the “4Rs” in the concept of resilience: robustness, rapidity, redundancy, and resourcefulness. The effects of reduced stormwater runoff were then simulated for Gangnam-gu, Seoul, via the application of green infrastructure. Finally, a design matrix was established based on the flood-adaptive design strategy and simulation results. By presenting a resilience- and green infrastructure-based planning strategy, this study may be useful for urban flood resilience measurement and adaptation as well as sustainable urban design and planning.

Spatialized flood resilience measurement in rapidly urbanized coastal areas with a complex semi-arid environment in northern Morocco

Abstract. Enhancing resilience is critical for coastal urban systems to cope with and minimize flood disaster risks. This issue is certainly more important in Africa, where the increase in flood frequency is a significant concern for many areas. In this context, urban planners need accurate approaches to set up a standard for measuring the resilience to floods. In Morocco, this issue is still not fully covered by the scientific community despite the obvious need for a new approach adapted to local conditions. This study applied a composite index and geographic-information-system approach to measure and map resilience to floods in three northern coastal municipalities. The approach is also based on a linear ranking of resilience parameters, offering a more optimal classification of spatial resilience variation. The results allowed us to identify specific areas with different resilience levels and revealed the relationship between urban dimensions and the flood resilience degree. This approach provides an efficient decision-support tool to facilitate flood risk management, especially in terms of prioritizing protective actions.

Spatial Planning for Urban Resilience in the Face of the Flood Risk: Institutional Actions, Opportunities and Challenges

The research was inspired by the increasing impact of extreme weather events and changing climate patterns on flood-prone regions and cities, and the consequent human and economic costs. Despite global efforts for flood resilience and climate adaptation involving climate analysts, economists, social scientists, politicians, hydrological engineers, spatial planners, and policymakers, it is only partially clear how best to construct resilience measures and implement concrete initiatives. The complexity of institutions is a key factor that is often neglected, and which needs further investigation. The thesis examines the institutional arrangements that determine the role of spatial planning in managing flood risk, through an in-depth case study of Guangzhou, one of the most vulnerable cities in China and globally. The thesis employs theories of historical institutionalism, planning procedure and planning tools, policy framing and collaborative governance, to explore the mechanisms and factors that influence the creative planning and design process. Content analysis, GIS-based mapping, stakeholder analysis and TOWS analysis are used to investigate data from official policy documents, grey literature, geo-information data and interview scripts. The findings indicate that institutional arrangements, such as long-established planning traditions, formal planning procedures and tools, policy framing patterns and contextual organisational factors, determine spatial planning’s role in managing flood risk. They do this through (1) the extent of the changeability of an established planning system towards expanded flood resilience measures; (2) the performance of cross-level communication and boundary-spanning work between planning and water management; (3) the legal framework that planners and hydrological engineers follow; and (4) the capacities of planning and water management institutions to work on flood issues. This research shows how to apply knowledge from policy science, political science, institutional science and administration, to analyse the nature of the planning process in tackling the urgent challenge of flood risk and climate change.

Spatial Planning for Urban Resilience in the Face of the Flood Risk

The research was inspired by the increasing impact of extreme weather events and changing climate patterns on flood-prone regions and cities, and the consequent human and economic costs. Despite global efforts for flood resilience and climate adaptation involving climate analysts, economists, social scientists, politicians, hydrological engineers, spatial planners, and policymakers, it is only partially clear how best to construct resilience measures and implement concrete initiatives. The complexity of institutions is a key factor that is often neglected, and which needs further investigation. The thesis examines the institutional arrangements that determine the role of spatial planning in managing flood risk, through an in-depth case study of Guangzhou, one of the most vulnerable cities in China and globally. The thesis employs theories of historical institutionalism, planning procedure and planning tools, policy framing and collaborative governance, to explore the mechanisms and factors that influence the creative planning and design process. Content analysis, GIS-based mapping, stakeholder analysis and TOWS analysis are used to investigate data from official policy documents, grey literature, geo-information data and interview scripts. The findings indicate that institutional arrangements, such as long-established planning traditions, formal planning procedures and tools, policy framing patterns and contextual organisational factors, determine spatial planning’s role in managing flood risk. They do this through (1) the extent of the changeability of an established planning system towards expanded flood resilience measures; (2) the performance of cross-level communication and boundary-spanning work between planning and water management; (3) the legal framework that planners and hydrological engineers follow; and (4) the capacities of planning and water management institutions to work on flood issues. This research shows how to apply knowledge from policy science, political science, institutional science and administration, to analyse the nature of the planning process in tackling the urgent challenge of flood risk and climate change.

Spatial Planning for Urban Resilience in the Face of the Flood Risk

The research was inspired by the increasing impact of extreme weather events and changing climate patterns on flood-prone regions and cities, and the consequent human and economic costs. Despite global efforts for flood resilience and climate adaptation involving climate analysts, economists, social scientists, politicians, hydrological engineers, spatial planners, and policymakers, it is only partially clear how best to construct resilience measures and implement concrete initiatives. The complexity of institutions is a key factor that is often neglected, and which needs further investigation. The thesis examines the institutional arrangements that determine the role of spatial planning in managing flood risk, through an in-depth case study of Guangzhou, one of the most vulnerable cities in China and globally. The thesis employs theories of historical institutionalism, planning procedure and planning tools, policy framing and collaborative governance, to explore the mechanisms and factors that influence the creative planning and design process. Content analysis, GIS-based mapping, stakeholder analysis and TOWS analysis are used to investigate data from official policy documents, grey literature, geo-information data and interview scripts. The findings indicate that institutional arrangements, such as long-established planning traditions, formal planning procedures and tools, policy framing patterns and contextual organisational factors, determine spatial planning’s role in managing flood risk. They do this through (1) the extent of the changeability of an established planning system towards expanded flood resilience measures; (2) the performance of cross-level communication and boundary-spanning work between planning and water management; (3) the legal framework that planners and hydrological engineers follow; and (4) the capacities of planning and water management institutions to work on flood issues. This research shows how to apply knowledge from policy science, political science, institutional science and administration, to analyse the nature of the planning process in tackling the urgent challenge of flood risk and climate change.

Protection Motivation Theory: A Proposed Theoretical Extension and Moving beyond Rationality—The Case of Flooding

Despite the significant financial and non-financial costs of household flooding, and the availability of products that can reduce the risk or impact of flooding, relatively few consumers choose to adopt these products. To help explain this, we combine the existing theoretical literature with evidence from 20 one-to-one discussions and three workshops with key stakeholders, as well as five round tables, to draw practical evidence of actual responses to flood risk. This analysis leads us to propose an extension to Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), which more accurately captures the decision-making process of consumers by highlighting the role of ‘ownership appraisal’. We then assess the extent to which behavioral biases impact on this revised framework. By highlighting the interaction with an augmented model of PMT and behavioral biases, the paper sheds light on potential reasons behind the fact that consumers are unlikely to adopt property-level flood resilience measures and identifies strategies to increase flood protection. The Augmented PMT suggests that policymakers might focus on increasing the Ownership Appraisal element, both directly and by targeting the creation of more supportive social norms. The work presented here opens up a wide range of areas for future research in the field.

Challenges in developing urban flood resilience in India.

This note presents a short commentary on the recurring urban flooding in India and the challenges the country faces in implementing sustainable drainage practices and developing urban flood resilience. The major incidences of heavy rainfall and the consequent urban flooding and their causes are briefly described. The recent flood disaster management and mitigation measures carried out by the Central, State and Local Government are highlighted. The flood resilience initiatives and challenges are then discussed. The effects of climate change on increased rainfall in shorter durations are now being felt in many Indian cities. The planners are now taking cognizance of this and future flood resilience measures are being planned to incorporate an integrated approach to stormwater management by recommending best management practices in the stormwater manuals. However, a lot still needs to be done to make the cities in India flood resilient. This article is part of the theme issue 'Urban flood resilience'.