Flood Research Articles

OVERVIEW OF THE LEVEL OF COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FLOOD DISASTER MITIGATION IN VILLAGE X

Introduction: Flooding is a condition where an area or plain is submerged by water due to an increase in the volume of water. Flood disaster cause various physical and mental health impacts and even property losses. This flood can be prevented by the community through flood disaster mitigation. Flood mitigation needs to be developed and improved through appropriate and efficient measures. This research has to describe the level of public knowledge about flood disaster mitigation in village x. Method: This research uses a descriptive research method, with a cross-sectional research design and a quantitative approach. The sample in this study was 86 respondents with a random sampling technique. The analysis used in this research is univariate analysis. Results: the result of the study indicate that respondents 75,6% have a good level of knowledge. Because the community has enough to understand the importance of the surrounding environment, public knowledge of flood disaster mitigation is good because many people obtain information about flood disaster mitigation in media mass and electronic. Conclusion: the community has a good level of knowledge, and it is recommended to be able to increase knowledge about flood disaster mitigation.

The role of landscape planning in reducing damages caused by flood (case study: Nekaroud, Iran)

Traditional flood control methods, such as gray infrastructure, are no longer sufficient to effectively manage flood events independently. Urban and landscape designers have devised design strategies to combat riverine and flash flooding in urban settings. These solutions aim to enhance urban ecological resilience by incorporating provisions for varying water levels within the urban environment. However, limited reviews have specifically explored how landscape architecture strategies can play a more effective and beneficial role in flood control. This paper aims to focus on landscape design solutions for flood adaptation and clarify the parameters in order to reduce vulnerability to floods. It emphasizes the importance of preserving the primary connection between humans and a river, and draws upon knowledge in hydraulics, ecology, flood control practices, and field observation to explore the practical solutions for reducing river floods. Moreover, it investigates the flood control method of Nekaroud in Iran, which serves as an example of inefficient flood control solutions. Surveys showed the significance of the river's position within its context and its fundamental role in enhancing spatial quality during the planning process, particularly in landscape planning. Neglecting this aspect can lead to further problems, such as ecosystem threats and limited access to the riverbank, as observed in the Nekaroud basin. Finally, the paper identifies various challenges facing the flooding at the macro, meso, and micro levels, and proposes landscape design solutions for flood adaptation that prioritize maintaining the river within its main context.

Spatiotemporal variations of precipitation patterns in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River Basin

Context With escalating global climate change, regional flood disasters have become increasingly prevalent. Precipitation, as a primary influencing factor, has garnered significant attention. Aims This study is based on precipitation data to investigate the spatiotemporal characteristics of precipitation in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River Basin (MLYB), trying to explore more concise methods for precipitation forecasting. Methods Statistical methods were employed to analyse historical precipitation patterns, followed by forecasting future trends using statistical time series models. Key results Precipitation in the MLYB exhibited a decreasing trend during 1961–2010, which shifted to an increasing trend after 2011, becoming more pronounced since 2017. Precipitation patterns in the MLYB were clearly increasing in the east and decreasing in the west, with the Taihu Basin showing the greatest rise. The ARIMA model predicted a significant increase in precipitation after 2022. Conclusions In recent years, precipitation in the MLYB has significantly increased, especially in downstream areas. Although the ARIMA model offers an effective and reasonably simple method for short-term forecast, it struggles with complex terrain influences. Implications These findings provide a theoretical basis for flood prevention in the MLYB, as well as a reference for precipitation prediction simulations in data-limited regions.

The characteristics of modern flood deposits in the lower reaches of a small watershed and the significance of paleo-flood identification

The mountainous region of central Shandong Province in eastern China is renowned for its high frequency of rainstorms, which often result in devastating flood disasters and have profoundly affected the evolution of local ancient civilizations. To identify ancient flood disaster events, recognizing sediment signatures via multiple indices is important. Here, we investigated the 2018 flood deposits in the Danhe River Basin and sampled short core DH2, on which the grain size, total organic matter (TOM) content, carbonate content, magnetic susceptibility (MS) and pollen were measured. The fine grain size of the flood sedimentary layer reveals that the flood energy in the alluvial plain area is usually weak. The pollen species and concentration and the tree pollen content in the flood layer are significantly greater than those in the soil layer, suggesting that the flood sediment mainly originates from the mountainous areas in the upper reaches of the river, which provides more forest vegetation information. The MS of flood deposits is lower than that of the soil layer, which is mainly related to the intensity of pedogenesis. The research results indicate that the flood sediments in the downstream floodplain areas of small watersheds are predominantly composed of fine-grained components, with characteristics of high loss on ignition, low magnetic susceptibility, high pollen abundance and diverse species. These findings establish a multi-index identification system for paleoflood sedimentation, which has important reference significance for the study of paleoflood sedimentology and hydrology.

Learning continuous multi-UAV controls with directed explorations for flood area coverage

Real time on-ground information is of critical value during any natural disaster such as floods. The disaster response teams require the latest ground information of the flooded areas to effectively plan and execute rescue operations. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly becoming a tool to perform quick surveys of larger areas such as flood disasters. In this paper, we propose a method to perform critical area coverage of flood-struck regions using multiple autonomous UAVs. A Deep Reinforcement Learning algorithm is proposed to learn continuous multi-UAV controls, incorporating a directed exploration strategy for the DDPG’s target actor, which relies on the D-infinity (DINF) algorithm. The DINF water flow estimation technique utilizes surface elevation data to understand and predict the directed discharge of floodwater. Further, we introduce a Path scatter strategy for the multi-UAV system that inhibits the clustered formation of the UAVs over low-elevated regions. The performance of the proposed D3S (DDPG+DINF+Path Scatter) algorithm is evaluated using various performance metrics, such as average cumulative rewards, number of collisions, and UAVs’ spread observed over the environment. In comparison to the baseline algorithms and other prevalent approaches in the literature, the proposed method is found to be better placed as the results highlight a significantly improved performance by D3S across different metrics.

Flood threat to livable communities: Understanding the impact of emotional conflicts and information availability on disaster preparedness through mitigation capacity in Nigeria's coastal region

Climate change poses significant risks to coastal regions, compromising habitats, economies, and well-being through flooding. This research assesses the indirect effects of information availability and emotional factors, such as property emotional attachment and emotional burdens on flood disaster preparedness through mitigation capacity. Data from 360 individuals across three Nigerian coastal communities were analyzed using a partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM). Evidence demonstrated that information availability directly enhances disaster preparedness. Conversely, information availability is not significantly associated with mitigation capacity. Strong emotional attachment to property negatively impact mitigation capacity, but no direct effect on disaster preparedness. Mitigation capacity exhibits a significant positive direct effect on disaster preparedness. Notably, heightened emotional burden bolsters flood disaster preparedness by first increasing mitigation capacity. In contrast, intensified emotional attachment to property dampens mitigation capacity, thereby diminishing disaster preparedness. These insights highlight the necessity of integrating frameworks for addressing issues of information dissemination, property emotional attachment, and emotional burden when devising flood risk reduction strategies for coastal communities.

Impact of Flooding and Drought Risks on the Cost of Bond Financing for Water Utilities.

The global water cycle has experienced significant changes due to the interplay of climate shifts and human activities, resulting in more frequent and severe droughts and floods. These shifts have started to impact the operational efficiency of water treatment and delivery systems. This, in turn, has implications for the economic performance of these assets and the climate-impacted cost of their financing through the issuing of municipal bonds. Analyzing a decade of water bond data (2009-2019), this study offers empirical evidence for the impact of flood and drought risks on bond investor demand to offset water risks. The results reveal that bond markets factored in coastal flood risks between 2013 and 2019, adjusting by 3-6 basis points (bps) per risk score unit, and riverine flood risks from 2009 to 2013, with a 5-11 basis points increase per risk score unit. These effects were primarily driven by bonds issued in the Pacific Coast and Great Plains regions, respectively. In contrast, the pricing of drought risks in the bond market followed a more nuanced pattern. Additionally, we show the channeling effects of water consumption and investor perceptions of climate change on water risk pricing in the bond market. These findings have significant implications for water risk management in the public sector as regions with heightened water risk exposure are perceived as riskier by market participants, leading to a higher cost of capital for municipalities and water agencies.

The role of large reservoirs in drought and flood disaster risk mitigation: A case of the Yellow River Basin

The acceleration of water cycle processes in the context of global warming will exacerbate the frequency and intensity of extreme events and predispose to drought and flood disasters (DFD). The Yellow River Basin (YRB) is one of the basins with significant and sensitive impacts of climate change, comprehensive assessment and prediction of its DFD risk are of great significance for ecological protection and high-quality development. This study first constructed an evaluation index system for drought disaster risk and flood disaster risk based on hazard, vulnerability, exposure and the role of large reservoirs. Secondly, the weights of each evaluation index are established by the analytic hierarchy process. Finally, based on the four-factor theory of disasters, an evaluation model of DFD risk indicators is established. The impact of large reservoirs on DFD risk in the YRB is analyzed with emphasis. The results show that from 1990 to 2020, the drought disaster risk in the YRB is mainly distributed in the source area of the Yellow River and the northwest region (11.26–15.79 %), and the flood disaster risk is mainly distributed in the middle and lower reaches (30.04–31.29 %). Compared to scenarios without considering large reservoirs, the area at risk of high drought and high flood is reduced by 45.45 %, 44.22 % and 31.29 % in 2000, 2010 and 2020, respectively. Large reservoirs in the YRB play an important role in mitigating DFD risk, but their role is weakened with the enhancement of the emission scenario. Under the influence of different scenario models, the DFD risk in the YRB in 2030 and 2060 will increase, and the area of high drought and high flood risk in the middle and upper reaches of the basin will increase by 0.26–25.15 %. Therefore, the YRB should play the role of large reservoirs in DFD risk defense in its actions to cope with future climate change, while improving non-engineering measures such as early warning and emergency management systems to mitigate the impacts of disasters.

Assessing cotton flooding disasters accompanied by high temperatures: A case study in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China

Due to climate change, flooding disasters accompanied by high temperatures (FL-HT) are becoming increasingly common during cotton growing seasons, severely restricting cotton production. However, the characteristics and impacts of cotton FL-HT have rarely been investigated at the regional scale. In this work, based on existing field FL-HT research, we employed daily air temperatures and an agrometeorological indicator called the standardized antecedent precipitation evapotranspiration index to establish a novel approach to characterize FL-HT events during different cotton growth stages in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (MLRYR) during 1961–2020. Additionally, the influence of accompanying high temperatures (AHT) on the yield-reducing effect of cotton flooding was examined. The results demonstrated that more than half of the cotton FL-HT events were submonthly events, which were efficiently captured by our approach. Over the past six decades, the temporal trends of the cotton FL-HT frequency, the AHT intensity, and the conversion rate (from flooding to FL-HT) were upward at 83.0 % of the sites within the MLRYR, and up to 36 sites exhibited significant (p<0.05) increasing trends. In the most recent decade (the 2010s), the historic highs of the indicators were detected, as demonstrated by the most frequent FL-HT events (780 counts), the most intensive AHT, and the highest conversion rate (20.9 %). During the flowering and boll-filling stage, all the indicators were much greater than those during the other stages; the conversion rate reached 42.2 %, and the FL-HT frequency accounted for 63.0 % of the total FL-HT frequency over the whole growth period. Spatially, 43 % of cotton FL-HT events occurred in the southeastern MLRYR, which was identified as the region most affected by cotton FL-HT. The gravity centers of the cotton FL-HT indicators in different decades exhibited a northward-moving trend. Finally, according to the correlations between flooding intensity and cotton climatic yield, the yield-reducing effect of flooding was much stronger in the years with greater AHT (6 districts had significant correlations) than in the years with less AHT (only 2 districts had significant correlations), verifying the strengthening effect of AHT in cotton in response to flooding. In summary, this work provides new insights into monitoring cotton flooding-HT disasters and reducing flooding risk under climate change.

Historic Flood Events and Current Flood Hazard in Ulaanbaatar City, Central Mongolia

Climate change will increase the frequency of extreme weather events, alter rainfall patterns, and exacerbate flood disasters in Ulaanbaatar City. Here we combine aerial and satellite imagery with cadastral data, to scrutinize the historical trajectory of rainfall patterns and flood disasters in Ulaanbaatar over the past six decades. The study focusses on the causative factors behind historical floods, current flood conditions, the geographical distribution of floods, land ownership in floodprone areas, and the spatial allocation of fences and buildings based on social conditions. Over the last 60 years, Ulaanbaatar received a total of 16,780 mm of precipitation, with a staggering 80.5% of this total occurring during the summer season. Over this period, the city has endured about ten significant flood disasters. The most severe and destructive events occurred in 1966, 1982, 1994, 2003, 2009, and 2023 as river basins and mountain flash floods. These flood events claimed at least 220 lives, affected around 46,000 households, and caused economic losses of ca. 3.3 million U.S. dollars. Our study identifies several flood hazard areas along the Tolgoit, Selbe, Uliastai, and Tuul River valleys, which define a flood buffer zone extending 200 m from their banks, encompassing 59 khoroos of 7 districts in Ulaanbaatar. There are 27,970 fences and 12,887 buildings in the 200 m buffer zone, which is 66.5% of all fence unit area, and 46.3% of the total building, situated within the identified flood risk areas. In response to these findings, we emphasize the urgent need for comprehensive long-term strategy for sustainable flood management based on disaster resilence.

Development of a gamified application to enhance flood disaster education among children and youth

Development of a gamified application to enhance flood disaster education among children and youth

Analysis on the ‘Jul.20’ extreme rainstorm and flood control countermeasures in Zhengzhou, China

ABSTRACT The Jul.20 extreme rainstorm (July 20, 2021) and flood disaster were the most serious urban flood disaster in Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan Province, China. The Jul. 20 extreme rainstorm had both extreme and unpredictable features, during which both single-day and 3-day cumulative rainfall exceeded the historical records. First, the theoretical analysis methods are proposed, which include rainstorm anomaly analysis and the construction of a rainstorm frequency calculation model. Second, the characteristics of rainstorm frequency and recurrence, spatial and temporal distribution, and formation mechanism are analyzed. Third, urban flood disasters and waterlogging distribution are studied. The studied results show that the coupling actions of typhoons, topography, and urban rain island effect are the natural causes that result in extreme rainstorm weather processes. The results also show from the investigations that poor urban drainage infrastructure, low flood control criteria, shortage of flood emergency plans, and management are human factors. Finally, the paper puts forward flood control countermeasures.

Flood Disaster: Control and Utilization of Space after the Enactment of the Job Creation Law

The arrangement of Green Open Space is an area in the form of paths and groupings to its broader benefits; the pathway contains plants that grow naturally or are naturally grown directly. The Spatial Planning Law states that 30% of urban areas must have green areas, with 20% for public space and 10% for private. This study aims to determine the utilization and control of space after the enactment of Law No. 6/2023 on Job Creation in the Jember Regency, especially in urban areas. This research is normative juridical, meaning that it is carried out by examining various kinds of formal legal rules, such as laws, literature, and theoretical concepts, which are then related to the problems that are the subject of discussion. The approaches used in this research are the statute approach (legislative approach) and conceptual approach (concept approach / expert opinion). The study results explain that Law No. 26 of 2007 concerning Spatial Planning provisions regarding the content, guidelines, and procedures for preparing provincial and district/city spatial plans are regulated in Ministerial regulations. Still, in Law No. 6/2023 Job Creation, there are renewed provisions regarding the content, guidelines, and procedures for preparing provincial and district/city spatial plans regulated in Government Regulations. Based on this description, local government efforts to overcome floods can use several regulatory provisions in the Job Creation Law.

An Overview of Junior High School Students’ Knowledge and Preparedness in Facing Natural Disasters

Introduction: Glagah is one of the districts in Lamongan Regency with a high potential for natural disasters such as floods, tornadoes, droughts, and forest fires. To reduce the impact of disasters, disaster mitigation is required. On the other hand, students are a vulnerable group to natural disasters. Before disaster mitigation is carried out, it is necessary to initially identify students’ level of disaster knowledge and preparedness. The purpose of the study was to determine students’ knowledge and preparedness in facing natural disasters. Method. The study used descriptive quantitative research with a sample of 310 junior high school students in Glagah District who were obtained using a two-stage cluster random sampling technique on March 6-10, 2024. The data were collected using a questionnaire on knowledge and preparedness for floods, tornadoes, and fires, and then analyzed descriptively. Result. The results indicated that students’ knowledge in dealing with floods, tornadoes, and fires was in the "good" category (96.5%; 87.4%; 71.6%). Students were in the "prepared" category for floods and fires (62.6%; 49.7%), and in the "very prepared" category for tornadoes (48.7%). Conclusion. Students demonstrated the best knowledge in flood and fire disasters. Students were in the "very prepared" category in tornado disasters, and in the "prepared" category in floods and fires. It is recommended that future researchers can conduct interventions to improve student preparedness in all types of natural disasters and identify students’ knowledge and preparedness in dealing with earthquake disasters.

Intersectional approaches to disaster relief, the role of community and (digital) support structures: The example of the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley in Germany

Intersectional approaches to disaster relief, the role of community and (digital) support structures: The example of the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley in Germany

Increasing the Preparedness through Participatory Action Research in the Implementation of the Disaster Resilient Village Program in Madegondo Village

Climate change is increasing the frequency of floods in Indonesia, thereby triggering the need for effective disaster management down to detailed levels such as the Destana Program. Madegondo Village, Sukoharjo Regency experiences floods every year. It has become the focus of research to improve community preparedness using the Participatory Action Research (PAR) method with Focus Group Discussion (FGD) as the main technique. This research revealed that Madegondo Village is vulnerable to tornadoes, fires, and dengue fever. Risk analysis indicates a moderate level of danger in affecting human, economic, infrastructure, environmental, and socio-political assets. Furthermore, the creation of flood disaster risk maps, the Disaster Risk Reduction Forum, and disaster management plans were also carried out based on community participation. An early warning system was also developed via telephone and WhatsApp based on data from Kaliwingko and Bengawan Solo River.

Utilization of Sentinel-1 Imagery for Mapping the Distribution of Floods in the Putussibau Kota Subdistrict and Surrounding Areas

Floods are a disaster that often occurs in the Putussibau Kota sub-district, West Kalimantan, because of its location where the Kapuas River passes. However, flood disaster mitigation efforts in this area are often hampered by the lack of information on flood distribution maps and impact predictions. This research utilizes the change detection and thresholding (CDAT) method applied to Sentinel-1 SAR data to map the distribution of floods in the Putussibau Kota sub-district and its surroundings, as well as analyze its impact on infrastructure and population. Next, the impact of the flood is calculated using an overlay technique between the flood map and the exposure map. The research results show that the flood distribution map for the August 2021 event had an accuracy of 0.76 and a kappa coefficient of 0.52. Next, the results of the flood impact evaluation showed that 37 km of roads, 2,700 buildings, and 11,700 people were affected by this incident. This analysis can be used to assist local governments in future flood mitigation efforts.

Hypoxia Triggered by Expanding River Plume on the East China Sea Inner Shelf During Flood Years

AbstractThe frequency of riverine floods is predicted to increase in East Asia. However, the response of coastal hypoxia (&lt;63 μmol L−1) to floods has not been well understood. In the summer of 2020, characterized by one of the most significant Changjiang water fluxes in three decades, we conducted a cruise during the flood period on the East China Sea inner shelf. Our observations revealed severe bottom hypoxia with a maximum spatial coverage of ∼11,600 km2 and a minimum dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) of 21 μmol L−1. In the surface layer, the relationships between salinity and nitrate, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) indicated significant organic matter production, validated by a high‐Chlorophyll‐a (Chl a) patch (&gt;5 μg L−1). Furthermore, the significant relationship between apparent oxygen utilization and DIC of deep waters reveals that the organic matter decomposition primarily drove the hypoxia during the flood period. Episodic wind events also influenced bottom DO and DIC, by transporting surface waters to the deep. Multiple‐years data set shows that the average Changjiang nitrate flux during flood years is about 1.4 times that during non‐flood years. The flood waters mix with estuarine waters, forming the high‐nutrient plume waters, which expanded farther offshore during the flood period. While high turbidity remained confined to the inner estuary. Consequently, the high‐Chl a area significantly expanded, which significantly exacerbated the hypoxia.

The level of risk of rice farming due to the flood disasters experienced by rice farmers on swamp Lebak lands in Pemulutan Subdistrict Ogan Ilir Regency

The level of risk of rice farming due to the flood disasters experienced by rice farmers on swamp Lebak lands in Pemulutan Subdistrict Ogan Ilir Regency

PEMETAAN ZONA RAWAN BENCANA BANJIR BERBASIS PARTISIPATIF DI KECAMATAN GONDANGLEGI KABUPATEN MALANG

The Gondanglegi Subdistrict is one of the areas prone to flooding due to high-intensity rainfall and a predominantly low-lying topography. One effort in flood disaster mitigation is through the implementation of participatory mapping involving active participation from various stakeholders, including local communities, local governments, and non-governmental organizations. The objectives of this research are to conduct participatory mapping regarding the vulnerability level of flood disasters in the Gondanglegi Subdistrict of Malang Regency, to understand the role of participatory mapping in flood disaster mitigation planning in the Gondanglegi Subdistrict of Malang Regency, and to identify the factors causing floods in the Gondanglegi Subdistrict of Malang Regency. This research adopts the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) approach as the main method. The results of this research indicate four levels of flood disaster vulnerability in the Gondanglegi Subdistrict, namely not vulnerable, moderately vulnerable, vulnerable, and highly vulnerable. Participatory mapping provides significant benefits to the community in terms of understanding and mitigating floods. Floods are caused by natural factors such as rainfall and topography, as well as non-natural factors such as inadequate water channels and indiscriminate waste disposal by the community.