Storm Damage Reduction Research Articles

Impact of Local Governments’ Disaster Preparedness Capability and Local Characteristics on Storm and Flood Damage Reduction: Focusing on Disaster Management Resource

This study empirically analyzes the impact of local governments' disaster preparedness capabilities and local characteristics on storm and flood damage. It considers the budget allocated by local governments for securing and managing disaster management resources as a disaster preparedness capability. Impervious area is used as a local characteristic. Disaster management resources are significant because they are built and utilized during preparedness, response, and recovery phases. Local characteristics should also be considered because of their influence on the impact of disasters. The results of this study indicate that the ratio of the disaster management resource budget affects the reduction of damage. The impact of the budget increases in areas with a relatively higher percentage of impervious area. Therefore, local governments must secure and manage disaster management resources as part of their disaster preparedness. This can be achieved by utilizing ordinances and plans.

An Integrated Resilient Sediment Transport RIsk Management (IRSTRIM) Approach for Estuaries

Estuaries around the world are facing numerous threats, including urbanization, industrialization, resource scarcity, and the impacts of climate change. To increase estuarine resilience, it is crucial to manage these ecosystems to maintain their functionality. Sediment transport resilience is a critical factor that affects the performance objectives of navigation, storm damage reduction, and ecosystem restoration. This paper focuses on an integrated resilient sediment transport risk management (IRSTRIM) approach for estuaries. The framework quantifies resilience indexes such as reaction amplitude, graduality, and recovery rates of “sediment transport” to “river and sea interaction” in the Arvand Estuary, the Persian Gulf. Additionally, three indexes, the tidal asymmetry index (TAI), saltwater intrusion vulnerability index, and infill rate, are developed to aid in resilient sediment management. The quantified indexes successfully incorporated tidal asymmetry, sediment characteristics, bed properties, and flow hydrodynamics. Different resilience and resistance management scenarios are evaluated using a decision support system. Based on the results, tidal barrier application, as a resilience scenario, is the best scenario, and the dredging scenario, as a resistance one, is the worst scenario. The reaction amplitude with a weight of 0.39, and the TAI with a weight of 0.27 are determined as the most effective indexes.

Sand resource geology of the Southern North Carolina inner shelf

Beach nourishment is a popular engineering-with-nature (EWN) strategy used globally for shoreline stabilization and coastal storm damage reduction. Large-scale projects require dredging from offshore sand borrow sources. However, suitable sands for nourishment are not ubiquitous offshore, especially in sediment-starved southern NC. In 2015, >300 nautical miles (555 km) of sub-bottom, sidescan, bathymetry and 38 cores/grabs were collected in data gaps offshore southern NC and interpreted for geologic horizons and potential nourishment-compatible sand thickness. In addition, hundreds of paleochannels were mapped and evaluated for fill patterns and resource potential. Various forms of hardbottom were delineated, sometimes in close proximity to sand resources. Results show high spatial variability in the distribution of beach-compatible sands across the southern NC shelf, where only a thin sand veneer is observed in many locations, although some regions contained continuous deposits exceeding 3 m. The thickest shoal deposits (>5 m) were observed offshore New Hanover County Region. Underlying strata and bathymetry appear to affect channel shape and distribution. Channels with acoustically transparent fill may be suitable as nourishment sources, yet many channels show complex and variable fill suggestive of tidal and estuarine environments. Seafloor reconnaissance data are valuable in preventing multi-use conflicts on the shelf as shelf areas are increasingly being explored for other functions (e.g, wind farms, oil/gas, fish habitat). These findings provide a useful starting point for coastal managers seeking sufficient offshore sediment resources for nourishment in response to future storm events and sea-level rise.

A Comparative Analysis of Local Comprehensive Plans for Storm and Flood Damage Reduction: Focused on Reduction Measures according to Natural Hazard Vulnerability

This study aims to identify the status of reduction measures within Local Comprehensive Plans for Storm and Flood Damage Reduction and analyze whether these measures reflect the vulnerability of natural hazards. It also analyzes the relationship between the vulnerability of natural hazards and the number (and budgets) of reduction measures in 55 local comprehensive plans implemented between 2010 and 2014. The results show that reduction measures for coastal risk zones reflect the vulnerability of related natural hazards well. Local governments with high vulnerability of wind waves of sea and typhoon established a relatively large number and budgets of related reduction measures-some local governments established reduction measures for all natural hazards, while others fell short despite the risks of natural disasters. Keywords: Comprehensive Plan for Storm and Flood Damage Reduction, Natural Hazards, Reduction Measures, Vulnerability, Local Governments

REFINED COASTAL MODELING AND ENGINEERING ANALYSIS FOR THE WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH COASTAL STORM DAMAGE REDUCTION PROJECT

In an effort to enhance the Coastal Storm Damage Reduction (CSDR) project at Wrightsville Beach (WB), NC, New Hanover County authorized a refined coastal modeling study in partnership with the Town of Wrightsville Beach. The purpose of the modeling analysis includes the review of potential design betterments that may increase the project’s storm protection benefits.

QUANTIFYING BEACH AND DUNE RESILIENCE USING THE COASTAL RESILIENCE INDEX

US Army Corps of Engineers Coastal Storm Risk Management (CSRM) projects have reduced coastal vulnerability and helped communities anticipate and mitigate toward improved resilience. This study proposes the Coastal Resilience Index (CRI) to quantify storm damage reduction benefits due to beach restoration projects in the context of resilience. The CRI considers metrics of the beach and dune system and disturbance factors such as storm surge and waves, using five non-dimensional factors: Protective Elevation (PE), Volume Density (VD), Protective Width (PW), Crest Freeboard (CF) and wave run-up (WR). The CRI is the summation of these five non-dimensional factors. This study developed a geographic information systems (GIS) based tool to automatically extract morphologic features from historic profiles and profiles extracted from LiDAR data to quantify beach resilience over time.

풍수해저감종합계획 운영·관리 시스템 개발

Korean government has been executing the countermeasures and the projects on districts with high risks of natural disasters. These countermeasures are carried out through the establishment of Comprehensive Plan for Storm and Flood Damage Reduction (CPS-FDR), which is highly prioritized countermeasures of the disaster mitigation system in the Republic of Korea. However, it would be difficult to access and share the disaster-related information for making the report by local government, central government, and related agencies. In addition, damage and loss of the reports are often occurring by frequent change of the person in charge. Based on these problems of managing the report, this study presents an integrated-operating system which includes fundamental investigation, data of interesting area such as possible natural hazards of flood, landslide, and strong wind. Therefore, this study analyze configuration list of report and build up DB for development of system. Also, it suggests plan of advancement about operation-management System

Valuation of the ecosystem services of beach nourishment in decision-making: The case study of Tarquinia Lido, Italy

Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) is a systematic process commonly employed by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to assess primarily benefits stemming from storm damage reduction and recreation enhancement by beach protection. The USACE goal is to quantify federal money disbursement to local communities to counter the consequences of coastal erosion. The EU has recommended the use of CBA for shoreline management (both at regional and local scales), looking not only at the financial aspects of project assessment, but also at non-market benefits (ecosystem services of the beaches) and environmental costs, assessed on a broad time horizon in a given sediment cell. In this paper, several ecosystem services provided by beach protection are considered and some of them monetised to assess the local net benefits of a nourishment project carried out along the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy. The paper shows that free riding emerges by the public supply of coastal protection, and that it could be possibly partially removed charging the cost of beach maintenance to the local users. In addition, supply of coastal protection may generate negative environmental externalities. However, costs of environmental damage of the beach nourishment are not easy to be internalised. This suggests alternative market mechanisms (charges or insurance premiums) to reduce the development pressure on coastal areas subject to high rates of erosion or to explore the adoption of subsides such as payments for ecosystem services (PES) at seascape scales.

Coastal Erosion as a Natural Resource Management Problem: An Economic Perspective

Natural forces render the coastal environment an evolving landscape, with the majority of coastline in the U.S. exhibiting net erosion in recent decades. This article provides an interdisciplinary introduction to economic dynamic optimization models for analyzing beach replenishment and explores differences between these theoretically based welfare economic models and typical applications of benefit-cost analysis employed by public agencies and consultants. Welfare economic models conceptualize benefits of beach area as service flows accruing to nearby residential property owners, recreational beach users, and local businesses, while the costs include pecuniary engineering expenditures, opportunity costs, as well as negative impacts on the coastal environment. Combining information on net benefits with an equation representing beach dynamics, this framework is capable of identifying the conditions under which beach replenishment is welfare-enhancing, and an optimal replenishment schedule can be derived. By congressional mandate, applications of benefit-cost analysis employed by public agencies focus attention on storm damage reduction, with limitations placed on assessment of recreational benefits. We provide an overview of empirical results and compare and contrast the two approaches.

BARRIER ISLAND RESTORATION FOR STORM DAMAGE REDUCTION: WILLAPA BAY, WASHINGTON, USA

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District has completed a feasibility study and determined barrier island restoration to be the most appropriate long-term coastal flood and storm damage reduction measure for the Shoalwater Indian Reservation. Over the last century, Cape Shoalwater has receded more than 2.8 miles. By 1990, the Shoalwater Reservation's only remaining protection from storm wave attack was a series of barrier islands fronting Tokeland Peninsula. Extreme water levels coincident with strong winter storms have historically inundated this low lying topography and are responsible for the erosion and overwash of the protective barrier island known as Graveyard Spit. Here a simple risk assessment tool is presented for identifying flood risk to the Shoalwater Reservation infrastructure. Statistical analysis of extreme water levels and numerical modeling is utilized to determine the extent of inundation. From the analysis it was determined 54% of the inventoried infrastructure is at risk during a storm event equivalent to the observed event on March 3, 1999. With the barrier island restoration it was found that this risk is reduced to 7%.

Deficiency Analysis of Coastal Buildings toward Storm Damage Reduction

Engineering services provided by one of the writers to property owners, insurance companies, attorneys, and others have resulted in a compilation of case studies, based on more than 1,000 site inspections, suitable to generate a database regarding various aspects of building performance. The scope of those services typically included identifying the cause and origin of damage to residential and commercial structures, as well as an estimation of the magnitude of damage sustained by those structures. The majority of those damaged structures was located in proximity to a coastal region and experienced recent exposure to a storm or other weather event. Compilation of data from those case studies allowed identification and ranking of the occurrence of chronic building problems. It has become apparent that building-related deficiencies often exist as a common feature in similar structures. Some of those recurring deficiencies could be eliminated with alternate building design, better construction practices, or proper routine maintenance procedures. Where applicable, proposed remedial solutions are presented for specific building deficiencies or problems identified.

Simulation of storm-induced barrier island morphodynamics and flooding

Prediction of coupled storm hydrodynamics and morphodynamics is essential for accurately designing coastal flood protection measures. A numerical simulation methodology was developed and implemented to evaluate and assess engineering design solutions for storm damage reduction along the south shore of Long Island, New York, USA. This simulation methodology was applied to compute bay water levels for two major coastal storms taking into account contributions from storm surge, waves, wind, and barrier island overwash and breaching. Simulation results for breaching and bay flooding compare well to historically documented barrier island morphological change and bay high water marks.

The Value of Beach Nourishment to Property Owners: Storm Damage Reduction Benefits

This study offers a method for estimating the storm damage reduction benefits accruing to property owners from beach nourishment. We use a hedonic pricing model to estimate the increased protection value that wider beaches provide for single-family homes in two South Carolina oceanfront communities. These storm damage reduction benefits accrue not only to oceanfront property that suffers the most damage, but also to properties farther back. We find that a proposed Army Corps of Engineers’ nourishment project will produce approximately $63.8 million of cumulative benefits to owners of single-family homes, which translates into a benefit/cost ratio of 1.96.

REALISTIC ECONOMIC BENEFITS FROM BEACH NOURISHMENT

A method is presented and Illustrated with examples to establish appropriate storm damage reduction and recreational benefits from beach nourishment projects. Unlike previous methods, benefits to project adjacent areas are recognized due to sand transport out of the project area and deposition on adjacent beaches. Assuming homogeniety along the shoreline, the character of storm damage reduction and recreational benefit relationships are such that sand transported from a project area and deposited on adjacent beaches always results in an increase rather than a reduction in benefits. A central element in calculating storm damage reduction benefits is the establishment of a proportional damage curve for upland structures as a function of beach width and storm return period. To illustrate the method, limiting cases are presented in which (A) all sediment remains within the area placed, and (B) all sediment spreads out immediately over a long segment of shoreline. Using Monte Carlo simulation to represent the random character of the storms, the method is applied to 15 realistic cases with varying project lengths, representative wave heights, added beach widths and interest rates. The present worth storm damage reduction and recreational benefits are calculated to demonstrate the effects of the various parameters. It is found that for short project lengths and relatively large wave heights, the benefits from project adjacent areas exceed those in the project area where the sand is placed. Although no littoral control structures, such as jetties are included in the present application, the method could be extended readily to include their effects.

The Coastal Construction Control Line: A Cost‐Benefit Analysis

This paper reports on a cost‐benefit study of the Florida Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL) in Martin County, Florida. The study compared the costs of implementing and maintaining the line with the value of the potential benefits resulting from (1) storm damage reduction and (2) increased open space. A systems model of development patterns was designed to project forward the historic development patterns along the beach which were compared with the patterns that have occurred subsequent to implementing the CCCL. The analysis showed the CCCL not to be cost effective in the area studied.