More Like this

1. Flood Impacts on Critical Infrastructure in a Coastal Floodplain in Western Puerto Rico during Hurricane María

   https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology8030104  

   Mejia Manrique, Said A. ; Harmsen, Eric W. ; Khanbilvardi, Reza M. ; González, Jorge E. ( September 2021 , Hydrology)

   null (Ed.)

   Flooding during extreme weather events damages critical infrastructure, property, and threatens lives. Hurricane María devastated Puerto Rico (PR) on 20 September 2017. Sixty-four deaths were directly attributable to the flooding. This paper describes the development of a hydrologic model using the Gridded Surface Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA), capable of simulating flood depth and extent for the Añasco coastal flood plain in Western PR. The purpose of the study was to develop a numerical model to simulate flooding from extreme weather events and to evaluate the impacts on critical infrastructure and communities; Hurricane María is used as a case study. GSSHA was calibrated for Irma, a Category 3 hurricane, which struck the northeastern corner of the island on 7 September 2017, two weeks before Hurricane María. The upper Añasco watershed was calibrated using United States Geological Survey (USGS) stream discharge data. The model was validated using a storm of similar magnitude on 11–13 December 2007. Owing to the damage sustained by PR’s WSR-88D weather radar during Hurricane María, rainfall was estimated in this study using the Weather Research Forecast (WRF) model. Flooding in the coastal floodplain during Hurricane María was simulated using three methods: (1) Use of observed discharge hydrograph from the upper watershed as an inflow boundary condition for the coastal floodplain area, along with the WRF rainfall in the coastal flood plain; (2) Use of WRF rainfall to simulate runoff in the upper watershed and coastal flood plain; and (3) Similar to approach (2), except the use of bias-corrected WRF rainfall. Flooding results were compared with forty-two values of flood depth obtained during face-to-face interviews with residents of the affected communities. Impacts on critical infrastructure (water, electric, and public schools) were evaluated, assuming any structure exposed to 20 cm or more of flooding would sustain damage. Calibration equations were also used to improve flood depth estimates. Our model included the influence of storm surge, which we found to have a minimal effect on flood depths within the study area. Water infrastructure was more severely impacted by flooding than electrical infrastructure. From these findings, we conclude that the model developed in this study can be used with sufficient accuracy to identify infrastructure affected by future flooding events. 

   more » « less
2. Rent affordability after hurricanes: Longitudinal evidence from US coastal states

   https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.14224  

   Best, Kelsea B. ; He, Qian ; Reilly, Allison ; Tran, Nhi ; Niemeier, Deb ( October 2023 , Risk Analysis)

   Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of natural hazards such as hurricanes. With a severe shortage of affordable housing in the United States, renters may be uniquely vulnerable to disaster‐related housing disruptions due to increased hazard exposure, physical vulnerability of structures, and socioeconomic disadvantage. In this work, we construct a panel dataset consisting of housing, socioeconomic, and hurricane disaster data from counties in 19 states across the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States from 2009 to 2018 to investigate how the frequency and intensity of a hurricane correspond to changes in median rent and housing affordability (the interaction between rent prices and income) over time. Using a two‐stage least square random‐effects regression model, we find that more intense prior‐year hurricanes correspond to increases in median rents via declines in housing availability. The relationship between hurricanes and rent affordability is more complex, though the occurrence of a hurricane in a given year or the previous year reduces affordable rental housing, especially for counties with higher percentages of renters and people of color. Our results highlight the multiple challenges that renters are likely to face following a hurricane, and we emphasize that disaster recovery in short‐ and medium‐term should focus on providing safe, stable, and affordable rental housing assistance.

    

   more » « less
3. Inequities in the distribution of flood risk under floodplain restoration and climate change scenarios

   https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10290  

   Gourevitch, Jesse D. ; Diehl, Rebecca M. ; Wemple, Beverley C. ; Ricketts, Taylor H. ( January 2022 , People and Nature)

   The combined impacts of climate change and ecological degradation are expected to worsen inequality within society. These dynamics are exemplified by increases in flood risk globally. In general, low‐income and socially vulnerable populations disproportionately bear the cost of flood damages. Climate change is expected to increase the number of people exposed to fluvial flood risk and cause greater property damages. Floodplain restoration has the potential to mitigate these impacts, but the distribution of future risks among different types of property owners under these altered conditions is often unknown.

   Here, we develop a simple probabilistic approach for estimating flood risk to property owners under floodplain restoration and climate change scenarios for a range of flood recurrence intervals. We apply this approach in the Vermont, USA portion of the Lake Champlain Basin.

   Over a 100‐year time horizon, we estimate that the value of property damages caused by flood inundation is approximately $2.13 billion under the baseline scenario. Climate change is expected to increase damages to $5.29 billion, a 148% increase; however, floodplain restoration has the potential to reduce these impacts by approximately 20%.

   For all scenarios, a larger proportion of lower‐value properties, specifically mobile homes, face greater flood risk compared to higher‐value properties. Climate change is expected to cost higher‐value properties and commercial properties more than other types of properties, but these same groups are also expected to benefit most from floodplain restoration.

   In general, these results raise concern that those least able to prepare for and recover from flood damages are also the people who face the greatest threats. In response, public policy interventions must consider not only where flood risk is most severe, but also the vulnerability of people exposed to such risk.

   Read the freePlain Language Summaryfor this article on the Journal blog.

    

   more » « less
4. Building a Sustainable University-Wide Interdisciplinary Graduate Program to Address Disasters

   Paretti, M.C. ; Deters, J. ; Webb, M. ; Menon, M. ( July 2022 , 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   Disasters are becoming more frequent as the global climate changes, and recovery efforts require the cooperation and collaboration of experts and community members across disciplines. The DRRM program, funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT), is an interdisciplinary graduate program that brings together faculty and graduate students from across the university to develop new, transdisciplinary ways of solving disaster-related issues. The core team includes faculty from business, engineering, education, science, and urban planning fields. The overall objective of the program is to create a community of practice amongst the graduate students and faculty to improve understanding and support proactive decision-making related to disasters and disaster management. The specific educational objectives of the program are (1) context mastery and community building, (2) transdisciplinary integration and professional development, and (3) transdisciplinary research. The program’s educational research and assessment activities include program development, trainee learning and development, programmatic educational research, and institutional transformation. The program is now in its fourth year of student enrollment. Core courses on interdisciplinary research methods in disaster resilience are in place, engaging students in domain-specific research related to natural hazards, resilience, and recovery, and in methods of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration. In addition to courses, the program offers a range of professional development opportunities through seminars and workshops. Since the program’s inception, the core team has expanded both the numbers of faculty and students and the range of academic disciplines involved in the program, including individuals from additional science and engineering fields as well as those from natural resources and the social sciences. At the same time, the breadth of disciplines and the constraints of individual academic programs have posed substantial structural challenges in engaging students in the process of building interdisciplinary research identities and in building the infrastructure needed to sustain the program past the end of the grant. Our poster and paper will identify major program accomplishments, but also draw on interviews with students to examine the structural challenges and potential solution paths associated with a program of this breadth. Critical opportunities for sustainability and engagement have emerged through integration with a larger university-level center as well as through increased flexibility in program requirements and additional mechanisms for student and faculty collaboration. 

   more » « less
5. Application of a Large‐Scale Terrain‐Analysis‐Based Flood Mapping System to Hurricane Harvey

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12987  

   Zheng, Xing ; D'Angelo, Claudia ; Maidment, David R. ; Passalacqua, Paola ( January 2022 , JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association)

   Flood modeling provides inundation estimates and improves disaster preparedness and response. Recent development in hydrologic modeling and inundation mapping enables the creation of such estimates in near real time. To quantify their performance, these estimates need to be compared to measurements collected during historical events. We present an application of a flood mapping system based on the National Water Model and the Height Above Nearest Drainage method to Hurricane Harvey. The outputs are validated with high‐water marks collected to record the highest water levels during the flood. We use these points to compute elevation‐related variables and flood extents and measure the quality of the estimates. To improve the performance of the method, we calibrate the roughness coefficient based on stream order. We also use lidar data with a workflow named GeoFlood and we compare the modeled inundation to that recorded by the high‐water marks and to the maximum inundation extent provided by the Dartmouth Flood Observatory based on remotely sensed data from multiple sources. The results show that our mapping system estimates local water depth with a mean error of about 0.5 m and that the inundation extent covers over 90% of that derived from high‐water marks. Using a calibrated roughness coefficient and lidar data reduces the mean error in flood depth but does not affect as much the inundation extent estimation.

    

   more » « less