Flooding

This study examined the patterns of plant functional trait variation in relation to geomorphology, disturbance and a suite of other environmental factors in the riparian margin of the Upper Hunter River, New South Wales, Australia. Vegetation was surveyed on three geomorphic surfaces (point bar, bench and bank) along a 5.5-km stretch of the Upper Hunter River. Functional traits relating to plant growth and reproduction were collected for the identified species. anova and principal components analysis were used to compare the trait assemblages of species associated with each geomorphic unit. Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to investigate trait variation with respect to environmental variables. There were clear differences in the plant functional trait assemblages associated with the three geomorphic units. Generally the point bar was associated with species that were herbaceous, with small seed mass, a short stature and a high specific leaf area (SLA). Conversely, the bench was associated with grasses that had unassisted seed dispersal and intermediate seed mass and SLA, while species on the bank had tall stature, large seed mass, a high SLA and a perennial life cycle. Variation along the primary gradient of plant functional trait composition was most strongly related to disturbance frequency and to a lesser extent soil nutrients and the proportion of clay and silt, while variation along the secondary gradient was associated with variation in substrate texture as well as soil nutrients.

This paper presents interview survey data by social scientists using established health measures on the health effects of flooding for residents in 30 locations in England and Wales. Firstly, it examines the extent to which flooded residents reported suffering physical and psychological health effects during and after the event. Secondly, it explores the issue of whether these effects were long-lasting by comparisons with the general population and with those at risk but not flooded. In the study, about two thirds of the flood victims were found to have scores on the General Health Questionnaire-12 scale indicative of mental health problems (scores of 4+) at their worst time after flooding. The evidence of the study also suggests that some flood victims suffered long term mental health effects as a result of their experience of flooding. The study examines the influence of a wide range of factors: characteristics of the flood event, types of property, and socio-demographic and the i...

Cities are increasingly faced with frequent floods disrupting everyday lives. Adapting to flood risks and conserving eco-sensitive sites are central to social ecological resilience. Rapidly expanding cities are found short of mitigating the adverse environmental impacts. For enhancing flood resilience, it is important to understand the interaction of the key stakeholders and its impact on governance and land use in the cities. Land use change in urban space is constantly influenced by negotiations among various interest groups. The urban governance structures are increasingly dominated by neoliberal approaches of profit maximization. Following a heuristic framework for policy analysis of land use change and governance, the present study assesses the barriers in building flood resilient cities. We apply the framework to Hyderabad city of Telangana, India, which has faced the recurring challenge of flooding. Results demonstrate the lack of urgency in implementing disaster management initiatives and contradictions in existing policies. This study points out the redundancy of elected municipal bodies for taking flood resilience measures, due to increasing proliferation of nondemocratic administrative bodies and underlines the need to bridge the gap through agendas cutting across sectors and institutions.

It has long been known that disasters can have mental health consequences such as increased rates of PTSD, depression and anxiety. While some research has shown that secondary stressors during the aftermath of a disaster can influence psychological outcomes, this aspect of the disaster experience has not been widely studied. This paper reports on two studies that investigated which aspects of the experience of being flooded were most predictive of mental health outcomes. The first study was a qualitative study of adults whose homes had been inundated in the Mackay flood of 2008 (n=16). Thematic analysis of interviews conducted 18-20 months post-flood found that stressors during the flood aftermath such as difficulties and delays during the rebuilding process and a difficult experience with an insurance company were nominated as the most stressful aspect of the flood by the majority of participants. The second study surveyed Mackay flood survivors three and a half years post-flood, and Brisbane 2011 flood survivors 7-9 months post-flood (n=158). Findings indicated aftermath stress contributed to mental health outcomes over and above the contribution of perceived trauma, objective flood severity, prior mental health, self-efficacy and demographic factors. The implications of these results for the provision of community recovery services following natural disasters are discussed, including the need to provide effective targeting of support services throughout the lengthy rebuilding phase; a possible role for co-ordinating tradespeople; and training for insurance company staff aimed at minimising the incidence of insurance company staff inadvertently adding to disaster victims’ stress.

Abstract
Three key improvements to a widely used numerical model for predicting depth-averaged shallow water flows in estuarine and coastal waters are outlined herein. They include the adoption of a new grid layout for calculating friction and viscosity, a new method for simulating flooding and drying processes and a better representation of irregular wall boundaries. Although these improvements are currently implemented in the Depth Integrated Velocities And Solute Transport (DIVAST) model, they can easily be extended to other numerical models in the framework of a finite-difference or finite-volume method on a space-staggered rectangular grid system. Much effort has been made to keep the improvements simple and efficient so that they can be used in long-term and large-area simulations of estuarine and coastal flows. Numerical tests have been undertaken to verify the performance of these refinements for idealised bed forms, different beach configurations and irregular shoreline boundaries. The results show that for all conditions these refinements produce either the same or better results than the original model. Finally, the refined numerical model was used to simulate the tidal flow in a natural coastal basin. On the whole, the predicted variations in the inundation areas and the velocity fields were reproduced more accurately for different stages of the tide. At field measurement sites, the predicted water levels and velocities agreed favourably with the measured data.

Heuristic knowledge has been integrated with analytical tools to support decision making for flood management. Development of an expert system called Intelligent Flood Management System for the selection of appropriate flood damage reduction measures for a given area is described. The selection of flood damage reduction measures is based on hydraulic, hydrological, geotechnical, environmental, and economic factors related to the river system and the area to be protected from floods. The knowledge base of the Intelligent Flood ...

The boat-based, mobile mapping system (BoMMS) with a laser scanner allows the derivation of detailed riverine topographical data for fluvial applications. Combined with data acquisition from static terrestrial LiDAR (light detection and range) or mobile terrestrial LiDAR on the ground, boat-based laser scanning enables a totally new field mapping approach for fluvial studies. The BoMMS approach is an extremely rapid methodology for surveying riverine topography, taking only 85 min to survey a reach approximately 6 km in length. The BoMMS approach also allowed an effective survey angle for deep river banks, which is difficult to achieve with aerial or static terrestrial LiDAR. Further, this paper demonstrates the three-dimensional mapping of a point-bar and its detailed morphology. Compared with the BoMMS surface, approximately, 80% and 96% of the terrestrial LiDAR points showed a height deviation of less than 2 cm and 5 cm, respectively, with an overall standard deviation of ± 2·7 cm. This level of accuracy and rapidity of data capture enables the mapping of post-flood deposition directly after a flood event without an extensive time lag. Additionally, the improved object characterisation may allow for better 3D mapping of the point bar and other riverrine features. However, the shadow effect of the BoMMS survey in point bar mapping should be removed by additional LiDAR data to acquire entire riverine topography. The approach demonstrated allowed a large reach to be surveyed compared with static terrestrial LiDAR and increased the spatial limit of survey towards aerial LiDAR, but it maintains the same or even better temporal resolution as static terrestrial LiDAR. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this paper we present ourselves as the " historical witnesses " of a problematic phenomenon which has afflicted Venice for centuries. The frequency of flooding in Venice has drastically increased over the last 50 years as a major consequence of natural and anthropogenic land subsidence, and a more active lagoon hydrodynamics induced partly by deepening of the largest navigation channels. Is Venice dying, a victim of its environment and of its own success? Many people fear so: the local residents who observe the decline of their beloved city, the Italian authorities, the millions of visitors. Beyond the splendour of restored churches and palaces, beyond the magnificent façades the reality is dramatic: the city is now often admired from gigantic ships in the Giudecca canal by cruisers of modern times. The survival of Venice as a living and vibrant city is at risk. The lagoon environment has always been characterized by a pronounced morphodynamics, inducing important morphological changes to the lagoon setting over the relatively short time of a few centuries. The aim of this paper is to analyse the history of the disasters which characterized this fascinating world surrounded by waters. In fact, the economic system and the existence of the " Serenissima " Republic itself was based on " water ". Water meant refuge, safety, nourishment, wealth, military strength, and prospect for new developments.

Pembangunan kawasan urban/perkotaan yang ada di Indonesia cenderung dituntut untuk mendukung berbagai kegiatan pada sektor ekonomi, tidak terkecuali di Jakarta. Namun selain daya dukungnya pada bidang ekonomi tersebut, semakin ke depan pembangunan kawasan perkotaan juga dituntut untuk mempertahankan daya dukungnya terhadap lingkungan. Pembangunan kawasan urban yang cenderung berorientasi pada sektor ekonomi ini tak ayal menimbulkan berbagai permasalahan lingkungan yang sulit dikendalikan dan menimbulkan penurunan kualitas ruang kota, salah satunya adalah banjir. Banjir memang sudah menjadi salah satu permasalahan lingkungan yang sulit dikendalikan, baik oleh warga maupun Pemprov DKI Jakarta, bahkan sejak zaman Pemerintahan kolonial Belanda berkuasa. Oleh karena itu, salah satu upaya yang dapat dilakukan untuk mengendalikan permasalahan banjir di Jakarta ini adalah dengan melakukan pembangunan kawasan urban yang memiliki daya dukung terhadap lingkungan dan salah satunya dengan menerapkan konsep Blue-Green Network. Konsep pembangunan kawasan urban ini menggunakan komponen hijau (vegetasi) dan biru (perairan) sebagai dasar untuk perencanaan tata ruang kota yang berkelanjutan dari aspek lingkungan, sosial, dan ekonomi, serta upaya adaptasi menghadapi perubahan iklim global (Wagner et al. 2013).

Öz Taşkınlar ülkemizde son yıllarda değişen iklim şartları ile birlikte daha sık yaşanan doğal afetlerdir. Taşkınlara bağlı olarak birçok can ve mal kaybı yaşanmaktadır. Bu çalışmada taşkınların çok yaşandığı Doğu Karadeniz Bölümü'nde yer alan Trabzon'a bağlı Araklı ilçesinde 18 Haziran 2019 tarihinde meydana gelen taşkının coğrafi nedenleri incelenmiştir. Oluşan taşkın, Araklı ilçesine bağlı Çamlıktepe ve Yüceyurt mahallelerinde 10 kişinin yaşamını yitirmesine, çok sayıda meskenin de yıkılmasına sebep olmuştur. Taşkının yaşandığı Karadere Çayı havzasında yaşanması muhtemel taşkınların risk analizi yapılarak taşkına duyarlı alanlar belirlenmiştir. Çalışmada sahaya yönelik afet raporları, sayısal yükseklik, meteorolojik, akım ve jeolojik verilerden yararlanılmıştır. Çalışmada yöntem olarak Çok Kriterli Karar Verme yönteminin bir metodu olan Analitik Hiyerarşi Süreci kullanılmıştır. Taşkın duyarlılık analizi için mevcut yöntemlere farklı parametreler eklenerek oluşturulan üç ayrı teknik ile haritalar üretilmiştir. Analiz sonuçlarına göre, Karadere Çayı'nın bazı kıyı kesimleri, Haliloğlu ve Gülbekli derelerinin birleştiği yer ve Araklı şehir merkezi taşkına en duyarlı alanlar olarak tespit edilmiştir. Haliloğlu ve Gülbekli derelerinin birleştiği saha 18 Haziran 2019'da yaşanan taşkının ana merkezini oluşturmaktadır. Ayrıca sahada taşkınla birlikte yaşanan heyelan olayları da taşkının etki derecesini artırmış, çamur akıntısı oluşumuna neden olmuştur. Analiz sonuçları ve yaşananlar göstermektedir ki sahada bundan sonrada taşkın olasılığı yüksektir. Bu nedenle çalışmanın, yöneticiler ve karar vericiler tarafından muhtemel olumsuz sonuçların engellenmesi adına dikkate alınması beklenmektedir.

"When a disaster occurs in a community, it does not selectively choose which population or group would incur the highest extent of devastation; it affects everyone in the community with variations based on the vulnerabilities and capacities of the people disturbed by it. Occurrences of disasters amplify daily living circumstances (Gaillard, 2010); as such, those who are marginalized members in normal conditions are also the ones who are subjugated and are more susceptible to the direct and indirect effects of disasters (Mallon, 2009).

One of the most neglected sectors in a community when it comes to the aftermath of disasters are transgender individuals. Bariola and colleagues (2015) characterized transgenders as “individuals who have gender identities, expressions, or behaviors that are not typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth”. Gender-related stigma associated with transgender individuals during their day-to-day conditions transcend even to disaster situations where they are discriminated against and socially excluded from the processes of risk assessment and disaster risk reduction (Dominey-Howes, Gorman-Murray, & McKinnon, 2013). Their needs tend to be overlooked—for instance, they are given lower priority during rescue efforts—and this results to some debilitating consequences for this marginalized population (Knight & Welton-Mitchell, 2013).

Studies touching on the experiences of transgender individuals during and post-disasters have been sparse, more so those examining the differential experiences of individuals from varying developmental stages. Thus, this study intends to focus its lens on transgender individuals, particularly transwomen; that is, individuals who are biologically male but who identify their gender as female. Moreover, it aims to narrow down its focus on transwomen who are under the developmental stage of adolescence."

This paper examines the geology of the Lagrasse area, southern France. The stratigraphy in the area ranges in age from 72ma-52ma with recent Quaternary superficial deposits noted. All the strata in the region are calcite bearing, this along with tectonic influences in the area forms the rugged valley filled landscape around Lagrasse. The area is located in the Pyrenean foothills and has noticeable deformation throughout many units especially the Ribaute Limestone, likely deformed during the Eocene. The tectonic processes before the Eocene that led to the formation of the Pyrenees are also responsible for the depositional environments of the strata. The depositional settings are controlled by related processes such as foreland basin formation. The rugged landscape created makes the region prone to flooding with narrow valleys that have to share waterways and roads making natural disasters ever present in the area such as disastrous floods in 1999 and 2014.