Reduce flood risks in your town: Ways to prevent urban flooding
Cities are susceptible to flooding for reasons more than just being near water bodies like rivers, lakes and oceans.
Water systems have not been integrated into the urban environment safely and sustainably. The city can use a flood risk assessment to detect and evaluate existing and future flood consequences. As climate change continues to destabilize natural occurrences, urban floods will become more common. To tackle this threat, several towns are already taking precautions to safeguard themselves against potentially disastrous incidents. Some of the most useful are listed below.
The reason behind the cause of urban flooding
Cities typically flood as a result of overflowing rivers or the sea if they are located on the coast, but the lack of drainage infrastructure is an intrinsic feature of urban flooding. When this is insufficient, rivers may overflow, resulting in extremely dangerous human and material repercussions.
Mapping the location of previous floods in the city
This is a technically easy and low-cost approach that can be based on flood emergency calls, flood damage and newspaper records. The 'public perception' map was part of the city's Assessment of Vulnerability to Flooding and Extreme Storms, which also included socioeconomic, demographic and other vulnerability information. Cities analyzing flood-prone areas for the first time, on the other hand, can start with this solitary technique.
Flood-prone zones are being mapped based on their geography
These maps are created using land elevation and date to estimate water runoff and flood risk zones. To analyze geography, The Index of Susceptibility to Floods in the Physical Environment is calculated using proximity to water bodies and permeability. As a part of a thorough flood risk assessment, this can be layered with information about susceptible population groups and assets
Comprehensive assessment of flood danger
This combines flood-prone area data with information on vulnerable individuals and built assets to determine the most vulnerable places and prioritize interventions. It should contain, for example, land use and the location of low-income populations, essential assets and infrastructure. To produce this comprehensive evaluation, cities can use the IPCC methodology to geographically estimate hazard exposure, susceptibility and the likelihood of an incident. Flood risk maps are overlaid with data on vulnerability, such as important roadways and particularly sensitive informal settlements in Curitiba's climate risk assessment and Durban's online, interactive assessment.
Advanced flood modeling
This employs hydrodynamics analysis, which takes into account data on waterways, rainfall, drainage systems and land use and also in some cases, geohydrological data.
Check out step-by-step preventive measures to address urban flooding and to make it in the best way possible.
