A GIS-Based Model for Flood Shelter Locations and Pedestrian Evacuation Scenarios in a Rural Mountain Catchment in Romania

Abstract

Shelter and evacuation-route planning represents the core of safe and efficient flood management. The methodology detailed in the present study includes an analysis of the suitability of areas for evacuation points, as well as an assessment of the degree of accessibility of those points during evacuation scenarios in small mountainous drainage basins. The analysis is based on water distribution and water-flow increase during the historic 2010 flooding of the Sucevița basin, when the discharge increased in merely 40 min. The proposed model considers the viability of pedestrian evacuation of the local population, as well as the degree of accessibility of nearby evacuation points. Thus, according to the results obtained for the mountain-based locality, 91.68% of the vulnerable population can be evacuated in 30 min, while 8.32% of the inhabitants require up to 54 min to reach an evacuation point. In the case of Marginea, located in a plateau area, the population under analysis can reach one of the evacuation points in approximately 36 min. The present study can support the implementation of non-structural flood management measures and decrease casualties through evacuation optimization.

A GIS Automated Tool for Morphometric Flood Analysis Based on the Horton–Strahler River Classification System

“…Mountainous areas can quickly concentrate large amounts of water, which are then transported with increased velocities into the river valleys, occupying most or the entire floodplain. In the event of heavy rainfall, these can lead to local floods that can have serious consequences, both for the environment and for the population [98].…”

Research Trends in Resilience and Vulnerability Studies

“…When populations cannot or will not leave flooding areas, it is important that governments nevertheless provide for ways to address persistent vulnerability. Providing for evacuation routes and flooding shelters can assist in supporting some measures of resilience [55]. A Ghana-located study found that gender was indeed a factor in affecting resilience, with women-headed households being less resilient to flooding events; the study suggested that this variance is due to "family sizes, number of dependent children, intra-household employment levels, and housing characteristics" [56].…”

“…Several authors [25,55,96] referred to evacuation planning, and understanding behavior under such circumstances in future studies would contribute to the resilience literature in practical ways.…”

Identifying Factors to Develop and Validate Social Vulnerability to Floods in Malaysia: A Systematic Review Study

“…Social vulnerabilities across land tenure categories differ during a disaster, indicating that individuals belonging to a specific tenure category may be vulnerable in one phase of a disaster but not in another. Before a flood occurs, homeowners tend to become more aware of flood hazards [84], understand alerts better [25], and quickly take steps to prevent damage [85], and are less likely to seek emergency shelter [86]. Meanwhile, flood insurance was mainly considered a factor for reducing the impact of floods in studies conducted in developed countries [54].…”