Characterization of peak streamflows and flood inundation of selected areas in Louisiana from the August 2016 flood

Watson, Kara M.; Storm, John B.; Breaker, Brian K.; Rose, Claire E.

doi:10.3133/sir20175005

Cited by 17 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 2 publications

(2 reference statements)

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“…The Vermilion River is a tidally-influenced river located in south central Louisiana, US, and has a watershed that covers an area of about 1,560 km 2 (Figure 1). The Vermilion River basin, a representative of other low-gradient inland-coastal transitional basins (Bilskie and Hagen, 2018), has a long history of severe flooding since the major flood that occurred in August 1940 until the most recent in August 2016 (USACE, 1995;Watson et al, 2017). The river starts at the confluence of Bayou Bourbeux and Bayou Fusilier, after which it travels ∼115 km until it intersects with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The August 2016 storms generated devastating flooding within the basin and across many areas of the state (van der Wiel et al, 2017;Watson et al, 2017). Based on a rainfall durationdepth analysis, the August 2016 storm can be classified as a 100-200-year storm.…”

Section: Simulation Periodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While dredging can increase the hydraulic efficiency of river channels and potentially reduce overbank flooding, the impact on flow hydrodynamics and the overall flooding regime needs to be better understood, especially in watersheds that are located within inland-coastal transition zones. In such regions, river systems are typically characterized with complex flow dynamics due to factors, such as flow reversals and bi-directional flows (e.g., Burton and Demas, 2016;Watson et al, 2017), dynamic connectivity and flow exchanges with large natural storage areas, such as swamps and wetlands (Saad et al, 2020); tidal influences, and the large volumes of synchronized tributary flows from urbanized sub-watersheds (e.g., Pattison et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2019). The complexity of flow regimes in these regions has implications for flood mitigation; therefore, it is imperative to develop a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of riverine dredging that emerge as a possible mitigation strategy in response to decreased channel capacities and increased flood risk.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of Riverine Dredging Impact on Flooding in Low-Gradient Coastal Rivers Using a Hybrid 1D/2D Hydrodynamic Model

Saad

Habib

2021

Front. Water

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The current study investigates the effect of large-scale channel modifications via riverine dredging on flood dynamics in low-gradient river systems located in inland-coastal flood transition zones. The study site is the Vermilion River in south Louisiana, US, which is characterized by complex flow regimes, reversal and bi-directional flows, presence of large swamps with significant river-swamp interactions, and large volumes of runoff contributions from lateral tributaries. The study aims to understand the interplay of these factors and how they modulate and get affected by different dredging approaches that vary in spatial extent and the modifications introduced to the channel. The study deploys a hybrid, one-/two-dimensional (1D/2D), hydrodynamic model that simulates flow and stage dynamics in the main river and its major tributaries, as well as the flow exchanges with the interconnected swamp system. Overall, the results show that the dredging activities can significantly alter the flow regime in the watershed and affect flow exchanges between the river and the swamp system. In terms of flooding impact, only dredging approaches that are extensive in spatial extent and modifications to channel longitudinal slope can result in sizeable reductions in flood stages. However, these benefits come at the expense of significant increases in the amplitude and inland propagation of the Gulf tidal wave. On the other hand, less-extensive dredging can still provide moderate and spatially limited flood mitigation; however, they further expose downstream communities to increased levels of flooding, especially during more frequent events. The results reveal that while dredging can increase the hydraulic conveyance of the river system, the large runoff volumes delivered by the urbanized tributaries seem to outweigh the added improvement in the in-channel storage, thus reducing the anticipated flood relief. The results suggest that a watershed-centered approach, instead of a riverine-centered approach is needed for flood management in these systems so that the relative benefits and tradeoffs of different mitigation alternatives can be examined.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Simulation Periodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of Riverine Dredging Impact on Flooding in Low-Gradient Coastal Rivers Using a Hybrid 1D/2D Hydrodynamic Model

Saad

Habib

2021

Front. Water

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“…This and the inundation map for Louisiana with shaded areas indicating inundation is shown in Fig. 12 (Watson et al 2017).…”

Section: Validation and Data Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Probabilistic Framework for Integrating Multiple Data Sources to Estimate Disaster and Failure Events and Increase Situational Awareness

Lee

Tien

2018

ASCE-ASME J. Risk Uncertainty Eng. Syst., Part A: Civ. Eng.

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As data for monitoring the natural and built environments become increasingly prevalent, integrating information from varied data sources offers a fuller understanding of the impacts damaging events have on surrounding communities. In this paper, the authors present a probabilistic framework to integrate data from multiple sources to estimate disaster and failure events. The authors show how utilizing data from disparate sources, including physical sensors measuring environmental quantities and big data from social sensors reporting personal accounts and public perceptions within a community, contributes to increasing situational awareness during an event. The approach uses Bayesian updating to infer updated probabilities of event occurrence based on collected data and focuses on data fusion within first individual sensor networks and next across unrelated sensor types. The framework is flexible and applicable to estimate events in a variety of systems and environments using multiple, heterogeneous data sources. The authors apply the approach to estimate flood risks in Louisiana during a 4-d period in August 2016 by integrating physical sensor data from the United States Geological Survey and social media data from Twitter. The results show the change in estimated flood risks across the state as additional data is introduced and how multiple data sources increase the amount of updating possible in real-time event estimation.

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“…Many areas of the United States (U.S.) are vulnerable to socioeconomic disruptions caused by extreme precipitation and resulting floods [Easterling et al, 2000;Spierre and Wake, 2010;Stevenson and Schumacher, 2014]. Recent examples include the October 2015 South Carolina flooding resulting from a series of prolific rainfall events that shattered or surpassed countless records throughout the state causing 17 casualties and about $12 billion in damage [Leberfinger, 2015;Mizzell et al, 2016], the August 2016 Louisiana flooding as extreme rainfall of more than 0.6 m fell over many areas sending rivers to record levels [Watson et al, 2017], and the January-February 2017 California flooding as heavy rainfall associated with atmospheric rivers [Rosen, 2017] pounded the state threatening the safety of reservoir dams and causing record-setting flooding and mudslides [Branson-Pott and Hamilton, 2017]. Unfortunately, regions of the U.S. are likely to see more of these catastrophic flooding events as there has been an increasing trend over the recent decades in both the frequency and particularly the intensity of extreme precipitation, and this trend is likely to continue into the future [Karl et al, 1995;Karl and Knight, 1998;Kunkel et al, 1994Kunkel et al, , 1999Kunkel et al, , 2003Kunkel et al, , 2007Easterling et al, 2000;Groisman et al, 2005Groisman et al, , 2012Alexander et al, 2006;Pryor et al, 2009;Matonse and Frei, 2013;Muschinski and Katz, 2013;Horton et al, 2014;Wuebbles et al, 2014;Ning et al, 2015;Yu et al, 2016].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of the effects of El Niño and El Niño Modoki on subdaily extreme precipitation occurrences across the contiguous United States

Zhong

Heilman

et al. 2017

JGR Atmospheres

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Intense precipitation over a short duration is a major cause of flash floods. Using hourly rainfall data from the North America Land Data Assimilation System Phase 2 from 1979 to 2013, we compared the differences in the response of the subdaily extreme precipitation occurrences across the contiguous U.S. to strong anomalous warming over the eastern equatorial Pacific known as El Niño and over the central equatorial Pacific known as El Niño Modoki. For both types of anomalous equatorial Pacific warming, the teleconnection is much stronger in the cold season (November through April) than warm season (May through October). During the warm season, while both types correspond to an increase in subdaily extreme precipitation in areas of Texas and a decrease in some areas of the northern Plains, El Niño is associated with a significant increase in the northern Rockies and El Niño Modoki is associated with a decrease in the Intermountain West. During the cold season, the overall patterns are similar between the two types, with positive anomalies over much of the southern and negative anomalies over the northern U.S. However, large regional differences exist, with El Niño exerting a much stronger influence on subdaily extreme precipitation in the Atlantic and Gulf states as well as California, while the influence of El Niño Modoki is slightly broader over the Midwest. These differences can be largely explained by the vertical velocity, moisture convergence, and jet stream patterns induced by El Niño and El Niño Modoki episodes.

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Characterization of peak streamflows and flood inundation of selected areas in Louisiana from the August 2016 flood

Cited by 17 publications

References 2 publications

Assessment of Riverine Dredging Impact on Flooding in Low-Gradient Coastal Rivers Using a Hybrid 1D/2D Hydrodynamic Model

Assessment of Riverine Dredging Impact on Flooding in Low-Gradient Coastal Rivers Using a Hybrid 1D/2D Hydrodynamic Model

Probabilistic Framework for Integrating Multiple Data Sources to Estimate Disaster and Failure Events and Increase Situational Awareness

A comparison of the effects of El Niño and El Niño Modoki on subdaily extreme precipitation occurrences across the contiguous United States

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