Enhancing pedestrian evacuation routes during flood events

Abstract

The increasing rate of anthropic activities in flood-prone areas and the effects of climate change are aggravating the dangers posed by floods to people. One of the main reasons for fatality during flood events is walking through floodwaters. Although authorities strongly advise against walking in flood waters, evacuations or the accessing of flooded areas by emergency services might be necessary. This research proposes a novel approach to increasing resilience by retrofitting existing infrastructures to enhance evacuation and access routes by reducing flood hazard rate based on flood and pedestrian characteristics. The methodology was applied to flash floods in two case studies in the UK, namely Boscastle and Borth, highlighting that retrofitting small regions of the existing roads and pathways to reduce flood hazard can enhance people’s safety during the evacuation, and hence provides a solution to improve the resilience of the existing environment.

Flood Management, Characterization and Vulnerability Analysis Using an Integrated RS-GIS and 2D Hydrodynamic Modelling Approach: The Case of Deg Nullah, Pakistan

“…The evacuation process may become difficult in areas with floodwater velocities of more than 1 m/s [57]. Flood arrival times at particular locations are one of the major variables along with velocity, depth, safe locations, etc., used to prepare the evacuation strategies [62]. The floodwater in the upper reaches of Deg Nullah attains the maximum depth within the first 14 h after the overflow condition, whereas in lower parts of the study area, it took more than 28 h and thereby, hazard levels are classified as low to medium [47].…”

Toward Street‐Level Nowcasting of Flash Floods Impacts Based on HPC Hydrodynamic Modeling at the Watershed Scale and High‐Resolution Weather Radar Data

“…Since the approach proposed here potentially enables decision‐makers to identify the streets most vulnerable to flood impact, it might contribute to the improvement of the emergency response by evacuation planning (Coles et al., 2017; Musolino et al., 2022) and effectively support the design of emergency measures (Dottori et al., 2017). Specifically, logistics of operations and road accessibility are known to be essential for emergency activities and flood preparedness (Arrighi et al., 2019; Coles et al., 2017; Green et al., 2017).…”

Noncontact Automatic Water-Level Assessment and Prediction in an Urban Water Stream Channel of a Volcanic Island Using Deep Learning

“…Given Madeira's unique topography and susceptibility to rapid environmental shifts, shorter forecasting intervals hold particular significance and can be more pertinent than longer ones in effectively addressing dynamic conditions. Additionally, it is essential to evaluate the readiness of evacuation routes [49], which are likely as relevant as the warning period itself.…”