Risk assessment for typhoon-induced storm surges in Wenchang, Hainan Island of China

Abstract

A risk assessment for storm surge disasters can provide scientific support for coastal management as well as marine disaster prevention and mitigation. By taking the Wenchang City of Hainan Province as a pilot area, a risk assessment approach for typhooninduced storm surge disasters is introduced in detail in this article. First, a numerical simulation system for storm surge inundation is developed, which is applied for the simulation and calculation of the probable maximum storm surge in Wenchang, and the obtained inundation areas and depths are used to assess the storm surge hazard. Then, the data of land use and disaster-bearing bodies are used to classify and assess the vulnerability of Wenchang. Finally, by taking the community as unit, the risk assessment for typhoon-induced storm surge affecting Wenchang is performed by combining the assessment results of both hazard and vulnerability, thereby obtaining a level map of risk distribution. The results show that there are risks of typhoon-induced storm surge in most of the coastal areas of Wenchang, especially for its northeast and east coastal areas, where the risks reach Levels I-II. This approach can be conveniently applied to risk assessments of storm surge in other coastal areas. Note that this approach focuses on the current risk of typhoon-induced storm surge in coastal areas, and further studies will be conducted on the assessment methods for the potential risk.

Downward Momentum Flux: An Important Mechanism of Typhoon Maintaining Ground Destructive Force

“…Nonetheless, the response of different land types to the three above‐mentioned hazards induced by typhoons is not equally sensitive as a result of specific environmental settings and land uses (Boyd et al., 2017; Hsiang et al., 2017; Sajjad, Lin, & Chan, 2020). Storm surge is a major concern for island areas, whereas floods and landslides resulting from heavy precipitation become a prominent issue in forested and rural regions (Morimoto et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2021).…”

The utilization of physically based models and GIS techniques for comprehensive risk assessment of storm surge: A case study of Huizhou

“…In developed countries, studies on storm surge risk assessment have primarily focused on the physical aspect of vulnerability and the risk has been quantified using the risk function (hazards, exposure, and physical vulnerability), thereby omitting the social dimension of vulnerability (McGrath et al, 2019;Apollonio et al, 2020;Nofal and van de Lindt, 2020). In China, due to a lack of local depth-damage curves and a scarcity of building footprint data, the qualitative risk matrix approach is frequently used to assess storm surge risk by combining hazard (inundation depth) and vulnerability (land use/land cover) (Zhang et al, 2016;Xianwu et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2021d). However, in comparison to the quantitative risk function focusing on the physical aspect of vulnerability, this qualitative risk matrix approach for evaluating risk tends to be more subjective, and so the results are not completely accurate (Simmons et al, 2017;Van Westen).…”