The deadliest storm of the 20th century striking Portugal: Flood impacts and atmospheric circulation

Trigo, Ricardo M.; Ramos, Catarina; Pereira, Susana; Ramos, Alexandre M.; Zêzere, José Luı́s; Liberato, Margarida L. R.

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.10.036

Cited by 61 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The deadliest storm affecting Portugal since at least the early 19th century took place on 25 and 26 November 1967, causing more than 500 fatalities [4]. In addition, between 6-8 November 1982, there occurred one of the most catastrophic flash-flood events in the Eastern Pyrenees affecting Andorra and also Southern France and Eastern Spain with rainfall accumulations exceeding 400 mm in 24 h with 44 fatalities and widespread damage [27].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been well known that extreme precipitation events in Portugal occurring during the extended winter months (October-March) are often associated with landslides and flooding in the major river basins [1][2][3] and, with flash floods in small watersheds or urban areas [4,5] which can produce socio-economic impacts. Thus, in order to prevent and manage the associated effects and risks, there is a clear need for better characterization of the associated extreme meteorological metrics and the nature of likely unusual strong atmospheric driving mechanisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using this database, some event specific studies [1,2,4,6] have been published with the purpose of characterizing the respective meteorological drivers and the related weather circulation conditions present at both the meso-and synoptic-scales. Flood and landslide DISASTER events with significant economic and human impacts are usually associated with precipitation events co-located with specific Circulation Weather Types (CWTs) and sometimes combined with Atmospheric Rivers (ARs).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meteorological Driving Mechanisms and Human Impacts of the February 1979 Extreme Hydro-Geomorphological Event in Western Iberia

Rebelo

Ramos

Pereira

et al. 2018

Water

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Abstract:The large number of floods and landslides that occurred on 5-16 February 1979 in Portugal was a major hydro-geomorphologic extreme event according to the DISASTER database in terms of number of displaced people. The February 1979 event is the top ranked episode in terms of the total number of evacuated people (4244), displaced people (14,322) and also on the number of days of event duration (12 days) for the period 1865-2015. In this event, 62 damaging floods and five damaging landslides causing eight fatalities were recorded in Portugal. This event was driven by an unusually intense atmospheric forcing mechanism acting at different time scales. Despite the intense magnitude and the widespread impact on the population, this event has not been studied in detail. In this study, we show that the precipitation period of February 1979 had produced several multi-day accumulated precipitation events over the Portuguese continental territory, ranking among the top 10 events observed between 1950-2008. Additionally, most of the precipitation from this event occured in days in which atmospheric circulation was dominated by "wet" circulation weather types (CWTs), namely, cyclonic (C), west (W) or southwest (SW) types.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meteorological Driving Mechanisms and Human Impacts of the February 1979 Extreme Hydro-Geomorphological Event in Western Iberia

Rebelo

Ramos

Pereira

et al. 2018

Water

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“…In the São Julião do Tojal rain gauge (SJT - Fig. 1 and Table 1), which is often used as the reference rain gauge for the LMA due to the duration and reliability of the daily rainfall series [26], 140.9 mm in 24 h were registered. This value exceeded by far the average monthly value of February in this rain gauge (89.4 mm), being only surpassed by the value recorded in 18 November 1983 (163.7 mm/day).…”

Section: Classification and Determination Of Types Of Floodingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The potential of two types of urban flooding to cause material damages in Lisbon, Portugal

Leal¹,

Ramos²

2017

Int. J. SAFE

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The incapacity to cope with heavy rainfall events leads to flooding in urban areas. Urban flooding is usually divided into pluvial flooding, sewer flooding, among others. Determining which of these types was responsible to cause a flooding occurrence is, in most cases, an error-prone task, because it can be triggered by more than one of them and there is frequently an overlap in their extent.Given these problems, a classification based on the hydro-geomorphological features was applied to Lisbon, in which the relief and the ancient floodplains are still crucial factors in the city's current overland flow behavior. Two types of flooding are proposed: flooding related to natural drainage network (FREN) and flooding unrelated to natural drainage network (FUNN). In order to determine the material damages associated to FREN and FUNN and their spatial distribution, an insurance flooding database (2000-2011) was used. Through the accurate location of the APS (the Portuguese Association of Insurers) database flooding records triggered by rainfall and the reconstruction of the Lisbon's natural drainage network, it was possible to define which type of flooding caused each reported claim.There are different spatial patterns in Lisbon concerning FREN and FUNN. FREN occurs along the valley bottoms, while FUNN has a more scattered spatial pattern, meaning that FUNN can occur where there are overland flow difficulties. 53% of the claims were caused by FUNN; however, higher payouts are associated with FREN (58%). Resorting only to the claims recorded during an extreme rainfall event (in 18 February 2008), the weight of FREN is even more pronounced with 58% of the claims and 71% of the payouts. This proves the higher FREN's potential to cause material damages when compared to FUNN's. This knowledge can be applied to the flooding mitigation or adaptation measures to be included in urban planning.

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“…These events have been the source of major socio-economic impacts, with human and material damage (Barriendos and Rodrigo, 2006;García et al, 2007;VicenteSerrano et al, 2011;Trigo et al, 2014Trigo et al, , 2015.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial impact and triggering conditions of the exceptional hydro-geomorphological event of December 1909 in Iberia

Pereira

Ramos

Zêzere

et al. 2016

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. According to the DISASTER database the 20-28 December 1909 event was the hydro-geomorphologic event with the highest number of flood and landslide cases that occurred in Portugal in the period 1865-2010. This event also caused important social impacts over the Spanish territory, especially in the Douro Basin, having triggered the highest floods in more than 100 years at the river's mouth in the city of Oporto.This work has a dual purpose: (i) to characterize the spatial distribution and social impacts of the December 1909 hydro-geomorphologic DISASTER event over Portugal and Spain; (ii) to analyse the meteorological conditions that triggered the event and the spatial distribution of the precipitation anomalies.Social impacts that occurred in Portugal were obtained from the Disaster database whereas the data collection for Spain was supported by the systematic analysis of Spanish daily newspapers. In addition, the meteorological conditions that triggered the event are analysed using the 20th Century Reanalysis data set from NOAA and precipitation data from Iberian meteorological stations.The Iberian Peninsula was spatially affected during this event along the SW-NE direction spanning from Lisbon, Santarém, Oporto, and Guarda (in Portugal), to Salamanca, Valladolid, Zamora, Orense, León, and Palencia (in Spain). In Iberia, 134 DISASTER cases were recorded (130 flood cases; 4 landslides cases) having caused 89 casualties (57 due to floods and 32 due to landslides) and a further total of 3876 affected people, including fatalities, injured, missing, evacuated, and homeless people.This event was associated with outstanding precipitation registered at Guarda (Portugal) on 22 December 1909 and unusual meteorological conditions characterized by the presence of a deep low-pressure system located over the NW Iberian Peninsula with a stationary frontal system striking the western Iberian Peninsula. The presence of an upper-level jet (250 hPa) and low-level jet (900 hPa) located SW-NE oriented towards Iberia along with upper-level divergence and lower-level convergence favoured large-scale precipitation. Finally, associated with these features it is possible to state that this extreme event was clearly associated with the presence of an elongated Atmospheric River, crossing the entire northern Atlantic Basin and providing a continuous supply of moisture that contributed to enhance precipitation.This work contributes to a comprehensive and systematic synoptic evaluation of the second most deadly hydrogeomorphologic DISASTER event that has occurred in Portugal since 1865 and will help to better understand the meteorological system that was responsible for triggering the event.

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The deadliest storm of the 20th century striking Portugal: Flood impacts and atmospheric circulation

Cited by 61 publications

References 12 publications

Meteorological Driving Mechanisms and Human Impacts of the February 1979 Extreme Hydro-Geomorphological Event in Western Iberia

Meteorological Driving Mechanisms and Human Impacts of the February 1979 Extreme Hydro-Geomorphological Event in Western Iberia

The potential of two types of urban flooding to cause material damages in Lisbon, Portugal

Spatial impact and triggering conditions of the exceptional hydro-geomorphological event of December 1909 in Iberia

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