Flood Risk Evaluation in Urban Spaces: The Study Case of Tormes River (Salamanca, Spain)

Marco Criado, Antonio Martínez-Graña, Javier Sánchez San Román and Fernando Santos-Francés
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Marco Criado: Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
Antonio Martínez-Graña: Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
Javier Sánchez San Román: Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
Fernando Santos-Francés: Department of Soil Sciences, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Avenue Filiberto Villalobos, 119, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: The expansion of cities towards flood zones, and the increasingly frequent episodes of torrential rains arising from global warming, mean that the population is becoming more exposed to floods. Due to this, a correct assessment of flood events is of great help in the development of preventive actions, planning and resource management, or interventions. For this reason, in this work we aim to establish guidelines to assess the hazard, exposure, and vulnerability of the population and its properties to flood events, using Hec-Ras for the simulation of the flood and ArcGis and GeoHecRas to treat geographic information and prepare the cartography. The study was focused on the Tormes River in Salamanca (Spain). We studied three return periods with different probabilities of occurrence and intensity, corresponding to 5, 100, and 500 years. The flow corresponding to each episode was calculated, along with the extension, speed, and depth that would be achieved in each case. Then, the probability of occurrence was delimited, as well as the magnitude, allowing us to obtain different hazard maps. In addition, the areas of greatest hazard to people and property were established for each event. Regarding the exposure, the areas and land use, infrastructure, and buildings that would be flooded in each case were identified, quantifying the extension or length of the affected properties at the different levels of hazard in each case. Additionally, the vulnerability of the different buildings and exposed infrastructure was studied. Finally, the flood risk was estimated by combining these three components.

Keywords: flood hazard; urban vulnerability; urban exposure; probability; GIS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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