REMEMBERING 2O10’S FLOODS
Heavy rainfall sets records and
causes flooding disasters around
the world
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for
Disaster Reduction, University of
North Carolina, USA
2010
A YEAR OF “RECORD AND
NEAR-RECORD” NATURAL
DISASTERS
FLOOD HAZARDS (AKA
POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)
• TOO MUCH WATER DISCHARGED
WITHIN THE REGIONAL DRAINAGE
SYSTEM TO BE ACCOMMODATED IN
THE NORMAL WATER CYCLE
• EROSION
• SCOUR
• MUDFLOWS
CAUSES
OF RISK
LOSS OF FUNCTION OF
STRUCTURES IN FLOODPLAIN
INUNDATION
INTERACTION WITH
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
FLOODS
CASE HISTORIES
STRUCTURAL/CONTENTS
DAMAGE FROM WATER
WATER BORNE DISEASES
(HEALTH PROBLEMS)
EROSION AND MUDFLOWS
CONTAMINATION OF GROUND
WATER
RISK ASSESSMENT
•HAZARD MAPS
•INVENTORY
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION
ACCEPTABLE RISK
RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
FLOOD DISASTER RISK
REDUCTION
DATA BASES
AND INFORMATION
COMMUNITY
POLICY OPTIONS
HAZARDS:
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
TSUNAMI RUN UP
AFTERSHOCKS
•PREVENTION/MITIGATION
•PREPAREDNESS
•EMERGENCY RESPONSE
•RECOVERY and
RECONSTRUCTION
2010’S “FLOOD LABORATORIES”
• PORTUGAL
(MADEIRA)
• RUSSIA (SIBERIA,
KAZAKHSTAN)
• USA (NORTH DAKOTA,
MINNESOTA,
TENNESSEE,
CALIFORNIA, …)
2010’S “FLOOD LABORATORIES”
• BRAZIL
• POLAND, HUNGARY,
GERMANY, CZECH
REPUBLIC, …
• CHINA—NORTH
KOREA
• PAKISTAN
• NEW SOUTH WALES
(AUSTRALIA)
IMPACTED NATIONS
• … Madeira (Portugal), Russia,
USA (North Dakota, Minnesota,
Tennessee), Brazil, Poland,
Hungary, Germany, Czech
Republic, China , Pakistan, North
Korea, New South Wales,
Australia, California, …
SOCIETAL IMPACTS DURING
2010
• Millions evacuated.
• Millions of homes
inundated, left
without power,
damaged or
destroyed.
• Landslides (Rock
falls, Mudflows)
triggered by heavy,
prolonged rainfall.
• Lives and
livelihoods of
millions adversely
affected.
• Millions at risk
from water-borne
diseases
SOCIETAL IMPACTS DURING
2010 (Continued)
• Homes and
Infrastructure
damaged or
destroyed.
• Health care needs
related to waterborne diseases
increase sharply.
• $Tens of billions
in insured and
uninsured
economic
losses.
• Thousands killed
in flood-related
disasters
FLASH FLOODS TRIGGER
MUDSLIDES IN THE
MADEIRA ISLANDS,
PORTUGAL
AT LEAST 42 DEAD
FEBRUARY 20-21, 2010
LOCATION OF MADEIRA
WHAT HAPPENED?
The worst storm to hit Madeira
since 1993 lashed the south of the
Atlantic Ocean island, including
the capital, Funchal, Saturday,
turning some streets into torrents
of mud, water and debris.
WHAT HAPPENED
(continued)
The flash floods were so powerful
they carved paths down
mountains and ripped through the
city, churning under some bridges
and tearing others down.
FEBRUARY 21: FLASH
FLOOD
FEBRUARY 21
FLOODS IN RUSSIA
SPRING RUNOFF AFTER A HARSH
WINTER INCREASES FLOOD RISKS
ACROSS RUSSIA
MARCH 2010
LOCATION MAP SHOWING THE
THREE GREAT SIBERIAN RIVERS
The Ob River, the country's
fourth longest river and the
longest estuary in the world, is
a major river in western
Siberia.
The Yenisei River, which drains
a large portion of central
Siberia, is the greatest river
system flowing northward to
the Arctic Ocean.
The Lena River is the
easternmost of the three great
Siberian rivers that flow into
the Arctic Ocean (the other
two being the Ob River and the
Yenisei river) is the 10th
longest river in the world.
Weather reports warned of
"catastrophic" flooding in Siberia,
where river ice was up to several
meters thick, and rivers flowing
northward routinely surge with
melting water.
FLOODING IN SIBERIA
FLOODING IN KAZAKHSTAN
NORTH DAKOTA-MINNESOTA
EXPERIENCE A NEARRECORD FLOOD DISASTER
AGAIN
2009’S RECORD FLOOD STAGE
APPROACHED, BUT UNBROKEN
MARCH 15 - 30, 2010
REASONS FOR FLOODING
THE ANNUAL FLOODING THREAT TO FARGO,
ND AND MOORHEAD, MN IS TRIGGERED BY:
 1) The Spring melt and runoff , AFTER
 2) A severe Winter.
1. Synchrony of river
discharge with Spring
runoff
2. Ice jams
3. Lake Agassiz, a glacial lake, is
the floodplain of the Red River
4. A sharp decrease in river
gradient makes the FargoMoorhead area act like a large
lake.
2010: RAPID MELT AND
RUNOFF
THE “SPIDER” WAS USED TO MAKE
5,000 SANDBAGS PER HOUR
HALSTAD, MN: 4 FT BELOW
2009’S RECORD OF 40.5 FT
FARGO, ND: THE RED RIVER CRESTS
4 FT BELOW RECORD ON MARCH 21
REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS
PLAN A 10-YEAR, $1.3
BILLION FLOOD CONTROL
PROJECT
A 60 KM (36-MILE) – LONG NEW
RIVER CHANNEL IS EXPECTED
TO SOLVE THE RECURRING
THREAT
FLOODS AND MUDSLIDES
PARALYZE BRAZIL
WORST IN 50 YEARS
APRIL 7, 2010
RIO DE JANEIRO: WIDE
SPREAD INUNDATION
10,000 homes, mostly in the slums
where one-fifth of Rio's people live
in shacks that are vulnerable to
heavy rains,
were also severely impacted by
mudslides
RECORD FLOODING IN
NASHVILLE, TN AREA
MAY 1-4, 2010
Flooding after 2 days of intense rain
left the city of Nashville and the
surrounding area with a record
33 cm (13 in) of water in two days.
The Cumberland River crested
Monday afternoon, May 3rd, at 3 ½ m
above flood stage.
The flash floods caught the city offguard, and thousands of residents
and tourists were forced to flee
homes and hotels as the
Cumberland river rapidly spilled
over its banks
CUMBERLAND RIVER FLOODS
INDUSTRIAL PARK
INTERSTATE HIGHWAY I-24
FLOODED
TEMPORARY SCHOOL
BUILDING FLOATS DOWN I-24
FAILURE OF RAILROAD
BRIDGE
FLOODING AT OPRYLAND
HOTEL
EVACUATION FROM
OPRYLAND RESORT HOTEL
The Impacts:
150 roads impassable
Opryland and other hotels
evacuated
Business interruption
Schools and universities closed
Fuel shortages
Water shortages
Over $1 billion economic loss
.
RIVERS BURST BANKS AND
BREACH DAMS IN CENTRAL
EUROPE AFTER WEEKS OF
RAIN
POLAND, HUNGARY, GERMANY, CZECH
REPUBLIC, …
MAY – JUNE, 2010
The heaviest rains in over a decade
forced thousands along rain
swollen rivers in Poland, Germany,
and Hungary to evacuate from their
homes, breached dikes and sand
bag dams, and caused damage to
homes, and infrastructure
estimated at over $2.5 billion.
POLAND
POLAND AND VISTULA
RIVER
VISTULA RIVER
INUNDATED VILLAGE
DIKE BREACHED NEAR
VILLAGE OF SWINIARY
ODER RIVER: GERMANY
DANUBE RIVER: SOUTHERN
GERMANY; JUNE 3
MASS EVACUATION
SAVING A HORSE
SAVING CATTLE:
MAY 17
RAIN AND FLOODING FROM
A SERIES OF STORMS
TESTS CHINA’S THREE
GORGES DAM AGAIN
TEST 1: JUNE - JULY 2007
TEST 2: APRIL - JULY 2010
IMPACTS OF 2010’S FLOODS IN
CHINA
• More than 1,400 people are
believed to have been killed this
year in unusually severe flooding
in central and southern China.
IMPACTS OF 2010’S FLOODS IN
CHINA
• An estimated 1.4 million homes
were destroyed, 12 million people
evacuated, and 87,600 sq km (22
million acres) of crops ruined.
CHINA’S GRANDEST PROJECT
SINCE THE GREAT WALL
THREE GORGES DAM
• The Three Gorges
Dam is located in
Central China's Hubei
Province, 600 miles
southwest of Beijing.
• It replaced Brazil's
Itaipu Dam as the
world's largest
hydroelectric and
flood-control
installation.
• After 13 years of
work and 35
million cubic
yards of concrete,
the dam reached
its full height of
190 m (606 ft) and
width of 2,309 m
(7,575 ft) across
the Yangtze River
on May 19, 2006.
2010
• The floods hit 13 provinces,
including Guangdong,
Sichuan and Zhejiang,
damaging more than 140,000
homes and affecting more
than 10 million people.
SWOLLEN RIVERS IN 2010
• Virtually all of the major rivers
were swollen, while water
levels in lakes along the mighty
Yangtze River were higher than
in 1998, when catastrophic
flooding killed about 4,000
people.
YANGTZE RIVER FLOODS:
JUNE 10
THREE GORGES DAM HAS
PASSED TWO TESTS
NORTHWEST PAKISTAN (AND
AFGHANISTAN) HIT BY FLASH
FLOODS AFTER PROLONGED
MONSOON RAINS
JULY 28-AUGUST 22, 2010
[NOTE: Aug 12th is first day of Ramadan]
ONE-FIFTH OF PAKISTAN
AFFECTED
2010’s Summer floods from
monsoon rains were typical and
expected, but they were the worst in
80 years and set new records.
Monsoon rains swelled rivers and
streams across Pakistan and set
flooding records in the province of
KhyberPakhtunkhwa, parts of the
Pakistan-administered Kashmir
region, and the eastern province of
Punjab.
The United Nations announced
Saturday, July 31, that they would
provide $10 million dollars for
immediate emergency assistance
and would appeal for 460 million in
international emergency assistance
for food, water, health care, and
shelter.
The USA provided $60 million for
immediate emergency assistance
along with Navy and Marine
helicopters, rescue boats, water
filtration units, prefabricated steel
bridges and thousands of packaged
meals, which Pakistani soldiers
tossed from helicopters
LOSS OF INFRASTRUCTURE: HINDERED
EVACUATION & EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE
The survival of some of the poorest
of the poor living in the districts of
Nowshera, Charsadda, Peshawar,
Swat, and Lower Dir became
problematic because of the extent
and catastrophic nature of the
floods.
Over 1,500 died (and probably many
more) and more than 20 million
were impacted as rains swelled
rivers, inundated villages, and
triggered landslides, causing entire
villages, roads, and bridges to be
swept away, isolating thousands,
and leaving 6 million homeless.
DERA ISMAIL KHAN:
INUNDATED
THOUSANDS OF MUD BRICK
HOMES COLLAPSED
SOME LIVESTOCK WAS SAVED,
BUT THOUSANDS DROWNED
EVACUATION: CARRYING
SELECTED POSSESSIONS
The people complained that their
government was not meeting the
urgent needs for
adequate temporary shelters,
toilets, and
clean drinking water in order to
avert a public health catastrophe.
PROTESTERS: NOWSHERA
TEMPORARY SHELTER
30,000 Pakistani troops used
helicopters and other means to
rescue 28,000 people and to
distribute water and food.
NOWSHERA: PAKISTANI
ARMY DISTRIBUTING WATER
FOOD LINE IN PUNJAB
PROVINCE: AUGUST 20
FLOODS STRIKE
COMMUNITIES NEAR CHINANORTH KOREA BORDER
AUGUST 20-22, 2010
Flooding forced the evacuation of
94,000 people in the north China
port city of Dandong, an area near
the boundary with North Korea,
after heavy rains caused China’s
Yalu River to breach its banks.
Near Sinuiju, the North Korean city
opposite Dandong, flooding
swamped houses, public buildings
and farmland in more than five
villages.
SINUIJU, NORTH KOREA: INUNDATION
BY ANNOK (YALU ) RIVER
FLOODS END YEARS OF
DROUGHT IN NEW SOUTH
WALES, AUSTRALIA
DECEMBER 10-20, 2010
45 FLOOD DISASTER ZONES
THE GREAT WINTER
SOLSTICE STORM OF 2010
RAIN FALLING FROM SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA TO BAKERSFIELD
December 19-21, 2010
The Great Winter Solstice Storm
of 2010 was one for the record
books, a once in a hundred years
event, marked by the most rainfall
ever to fall in the month of
December and the 4th heaviest
daily rainfall (on Sunday) of all
time.
PACIFIC STORMS CAUSED
HEAVY RAIN FALL,
FLOODING, ROCKFALLS,
AND MUD FLOWS IN
CALIFORNIA, NEVADA, AND
UTAH
WINTER ARRIVED AT 3:38 PM
ON TUESDAY, DEC. 21
• Historic rainfall brought much
of California into a state of
emergency with widespread
flooding and mud flows that
impacted many people just
before Christmas.
A LUNAR ECLIPSE COINCIDENT
WITH SOLSTICE: 1ST SINCE 1638
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
DRENCHED WITH UP TO 20 CM
Los Angeles received onefourth of its annual rainfall
(nearly 10 cm (4 in )) in 3 days.
WINTER STORM HITS CA:
DEC 20, 2010
ROCKSLIDE
A rockslide triggered by the
prolonged heavy rainfall closed the
Pacific Coast Highway in both
directions at the Ventura-L.A. county
line.
1 m (3 ft) OF WATER IN KERN
CITY, CA: DEC 20, 2010
FLOODING CREATES
CHAOS: DEC 20, 2010
From Friday (17th) through
midday on Monday (20th),
Bakersfield was drenched with
3.79 in. of rain, which is 5 times
the normal amount for an entire
December and 58% of a normal
year’s rainfall.
San Bernardino County, an inland
region of Southern California east
of Los Angeles was among the
hardest-hit areas, with losses
expected to exceed $10 million.
The flooding, mudslides, falling
rocks, crested creeks and
downed trees created havoc in
the Bakersfield area and led to
the declaration of a local
emergency.
In Highland. CA. people returned
to their homes after evacuation to
find their homes inundated with
2 m (several feet) of mud.
MUDSLIDES IN HIGHLAND,
CA: DEC 24, 2010
DECEMBER 29: A new winter
storm packing powerful winds,
heavy rain and snow moved into
California, bringing a renewed
threat of flooding and mud flows
to areas that are already
saturated.