Simultaneous and collocated tornado and flash flood warnings associated with tropical cyclones in the contiguous United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Burow ◽  
Kelsey Ellis ◽  
Liem Tran
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Flood Warnings

Convective Storms and the Insurance Industry: Challenges and Opportunities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten D. Orwig
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Insurance Industry ◽  
Property Values ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
The United States ◽  
Building Code ◽  
Convective Storms ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Insured Loss

Convective storms affect countries worldwide, with billions in losses and dozens of fatalities every year. They are now the key insured loss driver in the United States, even after considering the losses sustained by tropical cyclones in 2017. Since 2008, total insured losses from convective storms have exceeded $10 billion per year. Additionally, these losses continue to increase year over year. Key loss drivers include increased population, buildings, vehicles, and property values. However, other loss drivers relate to construction materials and practices, as well as building code adoption and enforcement. The increasing loss trends pose a number of challenges for the insurance industry and broader society. These challenges are discussed, and some recommendations are presented.

scholarly journals Flood Forecasting and Warning System Structures: Procedure and Application to a Small Urban Stream in South Korea

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Song ◽  
Park ◽  
Lee ◽  
Park ◽  
Song
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Lead Time ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Flood Forecasting ◽  
Urban Stream ◽  
Forecasting And Warning ◽  
Flood Warnings

The runoff from heavy rainfall reaches urban streams quickly, causing them to rise rapidly. It is therefore of great importance to provide sufficient lead time for evacuation planning and decision making. An efficient flood forecasting and warning method is crucial for ensuring adequate lead time. With this objective, this paper proposes an analysis method for a flood forecasting and warning system, and establishes the criteria for issuing urban-stream flash flood warnings based on the amount of rainfall to allow sufficient lead time. The proposed methodology is a nonstructural approach to flood prediction and risk reduction. It considers water level fluctuations during a rainfall event and estimates the upstream (alert point) and downstream (confluence) water levels for water level analysis based on the rainfall intensity and duration. We also investigate the rainfall/runoff and flow rate/water level relationships using the Hydrologic Engineering Center’s Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) and the HEC’s River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) models, respectively, and estimate the rainfall threshold for issuing flash flood warnings depending on the backwater state based on actual watershed conditions. We present a methodology for issuing flash flood warnings at a critical point by considering the effects of fluctuations in various backwater conditions in real time, which will provide practical support for decision making by disaster protection workers. The results are compared with real-time water level observations of the Dorim Stream. Finally, we verify the validity of the flash flood warning criteria by comparing the predicted values with the observed values and performing validity analysis.

scholarly journals Assessing the influence of an extended hurricane season on inland flooding potential in the Southeast United States

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica H. Stone ◽  
Sagy Cohen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Climate Warming ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
River Basins ◽  
The United States ◽  
Southeast United States ◽  
Global Climate Warming ◽  
Hurricane Season ◽  
Near Future

Abstract. Recent tropical cyclones, like Hurricane Katrina, have been some of the worst the United States has experienced. Tropical cyclones are expected to intensify, bringing about 20 % more precipitation, in the near future in response to global climate warming. Further, global climate warming may extend the hurricane season. This study focuses on four major river basins (Neches, Pearl, Mobile, and Roanoke) in the Southeast United States that are frequently impacted by tropical cyclones. An analysis of the timing of tropical cyclones that impact these river basins found that most occur during the low discharge season, and thus rarely produce riverine flooding conditions. However, an extension of the current hurricane season of June–November, due to global climate warming, could encroach upon the high discharge seasons in these basins, increasing the susceptibility for riverine hurricane-induced flooding. This analysis shows that an extension of the hurricane season to May–December (just 2 months longer) increased the number of days that would be at risk to flooding were the average tropical cyclone to occur by 37–258 %, depending on the timing of the hurricane season in relation to the high discharge seasons on these rivers. Future research should aim to extend this analysis to all river basins in the United States that are impacted by tropical cyclones in order to provide a bigger picture of which areas are likely to experience the worst increases in flooding risk due to a probable extension of the hurricane season with expected global climate change in the near future.

Estimating a-priori kinematic wave model parameters based on regionalization for flash flood forecasting in the Conterminous United States

2016 ◽  
Vol 541 ◽  
pp. 421-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Humberto Vergara ◽  
Pierre-Emmanuel Kirstetter ◽  
Jonathan J. Gourley ◽  
Zachary L. Flamig ◽  
Yang Hong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Wave Model ◽  
Flood Forecasting ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Kinematic Wave ◽  
Kinematic Wave Model ◽  
Flash Flood Forecasting

scholarly journals Coastal Resilience Against Storm Surge from Tropical Cyclones

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 725
Author(s):  
Robert Mendelsohn ◽  
Liang Zheng
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Probability Distribution ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Storm Surge ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Storm Surges ◽  
The United States ◽  
Atlantic Seaboard ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Coastal Resilience

It is well known that seawalls are effective at stopping common storm surges in urban areas. This paper examines whether seawalls should be built to withstand the storm surge from a major tropical cyclone. We estimate the extra cost of building the wall tall enough to stop such surges and the extra flood benefit of this additional height. We estimate the surge probability distribution from six tidal stations spread along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States. We then measure how valuable the vulnerable buildings behind a 100 m wall must be to justify such a tall wall at each site. Combining information about the probability distribution of storm surge, the average elevation of protected buildings, and the damage rate at each building, we find that the value of protected buildings behind this 100 m wall must be in the hundreds of millions to justify the wall. We also examine the additional flood benefit and cost of protecting a km2 of land in nearby cities at each site. The density of buildings in coastal cities in the United States are generally more than an order of magnitude too low to justify seawalls this high. Seawalls are effective, but not at stopping the surge damage from major tropical cyclones.

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