Flood Hazard Assessment for Urbanized Areas with an Indicator of Potential Impact on Humans

Flood management has been an increasingly essential part of life for communities in different parts of the world given the changes in weather patterns and continued urbanization. Especially in urbanized areas with flat terrain the superposition of river channels, civil and water management infrastructure can result in complex combinations of pluvial and fluvial flooding. Current flood hazard assessments focus on water depth, less so on velocity and kinetic energy, neither of which reflect the direct flood impact on humans, creating a decision barrier for local communities to understand hazard-response warnings. In this study, an indicator is proposed to quantify the potential level of flood impact on human beings, using fall-over indicators from horizontal, vertical and strike forces from debris, allowing residents and local communities to obtain a hazard-warning map with meaningful and interpretable thresholds of potential impact.