Disaster Management - Floods
Floods
• Flood is a state of high water level along a river channel or on the coast
that leads to inundation of land, which is not usually submerged. Floods
may happen gradually and also may take hours or even happen suddenly
without any warning due to breach in the embankment, spill over, heavy
rains etc.
• A flood occurs when the volume of water in the river becomes greater
than bank‐full stage: the extra waters pills over the banks and spreadsin
sheets all along and away from the banks governed by available slope.
This condition is called flood.
Major Indian Floods
• 2005 Mumbai Floods ‐ 1 When it happened
• 2018 Kerala Floods ‐2 Cause
Population Affected
• 2016 Brahmaputra Floods‐ 4
Mitigation done
• 2013 North India Floods ‐ 3
• 2007 Bihar Flood
• 2017 Gujarat Flood
• 2017 West Bengal Floods
Types Floods
• According to their duration flood can be divided into different categories:
• Slow‐Onset Floods: Slow Onset Floods usually last for a relatively longer
period, it may last for one or more weeks, or even months.
• Rapid‐Onset Floods: Rapid Onset Floods last for a relatively shorter
period, they usually last for one or two days only.
• Flash Floods: Flash Floods may occur within minutes or a few hours after
heavy rainfall, tropical storm, failure of dams or levees or releases from
dams, and it causes the greatest damages to society.
Types Floods Key Cause/Source
• River Floods HAPPY = Human Animal Plant Property
Duration/ Time of concentration • Dams Breach Floods Damaged Assessment
• Slow‐Onset Floods • Urban Floods • Minor Floods
• Rapid‐Onset Floods • Moderate Floods
• Coastal Surge Floods
• Flash Floods • Major Floods
1. Assam Floods 2012
• Non Flash Flood 2. Assam Floods 1998
3. Bhramaputra Floods
Q=10 CIA 4. Gujarat Floods 2015 Population Affected
C coefficient of Runoff
I Intensity of Rainfall 5. Kolhapur Floods 2019
A Catchment Area 6. 2005 Mumbai Floods ‐ 1 Local Floods = 10 = 12 lacs
Case = 1 Barren Land = C 0.3 to 0.5
A = 1 sq.km 7. 2018 Kerala Floods ‐2 Domicile Floods => greater than 10 to
I = 50 to 75 mm/hrs avg…. 100 to 130 8. 2016 Brahmaputra Floods‐ 4 12 lacs
mm
Q = cum/hr = 375 cum/hr 9. 2013 North India Floods ‐ 3
Case = 1 Township = C 0.7 to 0.9 10. 2007 Bihar Flood
A = 1 sq.km
I = 50 to 75 mm/hrs avg…. 100 to 130 11. 2017 Gujarat Flood
mm 12. 2017 West Bengal Floods
Q = cum/hr = 67.5 cum/hr
13. 1961 Pune Floods
Flash Floods
• Flash floods, which are short‐lived extreme events, prove the exception. They usually occur
under slowly moving or stationary thunderstorms, which last for less than 24 hours. The
resulting rainfall intensity exceeds infiltration capacity, so run‐off takes place very rapidly. Flash
floods are frequently very destructive as the high energy flow can carry much sedimentary
material
• Flash floods are local floods of great volume and short duration.
• A flash flood generally results from a torrential rain or “cloudburst” on relatively small and
widely dispersed streams.
• Runoff from the intense rainfall results in high flood waves.
• Discharges, quickly reach a maximum and diminish almost as rapidly.
• Flood flows frequently contain large concentrations of sediment and debris.
• Flash floods also result from the failure of a dam.
• Flash floods are particularly common in mountainous areas and desert regions but are a
potential threat in any area, where the terrain is steep, surface runoff rates are high, streams
flow in narrow canyons, and severe thunderstorms prevail.
River Floods
• River floods are caused by precipitation over large areas or by melting of the winter’s
accumulation of snow, or by both.
• These floods differ from flash floods in their extent and duration. Whereas flash floods are of
short duration in small streams, riverine floods take place in river systems whose tributaries may
drain large geographic areas and encompass many independent river basins
• Floods on large river systems may continue for periods ranging from a few hours to many days.
• Flood flows in large river systems are the distribution of precipitation.
• The condition of the ground (amount of soil moisture, seasonal variations in vegetation, depth
of snow cover, imperviousness due to urbanization, etc.) directly affects runoff.
Types
1. High Stage Floods
2. Minor Floods
3. Major Floods
4. Dangerous and Critical Floods
Coastal or Storm Surge Floods
• Storm surge or tidal surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather
system, typically a tropical cyclone.
• Storm surge is caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface.
• The wind causes the water to pile up higher than the ordinary sea level
• Low pressure at the center of a weather system also has a small secondary effect, as can the
bathymetry of the body of water.
• It is this combined effect of low pressure and persistent wind over a shallow water body which is
the most common cause of storm surge flooding problems.
• The term "storm surge" in casual (non‐scientific) use is storm tide; that is, it refers to the rise of
water associated with the storm, plus tide, wave run‐up, and freshwater flooding.
Impacts of Floods
• Damage to houses and property and important possessions such as furniture, electrical
appliances, etc.,
• Livelihoodofpeoplebecausefloodsdestroycrops,farmlandsandlivestock.
• Food shortage.
• Long‐lasting floods can disturb routine cultivation pattern.
• Soil erosion can occur after floods. Lands are usually covered with debris, sand or boulders
which may reduce farming areas and fertility of soil.
• Damagetoinfrastructureandfacilitieslikehospitals,clinics,schools,roads, railways, telephone lines
and electricity supplies.
• Disruption of clean water supplies and contamination of sources of water which can
subsequently cause diseases.
• Any disaster can have a profound impact on people’s emotional wellbeing affecting their
feelings, thoughts, actions, and relationships.
Flood Dangers
• Flash Flooding
• Hidden Dangers
• Other Possible injuries
Flood Survival – Before Flood
• Flood Preparedness
• Emergency Kit
• Emergency Flood Proofing
• River Bank Erosion Management
• Desiltation => Q = A*V
Flood Survival – During Flood
• Human
• Animals
• Property
• Protection and Shelter
G+1 Bungalow, Slow onset flood – 4 hours in hand
1. Emergency Kit to be shifted to First Floor level
2. If possible ‐ Expensive – Electronic gadgets to be shifted to FF
3. Switching off electronic appliances at GF
4. Shifting of Elderly and young age to FF
5. Animal Protection
6. Un‐supported personal to be protected
Flood Management - India
• The flood management mechanisms that exist in India at the moment is operational at two levels – central
level and state level. The state level mechanism is made up of the water resource department, the Flood
Control Board, and State Technical Advisory Committee. The central level mechanism is made up of
bodies such as the Central Water Commission (CWC), the Farakka Barrage Project Authority, the Ganga
Flood Control Commission, the National Disaster Management Authority, and the Brahmaputra Board.
Over the years, the Indian Government has also taken the following initiatives in order to deal with floods:
• Policy Statement 1954
• National Flood Commission (Rashtriya Barh Ayog) 1980
• High Level Committee on Floods – 1957
• Expert Committee to Review the Implementation of the Recommendations of National Flood Commission
– 2003 (R Rangachari Committee)
• Policy Statement of 1958
• National Water Policy (1987/2002/2012)
• In general, the flood management measures that are being used in India can be broadly classified into
engineering or structural measures and administrative or non-structural measures. The engineering
measures comprise the following:
Flood Management - India
State National
State Disaster
Flood Control Technical Disaster
Management
Board Advisory Management
Cell
Committee Authority
Flood Management - India
In general, the flood management measures that are being used in India can be broadly classified into
engineering or structural measures and administrative or non-structural measures. The engineering
measures comprise the following:
1. Reservoirs
2. Drainage improvement
3. Embankments
4. Diversion of flood waters
5. Channelization of rivers
6. Watershed management – natural topography – natural ground slope and direction
7. Channel improvement
The administrative measures can be broken up into flood plain zoning and flood proofing. The CWC also
performs the responsibility of forecasting floods through the CWC National Flood Forecasting Network.
Flood Mitigation Methods
• Mapping of flood Prone Areas
• Land-use & Control
• Construction of Engineered Structures
• Drainage Improvements
• Diversion of Flow
• Flood Plain Zoning
Flood Benefits
• Groundwater Recharge
• Washing of infertile layers of soil
• Dilution of polluted water Bodies
• Increase in Birds Population as observed
Mid Term – 2 – 10.03.2021
12 Marks MCQ
• 8 Marks – Earthquake
• 4 Marks - Floods
8 Marks Descriptive
• 4 marks compulsory – Floods
• 4 marks – 2 questions – attempt any one – 1. Earthquake 2. Floods
Assignment - 2
Tsunami
The official definition of a tsunami is: “a wave train, or series of waves, generated in a body of water by
an impulsive disturbance that vertically displaces the water column.”
Tsunamis are giant waves caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the sea. Out in the depths
of the ocean, tsunami waves do not dramatically increase in height. But as the waves travel inland, they
build up to higher and higher heights as the depth of the ocean decreases. The speed of tsunami waves
depends on ocean depth rather than the distance from the source of the wave. Tsunami waves may travel
as fast as jet planes over deep waters, only slowing down when reaching shallow waters. While tsunamis
are often referred to as tidal waves, this name is discouraged by oceanographers because tides have little
to do with these giant waves.
Tsunami
In case of earthquakes, tsunamis can be generated
when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically
displaces the overlying water (Figure 1). The entire
water column is disturbed by the uplift or subsidence
of the sea floor. Waves are formed as the displaced
water mass attempts to regain its equilibrium. These
waves affect the whole column of water between the
surface and the sea floor as they move, from the region
of origin in the middle of the sea, towards the coast.
1. Intensity of Earthquake/Seismic Wave
2. Depth of Water Column at epicentre
3. Ariel Distance of active shore line from epicentre
Shallow Water Waves Tsunami
A tsunami is what we call a shallow water wave. A wave is a shallow water
wave if the wavelength of the wave is much longer than the depth of the water
the wave is traveling through. This is typically the case for tsunamis which have
wavelengths exceeding 100 km while traveling through 5-7 km deep water.
Because the rate at which a wave loses its energy is inversely related to its wave
length, tsunamis not only propagate at high speeds, they can also travel great,
transoceanic distances with limited energy loss (the rate at which a wave loses
its energy is inversely related to its wave length). This explains why the coast of
Africa was still hit by a tsunami that originated over 5000 km away. Shallow-
water waves move at a speed that is equal to the square root of the product of
the acceleration of gravity (9.8 m/s/s) and the water depth - in a 6 km deep
ocean a tsunami propagates with 875 km/hr, as fast as an airplane!
Physical Characteristics of Tsunami
1. The wavelength of the tsunami wave is very long, often hundreds of kilometres long (a regular wave has
a wavelength of...
2. Earthquake tremors travel at 970 km/min while tsunami waves travel 800- 900 km/hour in open waters.
Its speed also...
3. The height of the wave is less in the deep water but as it hits the shallower beaches its height can rise up
to 100ft = 33m
4. The waves have two parts- the crest and the trough. The trough usually reaches the shore first followed
by the crest...
• A large tsunami
Tsunami - Types
1. Rapid Onset – if occurred around 50 to 500km from shoreline (intensity and
magnitude earthquake)
2. Slow Onset - if occurred beyond 51 to 500km and above (intensity and
magnitude earthquake)
Tsunami – Effects / Impacts
• HAPP – Human Animal Plant Property
• Development of habitat along the coastline
