Dissertation
Assessment of flood risk for urban and rural communities in Iowa: a vulnerability and mitigation analysis framework
University of Iowa
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
Summer 2022
DOI: 10.25820/etd.006616
Abstract
Flooding causes fatalities, injuries, and damage to properties, agricultural sites, critical infrastructure, and transportation networks in urban and agricultural communities. The frequency and magnitude of flood events have been increasing around the world. Since disasters involve many aspects of human activities, it is critical to have a comprehensive understanding of flood events and map the risk and vulnerability of flood prone regions to plan, prepare and mitigate the impacts. My research aims to provide a comprehensive specification for defining flood events and understand the risk, vulnerability, and potential mitigation alternatives for communities in Iowa by implementing integrated and scalable mitigation research frameworks.
Firstly, I developed a comprehensive set of specifications that embraces multiple aspects of a flood event by conducting an extensive review of the global and national disaster event repositories and the literature. Following this, I performed a large-scale flood risk and vulnerability assessment in urban and agricultural communities in Iowa and identified the most vulnerable regions. I found that federal risk products underestimate the losses for large urban communities. Moreover, I revealed several watersheds with significant potential for mitigation practices to reduce flood risk in the downstream communities. Then, I assessed the historical property buyouts and potential mitigation applications in eastern Iowa communities. I found that the majority of the buyouts can be considered successful considering their benefit-cost ratios. Furthermore, I explored the optimal mitigation option for properties and communities by analyzing multiple flood stages and climate scenarios. The thesis also presents two mitigation research frameworks that examine the benefit-cost ratios and the optimization of mitigation applications on demand.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Assessment of flood risk for urban and rural communities in Iowa: a vulnerability and mitigation analysis framework
- Creators
- Enes Yildirim
- Contributors
- Ibrahim Demir (Advisor)Witold F Krajewski (Committee Member) - University of Iowa, Civil and Environmental EngineeringSilvia Secchi (Committee Member)Craig Just (Committee Member)Nathan Young (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Date degree season
- Summer 2022
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- DOI
- 10.25820/etd.006616
- Number of pages
- xiii, 175 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2022 Enes Yildirim
- Language
- English
- Description illustrations
- illustrations (chiefly color), charts, color maps, graphs
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 140-175).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
- A flood event often impacts communities in many ways, such as fatalities, injuries, property damage, infrastructure damage, crop losses, and traffic disruption. Decision-makers frequently analyze the risk in those aspects to create preparedness and mitigation plans in their communities. Therefore, a comprehensive set of data and risk assessment are essential to provide reliable analysis for decision support. In this dissertation, I created a set of specifications to cover various implications of flooding in the literature so that a prospective database can be utilized to evaluate the risk and vulnerability of a community. Following this, I delivered an integrated flood risk and vulnerability analysis for urban and agricultural communities in the state of Iowa. The analysis bridged between potential flood events and their significant implications over the region. Finally, I presented a detailed climate data-driven flood mitigation analysis for eastern Iowa communities and two scalable mitigation frameworks to understand the benefits and costs associated with mitigation practices in the studied communities.
- Academic Unit
- Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9984285153002771
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