Urban Flood Effects

1.3. Impacts of Urban Flooding Urban Areas

Climate change projections of increased intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall events suggest flooding impacts will grow in future, demanding improved response to current flood risk (Gina, Z., and Warren, S., 2009). The severe impacts of floods whether it happens as a result of climate change or otherwise, are most likely to be in urban areas where people, resources and infrastructure are concentrated (Arambepola, N., and Iglesias G., 2009).

Long periods of rainfall result in the gradual saturation of the ground and the accumulation of water in poorly drained areas. The lack of adequate sanitation and solid waste management in many areas means that the water is polluted and can cause health problems.

Business may be closed down due to lack of access or failure of basic services, such as water supply, waste water collection and treatment, electricity, roads and telecommunications. This, in turn, is likely to have significant economic implications for areas much wider than the immediate flooded area. The replacement of such services can be complex, will take time and money, and will cause serious economic losses. The 2011 tsunami in Japan put a serious strain on the national economy and also had global impacts: as an example, the supply of Japanese-made vehicle parts to automobile assembly plants around the world was severely disrupted. Businesses which can continue to operate may take months to recover and to return to normal trading

Global Trends and Patterns of Urban Flooding

Worldwide, flooding is the leading cause of losses from natural hazards and is responsible for a greater number of damaging events than any other type of natural event. At least one third of all losses due to nature’s forces can be attributed to flooding. Flood damage has been extremely severe in recent decades and it is evident that both the frequency and intensity of floods are increasing. There are countries, such as China, in which flooding is a frequent, at least annual event, and others, such as Saudi Arabia, where inundation is rare, but its impact is sometimes also severe (Loster, 1999).

According to World Bank (2012), over the past eighteen months, destructive floods occurred along the Indus River basin in Pakistan in August 2010; in Queensland, Australia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines in late 2010 and early 2011; along with mudslides, in the Serrana region of Brazil in January 2011; following the earthquake-induced tsunami on the north-east coast of Japan in March 2011; along the Mississippi River in mid 2011; as a consequence of Hurricane Irene on the US East Coast in August 2011; in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province in September 2011; and in large areas of Thailand, including Bangkok, in October and November