Flood Management

To understand if a coastal city is more prone to floods caused by tidal events or extreme rainfall, a team from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, devised a new metric or measure called the Tide–Rainfall Flood Quotient.

The C40 Cities report of 2018 notes that by 2050, over 570 low-lying coastal cities will face projected sea level rise by at least 0.5 meters, putting over 800 million people at risk from the impacts of rising seas and storm surges.
While the inland areas can be flooded due to the heavy rainfall, the coasts are threatened by the impact of tidal surges.

Using the past rainfall data, tidal data, and topography of the region one can apply the Tide–Rainfall Flood Quotient framework to pinpoint the major factor at play.
This metric can help disaster management experts in framing better flood risk management systems directed towards long term planning.

For storm-tide dominated regions, severe flood hazard can be alleviated by building coastal defence structures such as closure dams, tide breakers, and storm-surge barriers at appropriate locations. The tide and surge forecasting systems in these regions should be equipped with state-of-the-art ocean circulation models.
For pluvial dominated regions, structural measures such as rainwater storage structures, lakes, and detention basins should be prioritised in the flood management plans.

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