Simulations of Impacts of Natural and Nature-Based Features on Flooding along the Alabama Coast
Publication: World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2024
ABSTRACT
With the increasing economic and social activities along with the increasing frequency as well as the intensity of hurricanes, the coastal regions are at greater risk of flooding and storm surges than before. A 3D hydrodynamic model using Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code Plus (EFDC+) was developed to study the impacts of hurricanes without and with the implementation of natural and nature-based features (NNBFs) along Mobile Bay, AL. Hurricane Ivan (2004) and Hurricane Sally (2020) were used for model calibration and verification. The simulated water surface elevations were compared against the observed data at different monitoring stations within Mobile Bay with good agreement. The calibrated EFDC+ model was used to study the response of the bay under different hurricane and NNBFs scenarios. For categories 2 and below, flooding occurred along the track, whereas for major hurricanes, flooding occurred along the track as well as other low-lying areas. The installation of artificial sand dunes provided greater reduction in water depths, velocities, flows, and bed shear as compared to other tested NNBFs.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2024
Pages: 855 - 871
History
Published online: May 16, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Bays
- Calibration
- Coastal engineering
- Coasts, oceans, ports, and waterways engineering
- Continuum mechanics
- Disaster risk management
- Disasters and hazards
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering mechanics
- Flood frequency
- Floods
- Fluid dynamics
- Fluid mechanics
- Hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones
- Hydraulic engineering
- Hydrologic engineering
- Hydrologic models
- Measurement (by type)
- Models (by type)
- Natural disasters
- Three-dimensional models
- Water and water resources
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