IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i13p3754-d246979.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Hazard and Vulnerability in Modulating Economic Damages of Inland Floods in the United States Using a Survey-Based Dataset

Author

Listed:
  • Qianqian Zhou

    (School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, No.100 Waihuan Xi Road, Guangzhou 510006, China)

  • Jiongheng Su

    (School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, No.100 Waihuan Xi Road, Guangzhou 510006, China)

  • Guoyong Leng

    (Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK)

  • Jian Peng

    (School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK)

Abstract

This study investigates the trends in economic damages caused by three types of inland floods (flash flood, flood, and heavy rain) in the United States and the variations in related hazard and vulnerability indicators between 1996 and 2016. We explore the underlying mechanisms based on a survey-based dataset maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service. An annual average of 6518 flood occurrences was reported, which caused economic damages of 3351 million USD per year. Flash flood and flood contributed to 53% and 32% of total occurrences and was associated with a larger share of damaging events (SDE). Results show that the higher impacts by flood and flash flood on property and crop are partly attributed to the greater intensity of rainfall. In addition, flood has the highest unit cost of damages. Notably, despite an upward tendency in economic damages by flash floods, no evident change trend is observed for inland floods as a whole. Further analysis shows changes in economic damages by heavy rain and flash flood are mainly governed by the increased annual frequency and hazard intensity, but the change of trend in their vulnerability indicators (i.e., SDE and Damage Per Event (DPE)) is not obvious. Regarding floods, it was not possible to attribute the variations in economic losses to hazard and vulnerability, as no significant tendency is found except for an increasing SDE. Despite limitations of length of records, data collection, and methodology, the difference in economic impacts and the related hazard and vulnerability revealed in this study can help better target future adaptation and mitigation measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Qianqian Zhou & Jiongheng Su & Guoyong Leng & Jian Peng, 2019. "The Role of Hazard and Vulnerability in Modulating Economic Damages of Inland Floods in the United States Using a Survey-Based Dataset," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-12, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:13:p:3754-:d:246979
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/13/3754/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/13/3754/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Iman Mallakpour & Gabriele Villarini, 2015. "The changing nature of flooding across the central United States," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 5(3), pages 250-254, March.
    2. Nguyen Dang & Mukand Babel & Huynh Luong, 2011. "Evaluation of food risk parameters in the Day River Flood Diversion Area, Red River Delta, Vietnam," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 56(1), pages 169-194, January.
    3. Adam Smith & Richard Katz, 2013. "US billion-dollar weather and climate disasters: data sources, trends, accuracy and biases," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 67(2), pages 387-410, June.
    4. Stephane Hallegatte & Colin Green & Robert J. Nicholls & Jan Corfee-Morlot, 2013. "Future flood losses in major coastal cities," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 3(9), pages 802-806, September.
    5. Barthel, Fabian & Neumayer, Eric, 2010. "Normalizing economic loss from natural disasters: a global analysis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 37601, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Ebrahim Ahmadisharaf & Alfred J. Kalyanapu & Eun-Sung Chung, 2017. "Sustainability-Based Flood Hazard Mapping of the Swannanoa River Watershed," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-15, September.
    7. Hans Visser & Arthur Petersen & Willem Ligtvoet, 2014. "On the relation between weather-related disaster impacts, vulnerability and climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 125(3), pages 461-477, August.
    8. Kevin E. Trenberth & Aiguo Dai & Gerard van der Schrier & Philip D. Jones & Jonathan Barichivich & Keith R. Briffa & Justin Sheffield, 2014. "Global warming and changes in drought," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 17-22, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mariusz Adynkiewicz-Piragas & Bartłomiej Miszuk, 2020. "Risk Analysis Related to Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources and Hydropower Production in the Lusatian Neisse River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-23, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mohammad Hadavi & Lutong Sun & Djordje Romanic, 2023. "Normalized insured losses caused by windstorms in Quebec and Ontario, Canada, in the period 2008-2021," Papers 2309.16695, arXiv.org.
    2. Jenni Dinger & Michael Conger & David Hekman & Carla Bustamante, 2020. "Somebody That I Used to Know: The Immediate and Long-Term Effects of Social Identity in Post-disaster Business Communities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 115-141, September.
    3. Matteo Coronese & Francesco Lamperti & Francesca Chiaromonte & Andrea Roventini, 2018. "Natural Disaster Risk and the Distributional Dynamics of Damages," LEM Papers Series 2018/22, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    4. Álvarez, Xana & Gómez-Rúa, María & Vidal-Puga, Juan, 2019. "Risk prevention of land flood: A cooperative game theory approach," MPRA Paper 91515, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Franzke, Christian L.E., 2021. "Towards the development of economic damage functions for weather and climate extremes," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    6. Shubham M. Jibhakate & P. V. Timbadiya & P. L. Patel, 2023. "Flood hazard assessment for the coastal urban floodplain using 1D/2D coupled hydrodynamic model," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 116(2), pages 1557-1590, March.
    7. Kerim Koc & Zeynep Işık, 2020. "A multi-agent-based model for sustainable governance of urban flood risk mitigation measures," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 104(1), pages 1079-1110, October.
    8. H. Moel & B. Jongman & H. Kreibich & B. Merz & E. Penning-Rowsell & P. Ward, 2015. "Flood risk assessments at different spatial scales," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 20(6), pages 865-890, August.
    9. Nam, Won-Ho & Hayes, Michael J. & Svoboda, Mark D. & Tadesse, Tsegaye & Wilhite, Donald A., 2015. "Drought hazard assessment in the context of climate change for South Korea," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 106-117.
    10. Paul A. Sandifer & Ariana E. Sutton‐Grier, 2014. "Connecting stressors, ocean ecosystem services, and human health," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 38(3), pages 157-167, August.
    11. Laura A. Bakkensen & Xiangying Shi & Brianna D. Zurita, 2018. "The Impact of Disaster Data on Estimating Damage Determinants and Climate Costs," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 49-71, April.
    12. Bakkensen, Laura A. & Ma, Lala, 2020. "Sorting over flood risk and implications for policy reform," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    13. Barbara Paterson & Anthony Charles, 2019. "Community-based responses to climate hazards: typology and global analysis," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 327-343, March.
    14. Chengguang Lai & Xiaohong Chen & Zhaoli Wang & Haijun Yu & Xiaoyan Bai, 2020. "Flood Risk Assessment and Regionalization from Past and Future Perspectives at Basin Scale," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(7), pages 1399-1417, July.
    15. Abinash Bhattachan & Matthew D. Jurjonas & Priscilla R. Morris & Paul J. Taillie & Lindsey S. Smart & Ryan E. Emanuel & Erin L. Seekamp, 2019. "Linking residential saltwater intrusion risk perceptions to physical exposure of climate change impacts in rural coastal communities of North Carolina," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 97(3), pages 1277-1295, July.
    16. Denis Maragno & Michele Dalla Fontana & Francesco Musco, 2020. "Mapping Heat Stress Vulnerability and Risk Assessment at the Neighborhood Scale to Drive Urban Adaptation Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, February.
    17. Linghui Guo & Yuanyuan Luo & Yao Li & Tianping Wang & Jiangbo Gao & Hebing Zhang & Youfeng Zou & Shaohong Wu, 2023. "Spatiotemporal Changes and the Prediction of Drought Characteristics in a Major Grain-Producing Area of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-19, November.
    18. Ping Lan & Li Guo & Yaling Zhang & Guanghua Qin & Xiaodong Li & Carlos R. Mello & Elizabeth W. Boyer & Yehui Zhang & Bihang Fan, 2024. "Updating probable maximum precipitation for Hong Kong under intensifying extreme precipitation events," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(2), pages 1-20, February.
    19. Daniel Cooley & Steven M. Smith, 2022. "Center Pivot Irrigation Systems as a Form of Drought Risk Mitigation in Humid Regions," NBER Chapters, in: American Agriculture, Water Resources, and Climate Change, pages 135-171, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Allan Beltrán & David Maddison & Robert J. R. Elliott, 2018. "Assessing the Economic Benefits of Flood Defenses: A Repeat‐Sales Approach," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(11), pages 2340-2367, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:13:p:3754-:d:246979. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.