Investigation into pluvial flooding hazards caused by heavy rain and protection measures in Shanghai, China

Flooding hazards caused by heavy rainfall in Shanghai have been reported extensively in the last 15 years. Geologically, Shanghai is sensitive to flooding hazards due to low-lying ground caused by land subsidence. Climatically, Shanghai is in the East Asia monsoon area and frequently experiences torrential rains. In this study, data from fifty-four pluvial flooding events between 2001 and 2015 were collected and analysed. The influence factors contributing to pluvial flooding are evaluated, and recommendations for protective measures are presented. The pluvial flooding prevention capacity in Shanghai is controlled by rain water storage and discharge capacity, which is associated with the sewer network, pumping stations and its sluice and pumping gates. Within the last three decades, the number of local torrential rainfall events and short-duration torrential rains has increased annually. However, the rain water storage capacity has decreased dramatically and the rain water discharge capacity has become limited during this period. In an extreme case, the discharge function of the sewer network was even temporarily lost because of flooding of the distributaries of the Huangpu River. Thus, in order to prevent flooding hazards caused by heavy rain, it is suggested that a large sluice and pumping station between the Huangpu River and the Yangtze River estuary is constructed in the near future, considering the continuous subsidence of the city and the ongoing rising sea levels.