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Interconnecting Networks of Social Vulnerability, Resource Access, and High-Resolution Inundation to Quantify Household Flood Impact
  • Matthew Preisser,
  • Paola Passalacqua,
  • R. Patrick Bixler
Matthew Preisser
University of Texas at Austin

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Paola Passalacqua
The University of Texas at Austin,University of Genoa,University of Minnesota,University of Minnesota
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R. Patrick Bixler
University of Texas
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Abstract

The frequency of major flooding events continues to increase, fueling the already growing concern in numerous fields about quantifying the inequitable distribution of flood hazards. Our previous work of overlaying high resolution flood exposure data with social vulnerability information has already begun to highlight how different communities experience varying levels of risk. However, this fails to capture the complex nature by which flooding affects interconnected infrastructure and service networks which further have an impact on an individual and community’s risk. Our goal is to quantitatively define an individual’s vulnerability to flooding, encompassing how both pluvial and fluvial inundation impacts an individual’s place of residence and disrupts their access to critical resources, including flood, gas, healthcare, and emergency services, while still considering an individual’s socioeconomic standing. With the goal of estimating household level disruption of access to critical resources in near real time, our approach relies on a multilayer network of social vulnerability, transportation infrastructure, essential resources, and emergency services. To estimate inundation in near real time, we utilize the Heigh Above Nearest Drainage (HAND) method and a topographic depression hierarchy algorithm to estimate fluvial and pluvial flooding. Using a minimum cost flow algorithm, we determine an individual’s relative cost to access resources before, during, and after a major flooding event. Combining technical and social information leads to the identification of communities that are more vulnerable to the physical, economical, and social components of floods. This model will be useful in future descriptive and prescriptive analytical frameworks by identifying critical nodes across networks and providing actionable knowledge on at risk communities. Our model will inform agencies involved in flood management, urban planning, and emergency response on where they can best apply resources to increase the resiliency of communities and the infrastructure they rely on.