FLOOD DAMAGE UNDER INTENSIVE ADAPTATION

According to a new Study published, Residual Flood Damage under Intensive Adaptation, the risk of river flooding is expected to increase with climate change and socioeconomic development.
Residual flood damage under intensive adaptation tries to estimate the global cost of employing adaptive flood measures depending on local economic scenarios and cost adaptation measures by trying to quantify the cost of Residual Flood Damage (RFD).

RFD

RFD refers to the unavoidable increases in flood damage even under an adaptation strategy based on feasible adaptation costs.
Adaptation strategy in the context of floods includes infrastructural measures employed to mitigate flood risks.
RFD is the part of total Expected Annual Damage (EAD).
The expected annual damage is the average of flood damages calculated over a number of events.
It is calculated by subtracted past EAD (1970-2000) and future EAD estimates (set to 1000 years).

Findings

Assam will need 943 years of flood protection measures to prevent a crisis like the one it is witnessing if its pace of preparedness and climate adaptation doesn’t increase.
In 2022, the flooding started as early as May, with 62% above average rainfall from March-May — a 10-year high.
Currently, 33 of Assam’s 35 districts have been affected due to flooding along the Brahmaputra basin. Over 4.2 million people have been affected by floods this year, while over 100,000 hectares of cropland have been damaged as of June 20.
Other flood-prone states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya will need 966, 935 & 996 years respectively.
In India, riverine floods — considered one of the major natural disasters — have become synonymous with economic losses. The total flood-related losses in the country were estimated to be over Rs 37 lakh crores from 1953-2017, according to the Central Water Commission.
RFD in South Asia is estimated to be around USD 4 million and adaptive costs around USD 3 million.
RFD (as a part of the gross domestic product) remained high in eastern China, northern parts of India and the central regions of the African continent.
RFD can be reduced with shorter construction periods or lower adaptation costs, implying the need for immediate and appropriate adaptation actions, including enhanced financial support for high-risk regions.

Flood

It is an overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry. Floods can happen during heavy rains, when ocean waves come on shore, when snow melts quickly, or when dams or levees break.
Damaging flooding may happen with only a few inches of water, or it may cover a house to the rooftop. Floods can occur within minutes or over a long period, and may last days, weeks, or longer. Floods are the most common and widespread of all weather-related natural disasters.
Flash floods are the most dangerous kind of floods, because they combine the destructive power of a flood with incredible speed.
Flash floods occur when heavy rainfall exceeds the ability of the ground to absorb it.
They also occur when water fills normally dry creeks or streams or enough water accumulates for streams to overtop their banks, causing rapid rises of water in a short amount of time.
They can happen within minutes of the causative rainfall, limiting the time available to warn and protect the public.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT

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