Title: Application of the random walk theory for simulation of flood hazards: Jeddah flood 25 November 2009

Authors: Amro Elfeki; Jarbou Bahrawi

Addresses: Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80208, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia ' Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80208, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia

Abstract: Hydrological and hydraulic modelling are becoming essential in the field of flood hazards. There are many models available in the literature among them HECHMS, MIKESHE, HECRAS, MIKEFLOOD, MIKE11, SWMM, DELFT3D, etc. Each of these models has its own advantages and disadvantages. In general, hydrological models are used to estimate the flood from a rainstorm, while hydraulic models are used to delineate the inundation zones. Solution of the governing equations for flood propagation is cumbersome and takes lots of time and efforts especially in two-dimensional domains in urbanised areas. In this paper, an efficient methodology based on the random walk theory is developed and programmed to delineate the inundation areas from a flood. The method is applied on the flood that happened on November 2009 in Jeddah city using a simplified city configuration. The results are plausible. The method can be further developed to simulate floods in a real city configuration.

Keywords: random walk theory; flood mapping; Saint Venant equation; rainstorms; rainfall; inundation zones; hydraulic modelling; hydrological modelling; Jeddah floods; Jeddah City; KSA; wadi Qows; diffusive wave approximation; flooding; simulation; flood hazards; cities; Saudi Arabia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEM.2017.083119

International Journal of Emergency Management, 2017 Vol.13 No.2, pp.169 - 182

Received: 19 Jun 2015
Accepted: 28 Oct 2015

Published online: 21 Mar 2017 *

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