Open Collections

Hurricanes Harvey and Florence : Are Storms Changing and How Does this Effect TSF and Dam Design?

Tailings and Mine Waste Conference (2019 : Vancouver, B.C.); University of British Columbia. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering

Rainfall resulting from Hurricane Harvey reached historic levels over the coastal regions of Texas and Louisiana during the last week of August 2017, accumulating over 60 inches of rainfall in southeastern Texas. Although extreme rainfall from this type of landfalling tropical system is not uncommon in the region, Harvey was unique in that it persisted over the same general location for several days, producing volumes of rainfall not previously observed in the United States and most of the world. Devastating flooding and severe stress to infrastructure in the region was the result. Coincidentally, Applied Weather Associates (AWA) had recently completed an updated statewide Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) study for Texas and is currently completing a regional PMP study for the states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This storm proved to be a real-time test of the adequacy of those values. AWA calculates PMP following a storm-based approach. Just over a year later in September of 2018, Hurricane Florence produced a similar devasting rainfall event with unprecedented rainfall accumulations along the Carolina coastlines. The result was significant flooding and damage in both North and South Carolina. Like Harvey, this storm moved very slowly over the same region for several days, remaining in a favorable position allowing a continual supply of moisture to feed the storm. Florence produced more than 40 inches of rainfall, far surpassing any previous rainfall totals in the region. This presentation will compare the results of the Harvey and Florence rainfall accumulations in time, space, and magnitude against previous similar storms and provide comparisons of the rainfall against previous and current PMP depths. Discussion will be included regarding the implications of the storms on previous and future PMP estimates, dam safety design, and infrastructure vulnerable to extreme flooding. This will include a discussion on climate change and how it relates to these storms and past extreme events.

Text

2024-02-15

Attribution-NonCommercialNoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/87439

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/