Exposure assessment of rainstorm waterlogging on old-style residences in Shanghai based on scenario simulation

Waterlogging is one of the most serious hazards in China. Old-style residences in cities are prone to be damaged by waterlogging hazards. This paper describes our exposure assessment of old-style residences in Shanghai during rainstorm waterlogging. Two rainstorm scenarios of 20-year and 50-year return periods were simulated with the rainstorm simulation model from Shanghai Flood Risk Information Center. Each old-style residence was ranked according to its degree of exposure indicated by the inundation depth of that residence. An exposure assessment model was then built to integrate three ranks of exposure in order to reflect the total exposure features of a district and to compare disaster situation among different districts. Our research results reveal that Hongkou District and Huangpu District are the regions most necessary for the government to carry out safety defense in old-style residences, while rainstorms bring little effect on old-style residences in the districts of Putuo, Luwan, Changning, Zhabei, and Jing’an. These results provide important information for Shanghai Municipal Government to improve waterlogging management, and the method of exposure assessment can also be applied in other cities to provide guidance regarding flood risk control. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010