Act of despair or full-fledged experiment: Retrospective research on the 1945 Wieringermeer flood

Act of despair or full-fledged experiment: Retrospective research on the 1945 Wieringermeer flood

Hoes, O.A.C.
Hut, R.W.
Boomgaard, M.

Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Water Management

2012-09-13

The present state-of-the-art in flood risk assessment focuses on breach models, flood propagation models, and economic modelling of flood damage. However, models need to be validated with real data to avoid erroneous conclusions. This reference data can either be historic data, or can be obtained fi'om controlled experiments. The inundation of the Wieringermeer polder in the Netherlands in April 1945 is one of the few examples for which sufficient historical information is available. The objective ofthis article is to compare the flood simulation behaviour using flood data from 1945. The context, the breach gi'owth process and the flood propagation are explained. Key fmdings for current flood risk management addresses the importance of the drainage canal network during the inundation of a polder, and the uncertainty that follows from not knowing the breach gi'owth parameters. This case study shows that historical floods provide valuable data for the validation of models and reveals lessons that are applicable in current day flood risk management.

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3e2d432e-b4d5-419d-988a-dc87ba8c9116

Proceedings of the 8th international symposium on lowland technology ISLT 2012, Bali, Indonesia, 11-13 September 2012

Institutional Repository

conference paper

(c) 2012 Hoes, O.A.C.
Hut, R.W.
Boomgaard, M.