A physically based spatiotemporal method of analyzing flood impacts on urban road networks

Flash flooding occurs when low-lying geographic areas are rapidly flooded and is mainly caused by heavy rains. Urban road networks are the primary structures affected by flood inundation, which causes disruption to transportation and reduces the efficiency of rescue services. This paper proposes a physically based spatiotemporal method of analyzing flood impacts on urban road networks that considers both the physical parameters of flooding and the susceptibility of the transportation network. The results indicate that the proposed method provides reasonable spatiotemporal and synthetic estimates of impacts to the road network of Austin, Texas, USA, under flash flooding.