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Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

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ARTICLE IN » Volume 16, 2021 - Number 2

FLOOD HAZARD ASSESSMENT IN THE JOINT FLOODPLAIN SECTOR OF BASEU AND PRUT RIVERS (NE ROMANIA) BY RECONSTRUCTING HISTORICAL FLOOD EVENTS



Andrei URZICĂ1* & Adrian GROZAVU1
1Department of Geography, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi (UAIC), Bd. Carol I 20A, 700505 Iaşi, Romania *Corresponding author: urzica.andrei94@gmail.com


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Abstract

DOI: 10.26471/cjees/2021/016/173

In the summer of 1969 the Bașeu River (an important tributary of the Prut River in the north-eastern extremity of Romania) recorded historical floods due to heavy rainfalls (about 100 mm/m2/24h) falling in its hydrographic basin. The maximum flow rate, recorded at Ștefănești gauging station, was 330 m3/s and associated with a level of 535 cm in the lower floodplain area. The flood event affected the joint floodplain sector of Başeu and Prut rivers on a width between 2–3 km and, implicitly, five settlements: Stânca, Ștefănești, Bădiuți, Bobulești, Românești. The main objective of this study is to reconstruct the historical flood of 1969 and its effects, as well as to evaluate the flood hazard in case of repeating an event of the same magnitude in the current context and comparing them. Thus, using the HEC-RAS software, we developed two 2D hydraulic scenarios (2D-HS) based on the July 1969 flood hydrograph from the Ștefănești gauging station (on Bașeu River) and Stânca gauging station (on Prut River). In the first 2D hydraulic scenario (2D-HS1) we used the buildings and the land use categories extracted from the topographic maps (1972-1979 edition), while in the second 2D hydraulic scenario (2D-HS2) we used the buildings and the land use categories from the orthophotos (2015 edition). Additionally, we assessed the flood hazard severity for each 2D-HS. The results showed that after the 1969 flood event, the built-up area has narrowed its surface. The constructed area affected by the 1969 flood event was converted to arable land or pasture. In the case of the 2D-HS1 291 buildings were affected and in the case of 2D-HS2 just 234 buildings would be affected. According to flood hazard classification, for both 2D-HS, more than 50% of the affected buildings are located in the first hazard class (with a flood depth <0.5 m). The highest class of flood hazard (flood depth >5 m) corresponds to the Prut River channel and other abandoned meanders of the old course of the Bașeu River.

Keywords:
  • HEC-RAS
  • RAS-Mapper
  • 2D
  • hydraulic
  • modeling
  • flood
  • event
  • reconstruction
  • common
  • floodplain
  • of
  • Başeu
  • and
  • Prut
  • rivers

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© 2021 by the author(s). Licensee CJEES, Carpathian Association of Environment and Earth Sciences. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

How to cite

Andrei URZICĂ & Adrian GROZAVU (2021). FLOOD HAZARD ASSESSMENT IN THE JOINT FLOODPLAIN SECTOR OF BASEU AND PRUT RIVERS (NE ROMANIA) BY RECONSTRUCTING HISTORICAL FLOOD EVENTS, Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, August 2021, Vol. 16, No. 2, p. 275 – 286; https://doi.org/10.26471/cjees/2021/016/173

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