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Hazard assessment for typhoon-induced coastal flooding and inundation in Shanghai, China
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  • Ning Lin,
  • Jie Yin,
  • Yuhan Yang,
  • William J Pringle,
  • Joannes J Westerink,
  • Dapeng Yu
Ning Lin
Princeton University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Jie Yin
East China Normal University
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Yuhan Yang
East China Normal University
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William J Pringle
University of Notre Dame
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Joannes J Westerink
University of Notre Dame
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Dapeng Yu
Loughborough University
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Abstract

This paper describes an integrated statistical-hydrodynamic method to estimate tropical cyclone-induced coastal flood inundation hazard, applied to a coastal megacity-Shanghai, China. We identify three “worst-case” scenarios (extracted from over 5000 synthetic storms) that generate unprecedentedly high flood levels in Shanghai. Nevertheless, we find that the mainland Shanghai is relatively safe from coastal flooding under the current climate, thanks to its high-standard seawall protection. However, the city is expected to be increasingly at risk due to future sea level rise, with inundation two times and 20 times more likely to occur by mid-and late-21 st century, respectively, and inundation depth and area to greatly increase (e.g., 60-1360% increase in the inundation area for the “worst cases” by 2100). The low-lying and poorly-protected area (e.g. Chongming island) is likely to be moderately affected by flood events with long return periods at the current state but could be largely inundated in future sea-level-rise situations.