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Prone Areas (prone + area)
Selected AbstractsFlood prone risk and amenity values: a spatial hedonic analysisAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL & RESOURCE ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2010Oshadhi Samarasinghe This study examines the impact of flood-hazard zone location on residential property prices. The study utilises data from over 2000 private residential property sales occurred during 2006 in North Shore City, New Zealand. A spatial autoregressive hedonic model is developed to provide efficient estimates of the marginal effect of flood prone risks on property prices. Results suggest that the sale price of a residential property within a flood prone area is lower than an equivalent property outside the flood prone area. The flood plain location discount is reduced by the release of public information regarding flood risk. [source] Seismic behaviour of self-centring braced frame buildings with reusable hysteretic damping braceEARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS, Issue 10 2007Songye Zhu Abstract This paper presents the seismic behaviour of a concentrically braced frame system with self-centring capability, in which a special type of bracing element termed reusable hysteretic damping brace (RHDB) is used. The RHDB is a passive energy dissipation device with its core energy-dissipating component made of superelastic Nitinol wires. Compared with conventional bracing in steel structures, RHDB has a few prominent performance characteristics: damage free under frequent and design basis earthquakes in earthquake prone areas; minimal residual drifts due to the self-centring capability of RHDB frame; and ability to survive several strong earthquakes without the need for repair or replacement. This paper also includes a brief discussion of the RHDB's mechanical configuration and analytical model for RHDB. The seismic performance study of RHDB frame was carried out through a non-linear time history analysis of 3-storey and 6-storey RHDB frame buildings subjected to two suites of 20 earthquake ground motions. The analysis results were compared with buckling-restrained brace (BRB) frames. This study shows that RHDB frame has a potential to outperform BRB frames by eliminating the residual drift problem. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Assessing Effectiveness of National Flood Policy Through Spatiotemporal Monitoring of Socioeconomic Exposure,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 1 2009Lauren A. Patterson Abstract:, After a century of evolving flood policies, there has been a steady increase in flood losses, which has partly been driven by development in flood prone areas. National flood policy was revised in 1994 to focus on limiting and reducing the amount of development inside the 100-year floodplain, with the goal of decreasing flood losses, which can be measured and quantified in terms of population and property value inside the 100-year floodplain. Monitoring changes in these measurable indicators can inform where and how effective national floodplain management strategies have been. National flood policies are restricted to the spatial extent of the 100-year floodplain, thus there are no development regulations to protect against flooding adjacent to this boundary. No consistent monitoring has been undertaken to examine the effect of flood policy on development immediately outside the 100-year floodplain. We developed a standardized methodology, which leveraged national data to quantify changes in population and building tax value (exposure). We applied this approach to counties in North Carolina to assess (1) temporal changes, before and after the 1994 policy and (2) spatial changes, inside and adjacent to the 100-year floodplain. Temporal results indicate the Piedmont and Mountain Region had limited success at reducing exposure within the 100-year floodplain, while the Coastal Plain successfully reduced exposure. Spatially, there was a significant increase in exposure immediately outside the 100-year floodplain throughout North Carolina. The lack of consistent monitoring has resulted in the continuation of this unintended consequence, which could be a significant driver of increased flood losses as any flood even slightly higher than the 100-year floodplain will have a disproportionately large impact since development is outside the legal boundary of national flood policy. [source] Coping with variability and change: Floods and droughtsNATURAL RESOURCES FORUM, Issue 4 2002Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz Floods and droughts are natural phenomena for which the risks of occurrence are likely to continue to grow. Increasing levels of exposure and insufficient adaptive capacity are among the factors responsible for the rising vulnerability. The former is conditioned by anthropopressure (e.g., economic development of flood,prone areas) and adverse effects of climate change; scenarios for future climates indicate the possibility of amplified water,related extremes. This article presents the current situation of coping with extreme hydrological events within the pressure,state,response framework. Among promising response strategies, the role of forecast and warning, and of watershed management are reviewed. Sample success stories and lessons learnt related to hydrological extremes are given and policy implications discussed. [source] | ||||||||||