Abstract
Kerala, located in the southwest part of India experienced heavy flooding during 2018. A post-flood field survey was conducted by National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), Chennai to study the flood. The survey was conducted using in-situ measurement and fed to NCCR-Geo surveyor app. The app is indigenous and transfers the data including flood depth and geo-tagged photos to NCCR server. The survey also focuses on the peoples experience at the time of flood of central and southern parts of Kerala with a total of 206 respondent data. The district-wise survey results are presented. From the study, it was concluded that Pampa River basin and Periyar River basin were severely affected and respondents reported sudden rise in the water levels in locations near to the river banks. Major river banks of the state overflowed and destroyed houses, roads, etc. The field survey points towards long term solutions including advanced flood warning system to create an effective mitigation and preparedness plan to reduce the risk from the fury of future floods and for a resilient community.
Highlights
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The post-flood field survey was conducted for Kerala floods of 2018. A team from NCCR visited the flood affected central and southern parts of Kerala.
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NCCR Geo-Surveyor app built in-house was used for the survey. A Geo-tagged image together with the flood depth is stored in transferred online into the NCCR server.
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Presented the district-wise field survey result in the paper. It was noticed that the flood intensified and affected millions due to unscientific way of dam operations, which affected infrastructure and lives of many living on the banks of the river.
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Kerala need to consider long-term solutions like early flood warning systems, conservation of environment and proper engineered constructions near to the river banks.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge Dr M V Ramana Murthy for his invaluable support throughout the project and the support of Ministry of Earth Sciences.
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Aleena Elsa Mathew, Vivek G, Iyyappan M, Karthikaa R and Dash S K were involved in the field survey. Sujithkumar S designed the geo-surveyor app used for the study. Maps were prepared by Gopinath G. Tune and Aleena were involved in the conception, design and revision of the final version.
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Communicated by Abhijit Mukherjee
This article is part of the Topical Collection: Advances in Coastal Research.
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Mathew, A.E., Kumar, S.S., Vivek, G. et al. Flood impact assessment using field investigations and post-flood survey. J Earth Syst Sci 130, 147 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-021-01657-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-021-01657-4