Assessing coastal flood risk in a changing climate for the City of Vancouver

Figures & data

Figure 1. Location and detail of Vancouver, Canada.

Figure 2. Flood risk as a function of hazard, likelihood and vulnerability.

Figure 3. Risk as a function of likelihood and consequence.

Figure 4. Source–pathway–receptor model for flood risk.

Figure 5. Coastal flood levels for the present and with sea level rise (SLR).

Figure 6. Coastal floodplain of City of Vancouver for the present and with sea level rise.

Table 1. Summary of hazard scenarios.

Run	Year	Sea level rise	Return period for surge, set-up and tide
1	2013	–	1/500
2	2100	0.6 m	1/500
3	2100	1.0 m	1/500
4	2100	1.0 m	1/10,000
5	2200	2.0 m	1/10,000

Table 2. Summary of identified vulnerabilities to coastal flooding.

Infrastructure	Economy	People (community)	People (recreation and culture)	Environment
Major rail lines	Transport hubs (train stations and yards, bus stations, rapid transit stations)	Community centres	Pools, rinks, sports fields	Ecological value of shoreline areas
	Port
Rapid transit tunnels	Tourist destinations (parks, beaches, major restaurants, hotels and hostels, cruise ship terminal, parks, beaches, Granville Island)	Homeless shelters	Museums and archives	Potential contamination from hazardous waste storage and infill soils
Electricity substations and transmission lines	Commercial service centres	Non-market housing	Galleries and cultural destinations	Parks and beaches
Water and sewer pump stations, overflows and pipes	Industrial zones including “green jobs zone” and produce depots	Emergency shelters and mass refuges	Heritage sites
Neighbourhood energy infrastructure	Water-dependent industry including marinas	Seniors’ housing and day-centres
City yards, fire halls and police stations	High-value real estate	Childcare and preschools
Commercial and residential towers		Schools and educational facilities (including libraries)
Commercial and residential low-rise buildings, some with basement suites		Food banks
Industrial buildings		Social service centres
		Animal shelters

Figure 7. Generic depth–damage curve (after Nastev and Todorov 2013).

Figure 8. Hazus structure (adapted from Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency 2009b).

Figure 9. Model to assess gaps in coastal flood risk assessment (CFRA).

Nastev, M., and N. Todorov. 2013. Hazus: A standardized methodology for flood risk assessment in Canada. Canadian Water Resources Journal 38 (3): 223–231.

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Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2009b. Hazus – MH: Flood model technical manual.

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