Flood

INTRODUCTION: In the first half of April 2019, heavy rains in central and western parts of Iran resulted in great floods. The rains affected 24 provinces and caused extensive damage to urban and rural infrastructure. Since Iran, especially the northern, western, and southern provinces of Iran are prone to floods, the floods are expected to occur every year in many provinces. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the needs and problems of the Red Crescent Society in different provinces of Iran in response to the great flood of Iran in 2019. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed in all provinces of Iran after the end of the flood response operations in April 2017. The required data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire and interviews with provincial operational managers. The designed questionnaire had different parts about the situation of the provinces in the face of floods, the most important problems faced during floods, and the most important needs for facing floods. Participants were also asked two questions about the information and equipment they should have had before the flood. FINDINGS: Analysis of the answers revealed that 24 provinces (77.41% of the country) were affected by the floods. The most common problems were lack of equipment and low public awareness which were repeated by the subjects 24 and 17 times, respectively. Moreover, the need for specialized equipment and training courses were also the most important needs. CONCLUSION: Based on the findings, the Iranian Red Crescent Society faced many problems and needs during the disaster relief process in the 2019 flood which indicated the lack of a comprehensive plan for flood management in Iran. Therefore, policymakers and disaster managers must develop practical and localized guidelines for relief according to the conditions of Iran in order to achieve the ultimate goal of disaster management which is to reduce deaths, injuries, and financial damages.

INTRODUCTION: The structure of the urban platform of Tehran and its physical characteristics depends on the inherent conditions and environmental thresholds in relation to changes. This study aimed to determine the natural landscapes of Tehran by two phenomena of earthquake and flood that posed the highest risk in different periods of this city. Therefore, the natural perspective of Tehran is divided into three perspectives of north, central, and south regarding the inherent features and evolutionary process. METHODS: The relationship between the perspective of Tehran based on the form and geomorphological processes and the evaluation of earthquake and flood hazards have been observed in four stages, which included data collection, data processing, calculation of indicators, and analysis of findings. The studied area was divided into three northern, central, and south urban landscapes to determine the resistance thresholds of the city according to the characteristics of topography, physiography, geology, the results of field studies and satellite images, aerial photographs, as well as paleogeomorphological research in Tehran. FINDINGS: According to the zoning map of Tehran based on the earthquake phenomenon in three perspectives of north, center, and south, the highest distribution of non-resistance is observed in the northern and southern areas of the city. Northeast, southwest, and semi-western regions have the highest urban resilience to earthquakes. Moreover, regarding the zoning of Tehran based on the flood phenomenon in the three perspectives of north, center, and south, the highest distribution of non-resilience has been observed in the northern regions of the city. Northeast, southwest, and west of Tehran have the highest urban flood resilience. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of the present study, in order to increase resilience against the risks of earthquakes and floods, the city of Tehran should be studied not in just one perspective but in different perspectives.

INTRODUCTION: Identification of the settlements located in high-risk zones in terms of natural hazards is one of the first steps in risk management and development planning. This study aimed to identify villages exposed to earthquakes and floods in South Khorasan province. METHODS: The present study used the Analytic Hierarchy Process method to evaluate the validity and reliability of measuring instruments through exploratory factor analysis. Since the value of the KMO index was 0.879, the number of samples was sufficient for analysis. Moreover, the significance of the Bartlett test was less than 5% and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was obtained at 0.856; accordingly, the questionnaire was reliable. FINDINGS: Based on the spatial analysis of the seismic vulnerability, 214 and 502 villages were in the zone of very high and high vulnerability, respectively. Moreover, the results of flood vulnerability showed that the southern and northwestern parts of South Khorasan province had the lowest vulnerability. The number of villages located in the very high vulnerable zone was very limited and included only seven villages of Chenesht, Kalateh Abbas, Takti Ti, Tangel Behdan, Ebru, Khankuk, and Ostan Siah, which are located in the east of the province. CONCLUSION: Based on the integrated results of two hazards (i.e., earthquakes and floods), it is observed that 523 rural settlements are in a very high-risk zone, which accounts for 14.7% of the total settlements in the South Khorasan province, compared to the total rural settlements. Furthermore, the highest dispersion frequency of rural settlements is in the zone of moderate vulnerability. This zone with 1,344 settlements includes about 37.7% of the total settlements in the province

Introduction: According to the flood records in Mazandaran province, this region is regarded as one of the flood-prone regions of the country, and due to the floods, it has suffered many casualties and financial losses. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the settlements at risk of flooding as one of the main goals of this research. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted based on extensive and exploratory research approaches. The required data were collected from monthly discharge and the maximum instantaneous discharge in the stations of Mazandaran province along with the population statistics of the provincial cities, as well as the statistics of the Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization concerning the floods. Accordingly, the statistics of hydrometric stations from 1971 to 2021 of Iran's water resources management main company, the population statistics of the province based on the census of 2015, and the statistics of floods that occurred from the beginning to 2021 have been used in this study. Flood return periods were obtained in the study stations in different statistical distributions using Hyfa software. Finally, Arc GIS software (version 10.3) was used to zone floods in Mazandaran province. Findings: Based on the results, about 1013 square kilometers of the province's surface accounting for 4.25% of its total area is located in the boundaries of large floods that have a return period of 50 to 100 years. Moreover, due to the high altitude, rainy-snowy events, and the significant amount of precipitation in Sarab (Dali Chai and Lar basins) and Payab, Haraz basin has a significant runoff rate discharge so that about 500 to 600 liters of water flow from this basin annually per square meter. Conclusion: According to the obtained results, strategies have been proposed to increase resilience against flood risk using different methods.

One meaning of the word āyah in Qur’anic context refers to a sign, which is a divine miracle as attested in verse (Q.54:15): Certainly We have left it as a sign; so, is there anyone who will be admonished? The verse refers to the story of Noah’s Ark and his nation’s penalty, which is presented as a sign for posterity. There are various perspectives among interpreters about the reference of pronoun it in the verse, depending on whose antecedent, the verse can be considered as one of the verses expressing divine miracles. The present study tries to investigate the aforementioned verse and its miraculous aspects through an interdisciplinary method between the Qur’an and archaeology. Based on conducted studies, the word āyah implies to Noah’s Ark or the Flood phenomenon and rescuing a few of his nation who are the only survivors of humankind. Given archaeological studies, there is no certain evidence yet to confirm the remains of the Noah’s Ark and the verse cannot thus be considered as a scientific miracle. As a result, the miraculous aspect of the verse indicates giving notice of the unseen which is verified in verse (Q.11:49). 

Ardebil plain is one of the flood points that requires the understanding of the flood potential. In this study, the flooding potential of Ardebil plain was performed using environmental parameters, observations of flood points and lack of floods and prediction algorithms were made including random forest and logistics regression. Independent parameters include DEM, Slope, Aspect, Distance from waterway, distance from dam, runoff accumulation, land use, landforms and indexes Topographic Position Index (TPI), Modified Catchment Area (MCA), Terrain Ruggedness Index (TRI), Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) and Stream Power Index (SPI) Indices. The Roc-AUC assessment results showed that the RF and LR model were validated by 0.99 and 0.98, and it shows that random forest models and logistics regression have the ability to predict and prepare a flood sensitivity map in Ardebil plain. The output of parameters effective in flooding showed that the marginal areas located around the central plain of Ardabil have less flood-flooding potential than the central areas. The results also showed that by moving from the southwest of the plain to its northeast, the grade of floods increased. This increase in flooding potential around the main drainage of the plain is greater than elsewhere.

A sensitivity analysis of the flood safety of Solaimantangeh dam using a regional climate change simulation is presented. Based on the output of the CCSM (Community Climate Change System Model) general circulation model, the NIRCM (North of Iran Regional Climate Model) computes regional scale output with 50 km spatial resolution and 21 vertical layers. Using the SRES (Special Report Emission Scenario) “B1” Climate Change Scenario when applied to the Tajan river basin, where Solaimantangeh dam is located, NIRCM reduces significantly the bias in Annual Maximum Event total Precipitation (AMEP) & Annual Maximum Daily Precipitation (AMDP) that CCSM shows. The stream flow change scenario is then simulated using SSARR (Stream flow Synthesis and Reservoir Regulation) model. A rainfall-runoff model was implemented using precipitation and temperature projected by CCSM and NIRCM. The model demonstrated that average Stream flow would increases 38.7% and the variability would increases 14.3%. This remarkable increase in projected annual maximum flow for the next 20 years (2004-2023) should be a significant negative signal to water resources managers. The results indicate that the number of floods remains almost the same, but that the magnitude of a single flood event and the recovery from it become worse.