Modeling Urban Flood Risks
Modeling Urban Flood Risks
We create statistical, machine learning, and physics-based models to forecast and nowcast floods and assess their socioeconomic impacts. For instance, our rapid flood estimation model, GISSR, delivers real-time forecasts and nowcasts of flood events within seconds, facilitating prompt responses and effective risk management. Additionally, we employ statistical models to analyze the frequency and magnitude of hurricanes, providing valuable insights for preparedness and mitigation.
Selected Publications
Y. Miura*, C.Y. Blackshow, M. Zhang, K.T. Mandli, G. Deodatis. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment (2025). [DOI]
This study extends a high-speed, physics-based flood modeling framework (GISSR) to simulate subway flooding and economic losses in New York City. Validated against Hurricane Sandy data, the model estimates direct and indirect impacts within 90 seconds per scenario and evaluates adaptation measures under sea level rise. Results highlight the effectiveness of combining coastal and subway-specific protections to enhance urban flood resilience.
M. Benetti, N. Law, M. Pilotti, Y. Miura. (2025). [DOI]
This project creates an immersive virtual lab for exploring the impacts of extreme rainfall and storm surge events on Manhattan, NY. By combining advanced flood modeling with interactive 3D visualizations, users can observe how urban flooding might unfold under a range of scenarios, including those influenced by climate change.
Y. Miura*, K.T. Mandli, G. Deodatis. Natural Hazards Review (2021) 22(3): 04021018. [DOI]
The paper introduces the GIS-based subdivision-redistribution (GISSR) methodology for efficiently simulating storm surge floods in coastal urban areas. It combines GIS with Manning’s equation to calculate and redistribute water flow, accounting for protective measures and sea level rise. GISSR is highly accurate and computationally efficient compared to tools. It also can be used for nowcast using storm surge data.
Yuki Miura. (2020). [GitHub]
GIS-based high-speed flood estimate tool. GIS-based Subdivision Redistribution methodology tool (GISSR). The technical paper (Miura et al., 2021) is available from Natural Hazards Review.
T. Kijewski-Correa, G. Deodatis, Y. Miura (G.G. Deierlein & A. Zsarnoczay, eds.). State-of-Art in Computational Simulation for Natural Hazards Engineering (2019) 24-30. [DOI]
This report is a product of the NSF NHERI SimCenter and provides an overview and review of simulation requirements and software tools for natural hazards engineering of the built environment. The chapter covers models for tropial cyclone-storm surges.
