When Rain Meets Surge: Assessing Future Typhoon‐Driven Compound Flood Hazard Profiles in a Rapidly Urbanizing Delta

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Authors: Y. Li, Qinghua Ye, Jianhui Wei, Joël Arnault, Hanqing Xu, Q. Liu, Zhan Tian, Laixiang Sun, Harald Kunstmann, Patrick Laux
Cited by: 1
References: 24

Abstract

Abstract Typhoon‐induced Compound Flood (TCF), driven by the combined impact of extreme rainfall and increasing coastal water level (CWL), poses a substantial threat to urban safety. This study presents a framework for assessing the future compound flood hazard profiles in a coastal megacity in the Delta region of southern China. A coupled hydrology‐hydrodynamic model is applied to simulate the flooding processes of 7 typhoon events. Scenarios are constructed using all possible pairwise combinations of three rainfall and three CWL conditions. These inputs are derived from statistical and dynamical downscaling of climate projections from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) ensemble under the SSP5‐8.5 pathway. The results show that future CWL rise contributes more to future inundation than increasing rainfall, whereas rainfall contributions exhibit considerable uncertainties due to regional rainfall downscaling. Under extreme warming scenarios, future typhoons may produce increases of up to 230 mm in total rainfall and 28 mm per hour in rainfall intensity, which in turn increase the average urban inundation depth and area by 1.2 cm and 24.7 , respectively. Given an average CWL of 170 cm and a maximum CWL of 440 cm in the future, the inundation depth and area could increase by up to 8.4 cm and 29 , respectively. Within the 7 typhoons in this study, Hagupit (2014) exhibits the most notable compound effect, potentially expanding the medium‐to‐high risk area (inundation depth above 27 cm) by over 5%. This study demonstrates that climate change may intensify TCF, requiring flood‐mitigating measures to consider rainfall‐CWL interactions.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics Flood Risk Assessment and Management

Publication details

Journal / source
Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Volume
131
Issue
3
Publication date
4 February 2026
Language
EN