Mitigate the Effects of Heavy Rain & Flooding Accessibility.Open_Mobile_Nav_Screen_Reader_Label © kulkann, Fotolia HOME / CLIENT SOLUTIONS / HEAVY RAIN EVENTS INSIGHT Mitigate the Effects of Heavy Rain & Flooding BY DR.-ING. KLAUS PIROTH | PRINCIPAL DIVISION MANAGER Across the northern hemisphere, a trend for increased frequency of extreme rainfall events has been observed over the past few decades. Reason enough for cities and munic­i­pal­i­ties to get closer to dealing with rainwater and integrated stormwater management. Copenhagen (DK) in 2011; Münster (GER) in 2014; recently, Livorno (It) and Berlin (GER) – these are just a few examples of flooding after local heavy rain events that put lives at risk and caused tens of millions of Euros in damage. Heavy rain events often exceed the capacity of local sewers – generally accepted engineering standards no longer apply with prevention shifting into legal grey areas. l/m² precip­i­ta­tion per year in Germany € Insurance damage caused by storm, hail and torrential rain in 2016 l/m² in 2 hours during the heavy rain in Dortmund 2008 Cities and munic­i­pal­i­ties intending to deal with the issue of heavy rain events can do the following: 1. Get all the stake­hold­ers around the table. Heavy rain events affect not only urban sewage management or the planning authority, but every area of urban planning and development from traffic, road and sewage to green and open space planning, not forgetting fire and other emergency services. 2. Involve governing authorities – water management etc. – as well as forestry and agriculture in rural areas outside city limits. Appoint a contact person responsible for all stake­hold­ers, such as a flood prevention officer. 3. Involve the public and concerned citizens at an early stage – this will allow you to discuss needs and expec­ta­tions as well as oppor­tu­ni­ties and limits in technical, financial and legal terms in advance of any project, and increase its planning acceptance. CDM Smith advises you in all phases of integrated rainwater management. DR.-ING. KLAUS PIROTH, PRINCIPAL DIVISION MANAGER 4. Analyse the munic­i­pal­ity’s catchment area – a sewage masterplan may be extended to accommodate heavy rainfall. Nationwide hydraulic engineering calcu­la­tions do not cover heavy rain events, requiring separate planning consid­er­a­tions. This may be very simple in the initial approach. 5. Compare the results from the previous step with feasible solutions including emergency flood channels, stormwater retention basins including decen­tralised retention in the area, and high-risk areas with danger to life and limb under heavy rainfall such as underpasses, underground car parks and similar. 6. Review services available on a regular basis, even in years without heavy rain events. The cooperative partnership with our customers is a strong basis for optimal solutions. Dr.-Ing. Klaus Piroth Principal Division Manager Related Capa­bil­i­ties Water and Wastewater Site Development Water Resources Related Experts Previous Lothar Heuser Associate, Local Team Leader Heiko Nöll Senior Project Manager Klaus Piroth Principal Division Manager Next Related Projects and Insights Previous ENVIRONMENT PROJECT INFRA­STRUC­TURE PROJECT European quarter metro U5 Frankfurt PROJECT Wastewater Management in Nablus, Palestine Next CONTACT US Let's start the conver­sa­tion Thanks for visiting. We want to know you better, so send us a message. Acces­si­bil­ity.Open_Link_In­_New_Win­dow_­Text Acces­si­bil­ity.Open_Link_In­_New_Win­dow_­Text Acces­si­bil­ity.Open_Link_In­_New_Win­dow_­Text Acces­si­bil­ity.Open_Link_In­_New_Win­dow_­Text Acces­si­bil­ity.Open_Link_In­_New_Win­dow_­Text Europe (English) - English Privacy Statement Legal & Terms of Use Impressum CDM™ © 2021 CDM Smith Inc. All rights reserved.