Developing Low-Cost Inundation Maps for Dam Failures: Modeling and Analysis of a Potential Dam Failure for the Péligre Dam in Haiti

Abstract

Dam failure relates to significant risk of human lives, property, and the environment protection. Understanding the risk that a dam introduces is significant for making contingency plans. After a dam failure an inundation map is a crucial component to understand the impact of flooding that will occur. This paper takes Péligre Dam in Haiti as the study area, using an innovative approach for producing inundation maps and estimate consequences. This research uses GIS and remote sensing techniques to merge DEM and generate land cover as data preprocessing, and subsequently uses the DSSWISE Lite System to develop the flood simulation and generate an inundation map for further estimation of life loss. It demonstrates the potential for the production of low-cost accurate inundation maps for dam failed emergencies that can be applied in other developing countries. As the result of the simulation with setting of a moderate breach of 100 meters that developed over 1 hour, it was estimated that 65 fatalities would occur and 202 buildings would be destroyed based on it.