International Journal of Disaster Risk Science >

2026 , Vol. 17 >Issue 01: 182 - 196

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-026-00697-y

ARTICLES

A Dynamic Simulation Framework for Evaluating the Impacts of Urban Flooding on Transportation Systems

Expand
  • 1State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building and Urban Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China;
    2School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China;
    3Centre for Water Systems, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK
*Guoru Huang, huanggr@scut.edu.cn

Accepted date: 2025-12-21

  Online published: 2026-03-16

Fold

Abstract

Road networks are a critical infrastructure system for the sustainable functioning of cities. However, they are frequently disrupted by urban flooding, leading to increased travel times and hindering emergency responses. This study proposed a novel dynamic flood-response simulation framework for urban transportation to evaluate the impacts of rainstorms and flooding on traffic systems, focusing on coupling the Integrated Hydrology and Hydrodynamics Urban Flood Model (IHUM) and the Simulation of Urban MObility (SUMO) model. The results obtained from Xiaoguwei Island, Guangzhou City, indicate that a 2-h rainstorm of a 2-year return period can affect traffic for over 4.5 h. During a 100-year return period rainstorm, average travel speed declines by 54%, while the emergency response time, for example, for police services, increases from 4.83 to 14.52 min. These findings highlight the significant impacts of flooding on urban traffic networks, assisting local authorities and stakeholders to proactively identify vulnerable network segments and prioritize targeted interventions for enhancing transportation system resilience to floods.

Key words： Flood management; Flood modeling; Road traffic; Transportation modeling; Urban resilience

Cite this article

Jiayue Li, Zhiwei Chen, Guoru Huang, Guangtao Fu . A Dynamic Simulation Framework for Evaluating the Impacts of Urban Flooding on Transportation Systems[J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2026 , 17(01) : 182 -196 . DOI: 10.1007/s13753-026-00697-y

References

[1] Ahmed M.A.,K. Haynes, and M. Taylor.2020a. Vehicle-related flood fatalities in Australia, 2001-2017. Journal of Flood Risk Management 13(3): Article e2616.
[2] Ahmed M.A.,K. Haynes,M. Tofa,G. Hope, and M. Taylor.2020b. Duty or safety? Exploring emergency service personnel's perceptions of risk and decision-making when driving through floodwater. Progress in Disaster Science 5: Article 100068.
[3] Alabbad Y.,I. Demir.2025. Understanding flood risk in public transit systems: Insights from accessibility and vulnerability analysis in Iowa. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 126: Article 105615.
[4] Arrighi C.,M. Pregnolato,R.J. Dawson, and F. Castelli.2019. Preparedness against mobility disruption by floods.Science of the Total Environment 654: 1010-1022.
[5] Boland L.L.,M.W. LeVoir,D. Jin,J.L. Duren,S.S. Souchtchenko, and A.C. Stevens.2023. A retrospective, single-agency analysis of ambulance crashes during a 3-year period: Association with EMS driver characteristics and a telematics-measured safe driving score.Prehospital Emergency Care 27(4): 455-464.
[6] Borowska-Stefańska M.,M. Kowalski, and S. Wiśniewski.2019. The measurement of mobility-based accessibility—The impact of floods on trips of various length and motivation. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 8(12): Article 534.
[7] Bui D.P.,C. Hu,A.M. Jung,K.M. Pollack Porter, and S.C. Griffin.2018. Driving behaviors associated with emergency service vehicle crashes in the U.S. Fire Service.Traffic Injury Prevention 19(8): 849-855.
[8] Chakraborty O.,A. Das,A. Dasgupta,P. Mitra,S.K. Ghosh, and T. Mazumder.2018. A multi-objective framework for analysis of road network vulnerability for relief facility location during flood hazards: A case study of relief location analysis in Bankura District, India.Transactions in GIS 22(5): 1064-1082.
[9] Chang H.,M. Lafrenz,I.-W. Jung,M. Figliozzi,D. Platman, and C. Pederson.2010. Potential impacts of climate change on flood-induced travel disruptions: A case study of Portland, Oregon, USA.Annals of the Association of American Geographers 100(4): 938-952.
[10] Chen W.,G. Huang,H. Zhang, and W. Wang.2018. Urban inundation response to rainstorm patterns with a coupled hydrodynamic model: A case study in Haidian Island, China.Journal of Hydrology 564: 1022-1035.
[11] Choo K.-S.,D.-H. Kang, and B.-S. Kim.2020. Impact assessment of urban flood on traffic disruption using rainfall-depth-vehicle speed relationship. Water 12(4): Article 926.
[12] de Abreu, V.H.S., A.S. Santos,T.G.M. Monteiro.2022. Climate change impacts on the road transport infrastructure: A systematic review on adaptation measures. Sustainability 14(14): Article 8864.
[13] Debionne S.,I. Ruin,S. Shabou,C. Lutoff, and J.-D. Creutin.2016. Assessment of commuters' daily exposure to flash flooding over the roads of the Gard region, France.Journal of Hydrology 541: 636-648.
[14] Donoughe K.,J. Whitestone, and H.C. Gabler.2012. Analysis of firetruck crashes and associated firefighter injuries in the United States.Annals of Advances in Automotive Medicine 56: 69-76.
[15] Du L.,X. Yang.2012. An exploration of influence of accumulated rainwater on urban traffic. In ICCTP 2011: Towards sustainable transportation systems, ed. Y. Yin, Y. Wang, J. Lu, and W. Wang, 187-198. Reston: American Society of Civil Engineers.
[16] Fan C.,X. Jiang, and A. Mostafavi.2021. Evaluating crisis perturbations on urban mobility using adaptive reinforcement learning. Sustainable Cities and Society 75: Article 103367.
[17] Fan C.,X. Jiang,R. Lee, and A. Mostafavi.2022. Equality of access and resilience in urban population-facility networks.NPJ Urban Sustainability 2(1): 1-12.
[18] Gironás J.,L.A. Roesner,L.A. Rossman, and J. Davis.2010. A new applications manual for the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM).Environmental Modelling & Software 25(6): 813-814.
[19] Green D.,D. Yu,I. Pattison,R. Wilby,L. Bosher,R. Patel,P. Thompson, and et al.K. Trowell 2017. City-scale accessibility of emergency responders operating during flood events.Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 17(1): 1-16.
[20] Hamzeie R.,P.T. Savolainen, and T.J. Gates.2017. Driver speed selection and crash risk: Insights from the naturalistic driving study.Journal of Safety Research 63: 187-194.
[21] Haroon S.M.,E. Smith, and A. Ryan.2025. Optimizing sound alerts for traveler information systems: Insights from a driving simulator and eye tracking study.Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour 114: 1077-1097.
[22] He H.,R. Li,J. Pei,J.-P. Bilodeau, and G. Huang.2023. Current overview of impact analysis and risk assessment of urban pluvial flood on road traffic. Sustainable Cities and Society 99: Article 104993.
[23] Hsiao H.,J. Chang, and P. Simeonov.2018. Preventing emergency vehicle crashes: Status and challenges of human factors issues.Human Factors 60(7): 1048-1072.
[24] Jiang L.,Y. Chen, and H. Wang.2015. Urban flood simulation based on the SWMM model.Proceedings of IAHS 368: 186-191.
[25] Krajzewicz D.2010. Traffic simulation with SUMO—Simulation of urban mobility. In Fundamentals of traffic simulation, ed. J. Barceló, 269-293. New York: Springer.
[26] Kramer M.,K. Terheiden, and S. Wieprecht.2016. Safety criteria for the trafficability of inundated roads in urban floodings.International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 17: 77-84.
[27] Li M.,Q. Huang,L. Wang,J. Yin, and J. Wang.2018. Modeling the traffic disruption caused by pluvial flash flood on intra-urban road network.Transactions in GIS 22(1): 311-322.
[28] Li Y.,J. Gong,L. Niu, and J. Sun.2019. A physically based spatiotemporal method of analyzing flood impacts on urban road networks.Natural Hazards 97(1): 121-137.
[29] Li J.,G. Huang, and W. Chen.2024. Improvement of city rainfall model subcatchment structure based on urban hydrology process. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 29(2): Article 05024001.
[30] Li J.,J. Zeng,G. Huang, and W. Chen.2024. Urban flood mitigation strategies with coupled gray-green measures: A case study in Guangzhou City, China.International Journal of Disaster Risk Science 15(3): 467-479.
[31] Liu M.-W.,Y. Oeda, and T. Sumi.2016. Modeling free-flow speed according to different water depths—From the viewpoint of dynamic hydraulic pressure.Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 47: 13-21.
[32] Liu M.,M. Chiaki,Y. Oeda, and T. Sumi.2020. Modelling fundamental diagrams according to different water film depths from the perspective of the dynamic hydraulic pressure. Scientific Reports 10(1): Article 6496.
[33] Lopez P.A.,M. Behrisch,L. Bieker-Walz J. Erdmann,Y.-P. Flötteröd R. Hilbrich,L. Lücken,J. Rummel,et al.2018. Microscopic traffic simulation using SUMO. In 2018 21st International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), 4-7 November 2018, Maui, HI, USA, 2575-2582.
[34] Lu X.,F.K. Shun Chan,W.-Q. Chen,H.K. Chan, and X. Gu.2022. An overview of flood-induced transport disruptions on urban streets and roads in Chinese megacities: Lessons and future agendas. Journal of Environmental Management 321: Article 115991.
[35] Lupa M.,M. Chuchro,W. Sarlej, and K. Adamek.2021. Emergency ambulance speed characteristics: A case study of Lesser Poland voivodeship, southern Poland.GeoInformatica 25(4): 775-798.
[36] Lutoff C.,J.-D. Creutin,I. Ruin,S. Duvillard,S. Anquetin, and M. Borga.2018. Exposure to flash floods: The conflict between human mobility and water mobility. In Mobility in the face of extreme hydrometeorological events 1, ed. C. Lutoff, and S. Durand, 211-240. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
[37] Lyu H.,S. Zhou,Z. Wang,G. Fu, and C. Zhang.2025. Assessing large multimodal models for urban floodwater depth estimation. Water Resources Research 61(4): Article e2024WR039494.
[38] Markolf S.A.,C. Hoehne,A. Fraser,M.V. Chester, and B.S. Underwood.2019. Transportation resilience to climate change and extreme weather events—Beyond risk and robustness.Transport Policy 74: 174-186.
[39] Martínez-Gomariz E.,M. Gómez,B. Russo, and S. Djordjević.2018. Stability criteria for flooded vehicles: A state-of-the-art review.Journal of Flood Risk Management 11(S2): S817-S826.
[40] Miller R.L.2022. Modeling temporal accessibility of an urban road network during an extreme pluvial flood event. Natural Hazards Review 23(4): Article 04022032.
[41] Mohd Nazri, M.A., F. Samsuri,V. Narayanamurthy.2025. Design and analysis of visual vehicle tracking system for traffic surveillance using deep learning.International Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems Research 23(1): 592-602.
[42] Moles A.,T. Birch,Y.L. Chan,D. Yang,H. Zhu, and K.E. Cherry.2021. Community vulnerabilities and wellbeing after disaster. In The intersection of trauma and disaster behavioral health, ed. K.E. Cherry, and A. Gibson, 247-269. Cham: Springer.
[43] Musolino G.,R. Ahmadian, and J. Xia.2022. Enhancing pedestrian evacuation routes during flood events.Natural Hazards 112(3): 1941-1965.
[44] Niloy M.T.A.,R.N. Fries.2024. Actuated signal timing optimization for a no-notice evacuation with high left-turn demands. Urban Science 8(3): Article 85.
[45] Paleari L.,E. Movedi,M. Zoli,A. Burato,I. Cecconi,J. Errahouly,E. Pecollo, and et al.C. Sorvillo 2021. Sensitivity analysis using Morris: Just screening or an effective ranking method?. Ecological Modelling 455: Article 109648.
[46] Pappinen J.,H. Nordquist.2022. Driving speeds in urgent and non-urgent ambulance missions during normal and reduced winter speed limit periods—A descriptive study.Nursing Reports 12(1): 50-58.
[47] Pearson M.,K. Hamilton.2014. Investigating driver willingness to drive through flooded waterways.Accident Analysis & Prevention 72: 382-390.
[48] Phanse S.,M. Chaturvedi, and S. Srivastava.2022. Modelling and simulation of road traffic under rainy conditions. In 2022 14th International Conference on COMmunication Systems & NETworkS (COMSNETS), 4-8 January 2022, Bangalore, India, 830-835.
[49] Pregnolato M.,A. Ford, and R. Dawson.2016. Disruption and adaptation of urban transport networks from flooding. E3S Web of Conferences 7: Article 07006.
[50] Pregnolato M.,A. Ford,S.M. Wilkinson, and R.J. Dawson.2017. The impact of flooding on road transport: A depth-disruption function.Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 55: 67-81.
[51] Pyatkova K.,A.S. Chen,S. Djordjević D. Butler,Z. Vojinović Y.A. Abebe, and M. Hammond.2019. Flood impacts on road transportation using microscopic traffic modelling techniques. In Simulating urban traffic scenarios, ed. M. Behrisch, and M. Weber, 115-126. Cham: Springer.
[52] Re M.,L.D. Kazimierski,P.E. Garcia,N.E. Ortiz, and M. Lagos.2022. Assessment of crowdsourced social media data and numerical modelling as complementary tools for urban flood mitigation.Hydrological Sciences Journal 67(9): 1295-1308.
[53] Rentschler J.,M. Salhab, and B.A. Jafino.2022. Flood exposure and poverty in 188 countries. Nature Communications 13(1): Article 3527.
[54] Shahdani F.J.,M. Santamaria-Ariza H.S. Sousa,M. Coelho, and J.C. Matos.2022. Assessing flood indirect impacts on road transport networks applying mesoscopic traffic modelling: The case study of Santarém, Portugal. Applied Sciences 12(6): Article 3076.
[55] Singh P.,V.S.P. Sinha,A. Vijhani, and N. Pahuja.2018. Vulnerability assessment of urban road network from urban flood.International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 28: 237-250.
[56] Su B.,H. Huang, and Y. Li.2016. Integrated simulation method for waterlogging and traffic congestion under urban rainstorms.Natural Hazards 81(1): 23-40.
[57] Suarez P.,W. Anderson,V. Mahal, and T.R. Lakshmanan.2005. Impacts of flooding and climate change on urban transportation: A systemwide performance assessment of the Boston Metro Area.Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 10(3): 231-244.
[58] Tang J.,P. Zhao,Z. Gong,H. Zhao,F. Huang,J. Li,Z. Chen, and et al.L. Yu 2023. Resilience patterns of human mobility in response to extreme urban floods. National Science Review 10(8): Article nwad097.
[59] Tobin D.M.,M.R. Kumjian, and A.W. Black.2021. Effects of precipitation type on crash relative risk estimates in Kansas. Accident, Analysis and Prevention 151: Article 105946.
[60] Vajjarapu H.,A. Verma, and H. Allirani.2020. Evaluating climate change adaptation policies for urban transportation in India. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 47: Article 101528.
[61] Wang W.,S. Yang, H.E. Stanley, and J. Gao. 2019. Local floods induce large-scale abrupt failures of road networks. Nature Communications 10(1): Article 2114.
[62] Wang W.,S. Yang,J. Gao,F. Hu,W. Zhao, and H.E. Stanley.2020. An integrated approach for assessing the impact of large-scale future floods on a highway transport system.Risk Analysis 40(9): 1780-1794.
[63] Wang Y.,C. Zhang,A.S. Chen,G. Wang, and G. Fu.2023. Exploring the relationship between urban flood risk and resilience at a high-resolution grid cell scale. Science of the Total Environment 893: Article 164852.
[64] Wu J.,Y. Lin, and W. Qi.2025. Timing co-evolutionary path optimisation method for emergency vehicles considering the safe passage. Transportmetrica A: Transport Science 21(2): Article 2253477.
[65] Zhang Z.,Q. He,J. Gou, and X. Li.2016. Performance measure for reliable travel time of emergency vehicles.Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies 65: 97-110.
[66] Zhang M.,M. Xu,Z. Wang, and C. Lai.2021. Assessment of the vulnerability of road networks to urban waterlogging based on a coupled hydrodynamic model. Journal of Hydrology 603: Article 127105.
[67] Zhang Y.,X. Li,N. Kong,M. Zhou, and X. Zhou.2022. Spatial accessibility assessment of emergency response of urban public services in the context of pluvial flooding scenarios: The case of Jiaozuo Urban Area, China. Sustainability 14(24): Article 16332.
[68] Zheng J.,G. Huang.2023. A novel grid cell-based urban flood resilience metric considering water velocity and duration of system performance being impacted. Journal of Hydrology 617: Article 128911.
[69] Zhu X.,Q. Dai,D. Han,L. Zhuo,S. Zhu, and S. Zhang.2019. Modeling the high-resolution dynamic exposure to flooding in a city region.Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 23(8): 3353-3372.
[70] Zou Y.,Y. Zhang, and K. Cheng.2021. Exploring the impact of climate and extreme weather on fatal traffic accidents. Sustainability 13(1): Article 390.
Options
Outlines

/

〈 〉