HR: 0830h
AN: H21D-06    [Abstracts]
TI: The geomorphic context of flood hazards in Haiti
AU: * Renwick, W
EM: renwicwh@muohio.edu
AF: Department of Geography, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 United States
AU: Balthazar, S L
EM: sbalthazar@undh.org
AF: Centre de Recherches Agricoles Universite Notre Dame d'Haiti, Salle Jeanne d'Arc, Cayes, HT6113 Haiti
AU: Boardman, M R
EM: boardman@muohio.edu
AF: Institute of Environmental Science, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 United States
AU: Hillaire, J V
EM: hvilmond@hotmail.com
AF: Centre de Recherches Agricoles Universite Notre Dame d'Haiti, Salle Jeanne d'Arc, Cayes, HT6113 Haiti
AU: Laviolette, L L
EM: lyonel_laviolette@yahoo.fr
AF: Centre de Recherches Agricoles Universite Notre Dame d'Haiti, Salle Jeanne d'Arc, Cayes, HT6113 Haiti
AU: Primack, A G
EM: primacag@muohio.edu
AF: Institute of Environmental Science, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 United States
AU: Tardieu, J F
EM:
AF: Centre de Recherches Agricoles Universite Notre Dame d'Haiti, Salle Jeanne d'Arc, Cayes, HT6113 Haiti
AU: Eliacin, J
EM:
AF: Centre de Recherches Agricoles Universite Notre Dame d'Haiti, Salle Jeanne d'Arc, Cayes, HT6113 Haiti
AB: Devastating floods struck Fonds Verrettes, Mapou, and Gonaives, Haiti in 2004, killing thousands and calling attention to the threat of catastrophic flooding in that country. That threat provides a focus for expanding collaborations in field and service learning in Haiti. Past field and service-learning collaboration with Universite Notre Dame d'Haiti (UNDH) resulted in an invitation to evaluate the flooding potential of Haiti's largest city - Port-au-Prince. High population densities, land cover change, the geomorphic setting of Port-au-Prince, combine to make that city particularly vulnerable to catastrophic flooding. Climate change and associated sea level rise are also a concern. Port-au-Prince lies at the foot of steeply sloping mountain areas of the Massif de La Selle. Much of the urban area is built on alluvial fans, coastal plains, and recent deltaic deposits. While data are rare to nonexistent, deforestation in the mountain areas upstream from the city and extensive urbanization, especially in the last few decades, is virtually certain to have increased storm runoff volumes and reduced lag times. Different flood hazards can be identified in four geomorphic zones: 1) valleys in steeply sloping areas, where channel erosion and associated slope failures threaten streamside communities; 2) alluvial fans, where rapid aggradation, mudflow deposition and channel avulsion contribute to channel instability; 3) coastal plains, where gentle slopes impede drainage of flood water; and 4) deltaic areas formed and settled in the last few decades subject to storm surge and possibly subsidence in addition to runoff-derived flooding. These zones can serve as a framework for flood hazard identification and management. With the cooperation of the Haitian government and non-profit organizations, students and faculty from Miami University and UNDH will combine talents to measure the flood potential of a single, critical watershed in Port-au-Prince and establish a community-based monitoring system.
DE: 0810 Post-secondary education
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects
DE: 1821 Floods
DE: 1824 Geomorphology (1625)
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly