Analysis and Prediction of Rainfall and Storm Surge Interactions in the Clear Creek Watershed using Unsteady-State HEC-RAS Hydraulic Modeling

Abstract

This study presents an unsteady-state hydraulic model analysis of hurricane storm surge and rainfall-runoff interactions in the Clear Creek Watershed, a basin draining into Galveston Bay and vulnerable to flooding from both intense local rainfalls and storm surge. Storm surge and rainfall-runoff have historically been modeled separately, and thus the linkage and interactions between the two during a hurricane are not completely understood. This study simulates the two processes simultaneously by using storm surge stage hydrographs as boundary conditions in the Hydrologic Engineering Center’s – River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) hydraulic model. Storm surge hydrographs for a severe hurricane were generated in the Advanced Circulation Model for Oceanic, Coastal, and Estuarine Waters (ADCIRC) model to predict the flooding that could be caused by a worst-case scenario. Using this scenario, zones have been identified to represent areas in the Clear Creek Watershed vulnerable to flooding from storm surge, rainfall, or both