Flood modelling and mitigation for the city of Hafar al Batin in Saudi Arabia

The city of Hafar Al Batin, located in the Wadi Al Batin, is suffering from catastrophic flood events.

Although located in the desert of the Saudi Arabian eastern province; rainfall events, in this arid region, are generating damaging runoff due to the lack of vegetation, low soil infiltration capacity and catchment geomorphological characteristics. Added to the lower awareness of the local population, flash floods are frequent .

In recent years, the country witnessed a number of flood events with big losses (the 2009 flood in Jeddah or 2013 event in Riyadh are some examples). The 300,000 inhabitants of Hafar Al-Batin were repeatedly affected. Against this background, increased efforts for a better flood protection are being made in Kingdom.

Together with our Saudi Arabian partner, the three Germans Consultants; Ingenieurgesellschaft Prof. Dr. Sieker mbH (Hoppegarten), Merkel Ingenieur Consult (Potsdam) and Dr. Klaus Möller GmbH (Berlin) were charged to develop a flood management concept and design mitigation measures for construction purposes. See also here

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