Assessment of risk due to debris flow events: A case study in Central Taiwan

In this paper, based on the concepts of uncertainty and reliability analyses, a method used for assessment of risk due to debris flow events is proposed. First, procedures for obtaining the configuration of debris-flow fans are presented. Then, the parameters affecting the configuration of debris-flow fans are identified and their corresponding means and standard deviations are derived. Finally, the proposed method is applied to the Shih-Pa-Chung Creek in central Taiwan. The expected deposition thickness at any point in the deposition area is computed and then the contours of risk for the 50-year and 100-year events are constructed. Regarding the expected deposition thickness, it is found that the closer the distance from the canyon mouth, the larger the debris-flow thickness becomes. The results also show that the contours of risk are of the shape of an ellipse similar to the shape of deposition area, and the risk at a point decreases with increasing distance of that point from the canyon mouth. In addition, when the return period of rainfall event is fixed, the variation in risk decreases as the distance from the canyon mouth increases. For the assessment of risk due to debris flow events, the proposed method is recommended as an alternative to the existing methods, because the influence of all the uncertainty of the parameters is considered.