Numerical Simulation Of The Extraordinary Flood Of The Salado River, Santa Fe

Abstract

Large areas of central and northern Santa Fe and the State Capital Santa
Fe, have been recently a¤ected by an exceptional ‡ood of the Salado River as the result
of extreme precipitations over the region during the …rst quarter of 2003. During April,
between 300 and 400 mm of rain fell in Santa Fe city and surrounding areas to the north.
By the night of April 29th 2003, almost one third of the city was under water. This
communication presents the results of the numerical simulation of the event, in urban and
suburban areas of Santa Fe city as well. The simulations were performed with a …nite
element code based on the long wave mathematical model or shallow water equations.
Among other capabilities, the code possesses a wetting/drying element algorithm, which
confers more realism to the numerical computations. The aim was to simulate the e¤ect
of the failure of a 150m reach of an un…nished levee that caused the rapid ‡ooding of
lowland neighbourhoods, practically without warning. Numerical results reproduce ‡ood
stages within the city during the ‡ood peak, adequatly well, capturing the catastrophic
consequences of the collapse of the ‡ood-control structure..