Application of HEC-HMS and IBER in the numeric modeling of floods in the Rio San Sebastian of the municipality of Totolapan, Morelos, Mexico

Abstract

In recent times, the floods in urban areas in Mexico have occurred frequently and one cause is the presence of extreme precipitation events. Recently, part of the urban area of the municipality of Totolapan, Morelos was flooded by the river San Sebastian’s overflow. Consequently, the aim of the present work was to carry out a numeric modeling of the water behavior in the river San Sebastian in order to know the possible areas affected by flooding. The HEC-HMS hydrological method was used to calculate the runoff hydrographs for different return periods and the two-dimensional hydraulic model Iber was used for modelling the water run through the riverbed. Modelling showed the areas and the floodable surface in the return periods considered, indicating the degree of affectation using maximum flow depth maps. The results can be useful for disaster prevention caused by surface runoff.