On 7 February 2021, an ice-rock avalanche-triggered flash flood in India killed over 200 people and destroyed two hydroelectric plants. In a preliminary analysis, we found that the 2021 event was of extraordinary magnitude because the avalanche ran over, partly remobilising, the ice-debris deposits from a September 2016 avalanche. This precursor event preconditioned the valley to facilitate the long runout of the 2021 ice-rock avalanche.
Based on these findings, we further strengthened our proof-of-concept work by studying the impact of terrain data quality on the thermomechanical modelling of avalanches. The implications are important, as it may be possible to demonstrate that lower resolution, free-of-cost terrain data can provide a cost-effective way of modelling the avalanche events, therefore helping to employ economically viable input datasets in future projects.