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Major loss of life can occur in a flood when people are toppled by floodwater currents. Three approximate mechanical models and two empirical models of the hydrodynamics of toppling are presented and calibrated to align with available experimental observations to assist the analysis of the risk of life loss. The mechanical models consider circular cylindrical, square cylindrical and cylindrical composite, heavy bodies assembled to represent a human immersed in a flow field and subject to drag and buoyancy forces. The models can account for the height and weight of the exposed persons, and the velocity and depth of the flow. The models are in good mutual agreement and, when calibrated, yield failure functions that can be used to calculate the probability of loss of stability.

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