Premium
Characteristics of river floods and flooding: a global overview, 1985–2003
Author(s) -
Douben KlaasJan
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
irrigation and drainage
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1531-0361
pISSN - 1531-0353
DOI - 10.1002/ird.239
Subject(s) - flooding (psychology) , flood myth , geography , natural disaster , population , vulnerability (computing) , water resource management , environmental protection , environmental planning , environmental science , archaeology , sociology , demography , meteorology , psychology , psychotherapist , computer security , computer science
Abstract Since ancient times people have settled in flood‐prone areas due to favourable geographic conditions which facilitate economic growth, such as accessibility (transportation) and food production (fertile land). This fact forces societies all over the world to protect valuable assets against flooding. Nevertheless flooding is still the most damaging of all natural disasters. One‐third of the annual natural disasters and economic losses and more than half of all victims are flood related. Flood mitigation policies and measures have been implemented, enabling societies to increase their resilience to flood hazards. With increasing population densities, often associated with improved living standards and consequently higher values of property and infrastructure, flood defence receives more importance and the consequences of flooding become less acceptable. Trends in flood frequencies and flooding damage seem to be increasing, primarily due to a growing vulnerability arising from societal changes such as interference by occupation, developments, investments and land‐use changes in flood‐prone areas. The Asian continent was particularly affected by floods and flooding between 1985 and 2003. It recorded nearly half of all flooding events; together with Europe and North America it was confronted with the majority of flooding damage and it incurred nearly three‐quarters of all casualties. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.