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Flood fatalities in Africa: From diagnosis to mitigation
Author(s) -
Di Baldassarre Giuliano,
Montanari Alberto,
Lins Harry,
Koutsoyiannis Demetris,
Brandimarte Luigia,
Blöschl Günter
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2010gl045467
Subject(s) - flood myth , human settlement , damages , warning system , geography , environmental planning , water resource management , environmental resource management , environmental science , engineering , archaeology , aerospace engineering , political science , law
Flood‐related fatalities in Africa, as well as associated economic losses, have increased dramatically over the past half‐century. There is a growing global concern about the need to identify the causes for such increased flood damages. To this end, we analyze a large, consistent and reliable dataset of floods in Africa. Identification of causes is not easy given the diverse economic settings, demographic distribution and hydro‐climatic conditions of the African continent. On the other hand, many African river basins have a relatively low level of human disturbance and, therefore, provide a unique opportunity to analyze climatic effects on floods. We find that intensive and unplanned human settlements in flood‐prone areas appears to be playing a major role in increasing flood risk. Timely and economically sustainable actions, such as the discouragement of human settlements in flood‐prone areas and the introduction of early warning systems are, therefore, urgently needed.