Flooding claims many lives worldwide each year. In addition, many more lives are affected by homelessness, disease and crop failures as a result of floods' destructiveness. The number of recent flood events coupled with climate change predictions and urban development, suggest that these statistics are likely to worsen in the future. Flooding in populated areas can cause substantial property damage as well as threaten human life. Apart form the obvious physical damage to buildings, contents and loss of life, there other more indirect losses that are often overlooked. These intangible impacts are generally associated with disruption to normal life as well as longer term health issues, including stress-related illness. The conference papers cover the following topics: Flood risk analysis, Flood risk management, Urban flood management, Flood forecasting, Risk assessment and decision making, Flood case studies, Community resilience to flooding, Energy preparedness and response, Critical infrastructure protection, Flood consequence assessment.

One-third of the annual natural disasters and economic losses, and more than half of the associated victims are flood related. A burgeoning global population and growing wealth, particularly in the last two or three decades, have increased the risk and the demand for flood protection. These features, together with climate change predictions and urban development, are affecting the way flood risk is managed. Knowledge and scientific tools play a role of paramount importance in the strain of coping with flooding problems, along with capacity building in the context of political and administrative frameworks. Therefore, governments need to establish clear institutional, financial and social mechanisms and processes for flood risk management in order to ensure the safety of people and property and, thereby, contribute to flood defence, prevention and recovery. This volume contains papers presented at the second International Conference on Flood Recovery, Innovation and Response. The conference provides a forum for researchers, academics and practitioners actively involved in improving and interchanging knowledge and expertise in a wide range of technical and management issues related to flooding and its devastating effects. The scientific topics presented at the conference on Flood Recovery Innovation and Response 2010 included: Flood Risk Analysis; Flood Risk Management; Urban Flood Management; Flood Forecasting; Risk Assessment and Decision Making; Flood Case Studies; Community Resilience to Flooding.

Flooding is a global phenomenon that claims numerous lives worldwide each year. Set up to promote research into this area of study, this book contains the proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Flood Recovery, Innovation and Response. When flooding occurs in populated areas, it can cause substantial damage to property as well as threatening human life. In addition, many more people must endure the homelessness, upset and disruption that are left in the wake of floods. The increased frequency of flooding in the last few years, coupled with climate change predictions and urban development, suggest that these statistics are set to worsen in the future. Apart from the physical damage to buildings, contents and loss of life, which are the most obvious impacts of floods upon households, other more indirect losses are often overlooked. These indirect and intangible impacts are generally associated with disruption to normal life as well as longer term health issues including stress related illness. Flooding represents a major barrier to the alleviation of poverty in many parts of the developing world, where vulnerable communities are often exposed to sudden and life threatening events. This book covers a wide range of technical and management topics related to flooding and its impacts on communities, property and people. These include: Flood Modelling; Risk Assessment; Flood Management; Considering ‘Blue-Green’ Approaches to Flood Risk Management; Property-level Flooding and Health Consequences; State-of-the-art Flooding-damage Survey and Assessment; Emergency Preparedness and Response; Adaptation to Flood Risk.

Pushing the boundaries of flood risk management research, this comprehensive Research Handbook presents pragmatic insights into all areas relating to flood risk. Through its use of dynamic and people-centred paradigms, it explores urban flood management within localities, properties, neighbourhoods and cities.

Comprised of the papers presented at the eighth, and latest, International Conference Simulation in Risk Analysis and Hazard Mitigation, this book covers a topic of increasing importance. Scientific knowledge is essential to our better understanding of risk. Natural hazards such as floods, earthquakes, landslides, fires and others, have always affected human societies. Man-made hazards, however, played a comparatively small role until the industrial revolution when the risk of catastrophic events started to increase due to the rapid growth of new technologies and the urbanisation of populations. The interaction of natural and anthropogenic risks adds to the complexity of the problem.Due to advances in computational methods and the ability to model systems more precisely we can now quantify hazards, simulate their effects and calculate risk with greater accuracy, enabling us to manage risk much more effectively. These developments are particularly relevant to environmental issues, where substantial risks are involved. Governments, and their publics, now place a high priority on effective risk management and the mitigation of possible hazards. Covering topics such as: Estimation of Risk; Risk Management; Vulnerability; Geomorphologic Risk; Network Systems; Climate Change Risks; Hazard Prevention; Management and Control; Security and Public Safety; Transportation Safety; Safe Ship Operations; Early Warning Systems; Food Safety; Risk Perception; Natural Hazards; Technological Risk, the book will be of interest to planners, emergency managers, environmentalists, engineers, policy makers and other government officials, researchers and academics involved in the field of risk and disaster management.

Presenting the results of an ambitious research activity this book intends to understand why Early Warning Systems (EWSs) fail. However, from the beginning, the objective turned out to be challenging; first, because, so far, there is not a shared understanding of what an EWS is (among both researchers and practitioners communities); second, as a consequence, because it is equally unclear when an EWS can be considered successful or not. Due to this, the research needed first to face some “open questions” instead of going straight to the point under investigation. Specifically, it was first necessary to define EWS, identify its components and functions, peculiarities, and weak points. Only at that point, a first attempt to evaluate EWS performance was possible. Flood Early Warning Systems Performance is organised according to the conceptual steps required by the research. In part I the “open questions” about the definition and the role of EWSs are handled, the aim being the identification of how to evaluate their effectiveness/performance. Part II focuses on the real aim of the research, providing concepts and tools to assess EWS performance; suggested tools are also implemented in a case study to describe how they can be applied in practice. Focusing specifically on the topic of flood risk in mountainous regions, the book can be viewed as a sort of manual for EWS designers, managers, and users. It is organised into different independent sections which will appeal both to experts as well as those with an interest in the subject. Most of results can also be exported to other hazards.

An increasing number of large-scale natural disasters have affected millions of people in recent years. Major earthquakes, floods, And hurricanes, have caused great destruction of property and loss of life, while forest fires, pipeline failures, and bombings have created equally devastating affects on a smaller scale. The increased threats are the topic of the Third International Conference on Disaster Management and Human Health Risk, convened so that experts on public health, security, and disaster management could share information. This book contains the papers presented at the conference. Topics covered include Disaster analysis; Disaster monitoring and mitigation; Emergency preparedness; Risk mitigation; Risk and security; Safety and resilience; Socio-economic issues; Biological threats; Learning from disasters.