Flood Risk Management: Hazards, Vulnerability and Mitigation Measures
Flood Risk Management: Hazards, Vulnerability and Mitigation Measures

Author: Jochen Schanze

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-09-17

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1402045980

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Floods are of increasing public concern world-wide due to increasing damages and unacceptably high numbers of injuries. Previous approaches of flood protection led to limited success especially during recent extreme events. Therefore, an integrated flood risk management is required which takes into consideration both the hydrometeorogical and the societal processes. Moreover, real effects of risk mitigation measures have to be critically assessed. The book draws a comprehensive picture of all these aspects and their interrelations. It furthermore provides a lot of detail on earth observation, flood hazard modelling, climate change, flood forecasting, modelling vulnerability, mitigation measures and the various dimensions of management strategies. In addition to local and regional results of science, engineering and social science investigations on modelling and management, transboundary co-operation of large river catchments are of interest. Based on this, the book is a valuable source of the state of the art in flood risk management but also covers future demands for research and practice in terms of flood issues.

Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States
Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2019-04-29

Total Pages: 101

ISBN-13: 030948961X

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Flooding is the natural hazard with the greatest economic and social impact in the United States, and these impacts are becoming more severe over time. Catastrophic flooding from recent hurricanes, including Superstorm Sandy in New York (2012) and Hurricane Harvey in Houston (2017), caused billions of dollars in property damage, adversely affected millions of people, and damaged the economic well-being of major metropolitan areas. Flooding takes a heavy toll even in years without a named storm or event. Major freshwater flood events from 2004 to 2014 cost an average of $9 billion in direct damage and 71 lives annually. These figures do not include the cumulative costs of frequent, small floods, which can be similar to those of infrequent extreme floods. Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States contributes to existing knowledge by examining real-world examples in specific metropolitan areas. This report identifies commonalities and variances among the case study metropolitan areas in terms of causes, adverse impacts, unexpected problems in recovery, or effective mitigation strategies, as well as key themes of urban flooding. It also relates, as appropriate, causes and actions of urban flooding to existing federal resources or policies.

The Ostrich Paradox
The Ostrich Paradox

Author: Robert Meyer

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2017-02-07

Total Pages: 133

ISBN-13: 1613630794

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"The Ostrich Paradox boldly addresses a key question of our time: Why are we humans so poor at dealing with disastrous risks, and what can we humans do about it? It is a must-read for everyone who cares about risk." —Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and author of Thinking, Fast and Slow We fail to evacuate when advised. We rebuild in flood zones. We don't wear helmets. We fail to purchase insurance. We would rather avoid the risk of "crying wolf" than sound an alarm. Our ability to foresee and protect against natural catastrophes has never been greater; yet, we consistently fail to heed the warnings and protect ourselves and our communities, with devastating consequences. What explains this contradiction? In The Ostrich Paradox, Wharton professors Robert Meyer and Howard Kunreuther draw on years of teaching and research to explain why disaster preparedness efforts consistently fall short. Filled with heartbreaking stories of loss and resilience, the book addresses: •How people make decisions when confronted with high-consequence, low-probability events—and how these decisions can go awry •The 6 biases that lead individuals, communities, and institutions to make grave errors that cost lives •The Behavioral Risk Audit, a systematic approach for improving preparedness by recognizing these biases and designing strategies that anticipate them •Why, if we are to be better prepared for disasters, we need to learn to be more like ostriches, not less Fast-reading and critically important, The Ostrich Paradox is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why we consistently underprepare for disasters, as well as private and public leaders, planners, and policy-makers who want to build more prepared communities.

New Perspectives on Risk Communication
New Perspectives on Risk Communication

Author: Asa Boholm

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-12-16

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 1317981898

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That risk communication ranks high on the policymaking agenda is beyond discussion today. The field is a point of intersection of social communication, practical management and policy making. It covers such diverse activities as to inform and educate the public about risk, and risk management in order to influence attitudes and behaviour, to act in situations of emergency or crises, to aid in decision-making and to assist in conflict resolution. Communication has grown into a major concern in current risk governance based on network co-ordinated management of public affairs conducted by authorities and companies and is recognized as a key component in the government of risk. This is especially salient in policy fields relating to environmental planning and resource management, urban planning, chemical and food regulation, or infrastructure planning, development and maintenance. This book explores risk communication research with a focus on new theoretical perspectives, research findings, and applied goals. It reflects on a broad range of innovative theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches and empirical areas. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Risk Research.

Floods in a Changing Climate
Floods in a Changing Climate

Author: Slobodan P. Simonović

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-11-22

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 1107018749

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Provides a flood risk-management framework for identifying and assessing climate-related risks and developing adaptation responses, for academic researchers and professionals.

Flood Risk Assessments
Flood Risk Assessments

Author: Andrés Díez-Herrero

Publisher:

Published: 2020-09-09

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 9783039369386

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In recent years, a considerable volume of technical literature has been published on flood hazard analysis, and more recently, on flood vulnerability and resilience. Nevertheless, there is still a shortage of scientific studies and practical experience of real flood risk assessment (both social and economic), including hazard, exposure and vulnerability analyses and their integration. As there are so few references available, applications of flood risk assessment to the design of preventive measures and early warning systems, landscape and urban planning, civil protection, insurance systems, and risk-based information and education, cannot reach their full potential development. This is because the research products available, such as hazard data and maps, do not serve to ensure the efficient prioritization of mitigation measures or communities at risk. Meanwhile, flooding is the natural disaster that causes the greatest loss on a global scale, and due to climate change, this situation is expected to continue. The research manuscripts involved in this book try to offer flood risk managers new tools, data and maps to improve risk mitigation, both preventive and corrective. A wide variety of topics have been covered, including: flood risk data sources; techniques and methodologies for flood risk analysis; flood risk mapping; or flood risk analysis calibrations.

Coastal Flood Risk Reduction
Coastal Flood Risk Reduction

Author: Samuel Brody

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2022-04-27

Total Pages: 450

ISBN-13: 0323852521

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Coastal Flood Risk Reduction: The Netherlands and the U.S. Upper Texas Coast represents the culmination of a 5-year international research and education partnership funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and more than 10 years of collaboration between Dutch and U.S. flood experts on the basic issue of how to protect society from growing flood risks. Multiple case studies integrating the fields of engineering, hydrology, landscape architecture, economics, and planning address the underlying characteristics of physical flood risks and their prediction; human communities and the associated built environment; physical, social, and built-environment variables; and mitigation techniques. In recognition of the lack of systematic research and the growing societal need to better understand flood impacts, this edited book provides an in-depth, comparative evaluation of flood problems and solutions in two key places: the Netherlands and the U.S. Upper Texas Coast. Both regions are extremely flood-prone and have experienced continual adverse impacts throughout their histories. For researchers in flood management, geographers, hydrologists, environmental studies, and social science as well as policymakers and decision-makers in flood management authorities and related industries, this book provides an essential resource. - Introduces integrated comparative work on flood risk reduction and management across disciplines and international boundaries - Presents chapters written by dozens of experts across six U.S. and Dutch universities that have formally participated in the international research and education program funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) - Provides a basis for understanding and mitigating flood risk over a range of necessary perspectives, from modeling inputs to design solutions - Integrates cutting-edge scientific methods and state-of-the-art knowledge with examples of specific solutions and how they are being implemented in each national case study

At Risk
At Risk

Author: Piers Blaikie

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-01-21

Total Pages: 492

ISBN-13: 1134528612

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The term 'natural disaster' is often used to refer to natural events such as earthquakes, hurricanes or floods. However, the phrase 'natural disaster' suggests an uncritical acceptance of a deeply engrained ideological and cultural myth. At Risk questions this myth and argues that extreme natural events are not disasters until a vulnerable group of people is exposed. The updated new edition confronts a further ten years of ever more expensive and deadly disasters and discusses disaster not as an aberration, but as a signal failure of mainstream 'development'. Two analytical models are provided as tools for understanding vulnerability. One links remote and distant 'root causes' to 'unsafe conditions' in a 'progression of vulnerability'. The other uses the concepts of 'access' and 'livelihood' to understand why some households are more vulnerable than others. Examining key natural events and incorporating strategies to create a safer world, this revised edition is an important resource for those involved in the fields of environment and development studies.

Underwater
Underwater

Author: Rebecca Elliott

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2021-01-05

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 0231548818

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Communities around the United States face the threat of being underwater. This is not only a matter of rising waters reaching the doorstep. It is also the threat of being financially underwater, owning assets worth less than the money borrowed to obtain them. Many areas around the country may become economically uninhabitable before they become physically unlivable. In Underwater, Rebecca Elliott explores how families, communities, and governments confront problems of loss as the climate changes. She offers the first in-depth account of the politics and social effects of the U.S. National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which provides flood insurance protection for virtually all homes and small businesses that require it. In doing so, the NFIP turns the risk of flooding into an immediate economic reality, shaping who lives on the waterfront, on what terms, and at what cost. Drawing on archival, interview, ethnographic, and other documentary data, Elliott follows controversies over the NFIP from its establishment in the 1960s to the present, from local backlash over flood maps to Congressional debates over insurance reform. Though flood insurance is often portrayed as a rational solution for managing risk, it has ignited recurring fights over what is fair and valuable, what needs protecting and what should be let go, who deserves assistance and on what terms, and whose expectations of future losses are used to govern the present. An incisive and comprehensive consideration of the fundamental dilemmas of moral economy underlying insurance, Underwater sheds new light on how Americans cope with loss as the water rises.

The Perception of Risk
The Perception of Risk

Author: Paul Slovic

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781315661773

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"The concept of risk is an outgrowth of our society's great concern about coping with the dangers of modern life. The Perception of Risk brings together the work of Paul Slovic, one of the world's leading analysts of risk, risk perception and risk management, to examine the gap between expert views of risk and public perceptions. Ordered chronologically, it allows the reader to see the evolution of our understanding of such perceptions, from early studies identifying public misconceptions of risk to recent work that recognizes the importance and legitimacy of equity, trust, power and other value-laden issues underlying public concern."--Provided by publisher.