TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kreibich, Heidi
A1  - Di Baldassarre, Giuliano
A1  - Vorogushyn, Sergiy
A1  - Aerts, Jeroen C. J. H.
A1  - Apel, Heiko
A1  - Aronica, Giuseppe T.
A1  - Arnbjerg-Nielsen, Karsten
A1  - Bouwer, Laurens M.
A1  - Bubeck, Philip
A1  - Caloiero, Tommaso
A1  - Chinh, Do T.
A1  - Cortes, Maria
A1  - Gain, Animesh K.
A1  - Giampa, Vincenzo
A1  - Kuhlicke, Christian
A1  - Kundzewicz, Zbigniew W.
A1  - Llasat, Maria Carmen
A1  - Mard, Johanna
A1  - Matczak, Piotr
A1  - Mazzoleni, Maurizio
A1  - Molinari, Daniela
A1  - Dung, Nguyen V.
A1  - Petrucci, Olga
A1  - Schröter, Kai
A1  - Slager, Kymo
A1  - Thieken, Annegret
A1  - Ward, Philip J.
A1  - Merz, Bruno
T1  - Adaptation to flood risk
BT  - Results of international paired flood event studies
JF  - Earth's Future
N2  - As flood impacts are increasing in large parts of the world, understanding the primary drivers of changes in risk is essential for effective adaptation. To gain more knowledge on the basis of empirical case studies, we analyze eight paired floods, that is, consecutive flood events that occurred in the same region, with the second flood causing significantly lower damage. These success stories of risk reduction were selected across different socioeconomic and hydro-climatic contexts. The potential of societies to adapt is uncovered by describing triggered societal changes, as well as formal measures and spontaneous processes that reduced flood risk. This novel approach has the potential to build the basis for an international data collection and analysis effort to better understand and attribute changes in risk due to hydrological extremes in the framework of the IAHSs Panta Rhei initiative. Across all case studies, we find that lower damage caused by the second event was mainly due to significant reductions in vulnerability, for example, via raised risk awareness, preparedness, and improvements of organizational emergency management. Thus, vulnerability reduction plays an essential role for successful adaptation. Our work shows that there is a high potential to adapt, but there remains the challenge to stimulate measures that reduce vulnerability and risk in periods in which extreme events do not occur.
KW  - flooding
KW  - vulnerability
KW  - global environmental change
KW  - adaptation
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/2017EF000606
SN  - 2328-4277
VL  - 5
SP  - 953
EP  - 965
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -