TY - JOUR A1 - Nied, Manuela A1 - Schröter, Kai A1 - Lüdtke, Stefan A1 - Nguyen, Viet Dung A1 - Merz, Bruno T1 - What are the hydro-meteorological controls on flood characteristics? JF - Journal of hydrology N2 - Flood events can be expressed by a variety of characteristics such as flood magnitude and extent, event duration or incurred loss. Flood estimation and management may benefit from understanding how the different flood characteristics relate to the hydrological catchment conditions preceding the event and to the meteorological conditions throughout the event. In this study, we therefore propose a methodology to investigate the hydro-meteorological controls on different flood characteristics, based on the simulation of the complete flood risk chain from the flood triggering precipitation event, through runoff generation in the catchment, flood routing and possible inundation in the river system and floodplains to flood loss. Conditional cumulative distribution functions and regression tree analysis delineate the seasonal varying flood processes and indicate that the effect of the hydrological pre-conditions, i.e. soil moisture patterns, and of the meteorological conditions, i.e. weather patterns, depends on the considered flood characteristic. The methodology is exemplified for the Elbe catchment. In this catchment, the length of the build-up period, the event duration and the number of gauges undergoing at least a 10-year flood are governed by weather patterns. The affected length and the number of gauges undergoing at least a 2-year flood are however governed by soil moisture patterns. In case of flood severity and loss, the controlling factor is less pronounced. Severity is slightly governed by soil moisture patterns whereas loss is slightly governed by weather patterns. The study highlights that flood magnitude and extent arise from different flood generation processes and concludes that soil moisture patterns as well as weather patterns are not only beneficial to inform on possible flood occurrence but also on the involved flood processes and resulting flood characteristics. KW - Flood KW - Flood duration KW - Flood magnitude KW - Flood loss KW - Soil moisture patterns KW - Antecedent conditions KW - Weather patterns KW - Large basins Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.12.003 SN - 0022-1694 SN - 1879-2707 VL - 545 SP - 310 EP - 326 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - 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 - TY - JOUR A1 - Kreibich, Heidi A1 - Müller, Meike A1 - Schröter, Kai A1 - Thieken, Annegret T1 - New insights into flood warning reception and emergency response by affected parties JF - Natural hazards and earth system sciences N2 - Flood damage can be mitigated if the parties at risk are reached by flood warnings and if they know how to react appropriately. To gain more knowledge about warning reception and emergency response of private households and companies, surveys were undertaken after the August 2002 and the June 2013 floods in Germany. Despite pronounced regional differences, the results show a clear overall picture: in 2002, early warnings did not work well; e.g. many households (27 %) and companies (45 %) stated that they had not received any flood warnings. Additionally, the preparedness of private households and companies was low in 2002, mainly due to a lack of flood experience. After the 2002 flood, many initiatives were launched and investments undertaken to improve flood risk management, including early warnings and an emergency response in Germany. In 2013, only a small share of the affected households (5 %) and companies (3 %) were not reached by any warnings. Additionally, private households and companies were better prepared. For instance, the share of companies which have an emergency plan in place has increased from 10% in 2002 to 34% in 2013. However, there is still room for improvement, which needs to be triggered mainly by effective risk and emergency communication. The challenge is to continuously maintain and advance an integrated early warning and emergency response system even without the occurrence of extreme floods. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-17-2075-2017 SN - 1561-8633 VL - 17 SP - 2075 EP - 2092 PB - Copernicus CY - Göttingen ER - TY - GEN A1 - Kreibich, Heidi A1 - Müller, Meike A1 - Schröter, Kai A1 - Thieken, Annegret T1 - New insights into flood warning reception and emergency response by affected parties T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Flood damage can be mitigated if the parties at risk are reached by flood warnings and if they know how to react appropriately. To gain more knowledge about warning reception and emergency response of private households and companies, surveys were undertaken after the August 2002 and the June 2013 floods in Germany. Despite pronounced regional differences, the results show a clear overall picture: in 2002, early warnings did not work well; e.g. many households (27 %) and companies (45 %) stated that they had not received any flood warnings. Additionally, the preparedness of private households and companies was low in 2002, mainly due to a lack of flood experience. After the 2002 flood, many initiatives were launched and investments undertaken to improve flood risk management, including early warnings and an emergency response in Germany. In 2013, only a small share of the affected households (5 %) and companies (3 %) were not reached by any warnings. Additionally, private households and companies were better prepared. For instance, the share of companies which have an emergency plan in place has increased from 10% in 2002 to 34% in 2013. However, there is still room for improvement, which needs to be triggered mainly by effective risk and emergency communication. The challenge is to continuously maintain and advance an integrated early warning and emergency response system even without the occurrence of extreme floods. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 659 KW - june 2013 Flood KW - circulation patterns KW - affected residents KW - extreme flood KW - august 2002 KW - Germany KW - risk KW - damage KW - preparedness KW - recovery Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-418381 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 659 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Rözer, Viktor A1 - Müller, Meike A1 - Bubeck, Philip A1 - Kienzler, Sarah A1 - Thieken, Annegret A1 - Pech, Ina A1 - Schröter, Kai A1 - Buchholz, Oliver A1 - Kreibich, Heidi T1 - Coping with pluvial floods by private households N2 - Pluvial floods have caused severe damage to urban areas in recent years. With a projected increase in extreme precipitation as well as an ongoing urbanization, pluvial flood damage is expected to increase in the future. Therefore, further insights, especially on the adverse consequences of pluvial floods and their mitigation, are needed. To gain more knowledge, empirical damage data from three different pluvial flood events in Germany were collected through computer-aided telephone interviews. Pluvial flood awareness as well as flood experience were found to be low before the respective flood events. The level of private precaution increased considerably after all events, but is mainly focused on measures that are easy to implement. Lower inundation depths, smaller potential losses as compared with fluvial floods, as well as the fact that pluvial flooding may occur everywhere, are expected to cause a shift in damage mitigation from precaution to emergency response. However, an effective implementation of emergency measures was constrained by a low dissemination of early warnings in the study areas. Further improvements of early warning systems including dissemination as well as a rise in pluvial flood preparedness are important to reduce future pluvial flood damage. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 355 KW - pluvial floods KW - surface water flooding KW - emergency response KW - early warning KW - preparedness KW - damage KW - mitigation Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-400465 ER -