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Geosciences
Special Issues
Flood Risk Reduction
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Flood Risk Reduction

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Hazards".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2024) | Viewed by 8939

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Eleonora Gioia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Interests: geography; disaster risk reduction; natural hazards; climate change; GIS
Dr. Loredana Antronico

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Italian National Research Council, Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection, 87036 Rende, CS, Italy
Interests: landslide risk assessment, landslide monitoring, geo-hydrological risk perception and communication; natural hazards and disaster risk reduction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent decades, the frequency of floods has particularly intensified in almost all countries of the world. Floods can impose huge impacts on social and ecological systems by means of fatalities along with environmental and economic damages. These impacts are expected to increase because of climate change, environmental degradation, rapid population growth, and improper land use. Specifically, flood events largely affect urban and coastal areas because of uncontrolled building construction, land-use changes, and lack of urban planning.

In this framework, the concept of flood risk reduction is becoming increasingly significant and scientists, governments, and local policy-makers are investing more to improve flood risk reduction strategies by both structural and non-structural measures. The research in this growing field encompasses tools from diverse disciplines, such as physical, geological and socio-anthropological science. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of theoretical and practical knowledge on how to make such different approaches interact.

This Special Issue is aimed at collecting multidisciplinary state-of-the-art research and case studies related to of flood risk reduction, such as (but not limited to): flood hazard, flood vulnerability, and resilience assessment; flood risk perception; flood prevention and management; and adaptation to flood risk in the context of climate change.

Dr. Eleonora Gioia
Dr. Loredana Antronico
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • floods
  • disaster risk reduction
  • climate change
  • territorial resilience
  • urban planning.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 14042 KiB  
Article
Mapping the Flood Vulnerability of Residential Structures: Cases from The Netherlands, Puerto Rico, and the United States
by Nicholas D. Diaz, Yoonjeong Lee, Baukje L. M. Kothuis, Ismael Pagán-Trinidad, Sebastiaan N. Jonkman and Samuel D. Brody
Geosciences 2024, 14(4), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14040109 - 19 Apr 2024
Viewed by 487
Abstract
Floods are consistently ranked as the most financially devastating natural disasters worldwide. Recent flood events in the Netherlands, Caribbean, and US have drawn attention to flood risks resulting from pluvial and fluvial sources. Despite shared experiences with flooding, these regions employ distinct approaches [...] Read more.
Floods are consistently ranked as the most financially devastating natural disasters worldwide. Recent flood events in the Netherlands, Caribbean, and US have drawn attention to flood risks resulting from pluvial and fluvial sources. Despite shared experiences with flooding, these regions employ distinct approaches and flood management strategies due to differences in governance and scale—offering a three-site case study comparison. A key, yet often lacking, factor for flood risk and damage assessments at the parcel level is building elevation compared to flood elevation. First-floor elevations (FFEs) are a critical element in the vulnerability of a building flooding. US-based flood insurance policies require FFEs; however, data availability limitations exist. Drone-based FFEs were measured in all locations to assess the flood vulnerabilities of structures. Flood vulnerability profiles revealed 64% of buildings were vulnerable to a form of inundation, with 40% belonging to “moderate” or “major” inundation, and inundation elevation means (IEMs) of −0.55 m, 0.19 m, and 0.71 m within the US, Netherlands, and Puerto Rico sites, respectively. Spatial statistics revealed FFEs were more responsible for flood vulnerabilities in the US site while topography was more responsible in the Netherlands and Puerto Rico sites. Additional findings in the Puerto Rico site reveal FFEs and next highest floor elevations (NHFEs) vulnerable to future sea level rise (SLR) flood elevations. The findings within the Netherlands provide support for developing novel multi-layered flood risk reduction strategies that include building elevation. We discuss future work recommendations and how the different sites could benefit significantly from strengthening FFE requirements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood Risk Reduction)
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18 pages, 3683 KiB  
Article
More Help Was Offered—But Was It Effective? First Responders and Volunteers in the 2021 Flood Disaster in Germany
by Alexander Fekete and Beate Rhein
Geosciences 2024, 14(2), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14020046 - 05 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1075
Abstract
The floods in 2021 in Germany laid bare the need to better integrate volunteers into official disaster management. An online survey with 1767 valid interviews after the floods in July 2021 reveals the shared experiences of professional and non-professional groups. Communication and coordination [...] Read more.
The floods in 2021 in Germany laid bare the need to better integrate volunteers into official disaster management. An online survey with 1767 valid interviews after the floods in July 2021 reveals the shared experiences of professional and non-professional groups. Communication and coordination problems are the main results of the survey analysis. Overall satisfaction was a bit lower for the volunteers than for the professionals. The behavior of the superiors could have been more satisfactory. The preparation and opportunity for reflection could have been better after the operation. The information provision before and during the flood operation could have been more satisfactory. Worries were higher about elderly persons, and misinformation was a perceived danger. Problems experienced in the flood operations ranged from psychological stress to hygiene, self-endangerment, assignment of tasks, and misinformation, both from the media and official sources. Infrastructure-related problems included electricity, water, communication lines, roads, and rail. The suggestions for improvements ranged from communication and information about warnings and behavior to persons that transfer knowledge between organizations, digital exchange platforms, and exchange between countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood Risk Reduction)
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14 pages, 1687 KiB  
Article
Linking Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation through Collaborative Governance: Experience from Urban Flooding in Jakarta
by Febi Dwirahmadi, Paul Barnes, Arif Wibowo, Avianto Amri and Cordia Chu
Geosciences 2023, 13(11), 353; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13110353 - 20 Nov 2023
Viewed by 2143
Abstract
This paper examines the challenges of and facilitating strategies for linking disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) in addressing urban floods, drawing from Indonesia’s experience. The fragmentation between efforts to implement DRR and CCA leading to unnecessary duplication could increase [...] Read more.
This paper examines the challenges of and facilitating strategies for linking disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) in addressing urban floods, drawing from Indonesia’s experience. The fragmentation between efforts to implement DRR and CCA leading to unnecessary duplication could increase confusion at both the community and wider governance levels and reduce the effectiveness of urban flood management. Through the lens of collaborative governance, this paper analyzes the barriers for integrating DRR and CCA and options to better align their practices in the context of a megapolitan city, Jakarta, Indonesia. The key findings of this study confirmed that institutional fragmentation, in concert with inconsistent facilitation and collaboration mechanisms, were the strongest barriers to aligning DRR and CCA action. The absence of accountable leadership was a key impediment for successful partnership-building processes to support political and technical collaboration. Leadership in these contexts plays an important role in (1) developing sustainable relationships, (2) convincing potential stakeholders to collaborate, (3) persuading partners to commit to sharing resources, and (4) agreeing/sharing a common vision of the partnership actions needed to mitigate harm and reduce urban vulnerability. These factors are critically important for reducing the direct and indirect impacts of flooding in Jakarta. Such lessons from Indonesia on linking DRR and CCA offer valuable insights to inform the development of policies and strategies to deal with urban floods for global cities faced with similar challenges. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood Risk Reduction)
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22 pages, 1689 KiB  
Article
Seeking Flood Risk-Minimization: How to Benefit from the Use/Availability of Heavy Rainfall-Risk Maps
by Christian Bone, Matteo Rubinato, Bert Bosseler and Marco Schlüter
Geosciences 2023, 13(5), 134; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13050134 - 05 May 2023
Viewed by 1811
Abstract
The 2021 flooding events in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany have sensitized many municipalities across Europe and especially in Germany, the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Rhineland-Palatinate, having been particularly affected, have formulated more extensive requirements for the municipalities to be [...] Read more.
The 2021 flooding events in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany have sensitized many municipalities across Europe and especially in Germany, the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Rhineland-Palatinate, having been particularly affected, have formulated more extensive requirements for the municipalities to be able to manage these drastic situations. Flood risks and heavy rainfall maps are crucial instruments in this context because they serve as a basis for identifying risks and also for selecting suitable measures to minimize them and, in 2021, in Germany, the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG) made available for the first time a state-wide, cross-municipal heavy rainfall information map for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in which heavy rainfall and flooding risks are recognizable for every citizen. Therefore, municipalities that already had their own heavy rainfall maps had a comparative possibility of plausibility checks, while those that did not yet have their own heavy rainfall map, had the possibility to benefit from these resources. Especially in this second scenario, the municipalities and the wastewater utilities need reliable practical advice on how to classify the information from the maps regarding drainage consequences, and this paper aims to fill this void, summarizing the experience of the 80 municipalities represented in the KomNetAbwasser in dealing with heavy rainfall maps and discussing requirements for their informative value. Furthermore, measures for risk minimization and their prioritization are also proposed, focusing on risk identification, organizational tasks, action planning and implementation, analysis of the hazard maps, risk assessment and the selection of emergency measures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood Risk Reduction)
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15 pages, 2989 KiB  
Article
Assessing Community Perceptions on Urban Flood Resilience in Sri Lanka
by Vindya Hewawasam and Kenichi Matsui
Geosciences 2022, 12(11), 406; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12110406 - 04 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2309
Abstract
Urban communities’ perceptions about flood disasters can help better understand the resilience level of specific communities. This paper examines community-specific flood resilience by looking at Sri Lanka’s most flood-prone areas: the Kolonnawa and Kaduwela divisional secretariat divisions of Colombo. We conducted field surveys [...] Read more.
Urban communities’ perceptions about flood disasters can help better understand the resilience level of specific communities. This paper examines community-specific flood resilience by looking at Sri Lanka’s most flood-prone areas: the Kolonnawa and Kaduwela divisional secretariat divisions of Colombo. We conducted field surveys and a questionnaire survey among 120 community members. The collected questionnaire data were then analyzed partly by conducting multiple regression analyses. The results of our research identify varied perceptions about flood vulnerability and resilience by the community. Overall, our respondents regarded flood incidents as a high-risk disaster to their livelihoods, but some communities appeared to have higher coping strategies than others within the same administrative division. The respondents generally perceived that proximity to flood sources would increase flood vulnerability and frequency. Compared to other communities, Sedawatta community experienced most frequent floods, and 93% lived within 100 m from the river. The respondents had taken measures to mitigate floods mostly by elevating houses. Through multiple regression analyses, we found that education, income, household structure, distance to flood sources, and flood frequency had significant correlations with flood resilience and vulnerability in varying degrees by community. In conclusion, we argue that government flood management policies focus more on community-specific needs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flood Risk Reduction)
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