Professionals - Floods - Prevention

1. e-Learning in Floods
Professionals

2. Prevention
In the following you will be presented with information on:
• Description of the natural disaster.
• What to be aware of.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
2

3. Characteristics
What is a flood?
To be able to prevent a flood, you
must be able to identify the flood.
The definition of a flood can be a
variety of things and the same
applies to the cause. You will now
find a general definition of a flood.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
3

4. Characteristics
The definition of a flood can cover
a wide spectrum as it can be
everything from a flooded
basement to a more permanent
flood in connection with natural
incidents, such as a rise in river or
sea levels, tectonic subsidence or
manmade structures such as flood
defences which breach.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
4

5. Characteristics
The EU Floods Directive
In 2007 the EU issued the EU Floods Directive which came into
force the 27th of October 2007. In the years of 1998-2002 were
more than 100 extreme flooding in Central Europe, which is the
reason for this directive. The flooding caused approx. 700
deaths, evacuation of half a million people and at least €25
billion in insured economic losses.
The directive is among others based on following considerations:
• Flooding can cause deaths, evacuations and damage to the
environment, serious danger to the economical development
and undermining of the Unions economical activities.
• Flooding is a natural phenomenon which cannot be avoided.
Some human activities (such as rise in number of
constructions and economical activities on the flood plains,
and the limitation of the grounds water retention capacity due
to land use) and climate changes, however contribute to
enhance the risk of flooding and worsen the harmful effect.
• In relation to flooding is it possible and wanted to reduce the
risk of negative consequences, especially to the health and
lives of man, environment, cultural heritage, economical
activity and infrastructure. The measures to reduce this risk
should however be coordinated as far as possible in the whole
river basin, to be effective enough.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
5

6. Characteristics
Definition
The definition of a flood is, by the EU Floods Directive, flooding of a time
limited character, where normally dry areas are covered in water.
A temporary flood is caused by a time limited increase in water influx e.g. due to
cloudburst, heavy and long lasting rain, melting snow which runs into a lake, river
or stream. Temporary floods in lowland terrain can also be caused by one or more
combinations of flash flood incidents.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
6

7. Flooding types
Flash flood Flooding from stream
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
7
Heavy rain Melting snow
Source: Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency

8. Assessment
Assessment
In the assessment of flooding risk
from rivers, streams, lakes and the
sea you have to consider historical
extreme flooding incidents, which
have caused extensive damages to
the health of people, environment,
cultural heritage and economical
activities.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
8

9. Flooding categories
Flooding in Europe is divided
into categories measures by
following criteria:
• The source of the flood
• Geographical extent of the
flooded area
• Cause of the flood
• Speed of the flood
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
9
The source of the flood refers to where
the water comes from.
That means if the water comes from the
sea (coastal flooding), from streams
(stream flooding), from above (flooding
due to rainwater) or from below
(flooding due to ground water). The
source of the flood is closely connected
with the geographical extent of the
flooded area.

10. Source of the flood
Coastal flooding Flooding due to rainwater
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
10
Flooding due to groundwater Stream flooding

11. Geographical extent
The geographical extent of the
flooded area refers to:
• Flooding in coastal zones and in
a river estuary, where the water
enters in to low-lying coastal
areas.
• Flooding of areas along streams
and rivers, where the streams or
rivers overflow their banks.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
11
Coastal zone and river estuary
Along streams and rivers

12. Cause of the flood
The cause of the flood can be heavy
rain, flash flood, snow thaw etc.
Common to them all is that they are
formed because of the weather.
Flooding also can occur due to a
breach in manmade protection from
flooding, such as flood defences, or
other structures based on keeping
water out of areas.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
12
Weather which can Breach on manmade
cause flooding protection

13. Speed of the flood
The speed of the flood refers to the
time perspective in connection
with the occurrence of the flood
and can be violent and sudden, e.g.
during a precipitation incident or
occurrence over time, where the
water accumulates over days or
weeks in river catchments.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
13

14. Awareness
What to be aware of?
Flooding is characterized by different probabilities and degrees of
potential amounts of damage.
Flooding in lowland coastal areas can have severe consequences such as
fatalities and economic damage. The probability of disasters from
flooding in coastal areas is low and the flooding can be forecast one or
more days in advance as this type of flood often will be a flash flood.
However the flooding can hit a large geographical area, where a large
amount of people live. The evacuation of the area will be difficult due to
the extreme weather before and/or during a flash flood.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
14

15. Awareness
Flash flood incidents
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
15

16. Awareness
Flooding from rivers normally affects large areas
of the lower catchment and can be foreseen up to
several days before the incident occurs. The speed
of the flooding will be low, but can nonetheless
lead to severe damage.
Flooding in the upper catchment, urban areas,
etc., normally occurs locally after heavy
precipitation incidents. This type of flooding can
affect a whole region, if the weather is
characterized by a big low-pressure area.
The flooding can have a severe effect in densely
populated areas in terms of material damages.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
16

17. Awareness
Sudden severe flooding occurs in several
situations, among others in mountainous
terrain, and can occur very locally.
This is the most common type of flooding in
Europe. The consequence of this type of
flooding is often catastrophic, because of the
high speed of the flooding (flood surge), and
the large amount of drifting material. This type
of flood can lead to a large number of fatalities
and severe material damage.
Another, and more frequent, cause of sudden
severe flooding is a cloudburst which can
occur within a short time and can hit very
locally, with severe damages as a result.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
17

18. Permanent solutions
The best solution to prevent flooding is if you can
identify potential risk areas and protect them so they
are able to resist the danger of flooding.
Flood defences, high water walls and similar
measures are permanent solutions, but it isn’t always
possible or appropriate to do something permanent.
Maybe there is no space for it, the neighbours might
be against it or the flood occurs in a way which is
easier prevented in another way.
Generally is it the responsibility, task and cost for the
owner of a property to protect it against flooding.
However some of the protection measures can be in
areas regulated by the authorities or others.
This is primarily a politically controlled area and
therefore, as a Fire and Rescue Service, you have no
influence on this.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
18

19. Permanent solutions
To learn more:
• www.klimatilpasning.dk
• www.miljøstyrelsen.dk
• www.stormraadet.dk
• www.naturstyrelsen.dk
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
19
Source: Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service

20. This educational resource has been produced by the partners of the e-PPR Project (e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and
Response to Natural Disasters) with the support of the Erasmus+ programme.
Unless otherwise stated, this educational resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
License. It is attributed to the partners of the e-PPR project. Further information can be found at www.e-ppr.eu
The authors are committed to respecting the intellectual property rights of others, and have taken all reasonable efforts to ensure that
the reproduction of content (text, pictures, etc.) has been done with the full consent of copyright holders and that all copyright holders
are acknowledged in such reproductions. If you feel that your copyright has not been fully respected, please contact us by email at
projectmanager@e-ppr.eu.
If you are going to use parts of the content with materials whose copyright holder(s) is/are not the authors, it is your responsibility to
make sure you do so, respecting the original holder’s copyrights.
This content is the sole responsibility of the project partners and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.
e-Learning for the Prevention, Preparedness and Response to
Natural Disasters
20
Copyright Statement