Journal
HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL-JOURNAL DES SCIENCES HYDROLOGIQUES
Volume 52, Issue 5, Pages 1016-1037Publisher
IAHS PRESS, INST HYDROLOGY
DOI: 10.1623/hysj.52.5.1016
Keywords
flood impact; Germany; mitigation; recovery; flood warning
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In August 2002, a severe flood event occurred in Central Europe. In the following year, a poll was performed in Germany in which 1697 private households were randomly selected from three regions: (a) the River Elbe area, (b) the Elbe tributaries in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, and (c) the Bavarian Danube catchment. Residents were interviewed about flood characteristics, early warning, damage, recovery, preparedness and previously experienced floods. Preparedness, response, financial losses and recovery differed in the three regions under study. This could be attributed mainly to differences in flood experience and flood impact. Knowledge about self-protection, residents' home-ownership and household size influenced the extent and type of private precautions taken, as well as the residents' ability to perform mitigation measures. To further improve preparedness and response during future flood events, flood warnings should include more information about possible protection measures. In addition, different information leaflets with flood mitigation options for specific groups of people, e.g. tenants, homeowners, elderly people or young families, should be developed.
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