Although they exist, fatalities related to floods are a rare occurrence in the island of Mallorca. In the aftermath of the Sant Llorenç flash-flood of October 2018, which killed 13 people, a research was undertaken to develop database gathering information about the flood related victims on the island. The data was obtained from official reports and newspapers archives and was completed via field research and witnesses' interviews. The difficulties in obtaining information reduced the period to the past 58 years. The results show that 25 people died as a result of a flood event in basins with an average area of 19.83 km 2 and a minimum of only 0.10 km 2. Breaking down further into demographics, 14 were male and 11 were female. The largest number of victims is included in the 18-65 age group and 36% of the fatalities were tourists and foreign residents. Even if the number of fatalities is small compared with other Mediterranean regions, the research results highlight the importance of the need of an increased safety campaign in the Islands, aimed both to residents and to tourists as well, taking into account the importance of Mallorca as a holidays resort in Europe.

Since the 1940s, the city centre of Sant Llorenç des Cardassar has suffered from several flooding episodes from the several tributaries of ca n’Amer creek. Five lives lost and a significant impact on the population were the result of the most relevant flood in the series that occurred in 2018. In this paper, an analysis of the historical relationship of the village with floods, the answer provided by the administration to those floods, and the geographic setting and the anthropic actions on the land are considered. Using the data collected by direct observation, witnesses, and graphs and fieldwork, a thorough investigation of the volume, flow, direction and levels of water has been developed. This translates into an exhaustive mapping of the event, discriminating the hydraulic behaviour in each of the affected roads and showing the sequential development of the flood. Flooding is a combination of severe stream flows, avulsion processes and angular sections that combine with infraestructures that interfere with the flow direction and prevent its reintegration into the main channel and where the streets become active channels.

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