The Human Health Consequences of Flooding in Europe: a Review

Hajat, Shakoor; Ebi, K; Kovats, RS; Menne, Bettina; Edwards, Sally; Haines, Andy

doi:10.1007/3-540-28862-7_18

Cited by 68 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Therefore it is needed to further collect and analyse data of flood events. Standardized collection and reporting of the available data for flood disasters are recommended as a basis for further analysis (WHO 2002;Hajat et al 2003;Jonkman and Kelman 2005). It is strongly recommended to analyse the available data for the flooding of New Orleans in the year 2005 within the framework presented in this article.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies investigate loss of life patterns on global scale (Berz et al 2001;Jonkman 2005) or discuss loss of life in the context of general public health impacts (Hajat et al 2003;Ahern et al 2005). Other studies focus on the analysis of the causes and circumstances of individual flood disaster deaths for specific regions or events (Coates 1999;Jonkman and Kelman 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Methods for the estimation of loss of life due to floods: a literature review and a proposal for a new method

2008

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This article deals with methods for the estimation of loss of life due to flooding. These methods can be used to assess the flood risks and to identify mitigation strategies. The first part of this article contains a comprehensive review of existing literature. Methods have been developed for different types of floods in different regions. In general these methods relate the loss of life in the flooded area to the flood characteristics and the possibilities for evacuation and shelter. An evaluation showed that many of the existing methods do not take into account all of the most relevant determinants of loss of life and that they are often to a limited extent based on empirical data of historical flood events. In the second part of the article, a new method is proposed for the estimation of loss of life caused by the flooding of low-lying areas protected by flood defences. An estimate of the loss of life due to a flood event can be given based on: (1) information regarding the flood characteristics, (2) an analysis of the exposed population and evacuation, and (3) an estimate of the mortality amongst the exposed population. By analysing empirical information from historical floods, new mortality functions have been developed. These relate the mortality amongst the exposed population to the flood characteristics. Comparison of the outcomes of the proposed method with information from historical flood events shows that it gives an accurate approximation of the number of observed fatalities during these events. The method is applied to assess the consequences for a largescale flooding of the area of South Holland, in the Netherlands. It is estimated that the analysed coastal flood scenario can lead to approximately 3,200 fatalities in this area.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methods for the estimation of loss of life due to floods: a literature review and a proposal for a new method

2008

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“…Any reduction or disruption to these services due to reduced service provision as emergency response work takes priority (Kaźmierczak & Cavan, 2011) and routine social care personnel respond to those impacted by the floods (World Health Organization [WHO], 2002) or the loss of service due to hospital closure or damage (Greater London Authority, 2013;WHO, 2002) or reduced accessibility due to restricted transport options or damaged transport systems (Aday, 2001;Morath, 2010;WHO, 2002) could exacerbate pre-existing community vulnerabilities, health concerns and the stresses of flooding (Hajat et al, 2005).…”

Section: Accessibility Mapping and Key Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping social vulnerability to flood hazard in Norfolk, England

Garbutt

Ellul

Fujiyama

2015

Environmental Hazards

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In this paper, we present a method to assess social vulnerability through the creation of an Open Source Vulnerability Index (OS-VI). The OS-VI provides context to environmental hazards and allows NGOs and local agencies to better tailor services and provide targeted preemptive vulnerability reduction and resilience-building programmes. A deductive indicatorbased approach is utilised to incorporate a wide range of vulnerability indicators known to influence vulnerability. Unlike many vulnerability indices, the OS-VI incorporates flood risk as well as the loss of capabilities and the importance of key services (health facilities and food stores) through the measurement of accessibility when determining an area's level of social vulnerability. The index was developed using open-source mapping and analysis software and is composed completely of open-source data from national data sets. The OS-VI was designed at the national level, with data for all proxy indicators available across the entirety of England and Wales. For this paper, a case study is presented concerned with one English county, Norfolk. Highlights• We produce an open-source vulnerability index.• Accessibility to health care found to be severely affected by flooding.• High vulnerability areas found to be disproportionately impacted by flooding.• Urban extent of an area found to increase its level of vulnerability.• Flood affected areas more likely to be composed of elderly, sick and poor.

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“…As a direct consequence floods may lead to economic damage and damages to eco-systems and historical and cultural values. Furthermore floods can lead to the loss of human life and other (non-lethal) human health effects, (Ohl and Tapsell, 2000;WHO, 2002;Hajat et al, 2003). Indirectly floods can cause the loss of economic and agricultural production and a decrease of socio-economic welfare (Appleton, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Global Perspectives on Loss of Human Life Caused by Floods

2005

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Every year floods cause enormous damage all over the world. This study investigates loss of human life statistics for different types of floods and different regions on a global scale. The OFDA/CRED Database contains data on international disasters and is maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters in Brussels (CRED) in cooperation with United States Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). Information from this source on a large number of flood events, which occurred between January 1975 and June 2002, is evaluated with respect to flood location and flood type. Due to the limited availability of information on coastal flood events, the scope of this study is limited to three types of freshwater flooding: river floods, flash floods and drainage problems. First, the development of loss of life statistics over time is discussed. Second, the dataset is analysed by region, by flood type and by the combination of type and region. The study shows that flash floods result in the highest average mortality per event (the number of fatalities divided by the number of affected persons). A cross analysis by flood type and location shows that average mortality is relatively constant for the different types over various continents, while the magnitude of the impacts (numbers of killed) and affected for a certain type varies between the different continents. On a worldwide scale Asian river floods are most significant in terms of number of persons killed and affected. Finally, a comparison with figures for other types of natural disasters shows that floods are the most significant disaster type in terms of the number of persons affected.

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The Human Health Consequences of Flooding in Europe: a Review

Cited by 68 publications

References 35 publications

Methods for the estimation of loss of life due to floods: a literature review and a proposal for a new method

Methods for the estimation of loss of life due to floods: a literature review and a proposal for a new method

Mapping social vulnerability to flood hazard in Norfolk, England

Global Perspectives on Loss of Human Life Caused by Floods

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