Flood fatalities in Athens, Greece: 1880- 2010 (original) (raw)
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Flood fatalities in Greece: 1970 - 2010
This work focuses on the analysis of flood fatalities in Greece, between 1970 and 2010. To this end, the paper develops and studies a systematic record of 151 flood-related fatalities that occurred across the country during this period. Based on this inventory and detailed incident reports, a database is developed, to examine the temporal, spatial and seasonal distribution of these incidents and the circumstances under which they occur. Analysis indicates that fatalities present a strong seasonality but show no particular temporal trends. Fatal incidents occur mostly during nighttime, outdoors and in rural areas of the country. Vehicle-related deaths are the most common type of incident, regarding the activity of victims, whereas other outdoor and indoor types of incidents present smaller percentages. Drowning was found to be the most common etiology of death. Males and elderly individuals showed proportionally higher representation, indicating an increased risk of these population groups to flooding.
Journal of Flood Risk Management, 2020
In November 2017, a high-intensity storm caused a catastrophic flash flood that devastated the city of Mandra, in Greece, and led to the tragic loss of 24 people. The storm caused flooding in the two main tributaries of the basin, creating two very similar hydrological responses with similar flood characteristics that hit two different environments: one within the city and one outside. This work examines the fatal incidents that occurred in relation to the characteristics of the surrounding environment, to investigate the role of the latter in flood mortality. Then, the analysis carried out for the 2017 flood is expanded to a broader database of flood deaths for Greece (1960-2018) for comparison. Results show that certain mortality characteristics differ substantially depending on the setting. Outdoor incidents are more abundant in nonurban environments, in which victims exhibit mostly an active or risk-taking behaviour against the imminent risk. Urban environments are characterised by a greater diversity of victim activities, higher percentages of indoor deaths, especially for older victims and more passive behaviours. Overall, the study presents evidence on how risk situations develop differently between urban and nonurban settings. Findings are relevant in shaping policy and education programs aiming to mitigate risk.
This work focuses on flooding phenomena in Athens metropolitan area in Greece. To this end, based on a flood-event database aggregated with civil protection and documentary spatial evidence, an exhaustive inventory of floods in the area is developed, including events not previously studied. Fifty-two floods are identified between 1880 and 2010, in various locations around Athens basin, which caused 182 casualties and substantial damage. Analysis of the inventory shows an increase in flood occurrence during autumn, especially November, and a rise in flood frequency in recent decades. Spatial information is used to identify the segments of the drainage network that overflowed in each of these flooding episodes. Geographic information system-based spatial analysis of all the events indicates that certain sections of the drainage network, particularly in the central and north-western parts of the study area, are the most vulnerable to flood phenomena.
A flood hazard database for Greece
In natural hazard research, the impact of flood events and their adverse consequences highlight the increasing importance of studies on flood hazard and risk, not only on a global scale but in particular on a national and sub-national level. However, data on flood losses is neither comprehensive nor standardised in terms of data quality throughout Europe; and the limitations of spatial and temporal information on floods has repeatedly been claimed. The aim of this paper is to close this gap by taking the Republic of Greece as an example. Based on data collection and data mining techniques we established a comprehensive flood inventory for the period 1887-2010 by using information from multiple sources, and analysed the characteristics of flood hazards and losses in Greece. It is shown that there are considerable spatial and temporal dynamics in the events recorded, as well as in the number of fatalities, which could be mainly attributed to (1) the implementation of technical mitigation and (2) changes in land-use cover and population migration. The flood database established provides valuable information on major events that occurred in the Greek history and allows for future flood risk management strategies such as those outlined in the EU Floods Directive.
Mapping and Classification of Direct Effects of the Flood of October 2014 in Athens
Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece, 2017
In 24 October 2014, a high intensity storm hit Athens’ western suburbs causing extensive flash flooding phenomena. The drainage and the sewerage network of the city were overwhelmed leading to catastrophic flood flows along the road network, flooding houses and businesses, sweeping away vehicles, injuring people and causing numerous problems in transportation across the city. Parts of the city were inundated for several hours, particularly in western Athens, namely Ilion, Menidi, Peristeri, Acharnai, Korydallos and Piraeus. This work examines and reconstructs in detail the flood's characteristics, the different types of direct effects within the urban environment and the severity of its direct impacts across Athens basin. Results show a concentration of flood damages in specific locations mostly along the city's natural drainage network or derelict streams and culverts. At their peak stage, floodwaters extended to an area of 4.9 square km recording a maximum depth of 170 cm ...
A flood hazard database for Greece Entwicklung einer
2013
In natural hazard research, the impact of flood events and their adverse consequences highlight the increasing importance of studies on flood hazard and risk, not only on a global scale but in particular on a national and sub-national level. However, data on flood losses is neither comprehensive nor standardised in terms of data quality throughout Europe; and the limitations of spatial and temporal information on floods has repeatedly been claimed. The aim of this paper is to close this gap by taking the Republic of Greece as an example. Based on data collection and data mining techniques we established a comprehensive flood inventory for the period 1887-2010 by using information from multiple sources, and analysed the characteristics of flood hazards and losses in Greece. It is shown that there are considerable spatial and temporal dynamics in the events recorded, as well as in the number of fatalities, which could be mainly attributed to (1) the implementation of technical mitigat...
This work focuses on the spatial evolution of urban flooding phenomena in Athens metropolitan area, in Greece. The study examines the locations of flood-related damages and fatalities in Athens in 1880-2010, in comparison with the city's evolution, to identify possible changes in their spatial distribution. GIS software was used to develop a spatio-temporal database storing information on the location and timing of these flood-related incidents. The database was then used to determine and quantify spatio-temporal changes of flooding in the city. Results showed a gradual migration of areas subject to flooding from the central to the western part of Athens and finally to the northwestern and southern suburbs. This migration was accompanied by a significant increase of incidents in the newly built parts of the city and a simultaneous decrease at the oldest parts, following closely the city's spatial expansion over the study period. In addition, the study was able to identify and delineate particular parts of the city that experienced an increasing trend of flood incidents during the last decades and should be given priority in future flood risk mitigation actions.
EUFF (EUropean Flood Fatalities): A European flood fatalities database since 1980
Earth System Science Data Discussions, 2020
Abstract. Despite the current developments in flood forecasting and emergency management, floods still consist a significant threat to people and properties. At a national level in Europe, data on flood fatalities are fragmentary and they are mainly focused on death toll, without providing further details regarding victims' characteristics or the circumstances under which the deadly events have taken place. However, such details could enlighten us on what happened wrong when there was a victim due to a flood, and what measures should be taken in order to avoid similar events in the future. This paper presents the EUFF 2020 database (EUropean Flood Fatalities-FF) (EUropean Flood Fatalities-FF) ( https://doi.org/10.4121/uuid:489d8a13-1075-4d2f-accb-db7790e4542f , Petrucci et al., 2020) which collects data from 2483 flood deadly cases occurred in a 39-year period (1980–2018) in 8 countries and 9 (two belong in Spain) study areas (Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Portu...
Flood Exposure of Residential Areas and Infrastructure in Greece
Hydrology
Worldwide, floods are the most common and widespread type of disaster during the 21st century. These phenomena have caused human fatalities, destruction of infrastructures and properties, and other significant impacts associated with human socioeconomic activities. In this study, the exposure of infrastructure (social, industrial and commercial, transportation) and residential areas to floods in Greek territory was considered. To accomplish the goal of the current study, freely available data from OpenStreetMap and Corine 2018 databases were collected and analyzed, as well as the flood extent zones derived under the implementation of the European Union’s (EU) Floods Directive. The results will be useful for policy-making and prioritization of prone areas based not only on the extent of flood cover but also on the possible affected infrastructure types. Moreover, the aforementioned analysis could be the first step toward an integrated national-wide flood risk assessment.