Abstract
Floods not only induce vast economic damages but also pose a great danger to human life. In Slovenia, floods rank number one on the scale of damage magnitude. Different factors external to the hazard of flooding influence the gravity and extent of the impacts. A comprehensive collection and analysis of the information related to the understanding of causative factors of human impacts can substantially contribute to the mitigation and the minimisation of fatalities and injuries. In this work, historical analysis was performed for flood fatalities in the years between 1926 and 2014, with 10 flood events that induced 74 casualties considered. A detailed collection and review on human impacts was made. Victims in cars have seemed to increase in recent years and rural areas tend to be more vulnerable and susceptible to having victims of flooding. With regards to gender, the majority of victims are male. The focus was on demographic aspects (age and gender) of fatalities and analysis of the circumstances of loss of life. Based on a description of the activities of victims during flood events and repetitive patterns, groups were made based on the type of flood fatality. Eight interviews were performed with rescuers and people who were affected by floods in order to obtain more extensive information on preventative measures, received help, and flood risk perception.
Highlights
Floods, especially flash floods, cause extensive damage to property, disrupt human lives, and may result in irreparable losses
This study addresses circumstances of flood represents a comprehensive collection and analysis of fatalities in flood events based on a long time fatalities in Slovenia using primary and secondary sources
The following part focuses on the data analysis framework, and we present the results, which include variability of human impacts in flood events from 1926–2014, analysis of demographic information, analysis of loss of life circumstances, types of flood fatalities and findings from the interviews, and a discussion, followed by conclusions
Summary
Especially flash floods, cause extensive damage to property, disrupt human lives, and may result in irreparable losses. The HANZE (Historical Analysis of Natural Hazards in Europe) database notes that the previously mentioned flood type is the most frequent in the Europe, as out of 1564 events, 56% were flash floods [1]. The majority of work is built around flash floods, as these are the most prevailing. Analysis that focuses on social aspects of floods mainly deals with circumstances of death with the intersection of parameters like population density, time of the event, and hydrological parameters (catchment size). In order to work towards loss prevention, there has been valuable work performed on flood hazard modelling, which includes flood prone areas and flood damage maps [2]. It is imperative to have an interdisciplinary approach as multiple factors may play a vital role
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