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| European Commission to fight floods The European Commission proposed a directive to help Member States prevent and limit floods, and their damaging effects on human health, the environment, infrastructure and property. Since 1998 floods in Europe have caused some 700 deaths, the displacement of about half a million people and at least €25 billion in insured economic losses. The new directive will require Member States to carry out preliminary assessments to identify the river basins and associated coastal areas at risk of flooding. Such zones then will be subject to flood risk maps and flood risk management plans. These plans will focus on prevention, protection and preparedness. Between 1998 and 2004, Europe suffered over 100 major damaging floods, including the catastrophic floods along the Danube and Elbe rivers in the summer 2002. Severe floods in 2005 further reinforced the need for concerted action. The coming decades are likely to see a higher flood risk in Europe and greater economic damage. Firstly, the scale and frequency of floods are likely to increase due to climate change - which will bring higher intensity of rainfall and rising sea levels. In addition, failure to manage river systems properly can be compounded by constructions in flood plains with the result of reducing the areas’ capacity to absorb flood waters. A three-step process is proposed. First, Member states will undertake a preliminary flood risk assessment of their river basins and associated coastal zones. Where real risks of flood damage exist, member states shall then develop flood risk maps. Finally, flood risk management plans must be drawn up for these zones. In the case of international river basins, these steps must be coordinated between the member states concerned to prevent problems being passed from one area to another. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Construction News :: home page |