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Abstract:
Floods are common and costly natural hazards. The Historical Analysis of
Natural Hazards in Europe (HANZE) database shows 2,521 floods with significant
socio-economic impacts between 1870 and 2020 (Paprotny et al., 2023). In the past
30 years alone, floods in Europe have affected 5.5 million people and killed almost
3,000. They also caused more than EUR 170 billion in economic damage in the same
period (Paprotny et al., 2023).
Floods can occur for different reasons and take different forms: sea-level rise and
storm surges can cause coastal floods; heavy or prolonged rainfall can result in
pluvial floods; rivers can swell, causing fluvial floods; and groundwater can rise above
the surface or flood basements. Infrastructure such as dams and dikes can fail, often
with catastrophic outcomes.
