CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF FLOODS

Abstract

Floods occur when the volume of inflow to the area under observation surpasses the runoff capacity. To determine the cause of flooding, we must determine when flood-related situations arise; which process is the (main) cause of flood risk; and whether the cause is natural or of anthropogenic origin. When assessing the consequences, we must identify the level of vulnerability of people, buildings and activities to the processes unfolding during flooding, and the effectiveness and scope of the implemented self-protection and infrastructural flood prevention measures. Each of these measures can be further divided into constructional and non-constructional measures. It is only with this information that the potential responsibility of different actors can be verified, as well as related compensation based on the principle “the actor responsible pays for the consequences”. A preliminary process – the establishment of the connection between causes and consequences – is essential for enforcing damage claims. This is challenging work, especially when taking into account that during extreme flood events only a limited scope of information is gathered and stored; information which is later necessary to determine the actual situation during a flood event, the adequacy of measures taken by individual subjects, and the appropriateness of self-protection actions. Based on the experience of court-appointed expert witnesses in judicial processes abroad, this article describes the challenge of establishing and proving the connections between the causes and consequences of flood events.