Have flood mortality qualitative characteristics changed during the last decades? The case study of Greece. (2nd April 2016) - Diakakis, Michalis
ABSTRACT: Despite the dramatic increase in recorded flood events in Greece in the last decades, recent findings show that related mortality does not show a corresponding rise. This work develops and studies a database of flood-related fatalities to investigate qualitative changes in flood mortality in the country between 1960 and 2010. Observations show a shift in the circumstances under which fatal incidents occurred and in the demographics of the victims. In particular, indoor fatalities and cases in urban environments gradually decrease in favour of incidents occurring outdoors, in rural settings, mostly using motor vehicles. The number of fatalities per flood event show a decline, indicating that multiple-fatality incidents are gradually disappearing and that advances in protection have an impact on mortality. The increase in the use of vehicles, the improvements in the structural integrity of buildings and the advances in early warning and civil protection practices are found to influence mortality both in qualitative and in quantitative terms.