LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE ELBE RIVER FLOODS IN AUGUST 2002 - WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON FLOOD WARNING

Abstract

The severe floods in August 2002 caused 21 fatalities and about 11.9 billion Euro of direct economic damage in Germany. In the aftermath, initiated by the German Committee for Disaster Reduction, a Lessons Learned study was carried out. The interdisciplinary analysis evaluated strengths and weaknesses of the current flood protection and developed recommendations for an improved flood risk management in Germany. An overview of the findings, according to the disaster cycle, is presented as well as some detailed investigations about flood warning. After the floods in 2002, many activities to improve the flood risk management in Germany were introduced at different private and administrative levels. Still, risk awareness and prevention have to be further strengthened and preparedness has to be kept over time.