Analysis of flood damages from the 1993 and 1995 Meuse Floods

TLDR

Flood damage assessments are essential for evaluating mitigation schemes, and lessons from the 1993 Meuse River flood—such as increased warning time—may explain the reduced damage observed in 1995. The study aims to reduce uncertainties in damage assessments of the 1993 and 1995 Meuse River floods by using empirical data to refine flood damage evaluation methods. The authors analyzed large, municipality‑level flood damage datasets collected by experts for the 1993 and 1995 Meuse River floods. The study found that 1995 flood damage was 35% lower than 1993, largely because household goods suffered less damage.

Abstract

This paper addresses uncertainties pertaining to damage assessments made for the floodings of the Meuse River in 1993 and 1995. The analysis is based on flood damage data that were collected by damage experts and consist of large sample sizes within each municipality. The most interesting aspect of these two floods is that although the volume of flooding and the inundated area were comparable in order of magnitude, the flood damage estimates in 1995 were 35% lower than in 1993. We conclude that part of the reduction in flood damage during the 1995 flood was due to a reduction in the damage to household goods. This may be explained by a marginal increase in flood warning time and experiences gained from the flood of 1993. As flood damage assessments are the cornerstone in the evaluation of flood damage mitigation schemes, empirical data of previous floods should be used to improve the foundations of the methods to assess flood damages.