Creating Resilient Communities; Understanding and Defining Flood Risk

A.Desai (Woods), S. Bassan (Woods), J. Alvarez De Lugo (Woods), P. Wadan (Woods)

Flooding is one of the most significant natural hazards faced by communities around the world. Floods create hazardous conditions to which humans are particularly vulnerable. It is essential to understand the flood risk faced by a community and to be able to assess the potential impact of these hazards on the built environment. Flood fragility curves and flood hazard definitions, such as those provided in the Australia Rainfall Runoff Guidelines 2016 (ARR2016) and in the RiskScape methodology detailed in NIWA’s technical report ‘RiskScape: Flood fragility methodology’, August 2010 (NIWA, 2010), are critical for assessing flood hazards and predicting associated damages.